Plastic Ono Band | ||
| Allmusic Biography : "The Plastic Ono Band is a conceptual band," said John Lennon to writer David Sheff in 1980. "There is no Plastic Ono Band. Its just an idea...there is no Plastic Ono Band like there is a Beatles or another group. Thats why theres never the same musicians twice." While Lennon coined the phrase Plastic Ono Band on a whim, he stuck with the moniker through most of his solo career, applying it to whoever was backing him up at a given moment, and his wife and creative partner Yoko Ono also used the name, and continues to use it into the 21st century. The Plastic Ono Band rubric made its debut with the release of John Lennons single "Give Peace a Chance," which was recorded during Lennon and Onos "Bed-In for Peace" in Montreal, Canada following their marriage in June of 1969. With a handful of well-known friends in attendance (and Tommy Smothers joining Lennon on acoustic guitar), the performance was captured on a portable recording rig and Lennon opted to release it under the name the Plastic Ono Band, inspired by a set of plastic music stands he was using. (One of Yoko Onos compositions, "Remember Love," appeared on the flip side.) In September, Lennon and Ono performed at the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival Festival, where the couples quickly assembled backing band (Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voormann on bass, and Alan White on drums) was again billed as the Plastic Ono Band, and their performance was released on the LP Live Peace in Toronto 1969. (An expanded version of the band from Live Peace in Toronto, including George Harrison, Delaney & Bonnie, and Bobby Keys, appeared at a UNICEF benefit in London the following December.) And Lennon would release a handful of singles under the Plastic Ono Band banner between 1969 and 1971, including "Cold Turkey," "Instant Karma," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," and "Power to the People." In December 1970, Lennon and Ono reminded the world the Plastic Ono Band was a joint project by simultaneously releasing John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, two albums that were recorded with the same set of musicians during the same set of recording sessions. For the 1972 album Some Time in New York City, Lennon and Ono used the Plastic Ono Band moniker while also crediting Elephants Memory, the New York-based band who were collaborating with the couple at the time, essentially giving the musicians two identities on one album. In 1973, Ono would release two more albums as Plastic Ono Band projects, Approximate Infinite Universe and Feeling the Space, while Lennon began playing with the band name in the 70s; 1973s Mind Games introduced the Plastic U.F.Ono Band, and 1974s Walls & Bridges featured a credit for the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band. When Lennon and Ono returned to the music scene in 1980 after several years away from the spotlight, they opted to simply use their given names, and the Plastic Ono Band label was retired until 2009, when Yoko Ono released her album Between My Head and the Sky as Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (with Sean Lennon as part of the group). Ono used the same billing for 2013s Take Me to the Land of Hell, and shes used the moniker to credit her backing musicians at a number of live performances from 2009 onward. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 10 Title: Live Peace in Toronto 1969 Released: 1969-12-12 Tracks: 8 Duration: 39:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Blue Suede Shoes (04:02) 2 Money (03:20) 3 Dizzy Miss Lizzy (03:19) 4 Yer Blues (04:08) 5 Cold Turkey (03:28) 6 Give Peace a Chance (03:57) 7 Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow) (04:48) 8 John John (Let’s Hope for Peace) (12:42) |
| Live Peace in Toronto 1969 : Allmusic album Review : Although one of the worlds best-kept secrets at the time, this was John Lennons declaration of independence from the Beatles, the document of a concert appearance at Torontos Rock and Roll Revival festival about a month after the conclusion of the Abbey Road sessions. Thrown together literally on the wing (they rehearsed only on the flight from England), the ad-hoc band consisting of Lennon, Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, and Alan White on drums hit the stage to the surprise and delight of the thousands who packed Varsity Stadium. "Were just going to do numbers we know, you know, because weve never played together before," confesses John, who was reportedly extremely nervous before going on. But the repertoire ought to have been a cakewalk for a quartet of seasoned rockers -- blues-based oldies ("Blue Suede Shoes," "Money," "Dizzy Miss Lizzie") and basic recent Lennon numbers ("Yer Blues," "Cold Turkey," "Give Peace a Chance") -- and they lay it down in a dignified, noisy, glorified garage band manner. Lennon is in fine vocal form, confident and funny despite his frequent apologies, while Yoko confines her caterwauling to "Cold Turkey." That was side one of the original LP. Side two, alas, was devoted entirely to Onos wailing, pitchless, brainless, banshee vocalizing on "Dont Worry Kyoko" and "John John (Lets Hope for Peace)" -- the former backed with plodding rock rhythms and the latter with feedback. No wonder you see many used copies of the LP with worn A-sides and clean, unplayed B-sides -- and Yokos "art" is just as irritating today as it was in 1969. But in those days, if you wanted John you had to take the whole package. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 10 Title: Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band Released: 1970-12-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 1:05:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Why (05:36) 2 Why Not (09:55) 3 Greenfield Morning I Pushed an Empty Baby Carriage All Over the City (05:39) 4 AOS (07:07) 5 Touch Me (04:41) 6 Paper Shoes (07:30) 7 Open Your Box (07:37) 8 “Something More Abstract” (00:46) 9 The South Wind (16:41) |
| Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band : Allmusic album Review : Recorded concurrently with John Lennons Plastic Ono Band album, Yokos features the same musicians, namely John, Ringo Starr, and Klaus Voormann along with the Ornette Coleman Quartet on one cut. Unlike Johns record, however, Yokos is much more a "jam"-sounding record. And while there are definite songs, lyrics are mainly vocal improvisations. Still, if avant-garde is your cup of tea, then check this one out. Its good, if only to hear John Lennon really get the guitar cranking on the opening cut, "Why." The 1997 CD reissue adds three bonus cuts: a previously unreleased version of "Open Your Box" (which would be used as the flip side to John Lennons "Power to the People" single), the previously unreleased, 16-minute improv piece "The South Wind," and a previously unreleased 44-second snippet of "Something More Abstract." | ||
 | Album: 3 of 10 Title: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Released: 1970-12-11 Tracks: 11 Duration: 39:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Mother (05:36) 2 Hold On (01:53) 3 I Found Out (03:37) 4 Working Class Hero (03:50) 5 Isolation (02:53) 6 Remember (04:36) 7 Love (03:24) 8 Well Well Well (05:59) 9 Look at Me (02:54) 10 God (04:10) 11 My Mummy’s Dead (00:49) |
| John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band : Allmusic album Review : The cliché about singer/songwriters is that they sing confessionals direct from their heart, but John Lennon exploded the myth behind that cliché, as well as many others, on his first official solo record, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Inspired by his primal scream therapy with Dr. Arthur Janov, Lennon created a harrowing set of unflinchingly personal songs, laying out all of his fears and angers for everyone to hear. It was a revolutionary record -- never before had a record been so explicitly introspective, and very few records made absolutely no concession to the audiences expectations, daring the listeners to meet all the artists demands. Which isnt to say that the record is unlistenable. Lennons songs range from tough rock & rollers to piano-based ballads and spare folk songs, and his melodies remain strong and memorable, which actually intensifies the pain and rage of the songs. Not much about Plastic Ono Band is hidden. Lennon presents everything on the surface, and the song titles -- "Mother," "I Found Out," "Working Class Hero," "Isolation," "God," "My Mummys Dead" -- illustrate what each song is about, and chart his loss of faith in his parents, country, friends, fans, and idols. Its an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming; it is unique not only in Lennons catalog, but in all of popular music. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 10 Title: Some Time in New York City Released: 1972-09-15 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:30:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Woman Is the Nigger of the World (05:17) 2 Sisters, O Sisters (03:48) 3 Attica State (02:55) 4 Born in a Prison (04:06) 5 New York City (04:32) 6 Sunday Bloody Sunday (05:02) 7 The Luck of the Irish (02:59) 8 John Sinclair (03:30) 9 Angela (04:08) 10 We’re All Water (07:11) 1 Cold Turkey (08:35) 2 Don’t Worry Kyoko (16:01) 3 Well (Baby Please Don’t Go) (04:40) 4 Jamrag (05:36) 5 Scumbag (06:08) 6 Au (06:23) |
| Some Time in New York City : Allmusic album Review : While Lennon claimed to have always been politically minded, given his working-class upbringing in class-conscious England ("Ive been satirizing the system since my childhood," he once mused), rock-pop sensibilities, clever wordplay, or matters of the heart usually took precedence in his musical output. But here Lennon and Yoko, accompanied by New Yorks Elephants Memory, sing and scream freely against sexism in "Woman Is the Nigger Of The World" and "Sisters, O Sisters." They protest incarceration in "John Sinclair," "Attica State," and "Born In A Prison," colonialism in "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish," and racism in "Angela." The richness of Phil Spectors production fills out the danceable grooves on nearly every track. Also featured is Lennons paean to his adopted home, "New York City," with allusions to doping clerics and transsexual rockers as well as the highly quotable line, "What a bad-ass city!" On the bonus disc, Lennon and Ono get it on with Zappa and the Mothers in live sets from London and New York. Things heat up considerably with "Cold Turkey," freak out with "Dont Worry Kyoko," and veer into the ridiculous with audience participation on "Scumbag." SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY is some of the groovin-est, most tuneful agit-prop ever committed to disc. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 10 Title: Feeling the Space Released: 1973-11-23 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:15:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Growing Pain (03:49) 2 Yellow Girl (Stand by for Life) (03:16) 3 Coffin Car (03:31) 4 Woman of Salem (03:09) 5 Run Run Run (05:10) 6 If Only (03:43) 7 A Thousand Times Yes (03:01) 8 Straight Talk (03:21) 9 Angry Young Woman (03:54) 10 She Hits Back (03:33) 11 Woman Power (04:52) 12 Men, Men, Men (04:09) 13 I Learned to Stutter/Coffin Car [Live] (06:53) 14 Potbelly Rocker (02:44) 15 Its Been Very Hard (05:59) 16 Warrior Woman (05:03) 17 Left Turns the Right Turn (02:13) 18 Mildred, Mildred (03:01) 19 Mildred, Mildred (03:38) |
 | Album: 6 of 10 Title: Shaved Fish Released: 1975-10-24 Tracks: 11 Duration: 41:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Give Peace a Chance (00:58) 2 Cold Turkey (05:02) 3 Instant Karma! (03:21) 4 Power to the People (03:19) 5 Mother (05:04) 6 Woman Is the Nigger of the World (04:38) 7 Imagine (03:04) 8 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (03:05) 9 Mind Games (04:13) 10 #9 Dream (04:47) 11 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) / Give Peace a Chance: Reprise (04:14) |
 | Album: 7 of 10 Title: Onobox 2 - New York Rock Released: 1992 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:11:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Yang Yang (03:48) 2 Death of Samantha (05:05) 3 What Did I Do! (03:50) 4 Approximately Infinite Universe (03:19) 5 What a Bastard the World Is (04:36) 6 Catman (The Rosies Are Coming) (05:44) 7 I Want My Love to Rest Tonight (05:09) 8 Shiranakatta (I Didnt Know) (03:09) 9 Peter the Dealer (04:58) 10 I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window (04:08) 11 Winter Song (03:38) 12 Kite Song (03:09) 13 Now or Never (03:45) 14 What a Mess (02:42) 15 I Have a Woman Inside My Soul (05:05) 16 Move on Fast (03:42) 17 Looking Over From My Hotel Window (03:29) 18 Waiting for the Sunrise (02:33) |
 | Album: 8 of 10 Title: Between My Head and the Sky Released: 2009-09-21 Tracks: 15 Duration: 58:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Waiting for the D Train (02:48) 2 The Sun Is Down! (04:48) 3 Ask the Elephant! (03:03) 4 Memory of Footsteps (03:16) 5 Moving Mountains (02:53) 6 Calling (04:18) 7 Healing (04:23) 8 Hashire, Hashire (03:33) 9 Between My Head and the Sky (05:34) 10 Feel the Sand (06:01) 11 Watching the Rain (05:29) 12 Unun. To (03:17) 13 I’m Going Away Smiling (02:52) 14 Higa Noboru (05:45) 15 I’m Alive (00:20) |
| Between My Head and the Sky : Allmusic album Review : Shes really back; one of the most gloriously influential and notorious women in the history of rock has returned with a new album at the age of 76, and thank goodness. With Between My Head and the Sky, Yoko Ono has courageously and outrageously revived the Plastic Ono Band moniker; a group she and husband John Lennon formed together; only this time, instead of the late John, its with the couples son Sean Lennon. Audacious? Oh yeah, but wait until you hear it! On 2007s Yes, Im a Witch, Ono gave a bunch of her old tracks to artists like J. Spaceman, Chan Marshall, DJ Spooky, and the Flaming Lips, to name a few, and re-recorded them. This time out, she surrounded herself with New York studio players, Seans own band, and guests such as Yuka Honda from Cibo Matto, and members of Cornelius. The end result is a stunning collection of 16 wildly diverse tracks that were written in six days and recorded very quickly. The centerpiece is an electronic-cum-acid rock spoken word peace called "The Sun Is Down," with screaming guitars, crisscrossing beats and breaks, and Honda offering sung vocal support drifting entrancingly in the backdrop. Then there is the funkier material, such as the wonderfully surreal "Ask the Elephant," with some stellar feedback and heavy guitar work by Sean, and the overtly rockist title track, where Ono speaks more emphatically than she has in decades. This isnt just rock as spoken word, its got groove, crunch, noise, and vulnerability as well as authority, and in places, yes, her trademark ululating wail. "Watching the Rain" is a midtempo ballad with shimmering blips and beats, her singing voice is expressive in its limited range, and her words are deeply moving. The shamanistic, trance-like quality of "Moving Mountains" melds acid folk and new production styles with a beautiful layer of horns -- trumpets mainly -- in the background. Come to think of it, there are a lot of trumpets on this record. Ultimately, however, Between My Head and the Sky is perhaps the most accessible album shes recorded, and yet the most forward looking, too, because it is ultimately contemporary in that it takes the past into account while pushing its margins to the breaking point and pointing to the known -- check the jazzed-up funky reggae in "Hashire, Hashire." This set is not full of ballads; there is little of the fragility of Walking on Thin Ice here, though its desire to heal individuals and the world is ever present, and has none of the overt self-conscious excesses of Plastic Ono Band projects of the past. This is a deeply focused, wonderfully colorful, and deeply expressive work that showcases a collaboration between mother and son and displays depth, strength, creativity in spades, and intense beauty. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 10 Title: The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band Released: 2011-12-31 Tracks: 6 Duration: 07:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Fear of Litany (?) 2 Do It! (03:28) 3 Brain of Heaven (?) 4 [untitled] (?) 5 Atlas Eets Christmas (03:58) 6 [untitled] (?) |
 | Album: 10 of 10 Title: Take Me to the Land of Hell Released: 2013-09-15 Tracks: 13 Duration: 42:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Moonbeams (05:48) 2 Cheshire Cat Cry (04:57) 3 Tabetai (02:45) 4 Bad Dancer (03:10) 5 LITTLE BOY BLUE your daddys gone (03:46) 6 Theres No Goodbye Between Us (02:41) 7 7Th Floor (03:05) 8 N. Y. Noodle Town (03:14) 9 Take Me to the Land of Hell (03:23) 10 Watching the Dawn (02:47) 11 Leaving Tim (02:48) 12 Shine, Shine (04:03) 13 Hawks Call (00:15) |