Brianland

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The only full concert John Lennon ever played after The Beatles was a benefit for handicapped children held at Madison Square Garden — and fortunately it was filmed by ABC for a TV special that aired in December of 1972.  That multi-camera footage has now been upscaled to 4K, remastered in vibrant Dolby Atmos surround-sound (by Sean Lennon), and has just been released to big-screen theaters for the first time ever as Power to the People.

The benefit actually became two concerts after the evening show sold out and they added a matinee.  It features John joining a full & functioning band — Elephant’s Memory — that he rehearsed with for a couple weeks including on stage at the Fillmore East — unlike his Live Peace in Toronto show in Sept. ’69 when his pickup band just ran through some rock n roll standards on the plane on the way over.  This combo is in the pocket, the arrangements are classic Lennon, and everybody’s nailing their parts.

John hooked up with Elephant’s Memory shortly after he moved to Greenwich Village in November ’71 where they were sort of the Village house band playing all the protest rallies and benefit concerts.  Formed by ace tenor saxophonist Stan Bronstein and drummer Rick Frank, the band was also augmented for these Garden shows by A-list session drummer Jim Keltner who’d played on Lennon’s 1971 Imagine album and in George Harrison’s band at his “Concert For Bangladesh” (along with Ringo Starr) at MSG the year before.  This is a really rhythm-centric combo with two drummers and two bass players!

Hip yourself to the crisp Ringo-esque drumming throughout, and Stan’s full-bodied R&B sax solos, but what really hits you between the ears is John’s vocals.  This is a prime example of why he’s always listed in the Top 10 greatest rock n roll vocalists of all time.  He’s in great voice here, in great physical shape, and he’s focused, confident and comfortable with his new band.

John had just released Some Time in New York City in June of ’72 (with Elephant’s Memory as his band and Keltner on drums), and appeared as co-hosts on The Mike Douglas Show for a week in February — so, he & the band were kind of active in the culture at the time.

John was a natural bandleader.  Not only did he form and lead The Beatles — the greatest band in the history of music — but how he so quickly and easily threw together the Live Peace in Toronto band;  how he stepped into Elephant’s Memory and immediately & naturally began leading them;  then went out to L.A. and put together another band to make Mind Games, then the next year went back to New York and put together yet another ensemble to make Walls & Bridges — and whenever you see or hear rehearsals with these bands he is absolutely comfortable telling players politely but pointedly exactly what to do.  It’s really striking how comfortable he is in this role.  In a way you could say he was equally a master at writing songs, singing rock n roll, and being a bandleader — which is its own particular skill.

For the 4K upscaled 2026 Power To The People theatrical release, longtime Beatle editor Simon Hilton expanded the original multi-camera shoot into split screens and triptychs reminiscent of the Oscar-winning ground-breaking Woodstock cinematic masterpiece — taking advantage of the 4:3 TV-framed footage — doubling it (or tripling it) horizontally for the theatrical experience.  You can understand how the television special was preserved, but what’s extraordinary is that all of the individual cameras’ footage never got lost or destroyed.  Suddenly a whole new movie could be made using video shot over 50 years ago!
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As Lennon said of these shows — “That Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since The Cavern or even Hamburg.  It was the same kind of feeling when The Beatles used to really get into it.”

Of Elephant’s Memory he said — “That’s the same feeling we got at Madison Square Garden with Elephant’s Memory, and you know they’re such a good band.  Stan Bronstein their tenor sax player, is a real rare one.  Perhaps the best since King Curtis is what I say.”

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The set list for the afternoon & evening shows . . .

Only 10 John Songs!

New York City
It’s So Hard
Well Well Well
Instant Karma!
Mother
Come Together
Imagine
Cold Turkey
Hound Dog — his only homage to his beloved rock n roll roots
Give Peace A Chance — only at the evening show — with everybody backstage coming on stage

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This is an anthem-rich show with:
Power To The People,  Give Peace A Chance,  Imagine,  Come Together  &  Instant Karma
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Power To The People – pre-recorded intro played as the band takes the stage – originally recorded at Tittenhurst (Ascot) in 1971 during the Imagine sessions with Billy Preston, Bobby Keys, Klaus Voormann & Alan White – released as a single (reaching #11 on Billboard) – first album it appeared on was the single collection Shaved Fish (1975)

New York City – my favorite song on Some Time in New York City – released in June 1972, just before the concerts – uptempo, positive, happy – maybe my favorite anthemic song about New York – GREAT for the show and his performance life in New York – a custom-made way to open the show saying to the city, I’m here and I love being one of you.  When this comes out on Blu-ray I’ll be hitting repeat and playing his song over & over!  😍  Great rock n roll lead guitar solo by Elephant’s Memory’s Tex Gabriel.  (no Yoko vocals)

It’s So Hard – from the Imagine album (1971) – B-side of the Imagine single – sexual double entendres – great tenor sax solo.

Move On Fast – Yoko song from 1972 – hit #1 on Billboard Hot Dance Club Song chart! – fast-paced, up-tempo, good rock song, John cool guitar, great sax and Hammond B3 solos.

Woman Is The Nigger Of The World and Sisters, O Sisters were both played at the show and are on the 1986 VHS release but are sadly not included on the 2025 ‘complete’ box set (!) or in this film.

Well Well Well – on the Plastic Ono Band album (Dec 1970) – at 6 min it’s the longest song and most jammed out rocker on the album – by a power trio of just John, Ringo & Klaus Voormann on bass – sort of primal scream – some cite as proto-punk – influence on Kurt Cobain – featured in Scorsese’s The Departed – interestingly & unexpectedly, multiple people cite this as their favorite song of the concert/movie  (!)  (no Yoko vocals)

Born In A Prison – Yoko – on Some Time In New York City – sax-centric – John & Yoko share vocals at the mic – the “Let me out of here” climax sure reminded me of the bridge in Alice Cooper’s Ballad of Dwight Frye from 1971 about an inmate trying to escape an asylum 

Instant Karma! – great steady extreme closeup on John’s face and into his eyes and soul as he delivers this touching soulful song – originally released as a single in Feb 1970 – the first hit single by a solo Beatle – reached #3 on Billboard U.S. chart – written, recorded & released within 10 days – George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston & Alan White – no Yoko vocals

Mother – a real vocal showcase for Lennon – beautifully sparse with just John’s vocals & piano and some subtle drums – opens side one of the Plastic Ono Band album – about losing both his parents – kinda primal scream escalating climax – no Yoko vocals

We’re All Water – Yoko – closes side 2 of Some Time In New York City – about how we’re really all the same – starts out basically spoken word with music, then the no key yodeling starts, but then it builds to a rockin jam climax including use of the baritone sax 

Come Together – John intros it with “We’ll go back in the past just once …” . . . and ends the song with a a classic Beatle bow 😅  — it originally opened Abbey Road album (released Sept 1969) – in May 2021 Ringo told Stephen Colbert this was his favorite Beatles song – George Martin said it was the best example of the four working together – Yoko not on stage

Imagine – like Mother, John’s in great voice, and it’s a sparse arrangement with just vocal & piano and some crisp cracking drums – and like Instant Karma a beautiful steady closeup of his face as he’s stationary on the piano bench — originally recorded in May 1971 – title track and single from album – no Yoko vocals

Open Your Box – Yoko banshee yodeling – overtly about a vagina – banned on radio in both the U.S. & U.K. – John strumming chords a la the Edge – I found myself actually bopping my head and enjoying the band’s groove including the furious B3 solo

Cold Turkey – John’s masterpiece about quitting heroin – to me, the live performance highlight of the concert — John really lets himself enter a trance and the band has been well trained to just go with him and keep up the chaos — written while still in The Beatles during the final Abbey Road sessions – the best ever live version is on Some Time in New York City from the London UNICEF benefit – plus he played it at Live Peace in Toronto [with Clapton, Klaus & Alan White] right after John wrote it and he needed the lyrics held on a clipboard

—> Don’t Worry Kyoko – only at afternoon show & not included on the 1986 video – like the prior Yoko song I was surprised to find myself bopping along and actually sort of enjoying this — from the Plastic Ono Band album – also performed at Live Peace in Toronto in Sept 1969, and a 16-min live jamming version from the UNICEF benefit concert in London is on the live album that’s part of Some Time in New York City – she’s basically just saying to her daughter Kyoto “Don’t worry” over & over again 5,000 times

Hound Dog – final climactic song of the afternoon show which is the version in the movie (the house lights are on) – nice Johnnie Johnson-style piano by Elephant’s Memory’s excellent pianist Adam Ippolito – John’s ode to the ’50s rock n roll music that formed him – “Elvis, I love ya,” he says as it ends – the Leiber & Stoller song (written when they were teenagers) was first a hit for Big Mama Thornton in 1953, then Elvis in 1956 – an influential foundational song that merged R&B into what became rock n roll – Yoko’s vocal screaming is mixed out in the 2024 documentary but unfortunately we hear it in this movie – even so, people in the theater in Toronto applauded the performance.

Law And Order – only at the evening concert – as an intro to Give Peace A Chance, Yoko reads a statement by Adolf Hitler about enforcing law & order on citizens and students with the band vamping behind her – it doesn’t really work or resonate with the Garden audience 

Give Peace A Chance – the encore – only at the evening concert – this is fully 2 or 3 times longer than the TV broadcast version which is the only one we’ve seen up until now – joined by Stevie Wonder, Allen Ginsberg, Sha Na Na, Melanie, David Peel, Phil Spector & others – Yoko screaming into the mic at the start, then thank gawd she passes it to Stevie Wonder, who then passes it to Melanie

 

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The Beat and The Beatle 

 

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One To One: John & Yoko documentary (2024)

Directed by Kevin Macdonald & Sam Rice-Edwards;  John & Yoko, plus contemporaneous footage of Allen Ginsberg, John Sinclair, Jerry Rubin & others.  Sean Lennon oversaw the audio remastering of the One To One concert footage.  REALLY well made documentary about John & Yoko moving to Greenwich Village and their activism circa 1971/72.  Uses TV shows, TV ads and news reports of the time to bring that period to life.  The filmmakers made a cool exact reconstruction of John & Yoko’s Bank Street apartment to use as a visual setting for audio of the period.  Eight John songs from the One to One concert (Aug 1972) are seen in whole or in part — New York City, Come Together, Instant Karma, Hound Dog, Cold Turkey, Mother, Imagine & Give Peace A Chance.  The Elephant’s Memory band is rehearsed, the arrangements are smokin’, and John is in great shape!

Time-coded annotated breakdown . . .

0:57 — starts with the audience heading into the concert

1:40 — John, Yoko & band walking down the MSG backstage hallway to the stage

* * 2:00–3:50 — New York City! — I’m getting goosebumps!! GREAT accompanying video of NYC footage!
2:02 — long haired blond

Elephants Memory — with a great driving sax! (Stan Bronstein)

all the concert footage is in 4:3 aspect ratio for TV

3:05 — Andy Warhol

3:18 — Allen Ginsberg!

John & Yoko on the radio — loving the Village & Washington Square Park

footage of the set the filmmakers made of an exact recreation of the Bank St apt based on photographs!

John: “I just like TV.”

singer makes a protest to Nixon at White House!

7:18 — Jerry Rubin on early Phil Donahue TV show!

8:30 — A.J. Weberman going thru Dylan’s garbage!

9:40 — Attica State prison news footage

10:05 — Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour – the movie occasionally flashes to TV shows and ads of the era like John & Yoko flipping thru the stations watching TV at that time

10:42 — David Peel phones Yoko – audio

12:15 — Mike Douglas Show — J&Y

12:35 — Jerry Rubin comes out

* * 14:15–17:00 — Come Together – Complete? from One to One

VERY specific drumming — Keltner doing Ringo perfectly.

18:15 — Yoko art show – 1971

18:50 — Allen Ginsberg briefly at art show

— then he reads / does blessing – with Phil Spector, John & Yoko

20:30 — Shirley Chisholm running for president

21:05 — the real Dog Day Afternoon bank hostage footage

22:15 — Vietnam war footage of medic (MASH!)

22:45 — Allen Klein – John phone call re: John Sinclair

23:50 — Allen Ginsberg at John Sinclair rally

24:00 — Jerry Rubin on stage at rally
25:00 — mentions “beatniks”

25:15 — David Peel on stage

25:20 — John on stage – makes his opening speech

25:50 — sings John Sinclair (partial)

26:45 — John Sinclair getting out of prison

27:20 — Sinclair on phone with Lennon

28:45 — B&W – John singing Attica State – acoustic steel guitar

29:15 — B&W – John with Yoko & Jerry Rubin in bed addressing the camera about plans inspire the youth the get active including going on the road to speak and sing to them

30:10 — George Wallace speaking at a rally

30:30 — arresting black people

30:40 — Allen Klein & John audio phone call discussing tour with Jerry Rubin — “Free The People” tour – raise money to pay bail to free black people

32:10 — Mary Tyler Moore TV show opening 🙂

32:20 — John & Yoko on talk show – trying to see Kyoto

Flash Back — I guess this is footage of Kyoto

34:00 — Don’t Worry Kyoto – One To One concert

Bed in for peace — Air Canada in background

The Rock N Roll Revival ’69  at Varsity Stadium in Toronto 

Dylan on the Johnny Cash Show on the TV

35:50 — Bed in For Peace — Timothy Leary

36:00 — John & Yoko at Niagara Falls!

37:10 — Yoko makes appeal on a TV show to see Kyoto

37:20 — black chicks dancing in cowboy hats

38:00 — B&W – David Peel singing about A.J. Weberman

interviewing people in the airport about Nixon’s speech about Vietnam War

39:30–41:25 — Instant Karma — One To One – complete! — set to Vietnam & Nixon footage

Bob Hope and Jane Fonda

41:25 — preacher Billy Graham at a stadium rally

Times Square anti-war protest

rally in Bryant Park / 40th St. – winter ’71–>’72

43:00 — John & Yoko address the crowd

cops assaulting journalists

44:15 — Howard Smith (not the newscaster) & John audio of phone call

tells him about a young Irish organization

45:00 — B&W John on acoustic guitar Luck of The Irish

46:30 — audio of John saying Jerry Rubin should declare himself in the band

on phone with Jim Keltner

John says Dylan will show up at shows on their tour

47:30 — interview with guy on street about Joey Gallo after he was killed that morning — sorta stupid and pointless

Little Italy / Village — John Johnson ABC News reporting

48:30 — audio – journalist & John about phones being bugged

John mentions recording his own phone calls to cover his ass

talks about being trailed by a car whenever they go anywhere

49:30 — audio of news report about men being arrested installing eavesdropping equipment at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate – Leslie Stahl reporting!!

* 50:10–52:00 — Hound Dog — One to One – sounds complete — Yoko’s screaming is muted in mix

footage of Nixon in car rally

52:30 — audio Yoko calls A.J. Weberman after Dylan backs out of concerts because he’s pissed about Weberman going thru his garbage and Weberman is aligned with David Peel who John has embraced

John gets on and talks about their black bag art pieces

54:15 — 2 people in black bags at protest with John & Yoko protest sign. Them?

AJ Weberman leading protest w/ microphone on street — probably Dec 1971 Capitol Records protest

54:35 — Angela Davis? at protest speaking for freeing prisoners

55:00 — audio Howard Smith & John on phone about AJ Weberman writing Dylan a letter of apology

Frosted Flakes ad 🙂 — the sound of changing channels on TV – GREAT editing!

57:00 — Jerry Rubin on stage at a protest

57:35 — John Chancellor newscast reporting on the U.S. telling Lennon to leave the country due to marijuana conviction in Britain 5 yrs ago

57:45 — John in suit & Yoko interviewed on street

58:40 — David Peel & AJ Weberman singing for John & Yoko on street

59:15 — news report of an old Charlie Chaplin coming down stairs out of an airplane – his first time in the U.S. in 20 years – his visa had been revoked years ago because some “bureaucrat” didn’t like his humor

1:00:15 — TV interview with John about why he’s being deported

1:00: 35 — racist George Wallace at a rally

1:01:15 — footage of Wallace being shot in crowd in Laurel, Maryland

1:02:20 — Shirley Chisholm speaking on the shooting

1:03:10 — audio Dan Richter and May Pang about flies for an art piece

1:03:50 — AJ Weberman speaking into a mic at a table at a protest – I think Dana Beal is next to him — talking about going to Miami to protest at Republican convention

1:04:25 — audio John & journalist – mentions a meeting with Jerry Rubin, Abbie, Allen Ginsberg & John Sinclair about the Republican convention – how Allen & Lennon sided against the others who wanted to instigate violence.

John points out how there’s no women at these meetings.

Tupperware ad 🙂

1:05:20 — J&Y on the Dick Cavett Show – make statement they’re not going to Miami – and title card says they split off from Jerry Rubin and cancel the “Free The People” tour

* 1:06:10–1:08:50 — Cold Turkey – One To One – set to footage of protestors in Miami — great editing

1:08:45 — J&Y doing black bag piece on floor of art installation

1:09:05 — audio John & a journalist about focusing on yourself & not ‘revolution’

1:09:25 — guy on floor crying during a primal therapy session

1:10:25 — J&Y on The Mike Douglas Show about John’s dad leaving & being raised by Aunt Mimi

1:11:13–1:15:45 — Mother – One To One – seems complete – soulful, powerful

Willowbrook children’s ward – Geraldo news report from there for ABC channel 7 in New York

5,300 retarded / disabled children there!

* 1:17:08 — film of the recreation of the Bank St apt – dissolved into a photo and J&Y in it watching TV at the end of the bed

1:17:55 — title card about them deciding to do One To One benefit concert for Willowbrook

1:18:05 — J&Y interviewed by Geraldo in windy outdoors

1:18:18 — John on stage sound-checking for MSG show

1:18:45 — footage of Willowbrook kids in Central Park with balloons

1:19:30–1:22:30 — Imagine – One To One – seems complete – footage of school buses arriving full of kids then them playing in Central Park

1:22:50 — Republican convention – they vote NOT to end discrimination against homosexuals

* 1:23:05 — Allen Ginsberg with Bob Schieffer on the floor of the convention talking about America accepting homosexuality

1:24:30 — B&W footage of J&Y outdoors in wilderness – at a harbor

1:25:17 — B&W – it says they’re in Cambridge – outside Harvard Divinity School

“First International Feminist Conference” – there’s a hand vote to not include men in the conference

1:26:30 — audio of John w/ a journalist about how he was subconsciously in the conspiracy of men against women – how Yoko woke him up

Yoko voiceover speaking at the conference telling about meeting John and how she was suddenly portrayed as “a witch” — “and that’s very flattering.”

footage of Bela Abzug

“Uppity Women Unite” button

1:28:15 — Yoko song, vocal & piano “Looking Over From My Hotel Window” … “age 39” – B&W footage on the road back in NYC

1:31:05 — Walter Cronkite reporting on Nixon re-election landslide win in Nov 1972

Nixon acceptance speech

1:32:00 — audio of May Pang & Dan Richter

1:32:45 — footage of flies art show – them crawling on a woman’s body

1:32:50–1:35:50 — Give Peace A Chance – One To One

1:34:15 — Stevie Wonder on stage singing

1:34:45 — Allen Ginsberg comes out, and David Peel, Phil Spector, Bowzer from Sha Na Na – stage FILLS with people

1:35:25 — Melanie lead vocal

1:35:50 — pans back to empty J&Y Bank St apt set as music fades out

police cars with sirens go by the windows — signifying night John was shot?

1:36:25 — title card: “J&Y left their apartment in the Village in March 1973 … and moved uptown to the Dakota Building.”

1:36:40 — B&W home movie footage – at the Dakota

1:36:55 — Elliot Mintz on how they’d like to be remembered — Answer: as 2 people in love.

B&W footage of Central Park out their window

#9 Dream audio

title card: concert raised $1.5 million for Willowbrook and other disability causes.

title card: “John learned he won’t be deported … two days later Sean was born.”

credits over home movies of baby Sean and John and Yoko

1:39:15 — audio Bring On The Lucie (Freda People) from Mind Games to credit roll on black screen

1:39:50 — One to One musicians listed:

John, Yoko, Jim Keltner, Stan Bronstein tenor sax, Wayne ‘Tex’ Gabriel lead guitar, Adam Ippolito keyboards, Gary Van Scyoc bass, John Ward bass, Rick Frank drums

Stan Bronstein & drummer Rick Frank formed the band

Guests: Stevie Wonder & his new band Wonderlove, Allen Ginsberg, Phil Spector, Sha Na Na, Bernard Carabello, Melanie, Geraldo, David Peel

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For more of John Lennon’s genus — listen to Jack Antonoff break down Happiness Is A Warm Gun from the White Album . . .

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For another cool Beatles movie — here’s a time-coded breakdown of 7½ hours of Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back complete with every person identified and key dialog transcribed and every detail explained . . .

The Beatles: Get Back — Time-Coded and Annotated

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I was in Manhattan the night John was shot.  It took me 30 years before I could ever revisit it again, but here’s the story about being outside the Dakota that night . . . and in what became Strawberry Fields as dawn broke . . .

John Lennon — In the Night, and in the Light

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Here’s a detailed clip-filled piece about the Rock n Roll Revival movie when John played his first non-Beatles show in Toronto.  I was at the Toronto premiere and spent time the filmmakers . . .

Revival69 — Documentary Review about John Lennon’s Toronto Concert in 1969

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And here’s a popular piece I wrote about the Beats and the Beatles and how they connected over Michael McClure’s play The Beard . . .

The Beatles, The Beats & The Beard

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by Brian Hassett

karmacoupon@gmail.com   —  BrianHassett.com

Or here’s my Facebook page if you wanna join in there —

https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada