John Lennon - Madison Square Garden (repost)

 

John Lennon - Madison Square Garden - 30-Aug-1972

In September of 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono relocated to Greenwich Village in New York City and found themselves at the epicenter of political activism. They soon became friends with high profile activists Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman and began making public appearances protesting the Vietnam War and the imprisonment of Angela Davis and John Sinclair. Fearing Lennon's influence and more specifically, that he had the ability to humiliate President Richard Nixon, the FBI began investigating, documenting John and Yoko's every move in an effort to find grounds on which to deport him. It was against this highly charged political backdrop that John and Yoko began recording their album, Sometime In New York City, with an agenda to protest against the social injustices they observed in the United States. With Phil Spector producing and accompanied by members of the Plastic Ono Band and Elephant's Memory, the album was completed in March of 1972 and remains the most overtly political recordings Lennon ever recorded.

At the request of their friend Geraldo Rivera, shortly after the album was released, Lennon agreed to headline two charity concerts to benefit the Willowbrook Home, a facility for learning disabled children. Also featuring Sha Na Na, Roberta Flack, and Stevie Wonder, the event was called "One To One," and New York mayor John Lindsay declared the date, "One To One Day." Both concerts were filmed and recorded, with excerpts of the evening show broadcast on ABC Television and performances from the afternoon show eventually compiled for release in 1986 as the live album and home video releases Live In New York City. Not only would these performances go down in history as one of the few times John and Yoko ever performed material from the Sometimes In New York City album, but they would unfortunately prove to be John Lennon's last and only full-length public concerts following the breakup of The Beatles.

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01. Mother
02. We're All Water
03. Come Together
04. Give Peace A Chance
05. Imagine

John Lennon - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Yoko Ono - Keyboards, Vocals
Jim Keltner - Drums

Elephant's Memory
Wayne "Tex" Gabriel - Guitar
John Ward - Bass
Richard Frank Jr.  - Drums
Adam Ippolito - keyboards
Stan Bronstien - saxophone
Stevie Wonder,  Roberta Flack and Sha Na Na bandmembers  guests on "Give Peace A Chance"



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