| Some Time in New York City | |||||||||||||
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| Studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory & Invisible Strings | |||||||||||||
| Released | 12 June 1972 (UK) 5 July 1972 (US) |
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| Recorded | Studio: November 1971 – March 1972 Live: 15 December 1969, 6 June 1971 |
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| Genre | Rock | ||||||||||||
| Length | 90:52 | ||||||||||||
| Label | Apple/EMI | ||||||||||||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector | ||||||||||||
| John Lennon chronology | |||||||||||||
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| Singles from Some Time in New York City | |||||||||||||
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Some Time in New York City (rendered Sometime in New York City on the record label, inner jacket, and original compact disc) was released in 1972 and is John Lennon's third post-Beatles album, fifth with Yoko Ono, and third with producer Phil Spector. Some Time in New York City fared poorly critically and commercially compared to Lennon's previous two albums, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine.
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John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved to New York City in September 1971 and continued their involvement in political, peace and social justice causes. When they eventually settled in Greenwich Village, they were quickly contacted by activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman who pursuaded them to appear at a rally for left-wing writer John Sinclair, who was jailed for possession of two marijuana joints. The Lennons also spoke out against the Attica Prison riots, the jailing of Black Panther Angela Davis and women's rights. By January 1972, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had opened a file on the Lennons, fearing they would organise the youth vote and prevent a second term for President Richard Nixon. Soon, the government would begin deportation proceedings against the couple, and the FBI began intense surveillence, documenting their every move.
It was against this backdrop that Lennon and Ono, with the assistance of studio drummer Jim Keltner, hired Elephant's Memory, a local band known for their hard partying and anti-establishment musical style, to back them for a series of albums and live performances. Lennon once again brought in Phil Spector to co-produce the new studio album, which was completed 20 March 1972—John & Yoko's third wedding anniversary.
The opening song of the studio album, "Woman Is the Nigger of the World" (a phrase Ono had coined in the late 1960s), was intended as a negation of sexism and was also issued as a single in the US to controversial reaction, and – as a consequence – little airplay and much banning. The Lennons went to great lengths (including a press conference attended by staff from Jet and Ebony magazines) to explain that the word "nigger" was being used in an allegorical sense and not as an affront to black people.
Lennon's other tracks include the biographical "New York City", a Chuck Berry-styled rocker that details the Lennons' early months in their new home, as well as "John Sinclair", his musical plea for Sinclair's release from a ten-year sentence for giving two marijuana joints to an undercover policewoman.
Yoko Ono, very much a feminist supporter, responds musically with "Sisters O Sisters", tackles the lacking education system with "Born in a Prison", and celebrates a culture of one in "We're All Water". In fact, this album is generally seen as the beginning of Ono's emergence as a songwriter after her rather challenging previous two releases.
Together, Lennon and Ono lament police brutality in "Attica State", the hardships of war-torn Northern Ireland in "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck of the Irish", and pay tribute to Angela Davis with "Angela".
The original two-record package included a "bonus disc" of live recordings. Lennon and Ono's 15 December 1969 live performance of "Cold Turkey" and "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, from a UNICEF charity show with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Keith Moon, among others, was unearthed. (Extended live versions of both songs were already included on the Live Peace in Toronto 1969 album that was released three years earlier). In addition, a selection of performances with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention from a Fillmore East gig in June 1971 was added, in effect creating a bonus live album for the Lennon/Ono faithful. The inner sleeve for the second disc featured Lennon's doodling over the cover of Zappa's album, Fillmore East - June 1971, adding his credits and commentary to Zappa's.
Some Time In New York City was packaged like a newspaper of the events covered in the album, causing even more consternation with an altered photo of Richard Nixon and Mao Tse Tung dancing nude together. (The photo was stickered over on many of the issued copies, with a non-removable seal). With most of the gatefold cover space taken up by printed lyrics and photographs, the album credits appeared on the first disc's inner sleeve. The customised label, featuring the face of Lennon morphing into Ono's, was created by Iain Macmillan.
| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| George Starostin | [2] |
| Robert Christgau | (C)[3] |
| This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information. | |
Coming after Imagine, Some Time In New York City proved a sharp about-face for Lennon fans expecting more of the same when the double album appeared that summer. Critics were not impressed. In a scathing review published in Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden wrote that "the Lennons should be commended for their daring", but not before calling the album "incipient artistic suicide", adding, "except for "John Sinclair" the songs are awful. The tunes are shallow and derivative and the words little more than sloppy nursery-rhymes that patronize the issues and individuals they seek to exalt. Only a monomaniacal smugness could allow the Lennons to think that this witless doggerel wouldn't insult the intelligence and feelings of any audience."[4] Dave Marsh wrote a mixed review for Creem, writing that "it's not half bad. It may be 49.9% bad, but not half."[5] The Milwaukee Sentinel declared that John and Yoko had produced "another crude, superficial look at trendy leftist politics and have plunged even further into their endless echo chamber."[6] Although the UK release managed a #11 chart peak, it only went to #48 in the US. Lennon was reportedly stunned by the album's failure and consequently did not record new music for almost a year.[7]
On 30 August 1972, John and Yoko performed two charity shows at Madison Square Garden for the mentally challenged at friend Geraldo Rivera's request; the event was called, One To One, and New York mayor John Lindsay declared the date "One To One Day". Both performances were filmed and recorded, with the evening show broadcast on ABC Television, and the earlier matineé show compiled for release as the 1986 live album and video, Live In New York City. It proved to be Lennon's last full live concert.
Some Time In New York City was remixed, remastered and reissued in November 2005 as a single CD, removing, in the process, several of the "Live Jam" cuts, while adding on "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Listen, The Snow Is Falling". In the remixed and remastered release of 2005, "John Sinclair" and "Attica State" were not remixed. In 2010, the album was digitally remastered in its original format.
All songs written and John Lennon and Yoko Ono, except where noted.
A remixed version of the live recordings of John & Yoko and Frank Zappa captured on Side Four of Some Time in New York City was released in 1992 on Frank Zappa's album, Playground Psychotics. On the album, the recordings have been remixed, making Zappa more prominent in the mix, and in some cases, the songs were given new titles. The songs, which appear as tracks 22 through 26 on Disc One of the compact disc, are denoted as such:
John's handwritten credits on the, Live Jam inner sleeve.
For everyone except himself and Yoko, John made up pseudonyms:
Uncredited:
This remixed/remastered edition, issued on a single disc, omits much of the live material with Zappa (though it is available in a different mix/edit on Zappa's 1993 album, Playground Psychotics) and includes two bonus tracks. Some of the track times, notably, "We're All Water" and "Don't Worry Kyoko", differ from those on the original vinyl LPs.
Bonus Tracks:
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