Customer Reviews

Classic Albums: John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The 'Classic Albums' series document the making of seminal pop albums
(Paul Simon's 'Graceland', Bob Marley's 'Catch a Fire', Fleetwood
Mac's 'Rumours', to name but a few of the previous releases) through
interviews with participants and associates and the playing of master
tapes (more on that later). This new 52' feature documents the making
of John Lennon's first 'proper' (i.e. accessible to the public at
large) studio album, 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band', recorded in the
fall of 1970 and released in December of that year.

Although light on the rare video side of things - there appears to be
no available footage of the sessions, so the producers have collected
little-seen (but previously circulating) clips of John attending the
Alexandra Palace psychedelic event in London (29 April 1967) and
sequences from the BBC '24 Hour' documentary (shown on 15 December
1969) -, the real treat for Beatles videos collectors are
previously-unseen excerpts of John and Yoko's appearance on
'Parkinson' (17 July 1971) which, to my knowledge, haven't been seen
since the original transmission. Other clips from that show have been
included in various programmes over the years, notably 'Imagine'
(1972) and 'Imagine, John Lennon' (1988) but the ones on this DVD are
different.

We also get new interviews with people involved in the making of the
album (Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Klaus Vormann, engineers Phil McDonald
and John Leckie), music critics (Jann Wenner, who interviewed Lennon
at length in December 1970 for 'Rolling Stone,' and Richard Williams),
the man responsible for inspiring the album (Dr. Arthur Janov,
proponent of the primal scream theory, whose seminar John and Yoko had
attended in the summer of 1970), Beatle historian Mark Lewisohn
(author of the superb 'The Beatles' Recording Sessions' and 'The
Complete Beatles Chronicles'), as well as Elliot Mintz, who was not
involved with the album at all. My impression is that the latter's
inclusion is due to the fact that he appears to be groomed, as Yoko's
PR man, to take over as guardian of John's legacy the day she passes
away. Here's someone else who'll be ready on day one...

But the main drawing point of this DVD, and what makes it in my
opinion an essential addition to any Lennon fan's collection, is the
playing of the original multitrack tapes at Abbey Road by the
engineers who worked on the album. As they isolate various tracks, we
get to hear John's spine-chilling voice on its own or the various
instruments on the - very spare - backing tracks (which usually
consisted simply of John on guitar or piano, Ringo on drums and Klaus
on bass).

We also get shots of various EMI Tape boxes, indicating the precise
recording dates of various songs on the album. Up until now, the only
known session date for a particular song was 9 October 1970, John's
30th birthday, when he recorded 'Remember'. Here are the dates we now
have:

26 Sep 1970: 'Mother' (take 61 -- possibly an in-joke, as this was the
first day of recording), 'Working Class Hero' (takes 1-9)

27 Sep 1970: 'God' (takes 1-2 of an alternate, acoustic guitar-based
version), 'Well Well Well' (takes 3-4)

30 Sep 1970: 'Hold On' (takes 1-6)

7 Oct 1970: 'Look at Me' (take 1), 'God' (takes 1-8 of a remake, still
guitar-based)

9 Oct 1970: 'Remember' (takes 1-4)

17 Oct 1970: 'Mother' (possibly a vocal overdub session)

24 Oct 1970: 'Mother' (another possible vocal overdub session)

There is another session sheet, but the date is cropped out in the
documentary. On that unspecified date (probably late September), they
recorded 'Isolation' (takes 24-29) and 'Well Well Well' (takes 5-6 of
a remake).

In addition to the 52' documentary, there's 35' of bonus
footage. On many DVDs, this is filled with boring stuff
considered not good enough to be included in the main feature. Here,
though, it's simply more great isolation mixes, two clips from John's
1972 concert at Madison Square Garden ('Well Well Well' and 'Mother'),
and the 'holding up signs' version of 'Instant Karma!' (broadcast on
'Top of the Pops' on 19 February 1970) in pristine quality.

* Spoiler alert! Don't read any further if you want to be
surprised by the musical contents of this DVD! *

The multitracks played are:

- a mostly complete 'Remember' (with some stop-and-starts and a recent
clip of Klaus playing the bass line at home) and an earlier (fun,
faster) take, which was partially released on 'John Lennon Anthology'
in 1998. This multitrack mixdown starts earlier, though.

- isolated tracks of 'Well Well Well', 'Working Class Hero', 'God'
(the released version and an alternate, acoustic guitar-based take),
'Mother', 'Isolation', 'Love.'

Bamiyan
Beatles on DVD

In watching this program I must say that the bonus material was what should have been the basis of the actual program itself, meaning that both engineers Phil McDonald and Richard Lush gave more insight into the making of this seminal album than that of the surviving performers. A lot of visuals were regurgitated from "Lennon Legend" using in fact most of the videos made for "Mother" and "Working Class Hero" and countless familiar clips used before (although they seemed restored for this presentation), that gave a sense of not exploring personal sentiments further once again proveing that the power of Lennon's voiceover drove this documentary. The moments that stood out for me was Phil McDonald playing back a alternative version of "God" that was slightly play faster and with a different vocal style truly what this program needed to unearth more of.

Still having the alternative version of "Instant Karma" from "Top Of The Pops" and the film segments from "Live In New York City" the One To One concert (pristine quality ones hopes the full concert will see the light of day soon!) is shall we say a redeeming factor that can be justidified in the purchase of this product.

I love this dvd! I got it 3 days ago and have watched it in it's entirety three times. It could be better... at one point Elliot Mintz nearly ruined the whole thing IMO, at the end when he says "I've always said only that which is real survives and John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band was REAL", or something to that effect, repeating an almost sickingly constant theme of the show that this album was "raw" and "real". Mintz is so amazingly cheesey and lame when he says this, and he looks so un-real which makes his statement even worse! He looks like he's made out of plastic!! His skin looks like it has than artificial tan stuff on it and his hair looks like a wig off a mannequin. Ringo saves the vibe though when he follows this with very kind words of John and thoughts of their friendship before it ends. But throughout the show Mintz never says anything even slightly original or interesting. He looks so bizarre and is so uninformative I have no clue why he was in this at all. Also Yoko says some good things, but comes off a bit annoying as she talks about herself in this as much as she talks about John. Another annoying moment is when the song Mother is playing, only to be interrupted with the talking of Dr.Janov who proceeds to misquote the song saying "I had you, you never had me" changing the meaning of the actual lyric "you had me, I never had you".

That being said this is the best Lennon video to date IMO, better than other docs such as Give Peace a Song, Imagine John Lennon or Lennon vs the U.S. The positives are the interviews with Klaus Voorman and Ringo Starr who are both very insightful and have great comments throughout. The show does a great job of setting up the period and what was going on with Lennon at the time and what led up to the making of this album, and slip in some additional great songs in the process by discussing the singles he made just prior to the album (Give Peace a Chance, Cold Turkey and Instant Karma). The engineers are good. The songs are great! The songs really focused on are Mother, Working Class Hero, Isolation and God, all among my very most favorite ever. Hearing the song broken down is very cool. The bonus material is excellent, highlighted by full performances of Mother from MSG and Instant Karma from Top of the Pops. This is truely Lennon at his peak. I would recommend this strongly to anyone new to Lennon but interested, as well as the most devout fans.

This is a well organized documentary of one of the greatest albums ever made. Having Ringo Starr and Klaus Voorman included with recent recollations of this landmark John Lennon solo album are priceless. My only complaint is that it is not in 5.1 surround sound or at least I haven't found a way to play it in 5.1 sound.

John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band album is my personal favorite and the album that best displays Lennon's talent, soul and psyche.

This documentary is a smart and thorough look into the making of that album, the material and the musicians who played on it. Not only does it offer a rare and insightful interview with bass player/artist Klaus Voorman, but it includes stripped down takes of key tracks as the engineers discuss their memories of the recording session.

Great stuff!

What a wonderful treat to finally see the making of this groundbreaking album on film! The video entries of film and photo enhance the telling of the story.....and it is always wonderful to hear Yoko reflect, as well as having Ringo speak (he was there and in on the recording) and the late Klaus Voorman also. Great to have input from the technicians involved in the recording and mixing of the record.

This was John's first solo studio album (he and Yoko had already released "Two Virgins" and "Life w/ the Lions" and "Live Peace in Toronto",......and was a stark, very telling reflection of their lives together at the time, the recent Primal Therapy with Arthur Janov, and a drastic unbundling of the type of music John had recorded thus far with the Beatles.

Thoroughly unvarnished, raw, genuine,....and, in your face......for those who like their Lennon without cream and sugar!

Just finished watching the main portion for the DVD, so finding a email request to review this item is quite timely. While I cannot comment on the additional 30 plus minutes of bonus material(I haven't seen it yet)I can say that you will find numerous comments by Lennon himself regarding the history of each song on this seminal album. Also included are "in studio" separations & isolations of certain tunes by the original engineers...Lennon's double tracked vocals or his & Billy Preston's piano playing or Ringo's "never the same twice" drum fills. I can't wait to finish this short review so I can pop the DVD back in & watch the bonus stuff. If it's half a good as the main program I'll be twice as happy.

The "Classic Albums" series slowed down for a few years but is gearing up again and this DVD is one of the newest releases. Like the others in the series it focuses on ONE landmark Lp and discusses each track in order. Usually the engineer who worked on the recording gets significant screen time. (The series emphasizes the importance of the albums Producer and Sound Engineers in making the album a "Classic").

This program is no different. The problem is that when the album was made in 1970, artists were not filming their every move in the studio and so there's not as much vintage footage of Lennon recording, as many fans would want. Much comes from promo videos.

This was John Lennon's "breakout" solo album after the Beatles split up and he had the change to explore the "hard rock" side of himself. And Yoko Ono is an integral part of the album as well, and a major influence on Lennon's music. There are a lot of new interviews with her as well as Ringo. We also hear from Dr. Arthur Janov, the therapist who developed "scream therapy".

The bonus interviews are - as mentioned by another reviewer - even more insightful than those included in the hour long documentary.

This DVD will appeal to true Lennon fans. McCartney music lovers will probably find it less interesting.

It's good to see the "Classic Albums" series continue. There are lots more albums which need these in-depth treatments.

Steve Ramm

"Anything Phonographic"

Without Yoko entering John's life this album would not have been made. Maybe the best recorded album ever. RAW! Three instruments and a load of emotions. This DVD isolates John's voice and guitar seperately. Ringo's drumming is his best and the song "God" is as fine a song as there is! Bassist Klaus Voorman adds some insite into John's life during that period.
If you don't own the CD then don't get this. You must experience the CD and this will be the topper.
Other classics are "Isolation" and the guitar parts and sounds are incredible. How it was recorded is informative and on this "Classic Album" they let the tape roll throughout most of the song. They just sit there and listen and appreciate. AWESOME!

The "Classic Albums" series brings us documentaries on the making of some of the great rock albums of all time. I haven't seen the whole series, but I've seen and loved many of them for albums that have special significance for me -- including The Who's "Who's Next", Paul Simon's "Graceland", U2's "The Joshua Tree", and now John Lennon's first non-Beatle album, "Plastic Ono Band".

Documentaries in this series follow a formula of sorts -- a mix of original footage of the artists from the sessions or from around the time of the sessions, interviews with the artists involved, and usually one of the engineers from the original sessions sitting at a mixing board and isolating specific instruments or voices to highlight noteworthy aspects. Another obligatory aspect is interviews with music critics, cultural figures, or other people who can cast light on the significance or making of the album.

I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary, which features the three main surviving figures who formed the album: Ringo Starr (drums), Yoko Ono (vocals, atmosphere and various aspects of production) and Klaus Voorman (bass -- Voorman had been a friend of the Beatles since their Hamburg days). It also has interviews with other notables including Arthur Janov, creator of primal scream therapy, which Lennon had taken just prior to recording the album, and Jann Wenner, co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine, who carried out one of the most extensive sets of interviews ever done with John Lennon.

The first-hand insights and recollections of Ringo, Yoko and Voorman make this DVD a real treat and put it among my favorites in the "Classic Albums" series -- although the "Who's Next" episode is still probably the best in my view.

I also like that they took a short detour to talk about the simultaneously recorded and released album "Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band", which was quite remarkable in its own way and is still recognized as an avant-garde rock milestone by a hard core of fans.

If you like documentaries and know and love the "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" album, you're sure to enjoy this. Highly recommend for those who fit this description. Others may find less here to engage them, but may still find something of interest.