This weekend is the 45th anniversary of John Lennon's performance at Varsity Stadium in the University of Toronto.It was his first solo performance,and the first ever live recording project by a Beatle.On September 13,1969,John Lennon and friends went onstage as "Plastic Ono Band" and performed a set of old rockers,plus some newer Lennon songs."Yer Blues" wasn't totally new,having been included in the White Album;but this was its first live performance."Cold Turkey" was totally new,and "Give Peace A Chance" had just been issued as a Beatles single.*
The live set had been hastily arranged when the concert promoters invited Lennon to appear the day before the event.He rounded up guitarist Eric Clapton,bassist Klaus Voorman and drummer Alan White,and they rehearsed while flying in from London to Toronto,as well as one time at the festival.Alan White initially thought Lennon was an imposter when he called to invite him along,and Eric Clapton at first wasn't sure what was going on.In the event,they gelled pretty well,considering the circumstances.*
Other performers at the Toronto festival included Chuck Berry,Fats Domino,The Doors and Chicago.*
Lennon went back to Abbey Road Studios in London and mixed the LP basically in one day,although he returned to studio and refined the mix in October.The Beatles' American label Capitol Records was reluctant to distribute the slapdash project,but Lennon prevailed in the end.The album rose to number 10 in the Billboard Top 200 chart.It failed to make the British charts,however.*
Some disliked Yoko Ono's screaming on some of the tracks.To this blog,her screaming was appropriate for the songs "Cold Turkey" and "Yer Blues," as they are about emotional and physical pain.On an historical level,the concert and its album marked a turning point in Lennon's career;never again would he perform with The Beatles.Musically,the set was an engaging blend of past and present,the familiar and the foreign.
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