Plastic Ono Band

• 1. Origins And Formation

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  John Lennon and Yoko Ono met in 1966. By 1968, the two established a romantic relationship and began collaborating on musical projects. The name Plastic Ono Band was conceived by Ono in 1967 as an idea for an art exhibition in Berlin. This concept allowed Lennon to separate his artistic output from that of the Beatles. They recorded together in May 1968, releasing the experimental album Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins in November. The pair worked throughout the summer on Revolution 9, which appeared on the Beatles' self-titled double album. In December 1968, they performed at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus with a supergroup named The Dirty Mac. Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell, and Ivry Gitlis joined them. On the 20th of March 1969, Lennon and Ono married and hosted their first Bed-in for Peace event. Recordings made around this time were released as Wedding Album.

• 2. Experimental Sound Art Projects

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  Ono and Lennon collaborated on several art exhibitions, concerts, happenings, and experimental noise music recording projects before releasing standard rock-based albums. Their third and final experimental album, Wedding Album, contained recordings from their peace advocacy period. During the second bed-in held in Montreal in late May and early June 1969, they recorded Give Peace a Chance and Remember Love. These tracks were released on the 4th of July as a single credited to the Plastic Ono Band. It was the first single released by Lennon outside of the Beatles. Derek Taylor wrote in Disc and Music Echo that the band was made in perspex in Hoylake, Cheshire. He described four pieces like John, Paul, George, and Ringo, three taller and one shorter. Two rectangular, one cylindrical, and a cube held tape-recorders, amplifiers, closed-circuit TV sets, record players, and miniature light shows. The name was coined by Lennon due to Ono's use of plastic stands for recording. Press material outlined the band as a conceptual movement not limited to strict membership.

• 3. Toronto Rock Revival And Early Singles

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  The Plastic Ono Band remained dormant for most of the summer of 1969 while the Beatles worked on Abbey Road. On the 12th of September, Lennon received a call from John Brower offering free attendance to the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival. Lennon offered instead to perform at the festival. Harrison turned down playing lead guitar but recommended Eric Clapton. Bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Alan White filled out the first performing lineup. They rehearsed on the plane to Toronto and performed both rock songs sung by Lennon and experimental pieces led by Ono. A recording of the show was released in December as Live Peace in Toronto 1969. In late September, they began recording Cold Turkey with Ringo Starr replacing White. The writing credit contained only Lennon's name reflecting his split with McCartney. On the 26th of November, he mixed You Know My Name Look Up the Number and What's the New Mary Jane for release as a single. Both songs were old Beatles recordings. EMI put the single on hold and ultimately cancelled it possibly due to objections from the Beatles. On the 15th of December, the band took part in a benefit concert for UNICEF titled Peace for Christmas.

• 4. Primal Therapy And Solo Albums

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  During the summer of 1970, Lennon and Ono undertook primal therapy under the guidance of Arthur Janov in Los Angeles. This therapy had a great effect on Lennon's writing. The pair returned to London at the end of September to begin recording John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. The core backing included Klaus Voormann on bass and Ringo Starr on drums. Phil Spector co-produced Lennon's record while Billy Preston played keyboards on some tracks. George Harrison contributed sitar to Ono's album. Lennon's record consisted of straightforward stripped-down rock while Ono's featured experimental and avant-garde music. Both albums were released on the 11th of December. The single Mother by Lennon and Why by Ono followed. In early 1971, Lennon recorded Power to the People with Billy Preston, Bobby Keys, Klaus Voormann, and Alan White. Ono's B-side Open Your Box featured Voormann and Jim Gordon. The singles were credited to John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band respectively. In spring and summer 1971 they recorded Imagine and Fly using the same artist credits.

• 5. New York Activism And Elephant Memory

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  Lennon and Ono left the UK to settle in New York City during the fall of 1971. In Greenwich Village, the couple became more politically active and began writing protest songs. These songs formed the basis for their next album Some Time in New York City. They enlisted Elephant's Memory as backing consisting of Wayne Tex Gabriel, Gary Van Scyoc, Stan Bronstein, Adam Ippolito, John La Boosca, and Richard Frank Jr. Phil Spector co-produced and Jim Keltner also played on the album. The album was released on the 12th of June 1972 credited to John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephant's Memory plus Invisible Strings. It included a second disc titled Live Jam containing recordings from the 1969 Peace for Christmas concert and the 1971 performance with Frank Zappa. On the 30th of August, as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band, they performed two One to One benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden organized by Geraldo Rivera. The shows were filmed and recorded releasing in February 1986 as Live in New York City. Their last collaboration with Elephant's Memory was Ono's double album Approximately Infinite Universe recorded throughout the fall of 1972.

• 6. The Lost Weekend And Final Collaborations

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  By the beginning of 1973 recording had begun on Feeling the Space featuring a new group of studio musicians. This incarnation featured David Spinozza, Ken Ascher, Gordon Edwards, Arthur Jenkins, David Friedman, Michael Brecker, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, and Jim Keltner. Throughout 1973 Lennon and Ono's relationship became strained. By August, the two began a period of separation that Lennon called the Lost Weekend. Lennon recorded Mind Games using the same players dubbed the Plastic U.F.Ono Band. Around November when the album released, Lennon moved to Los Angeles with May Pang. In October he began recording an album of rock n roll oldies due to a contractual obligation from a lawsuit. The sessions featured many Plastic Ono Band regulars including Klaus Voormann and Phil Spector but released in 1975 as Rock n Roll credited to Lennon alone. In July 1974, Lennon returned to New York to record Walls and Bridges. The new Plastic Ono Nuclear Band featured Jim Keltner, Kenneth Ascher, Arthur Jenkins, Klaus Voormann, Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys, Jesse Ed Davis, and Eddie Mottau. Recording completed in August and the album released in September.

• 7. Modern Revival And Legacy

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  In 2009 Yoko Ono revived the Plastic Ono Band name with the EP Don't Stop Me! previewing the album Between My Head and the Sky. Both albums and subsequent activities are credited to the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band. Core members included Sean Lennon, Cornelius Keigo Oyamada, and Yuka Honda. From 2009 the band performed live concerts with additional members Shimmy Hirotaka Shimizu, Michael Leonhart, Erik Friedlander, and Yuko Araki. They also performed with guests Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Scissor Sisters, Harper Simon, Paul Simon, and Gene Ween. In 2010 at a concert titled We Are the Plastic Ono Band, Ono and Sean Lennon reunited with Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and Jim Keltner. In 2011 they collaborated with the Flaming Lips on an EP entitled The Flaming Lips with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. The latest release from the group is the 2013 album Take Me to the Land of Hell. The Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band continued to make live appearances into 2015.