| John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by John Lennon | ||||
| Released | 11 December 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 26 September – 23 October 1970, Abbey Road Studios & Ascot Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 39:45 | |||
| Label | Apple/EMI | |||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono & Phil Spector | |||
| John Lennon chronology | ||||
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| Singles from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band | ||||
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John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo album by English rock musician John Lennon. It was released in 1970 after Lennon issued three experimental albums with Yoko Ono and Live Peace in Toronto 1969, a live performance in Toronto credited to the Plastic Ono Band. The album was recorded simultaneously with Yoko Ono's debut avant garde solo album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band at Ascot Sound Studios and Abbey Road Studios using the same musicians and production team, and featured nearly identical cover artwork. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is generally considered one of Lennon's finest solo albums, documenting with honesty and artistic integrity his emotional and mental state at that point in his career. Rolling Stone named it the twenty-second greatest album of all time.[1]
Contents |
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was recorded at Abbey Road Studios during September and October 1970 using Lennon, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr as the core musicians, with Phil Spector and Billy Preston on piano on two tracks.[2] Lennon had asked Spector, who had produced Lennon's hit "Instant Karma!" earlier that year, to co-produce the album. "Plastic Ono Band" refers to the conceptual band Lennon and Ono had formed in 1969 of various supporting musicians they would use on their various solo albums.
Spector played piano on "Love".[3] Lennon and Ono produced the album largely on their own, as Spector was unavailable during most of the recording sessions.
"Look at Me" dates from The Beatles period, and is built on a finger-picking guitar pattern very similar to the one Lennon used in "Dear Prudence", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and "Julia". Lennon learned this guitar technique from Donovan while the two were in Rishikesh.[4] The album was released in Japan under the title ジョンの魂 (John no Tamashii), which translates as "John's Soul".
After the Beatles' break-up in April 1970, both Lennon and Ono undertook primal therapy with the guidance of Arthur Janov for four months in Los Angeles. Janov's therapy technique emphasized emotionally reliving repressed childhood traumas rather than analytical discussion. Lennon's experience in primal therapy strongly influenced both the lyrical content of the album, pushing Lennon towards themes of child-parent relationships and psychological suffering, and the simple but intense style of the album's music.[5]
Throughout the album, Lennon touches upon many personal issues: his abandonment by his parents in "Mother"; the castigation of class issues in "Working Class Hero"; a reminder that despite his rage and pain, Lennon still embraces "Love"; and "God", a renouncement of external saviours. Here Lennon states that he believes only in himself, and his wife Yoko.[6]
Lennon's album cover is almost identical to Ono's companion piece; the subtle difference being that on Ono's cover, she is lying on Lennon's body. The photo was snapped with a consumer-grade Instamatic camera by actor Dan Richter who also worked as an assistant for the Lennons at the time. The initial compact disc issue of the album listed the title and artist, while the 2000 remastered version restores the original artwork. In addition, the original LP did not feature a track listing on the back. Instead, the back cover showed a school photo of Lennon in his youth (circa 1946).
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [7] |
| Robert Christgau | (A)[8] |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable)[9] |
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was received with high critical praise upon release. Critic Greil Marcus remarked, "John's singing in the last verse of 'God' may be the finest in all of rock."[10] In early 1971, the album reached number eight on the UK and went to number six in the US, spending eighteen weeks in the Top 100.[10] The album was particularly successful in the Netherlands, knocking George Harrison's blockbuster All Things Must Pass from the top of the chart and remained in the number-one spot for 7 consecutive weeks.[11]
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is generally considered one of Lennon's finest solo albums, documenting with honesty and artistic integrity his emotional and mental state at that point in his career.[12] In 2000 Q placed John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band at number sixty-two in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.[13] In 1987, it was ranked number four on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of the period 1967–1987,[14] and in 2003, it was placed at number twenty-two in their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[15]
In 2006, the album was placed by Pitchfork Media at number sixty of its Top 100 Albums of the 1970s list.[16] In 2006, the album was chosen by Time as one of the 100 best albums of all time.[17]
All songs written by John Lennon except where noted.
In 2000, Yoko Ono supervised a remixing of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band for its remastered CD reissue, including two bonus tracks: Lennon's 1971 hit "Power to the People" and "Do the Oz", which had appeared on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology. In 2003, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab reissued the album in 24-karat Gold CD audio and 180 gram half-speed mastered GAIN 2 Ultra Analog in vinyl reissues. In 2010, a digital remaster of Lennon's entire discography was released, utilizing original mixes and artwork.
Chart positions
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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| Preceded by All Things Must Pass by George Harrison |
Dutch Mega Chart number-one album 13 February – 27 March, 1971 |
Succeeded by Waldo de los Ríos by Sinfonias |