EMI Studios, London
September - October 1970
Produced by John & Yoko & Phil Spector
Released: 11th December 1970

Fresh from his California summer of Primal Scream therapy to exorcise the various demons that had been "torturing and scaring him for twenty-odd years",
John had written a batch of songs that reflected what the therapy had made him face: the pain of his mother-and-fatherless childhood, the death of his mother,
the sometimes hell of Beatlemania and the subsequent breakup, among other topics.

After returning to England, John and Yoko rounded up familiar faces for what would become the sessions for the couple's respective Plastic Ono Band L.P.'s which would be recorded in tandem and released simultaneously that December.
See John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Ringo and bassist pal Klaus Voorman would make up the core backing group to match the sparse tunes John had penned. Many of the songs had been written prior to the trip, but these were polished and several more were composed in California.
As John stated, "the ones I play on guitar I wrote on guitar, the ones I play on piano I wrote on piano".

Sessions began on 26th September 1970 with pre-production work beginning two days earlier.
In usual Lennon fashion, they were swift, described by John as being "done in ten days". Ten sessions would have been a more accurate assessment.

Phil Spector, having proved his mettle on Instant Karma and Let It Be, as well as George's forthcoming All Things Must Pass, brought his "back to mono" sensibility to the sound of the record, resulting in it being a very "in your face" L.P.

Work on the L.P., including all overdubs (which were few) and mixing, took place on the 8-track desk at EMI.
The Beatles Book Monthly reported sessions taking place at EMI on October 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 14 with initial mixes produced on the 22nd. All other work was completed by 27th October. The tapes were delivered to EMI on the 29th.
Acetates of the final track layout were cut the next day.

Upon release it was hailed as the best solo Beatle release thus far and to this day stands as arguably John's most consistent work. It's a harrowing listen, even 45 years on, however this did not deter it from becoming a top-twenty L.P.

Although some of these tracks have appeared before, they are offered here in more complete form and in correct sequential order from a newly acquired mono monitor source tape.

Mother   (8 Versions)

Beginning with four ominous tolls of a church bell, the leadoff track hit the central issues explored in John's therapy head-on.
Musically and lyrically it set the tone for the rest of the record.
The early Anthology version is prefaced by a brief warm-up which leads directly into the take.
It is also performed on electric guitar at a slightly quicker tempo than the piano-based album version, which results in a less menacing, more upbeat read of the song.
After the take John comments, "That was more like it". Obviously, it wasn't.
Four rings of an ominous bell later, he had it .....

The quicker tempo alternate take was only aired during The Lost Lennon Tapes radio series, but it's intro was talked over which spawned several different edits as bootleggers attempted to join the commercial and alternate versions. Pegboy's The Dream Is Over provided this take from a tape source, but even this tape source was said to be incomplete.

The commercial L.P. version (5:33) is nearly mono, but the hi-hat appears in the right channel.
The 5:06 version on Shaved Fish is in mono and fades prematurely.
A third edit of 3:53 appears on 1997's Lennon Legend where it is listed as the "single edit". But, the single was in mono while the Legend version simply edits the stereo L.P. version almost like the 45 - just slightly shorter.
An intriguing rough mix appears to be taken from acetate on the Japanese CD Hushed Bells Over, which consists of the piano based backing, but with electric guitar accompaniment. On first listening it may seem this mix could be a forgery, but there are numerous variations in John's vocal during the repeated end chorus as well as a slightly longer fade.
As an aside, George Harrison performed a brief, off-the-cuff, acapella rendition of it during an interview for the TV show Good Morning Australia in March 1982.

This track is one of the few on the L.P. mixed in full-dimensional stereo.
It was also remixed for use in the Imagine: Documentary but it's brief appearance is covered by narration.
A great, yet way too short rockabilly version appears on Anthology.

Of the available alternate mixes, the first is discernible in several ways:
First by the spoken introduction in which John refers to "Carl Wolf" (he's telling the musicians he wants a performance some where between Carl Perkins and Howlin' Wolf !)
Secondly, by the prominent congas, which have all but been mixed out of the commercial version.
There is also an extended fade which features more of John's reprise of Perkins' Gone Gone Gone than on any other mix.
This mix was aired on The Lost Lennon Tapes and appears on Complete Lost Lennon Tapes Vol. 7.
The second alternate mix sounds nearly identical to the released version but has a wider stereo picture and the fade runs on longer.
Another mix appears to be a composite of the previously described alternate mix and the commercial version (the edit can be heard at 0:28) which results in a useless variation.

Working Class Hero   (Just 2 versions)

The commercial version is in mono.
The Anthology take is quite similar to the released version with John accompanied by his acoustic guitar.
Yoko is asked to "A&R" the track at the start to check it all sounds well. At the end of this attempt, which Yoko described as "the take before the first take", John breaks into a brief impromptu version of "Well, Well, Well".
Like "I Found Out", the Australian pressing was edited to remove two offending lyrics, 25 years later the soundtrack was still being censored on a promo video for the Anthology version.

Isolation   (4 Versions)

A fabulous side one closer. Isolation is one of the reasons the demise of the vinyl L.P. is such an unfortunate event.
It shuts down cold one of the most emotionally draining sides ever created for an album.
This effect would be greatly diminished on C.D. when it was directly followed by Remember instead of giving the listener a chance to ponder what they had just heard !

This track is also nearly in mono. but the bass drum is in the left channel and the voice goes to a wide stereo picture in the middle-eight, due to the panning of John's double-tracked voice.
The alternate take fades in from a take in progress which quickly breaks down. John, Ringo and Klaus commiserate what necessitated the breakdown and then proceed at a slightly slower tempo than the commercial version would later evidence.

Remember   (20 versions)

9th October 1970 found John in boisterous mood on his 30th birthday as can be heard on the version appearing on Anthology of this lively song that kicked off side two of the album.
Early takes fade in on a frantic attempt at the tune taken at far too quick a pace for John to sing along with.
After some discussion, they start up at a much slower tempo, even slower than the released version.
These attempts are humourous with John cracking up throughout, making up lyrics on the spot, and finally remarking,
"I mean ... that was silly" at the end. Silly maybe, but entertaining definitely.

The commercial version is in mono as is the unedited version of the released take.
On another take, John's vocal has been double-tracked in parts and the extended playout features an organ overdub.
The closing "5th of November" occurs at 4:30 on the L.P. while the rough mix runs on another 3 minutes 45 seconds, clocking in at a whopping 8:15 !
John can be heard during this playout saying, "Avant Garde is French for bullshit".
He also says, "Yoko's grown a beard and John's lost another baby" and "both of them are going to live on the Isle of Wight for tax reasons."
A jew's harp is also prominently used as percussion, but this was left out of the final mix.

Love   (About 30 versions !)

The early Anthology take is performed on acoustic guitar, unlike the piano/acoustic duet with Spector on the final version.
The track fades in quickly and breaks down, a brief bit of dialogue and straight into a complete take. A slower tempo than the commercial release as John fumbles with the chord changes.

The album version is in mono.
All C.D. appearances use a master that has had an intro and outro fabricated for noise reduction purposes. And it appears that the stereo mix intro was reduced to mono and faded appropriately to aproximate the original version. One problem - the pitch of the intro doesn't quite match the rest of the track - tough to notice unless you A/B the CD and the LP. There is plenty of tape hiss on the LP version - this isn't tough to notice.
So for now the only place to get real "Love" is on a copy of the original L.P.

The stereo mix of Love prepared in 1982 to promote The John Lennon Collection appeared only on the single.

Well, Well, Well   (Just 2 versions)

The lengthiest track on the album and the one with John's trademark larynx bursting singing - hence not many takes !
With regards to the rough mix, this is actually a composite of two broadcasts from the Lost Lennon Tapes, (the first of which I see on Complete Lost Lennon Tapes Vol. 12 (original vinyl Vol.20), but I can't locate the second part).
Anyway, this rough mix of the released Take 4 is in stereo compared to the commercial mono mix.
The stereo picture isn't very wide, but Ringo's hi-hat is panned further to the left.
The problem is, the first part of the two composites is in stereo, but the second part is in mono, so when the edit is made (at 3:33) the track reverts to mono. Anyway, this composite is better than two incomplete versions.

Look At Me   (6 versions)

A Julia-esque type song written during the White Album period but not proffered for use on that L.P.
Look At Me on Anthology is performed on steel string guitar and strummed chords, whereas the released version was strung with nylon and had finger-picked arpeggios. Also it is at a slightly quicker tempo.

There are two alternate mixes of the released take, both in mono and not easily differentiated.
They can best be discerned from one another by the opening line of the song. Although both have John's vocal double-tracked, the first version sounds phased, while the second is dry in comparison. In addition two distinct voices can be heard to say, "Hello" in the intro of the second version.
Both of these appear on the Lost Lennon Tapes as can be found Here

God   (7 versions)

According to John the song was "stuck together" from three different unfinished compositions, as can be heard from the composing demos.
Compared to the dramatic piano-heavy released version, Anthology features a lively reading of the song with acoustic guitar accentuating the 3/4 waltz-time. Almost like "Luck Of The Irish" at the start .....
The commercial release has a very faint stereo image with the snare panned slightly to the left and some panning of the drums during the "I don't believe in ... " litany.
The track was remixed and edited for it's inclusion in the Imagine: documentary, where nearly two minutes can be heard.

My Mummy's Dead   (Just 2 versions)

Studio Outtakes and Jam  

To help lighten the load while recording the heavy material for the L.P., John did what he normally did between takes
warming up by jamming on some of his favourite oldies. The entire oldies jam (which runs in excess of 10 minutes) appears in superb stereo

"Fly" Filming Sessions  

This brief mostly intrumental piece comes from raw footage of the filming session for Fly.
While Yoko films, John entertained himself on acoustic guitar, in this case with a rockabilly style 12-bar.

"Power To The People" Sessions  

EMI Studios, 22nd January 1971
Plenty of alternate mixes of Power To The People exist which give an interesting view into how the record
sounded prior to the massive compression and echo applied to the final single version.
A number of these versions can be found on The Lost Lennon Tapes.

"God Save Us" Sessions  

The home demo was recorded 13th April 1971.
Again, these versions were aired on The Lost Lennon Tapes

The D.V.D. - The Making Of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band  

A complete waste of time.
Worst part of this set.

This is the fantastic TV show "Classic Albums" that featured the Plastic Ono Band album.
But .....
On this bootleg it's just the bare show at 52 minutes and 13 seconds long and it's poor TV quality and has distracting dutch subtitles !
Clearly, it's from vpro TV from the Netherlands as it has the station ident in the corner.
Really strange that the bootleggers would use this version when there is an official release (from Eagle Vision):
In 2008 an excellent DVD was issued as part of the Classic Albums T.V. series.
See Classic Albums - Plastic Ono Band ....
that has the full show in great quality ... plus has over 35 minutes of bonus material !

In all, a brief, but interesting fly-on-the-wall listening experience that can only make one appreciate even more one of the best post-Beatle albums by any of the Fab Four. What more could anyone want?