SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN & YOKO/PLASTIC ONO BAND – POWER TO THE PEOPLE

JOHN & YOKO/PLASTIC ONO BAND
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
UNIVERSAL

For a great many John Lennon fans, this is the box set they have been waiting for for quite some time. While Sean Lennon who produced Power To The People,  released box sets several other albums, 1972’s Sometime In New York City seemed to get skipped. That was not entirely surprising. Even when the album was released over 50 years ago, it was somewhat problematic. Songs that were pro IRA mixed with pro feminism which mixed with songs about prisoner rights. And then there was that song which has been left off the reissue. Sean assembled a huge box set partially documenting John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s work during 1972.

That year saw the duo working with the band Elephant’s Memory, and they dubbed their band Plastic Ono Elephant Memory Band. Along with the Sometime In New York City album, they performed Lennon’s only complete concert, the “One To One Benefit Concert”, held on August 30, 1972, which raised money and awareness for Willowbrook State School. It was a great cause, and as evidenced by the recordings in this set, Lennon (along with Elephant’s Memory) and Ono sound great and run through mostly solo tracks, with only one song from The Beatles (“Come Together”).

The concerts have never sounded better, and both are included in Power To The People, but are sadly incomplete. Two songs are not included from each concert, which is a pity as it would have been nice to have the entire show. Although a lot of the songs had been released in the past, there are a great many songs that have never been legally available. Lennon’s “It’s So Hard” (originally released on Imagine) is a burst of energy as is the version of “Cold Turkey.” The live version of “New York City” is worth the price of admission alone. Meanwhile, Ono predicts the musical future with her pre-punk and avant-garde “Open Your Box.”

Lennon and Ono performed at other shows/causes that year, and Power To The People include most of those performances. Oddly, the 1969 Plastic Ono Band show at London’s Lyceum Ballroom in The Strand is part of the ‘Live Jam’ CD. The live performance includes George Harrison, Keith Moon and Eric Clapton and many other rock performers. This two-song set was included on the original Sometime In New York City album, which is why it is included here. Portions of the show Lennon and Ono performed with Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention was also part of the original Sometime In New York City, so, again it is included here. Recorded in 1971 in The Fillmore East, in New York, the set is not complete, but it does sound great. There are, however, previously unreleased shows, including Lennon and Ono performing at the Attica State Prison benefit, recorded in the Apollo 1972 and the John Sinclair Freedom Rally (recorded in Ann Arbor, Michigan) round out the concert performances.  Lennon and Ono also made the rounds on television in 1971 and 1972. They appeared on The David Frost Show and 1972 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and the songs they performed make for fascinating listening, and it is nice to have these available.

The album Sometime In New York City is part of the Power To The People box set, but now it is simply titled New York City, and it is very different from the original. The sound has never been better. Their voices are much more in the foreground, but some of the remixes are odd. For example Sean Lennon mixed out all of the horn sections from “New York City” and filled out the sound with a great deal of piano. I missed the horn section. The remix is titled “The Ultimate Mix” and as with previous Sean Lennon produced box sets, the evolution mixes are included showing the development of the remix and song.

The gems of Power To The People are the studio jams of Lennon, Ono and Elephant’s Memory and Lennon’s home recordings in his New York City residence. Lennon seems to be having the time of life revisiting the old rockers he grew up on and that influenced him. The version of Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue” sounds better here than on the rock ‘n’ roll album Lennon recorded in 1974-1975. Equally exciting is the jam between John Lennon and Phil Ochs. Lennon learning and playing Ochs songs is so fascinating and one can hear the nervousness and excitement in Ochs’ voice. The jam was done prior to the John Sinclair rally in Ann Arbor, as Ochs was playing the show too.

The set is extremely well put together, with a beautiful and informative book. And while the exclusions are frustrating, overall, it gives us a glimpse into Lennon and Ono’s 1972. It was a year where both diving into politics and protest music with both feet. They were now living in New York City and influenced by what they were seeing. And while Sometime In New York City is important and great, it is the live and studio jams that make this new set well worth your hard-earned money.

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