Monday, July 27, 2009

December 15, 1969 - Lyceum Ballroom, London

Taped: Monday 15 December 1969

John and Yoko's Plastic Ono Supergroup played at the Peace For Christmas concert at the Lyceum Ballroom, Covent Garden, London, in aid of UNICEF. The musicians only had time for one brief rehearsal, in the afternoon before the show. George Harrison was among the musicians in the hastily assembled group: the first time he and John had appeared together in concert since August 1966. The other members of the line-up were Eric Clapton, Delaney and Bonnie, Alan White, Bobby Keyes, Keith Moon, Klaus Voormann, Jim Gordon and Billy Preston. They performed extended versions of 'Cold Turkey' and 'Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)'. The entire show was recorded and part of their set was released on John and Yoko's 1972 double album Sometime in New York City.

John: "I thought it was fantastic. I was really into it. We play 1984 music. The Plastic Ono Band plays the unexpected - it could be 'Blue Suede Shoes' or it could be Beethoven's Ninth. With Plastic Ono, anything goes."

Alan White: "The crowd must have been absolutely flabbergasted, because there were 15 or 18 people on stage, with two drummers. We just jammed this one riff that developed and developed, and then came to a climax. It was amazing."

Alan Smith (New Musical Express): "This same piece of music kept going for a marathon 40 minutes or more, and I'm still not sure why. Without wishing to be offensive, the physical result was that it gave me one of the worst headaches I've suffered."

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