By Madeline Bocaro ©
© Madeline Bocaro, 2019. No part of this site may be reproduced or re-blogged in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.
This is an excerpt from my new book:
An all-embracing look at Yoko Ono’s life and work, in stunning detail.
Read all about the book, see the reviews and
Order here:
https://madelinex.com/2021/12/19/my-new-book/
We remember John and Yoko as one spiritual entity – flickering across television screens, dancing through airports trailed by cameras and crowds, talking in bed, smiling and kissing. They were angelic – all in a flurry of white from head to toe. Hip, cool and deeply in love, floating on their own cloud with the wind in their long hair.
Individually they were fragile, faraway and quite other-worldly. Together they were strong, grounded and entwined – true soul mates from opposite ends of the planet who created their own dream world so that they could exist. Together, they welcomed us aboard the magic carpet ride of their dreams.
John and Yoko sincerely gazed into each other’s eyes and into ours. They endearingly reassured us that things were going to be alright.
However, their story was not simply a ballad, but a full-blown dramatic, epic operatic comedy and tragedy.
1969 was an insanely busy year for John and Yoko. It was a turbulent time in which the couple promoted peace and love, made Unfinished Music, more films, live concerts, married in Gibraltar on March 20th and staged two Bed-Ins for peace in Amsterdam (March) and Montreal (in May). They also released albums and singles, staged Bagism events, mailed acorns, debuted The Plastic Ono Band and launched their War Is Over! (If you want it) poster campaign.
In 1969 the Vietnam war was still raging under Nixon’s presidency. The Beatles, as a band were fracturing. Elvis was planning his comeback. It was the summer of the first moonwalk. The Manson Murders put an abrupt end to the decade of hope.
John and Yoko tried to create calm at the center of this maelstrom,
truly believing that they could create ripples that would lead to
an ocean of world peace.
John Lennon was still a Beatle. The band, though at its breaking point was also quite active in 1969. Their single ‘Hey Jude’/’Revolution’ was released in August 1968. Despite all odds and thoughts about Paul’s negativity regarding John’s new love Yoko Ono, in the lyrics of ‘Hey Jude’ he selflessly reassures his best friend to pursue a relationship with her. John knew that Paul’s lyrics were speaking to him.
Paul’s Song for a Friend: ‘Hey Jude’
Despite all odds and thoughts about Paul’s negativity regarding John’s new love Yoko Ono, in the lyrics of ‘Hey Jude’ he selflessly reassures his best friend to pursue a relationship with her. John knew that Paul’s lyrics were speaking to him…
https://madelinex.com/2018/08/26/pauls-song-for-a-friend-hey-jude/
The Revolutions
The longest and most controversial album track, ‘Revolution 9’ was inspired by Stockhausen’s sound collages and by John’s appreciation of Yoko Ono’s work with John Cage, which liberated Lennon from a conventional beat…
The beginning of your musical collaboration with John was The Beatles ( White Album) – you can really hear it in songs like Revolution and Everybody’s got something to hide… Do you think the world is ready to acknowledge your positive impact on The Beatles?
No, Never!
Yoko, Mojo No. 300 November 2018
My story: White On White
It was epic! We played it repeatedly, endlessly.
We were so intimate with the music that It became a continuous symphony – we knew the exact length of the silent gaps between each song and which tune perfectly followed each one…
https://madelinex.com/2018/10/15/white-on-white/
In January 1969 the Yellow Submarine film soundtrack album was released. The Beatles were at Twickenham Studios recording what would become their album Let It Be, arguing under stress of the sessions being constantly filmed (though outtake film footage shows them happily jamming with Yoko!) They were recording new songs and rehearsing for an aborted live televised concert. Instead, their final performance of new material from the Let It Be sessions took place on the rooftop of their Apple Records headquarters at 3 Savile Row, on January 30. The album would not be released for 18 months.
John and Yoko were metaphysically merging. They became inseparable. Their lives and work greatly influenced each other, as they had basically been working toward the same goals of communication, love and peace. Interviewed at Twickenham studios in January 1969 during the sessions for Let It Be, Yoko was asked about John’s influence on her work.
“John actually changed the whole world in a way… I think my work lacked a kind of relaxed type of sense of humor… There was sort a cynicism in it, but there wasn’t a real sense of humor and also sort of constructive thinking. And that’s the thing I got from John, I think.”
From February through August, the Beatles were working on their final album, Abbey Road. The band had personal conflicts, managerial problems, several ongoing lawsuits and also battled to maintain the rights to their music. Paul had secretly helped himself to extra shares – a grand betrayal to John and the others. Their company, Apple Records was losing money fast.
John wanted only to be with Yoko. Resentment of the woman he loved by the public and by his bandmates led the couple to heroin, which made John more volatile and hostile. Photographer Ethan Russell told The Guardian in February 2019…
“Look, they had the greatest love story of the 20th century. At a time of enormous sexism and racism, they managed to block it all out and create their own universe. That’s what I wanted to show with my photographs…”
So many people were jealous of their love. Many horrible things were said and done to Yoko, including an evil parcel addressed to her, containing a voodoo doll. Russell continued…
“I drove down to the house and no one was there. The front door was open so I just walked in. Yoko came down first, in this black cape, and said she wanted to show me something. She had got this brown parcel in the post and inside it was a doll with long black hair. It was dusted with charcoal and had pins viciously stabbed into its torso. There was a note that said, ‘Leave John alone!’”
John threw the doll away, after removing every pin, although he was not superstitious. He did not want to take a chance. But Yoko managed to see what it was, before John threw it away.
To end their addiction, the Lennons went cold turkey, using different methods, completely on their own without entering hospital. hence their single ‘Cold Turkey’ in October 1969). Luckily, they had never used needles. Ironically, one of the reasons they stopped was because they had a very bad connection.
Also in January, ads appeared – bearing a biblical quotation – for John & Yoko’s debut collaboration. The album was called Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. The couple appear in a naked selfie on the front and back covers. 30,000 copies of the album were seized in New Jersey and declared obscene in other states, despite the brown paper over-wrap. If undercover sales figures had been reported, the album would have topped the charts! The album was only available via mail order in the U.K.
John and Yoko were the Adam and Eve of our generation. John took a bite of Yoko’s Apple upon their first meeting in London at Indica gallery in November 1966, two years prior to recording Two Virgins. When they shocked the world in their birthday suits on the album cover, all hell broke loose…
Yoko brought John along as ‘her band’ for a live performance she had been invited to at Cambridge University. Unannounced, he accompanied Yoko in a free-form improvisation on March 2, 1969, shocking everyone in attendance.
The hectic pace quickened after John and Yoko’s March 20th Gibraltar wedding. (Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman eight days earlier on March 12th). John and Yoko’s Wedding Album was released on October 20th (USA) / November 7th (UK) – the anniversary of the Lennons’ meeting in 1966. The remastered Wedding Album was re-released by Secretly Canadian/Chimera Music – on CD and on white (and limited clear) vinyl on March 22, 2019 – two days after John & Yoko’s 50th anniversary. It includes the original fun-filled deluxe package of goodies.
Before he found Yoko, John dreamed of the woman he wanted to meet…
“There was also the image of the female who would someday come save me – a ‘girl with kaleidoscope eyes’ who would come out of the sky. It turned out to be Yoko, though I hadn’t met Yoko yet. So maybe it should be Yoko in the Sky with Diamonds.” – John
“Up to the time Yoko came into the picture, John, even with all his success and money, was a frustrated, helpless creature When Yoko appeared, he bloomed. It was an amazing thing to see. For him, that was the revolution. Yoko was not only his lover, she was like a mother to him and they did everything together. He was so close to this woman. It is impossible to imagine.”
– Klaus Voormann, Uncut Magazine April 2019
The newlyweds traveled to the Amsterdam Hilton to stage the first of their two week-long Bed-Ins for peace beginning on March 25th, where a media circus ensued.
John and Yoko flew to Vienna on March 31 baffling the press with one of their Bagism events and for the premier of their two films, Rape and Self Portrait – a film of John’s erection. (In an ironic twist, their later 1971 film called Erection featured a building under construction).
On April 22nd John legally changed his middle name from Winston to Ono in a ceremony on the same rooftop where the Beatles’ final performance took place. The album Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions was released in May on Zapple Records. It featured the Lennons’ avant-garde Cambridge performance from March, a track called ‘Two Minutes Silence’ and another piece including the heartbeat of the baby that Yoko had miscarried. ‘The Ballad of John & Yoko’ single chronicling their adventures and difficulties (credited to Lennon/McCartney – the only two musicians on the song) was recorded in April and released on May 30th while the Beatles ‘Get Back’ held the number one spot for six weeks.
The story of ‘Two Minutes Silence’:
‘Two Minutes Silence’ preceded John & Yoko’s silent ‘Nutopian National Anthem’ (1973) by four years. Both of these Lennon/Ono pieces quite possibly sample ‘4:33’ by John Cage (1952). It is not known if John and Yoko paid him royalties on the silence…
https://madelinex.com/2017/11/30/john-yoko-two-minutes-silence-200/
‘Give Peace a Chance’ (also credited to Lennon McCartney despite being a Plastic Ono Band release) backed with Yoko’s song ‘Remember Love’ was recorded in May during the second Bed-In (Montreal) and released on July 4th.
John and Yoko reprised Acorn Peace (1968) in which they planted two acorns in the garden at Coventry Cathedral. In 1969, they mailed acorns to as many world leaders as they could think of, asking each one to plant the acorn for peace. Many did not respond, but several most likely planted their acorn. The couple received a ‘thank you’ letter from the Queen of England!
“We’re going to send two acorns for peace to every world leader from John and Yoko. Perhaps if they plant them and watch them grow they may get the idea into their heads”
– John Lennon
The seeds were not only a symbol of Peace, but a symbol of East and West coming together. John and Yoko planted their acorns, one facing East, and one facing West symbolizing their places of birth; Liverpool and Tokyo…
In May 1969 the Lennons bought their dream home, Tittenhurst Park in Ascot. They moved in three months later.
(On June 8, 1969 Richard Nixon announced that 25,000 soldiers would be withdrawn from Viet Nam. The first withdrawals were carried out one month later.)
On July 1st, the Lennons suffered injuries from a car crash during their family holiday in Scotland with their young children (from previous marriages) Julian and Kyoko. While there, John endured more of the same – the wrath of his relatives’ disapproval of his relationship with Yoko. Upon their return, the Beatles grimaced when a bed was brought into the studio for Yoko’s convalescence. Their mangled car was later installed at the Lennons’ home, Tittenhurst Park as a lawn sculpture.
In England, on the afternoon of August 8th was the famous photo shoot of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road for their album cover. On that same night in California, members of the Manson Family murdered five people on Cielo Drive due to their leader Charlie’s misreading of Beatles lyrics from the white album. Among those killed that night was actress Sharon Tate, whose husband Roman Polanski had attended Yoko’s Indica gallery exhibition in 1966 where John met Yoko. (The Polanskis had also dined with Robert Kennedy on the evening of his assassination in June 1968). Ten days later on August 18th, the 4- day long Woodstock festival wrapped up in Bethel, New York.
The Beatles recorded their final song together John’s opus for Yoko, ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ on August 21st. The next day, the last ever photos of the band were taken at Tittenhurst Park by Linda McCartney.
Less than three weeks later, on September 13th, the Lennons debuted the first incarnation of their ever-evolving Plastic Ono Band (John & Yoko, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White) at the Toronto Rock N’ Roll Revival Festival where the bill included John’s idols Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis, which resulted in a live John & Yoko album Live Peace in Toronto.
Bassist Klaus Voormann commented about Yoko’s performance at the Toronto festival:
“She was doing everything she could possibly do to let the people know that war was terrible. By the end she was croaking like a dying bird. It was heartbreaking. I really heard tanks and soldiers and people dying. At the end, John came and embraced her. You could see exactly what he saw in her. He was proud of her and loved her, and in a way, he couldn’t care less about the public, but in another way, they were trying to spread this message.”
– Uncut Magazine April 2019
In September, the ridiculously infamous and absurd Paul Is Dead clues and rumors festered, causing worldwide panic and speculation. John finally got his ‘divorce’ from the Beatles, which was kept secret when Abbey Road was released on September 26th bearing yet more bizarre clues as to Paul’s alleged demise.
The ICA London held three John & Yoko film festivals in Sept. and Nov. screening Film No. 5 (Smile), Self Portrait, Rape and Apotheosis.
Yoko had another miscarriage on October 10th. John and Yoko’s single about their heroin withdrawal ‘Cold Turkey’ with Yoko’s ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko…’ was released on October 24 (recorded in Sept.) with Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr. On November 25th, John returned his MBE (jokingly protesting ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts).
On October 15th The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam took place across the USA. Another massive demonstration occurred a month later in Washington D.C. The protestors all sang along to ‘Give Peace a Chance’ with folk singer Pete Seeger, which touched John deeply.
John and Yoko released Wedding Album on October 20 in the USA (November 7 in the UK).
Wedding Album was released seven months after John and Yoko’s March 20, 1969 marriage in Gibraltar. The album was issued in a box containing many items to make us feel included in the couple’s celebration – including a piece of wedding cake in a bag. A scrapbook of articles about their Bed-in ‘Honeymoon’ is also included, along with a copy of their marriage certificate.
In November, the Lennons vacationed in Greece and in Bombay. December 12th saw the release of Live Peace in Toronto on vinyl.
The year wrapped up with the London Lyceum UNICEF charity concert on December 15 at which the War Is Over! poster campaign was launched. Billboards and posters in various languages were hung in eleven cities, on buses and the message was also printed as newspaper ads, all paid for by the Lennons. Every Christmas/New Year Yoko continues to place ads with the wishful slogan, “War Is Over! If You Want It”. John and Yoko met Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on December 23.
John: “It was a FANTASTIC show – very heavy. A lot of the audience walked out you know, but the ones that stayed – they were in a TRANCE man.
Merging their like minds, John and Yoko would continue their peace efforts and make more art. They became each other’s biggest fans.
“I performed the role of a mirror in a way. (John) was doing all those things anyway – I didn’t suggest them. I was there – and that goes for his drawing, paintings, and poetry, too – especially his drawings. He’s got a stack of beautiful drawings at home, and this one series he did is going to be produced as sort of lithograph. They’re not like his cartoons- they’re another kind of drawing. I think they’re better than Picasso.”
Yoko – Melody Maker, December 1969
John and Yoko declared the new year, 1970 “Year One A.P.” (After Peace).
They were soon to find out that peace was still way out of reach,
but they never gave up – eternally continuing to spread their message
and dreaming together.
“My ultimate goal is for Yoko and I to be happy and try and make other people happy through our happiness. I’d like everyone to remember us with a smile.
But, if possible, just as John & Yoko who created world peace forever.”
– John Lennon, 1971
**
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 the book, see the reviews and
Order here:
https://madelinex.com/2021/12/19/my-new-book/
HARD COVER books are ONLY available at…
Conceptual Books
Contact: conceptualbooks@icloud.com
September 13, 2018
Yoko and Ringo
Outdoor Bed-In on Wall Street in NYC
Promoting the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus:
The Prequel:
Although John and Yoko met in November 1966, it was 18 months before they became a couple.
Read my story about their meeting here:
When Two Clouds Meet:
On the evening that changed his life forever, John Lennon visited Yoko Ono’s exhibition tat London’s Indica Gallery. John’s bite of Yoko’s apple – a modern tale of Adam and Eve / East meets West – began the ballad of John and Yoko. It started off many turbulent, yet exciting years for the infamous couple who would dedicate their eternal union to promoting peace…
© Madeline Bocaro 2019. No part of these written materials may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, re-blogged or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of Madeline Bocaro. Any other reproduction in any form without permission is prohibited. All of the text written by Madeline Bocaro on this site is protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without prior written permission of Madeline Bocaro.
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