Versions:
LP
CD
Tracklisting:
Side One:
1. Blue Suede Shoes
2. Money
3. Dizzy, Miss Lizzy
4. Yer Blues
5. Cold Turkey
6. Give Peace A Chance
Side Two:
1. Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)
2. John John (Let's Hope For Peace)
Best Tracks:
John John (Let's Hope For Peace)
Money
This is a kinda interesting one. I think I picked up a CD of it cheap not long after it was released on CD in the mid-90's. I bought it because I was obsessed with The Beatles as a teenager and I was beginning to explore John Lennon's solo stuff (having already fallen desperately in love with John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band). It was also around the time that The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus had also been released, and I really liked the version of 'Yer Blues' that The Dirty Mac (Lennon's supergroup) had played on that. The tracklisting looked promising for this album. My expectations were high. Being that Eric Calpton was in the band, I was hoping it'd be like Cream with Lennon singing. I was hoping for late-60's bluesey stomps through 'Money', 'Yer Blues' and 'Dizzy Miss Lizzie'.
Which it kinda is. But, it's a mess. And not a pretty mess.
I was disappointed with the album when I first heard it. Listening to it now, it's more enjoyable than I remember. 'Cold Turkey' suffers most, but the rest of the songs are loose and ragged - and clearly under rehearsed. Which is - historically - fair enough, given the circumstances of the show. But, it doesn't really make for a great album.
Until, we get to Side Two.
As I mentioned in The Stooges' 'Fun House' post, Yoko was my introduction to a world that had to more to offer than the classic rock I favoured at the time. When I got this album, the only rendition I'd heard of 'Don't Worry, Kyoko' was my Dad's. Who sang it mockingly when I took an interest in Yoko's work. When I first heard Yoko's side of this album, I found it rather interesting. I wasn't that taken with 'Don't Worry, Kyoko' (I would later discover that I love the studio recorded version on the 'Cold Turkey' single and Fly), but I loved 'Let's Hope For Peace'. I'd never heard anything like it on a record before. It sounded so...free? I'm not sure what it was, but it really struck a chord. Particularly, last 5 or so minutes. It's Yoko screaming against a wall of feedback. That's it. But, it said more to me than a lot of other records did.
I also investigated Yoko's art more thoroughly. And, loved what I found. From her performance art and films, to her early records. I still love Yoko's work. I saw a retrospective of her work she put on at the Serpentine Gallery in London last time I was there. I made me so happy, I ended up going three times.
It was also around this time that I was in my first band. And, Yoko was a huge influence. Our first band consisted of mostly feedback and screaming, thanks in no small part to 'Let's Hope For Peace'. It helped keep our minds open. Anything was possible. And, anything was valid. Especially if people said it was shit.
I think I had the CD copy of this album first. I picked up a vinyl copy of this album for $5 from my fabled Old Reynella record shop. It didn't come up very often, and like many records before and after, I'd nabbed myself a bargain.
The most important thing about this record for me is that it was a gateway drug. Though Yoko, I started searching for less mainstream music and became very interested in performance art. From here, I discovered The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, etc. All things I still love (while my patience is tested by some of the 70's rock I loved as a teenager).
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