The Ballad of John and Yoko

This article is about the song. For the autobiography by John Lennon, see Skywriting by Word of Mouth.
"The Ballad of John and Yoko"

US picture sleeve
Single by The Beatles
B-side "Old Brown Shoe"
Released 30 May 1969
Format 7"
Recorded 14 April 1969
EMI Studios, London
Genre Rock and roll[1]
Length 2:59
Label Apple
Writer(s) Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s) George Martin
The Beatles singles chronology
"Get Back"
(1969)		 "The Ballad of John and Yoko"
(1969)		 "Something"/"Come Together"
(1969)

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is a song written by John Lennon,[2][3] attributed to Lennon–McCartney as was the custom, and released by the Beatles as a single in May 1969. The song, chronicling the events surrounding Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono, was the Beatles’ 17th and final UK number one single.[4]

Writing

Authored by Lennon while on his honeymoon in Paris,[3] it tells of the events of his marriage, in March 1969, to Ono, and their publicly held honeymoon activities, including their "Bed-In" at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel and their demonstration of "bagism".

Lennon brought the song to McCartney’s home on 14 April 1969, before recording it that evening.[5][6][7] "Paul knew that people were being nasty to John, and he just wanted to make it well for him," said Ono. "Paul has a very brotherly side to him."[8]

Recording

The song was recorded without George Harrison (who was on holiday) and Ringo Starr (who was filming The Magic Christian).[9][10] In Barry Miles' biography, McCartney recalls that Lennon had a sudden inspiration for the song and had suggested that the two of them should record it immediately, without waiting for the other Beatles to return.[9] Reflecting this somewhat unusual situation, the session recordings include the following exchange:

Lennon (on guitar): "Go a bit faster, Ringo!"
McCartney (on drums): "OK, George!"[9]

This session also marked the return of Geoff Emerick as recording engineer of a Beatle session after he quit working with the group during the tense White Album sessions nine months earlier.[10]

Personnel

Per Ian MacDonald[11] and Mark Lewisohn:[10]

Release

Backed with Harrison’s "Old Brown Shoe", the single was released in the United Kingdom on 30 May 1969; Lennon and Ono were performing a second Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal at the time. The United States release followed a few days later on 4 June.[12]

In the UK and Europe, it was the first Beatles single to be released in stereo. It was therefore the first release not given a mono mix.[10]

The song has been included on several compilation albums: Hey Jude (US, 1970), 1967–1970 (1973), 20 Greatest Hits (UK, 1982), Past Masters (1988) and 1 (2000).

An uncredited 20-second sample of the song is used in the title track of Timothy Leary's 1970 album You Can Be Anyone This Time Around, with Leary's words: "You can be anyone this time around; John and Yoko this time around" spoken over the sample.

Reception

Several US radio stations declined to broadcast the song[13][14] because of what they saw as sacrilegious use of the words Christ and crucify in the chorus:

Christ, you know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be,
The way things are going,
They’re gonna crucify me.

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" never appeared on the surveys of WLS in Chicago or WABC in New York, two of the largest Top 40 stations in the U.S.

In 2012, the song was ranked as the 404th best classic rock song of all time by New York's Q104.3.[15]

The Spanish government under Franco objected to the song because of its statement, "Peter Brown called to say, 'You can make it OK, you can get married in Gibraltar near Spain.'" The status of Gibraltar is a long-running subject of debate between Spain and the United Kingdom.[2]

The single became the Beatles' 17th and final UK number one;[4] it reached number eight in the US.[16]

When cartoonist Al Capp visited John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their 1969 Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Capp pointedly asked Lennon about the meaning of the lyrics of the song. Their testy exchange later appeared in the 1988 documentary film Imagine: John Lennon. On Capp's exit, Lennon sang an impromptu version with a slightly revised, but nonetheless prophetic lyric: "Christ, you know it ain't easy / You know how hard it can be / The way things are goin' / They're gonna crucify Capp!"

Cover versions

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (1969) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report[17] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[18] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[19] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[20] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[22] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[25] 8
US Cash Box Top 100[26] 10
West German Media Control Singles Chart[27] 1

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United States (RIAA)[28] Gold 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Notes

  1. ↑ "The Beatles - The Ballad of John and Yoko". AllMusic. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Fontenot.
  3. 1 2 Smith 1980, JOHN: "I wrote that in Paris on our honeymoon. It's a piece of journalism. It's a folk song.".
  4. 1 2 Official UK Charts 2009.
  5. ↑ Smith 1988, PAUL: "John came to me and said, 'I've got this song about our wedding and it's called The Ballad Of John And Yoko.' He came around to my house, wanting to do it really quick. He needed to record it so we just ran in and did it.".
  6. ↑ Harry 2003, 'B': "On Monday 14 April 1969 John brought the number around to Paul's house in Cavendish Avenue for him to aid in its completion.".
  7. ↑ Miles 1997, p. 551: "John brought it round to Paul's house on 14 April 1969 for him to help complete".
  8. ↑ "48 - 'The Ballad of John and Yoko'". 100 Greatest Beatles Songs. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 Miles 1997, p. 551.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Lewisohn 1988, p. 173.
  11. ↑ MacDonald 2005, p. 345.
  12. ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 200.
  13. ↑ Fong-Torres 1969.
  14. ↑ Cross 2005, pp. 539–540.
  15. ↑ "The Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time: Dirty Dozenth Edition". Q1043.com.
  16. ↑ Wallgren 1982, p. 55.
  17. ↑ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book (1940–1969). Turramurra: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  18. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – The Ballad of John and Yoko". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko". VG-lista. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  23. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  24. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1969-06-17" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "The Beatles – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for The Beatles. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  26. ↑ Hoffmann, Frank (1983). The Cash Box Singles Charts, 1950-1981. Metuchen, NJ & London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 32–34.
  27. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (Enter "Beatles" in the search box) (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  28. ↑ "American single certifications – The Beatles – The Ballad of John and Yoko". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 14 May 2016. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH

References

Preceded by
"Dizzy" by Tommy Roe		 UK number one single
11 June 1969 (three weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Something in the Air" by Thunderclap Newman
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