By Madeline Bocaro
© Madeline Bocaro, 2017. No part of this site may be reproduced or reblogged in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.
This is an excerpt from my Yoko Ono biography…
An all-embracing look at Yoko’s life and work in stunning detail.
Read all about it, see the reviews and
ORDER HERE:
My very first concert at age 14! John & Yoko at Madison Square Garden August 30, 1972.
Photo: Alec Byrne
I still have Yoko’s Box Of Smile from that day. I went to the rehearsal matinee in the afternoon. The evening performance was sold out, but the matinee was announced at the last minute so there were many empty seats. The emcee Geraldo Rivera told us all to come down and fill the seats up front! I never ran so fast in my life!
John and Yoko bought $59,000 worth of tickets to give away to fans. $1.5 million dollars was raised for the cause.
John and Yoko alternated songs. I was in heaven. John did a bone-chilling version of ‘Mother’ and other solo songs including ‘Instant Karma’, ‘Cold Turkey’ and ‘Imagine’. I had not thought of John as a Beatle for awhile – he was just John to me, but when he kicked into ‘Come Together’ it gave me chills to hear his unmistakable Beatle voice! The backing band was Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory band.
Other songs performed were ‘Power to the People’, New York City’, It’s So Hard’, ‘Move On Fast’, ‘Woman is the Nigger of the World’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Well, Well, Well’, ‘Mother’, Yoko’s songs, ‘Sisters O Sisters’, ‘We’re All Water’, ‘Open Your Box’, ‘and Don’t Worry Kyoko’ (which was omitted from the evening performance – I was so happy that I got to hear it!!).
The evening encore was a long, rousing sing-a-long of ‘Give Peace a Chance’ with a reggae beat. Reggae was a relatively new form for American ears. John kept yelling out, “Reggae baby!”
The concert was released on VHS in 1985 as ‘John Lennon Live in New York City’. At the premier screening, I sat behind Yoko & Sean, re-iving my wonderful memories of the concert. Andy Warhol walked in late and stood in the aisle next to me, just after Yoko sang ‘Born In A Prison’. I was overwhelmed with the thrill of having seen this again after so long and I said, “Andy – you just missed Yoko’s best song!!!’ He replied with a classic and sincere, “REALLLLYYY?!!! OH NO!!!’
The concert also featured Stevie Wonder and Sha Na Na (and Roberta Flack in the evening performance). Stevie performed ‘Superstition’ live, before the single was even released. Five months later (Jan. 1973) it hit No. 1.
This is an excerpt from my Yoko Ono biography
In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
An all-embracing look at Yoko Ono’s life, music and art – in stunning detail.
Read all about it, see the reviews and
Order here:
HARD COVER books are only available at…
Conceptual Books
Contact: conceptualbooks@icloud.com
Also see:
Open Your Box – Yoko’s Box of Smile
By Madeline Bocaro ©
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Plastic Ono/Elephant’s Memory Band:
John Ward, Gary Van Scyoc, Tex Gabriel, Jim Keltner, Rick Frank, Adam Ippolito & Stan Bronstein.
Phil Spector, John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Set Lists:
Matinee:
Power to the People
New York City
It’s So Hard
Move On Fast (Yoko)
Woman Is The Niger of the World
Sisters O’ Sisters (Yoko)
Well Well Well
Born In A Prison (Yoko)
Instant Karma
Mother
We’re All Water (Yoko)
Come Together
Imagine
Open Your Box (Yoko)
Cold Turkey
Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummys only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow) Hound Dog
Evening:
Power to the People
New York City
It’s So Hard
Woman Is The Niger of the World
Sisters O’ Sisters (Yoko)
Well Well Well
Instant Karma
Mother
We’re All Water (Yoko)
Come Together
Imagine
Cold Turkey
Hound Dog
Give Peace A Chance
‘Open Your Box’ Rehearsal:
My blog post about the One To One concerts:
https://theamazingkornyfonelabel.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/battle-of-the-bootleg-labels-4-john-lennon-one-to-one-concerts-at-madison-square-garden-new-york/
Thank you! I have many of those bootlegs!
Rock on Maddy, Your posts should have been liked by thousands by now. Embarassed to be the 1st – peace…
Thanks for your kind words Nick. I wish I knew how to reach thousands of people!
Another one to cherish – your memories are a treasure chest, priceless. Thanks for sharing them with us. Great that you got to hear Don’t Worry Kyoko! On another note – I’ve noticed this about this and other Mad Garden shows, and seventies shows in general – didn’t they light them beautifully?
I had a friend who was at the afternoon show of the concert for Bangladesh. These shows were just historical events. I have seen Ringo and Paul and Linda, in concert but never got to see George or John. I’m sure this was the thrill of a lifetime. This is a terrific page! Thank you for sharing! Andy Warhol too WOW!
Thank you! Yes it was a thrill! I’m lucky to have grown up in such a wonderful time!