The Ballad of John and Yoko

This article is about the song. For the autobiography by John Lennon, see Skywriting by Word of Mouth.

"The Ballad of John and Yoko"
Single by The Beatles
B-side	"Old Brown Shoe"
Released	30 May 1969
Format	7"
Recorded	14 April 1969 EMI Studios, London
Genre	Rock
Length	2:59
Label	Apple
Writer(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
The Beatles singles chronology
"Get Back" (1969) "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (1969) "Something" / "Come Together" (1969)

"The Ballad of John and Yoko" is a song written by John Lennon, attributed to Lennon–McCartney as was the custom, and released by The Beatles as a single in May 1969. The song, chronicling the events surrounding Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono, was the Beatles’ 17th and final UK number one single.

Writing

The song is a ballad in the traditional sense of a narrative poem in a song, not in the sense used in modern pop music where the term usually refers to a slow, sentimental love song. Authored by Lennon while on his honeymoon in Paris, it tells the events of his marriage (in March 1969) to Ono and their publicly-held honeymoon activities, including their ‘Bed-In’ at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel and their demonstration of ‘bagism’.

Lennon brought the song to McCartney’s home on 14 April 1969, before recording it that evening.

Recording

The song was recorded without George Harrison (who was on holiday) and Ringo Starr (who was filming The Magic Christian). In his biography, McCartney recalls that Lennon had had a sudden inspiration for the song and had suggested that the two of them should record it immediately, without waiting for the other Beatles to return. Reflecting this somewhat unusual situation, the session recordings include the following exchange:

Lennon (on guitar): "Go a bit faster, Ringo!"

McCartney (on drums): "OK, George!"

This session also marked the return of Geoff Emerick as recording engineer of a Beatle session after he quit working with the group during the tense White Album sessions nine months earlier.

Personnel

Per Ian MacDonald and Mark Lewisohn:

• John Lennon – lead vocal, lead guitars, acoustic guitar, percussion
• Paul McCartney – harmony vocal, bass, drums, piano, maracas

Release

Backed with Harrison’s "Old Brown Shoe", the single was released in the United Kingdom on 30 May 1969; Lennon and Ono were performing a second Bed-In at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal at the time. The United States release followed a few days later on 4 June.

In the UK and Europe, it was the first Beatles single to be released in stereo. It was therefore the first release not given a mono mix.

The song has been included on several compilation albums: Hey Jude (US, 1970), 1967–1970 (1973), 20 Greatest Hits (UK, 1982), Past Masters (1988) and 1 (2000).

Reception

Several US radio stations declined to broadcast the song because of what they saw as sacrilegious use of the words Christ and crucify in the chorus:

Christ, you know it ain’t easy,
You know how hard it can be,
The way things are going,
They’re gonna crucify me.

The Spanish government under Franco objected to the song due to its statement that Gibraltar was "near Spain". The status of Gibraltar was a subject of debate between Spain and the United Kingdom at that time.

The single became the Beatles’ 17th and final UK number one; it reached number eight in the US.

References

• "Beatles - The Ballad of John and Yoko". Official UK Charts Company. 2009. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_singles_song.php?id=272. Retrieved 28 November 2009. 
• Cross, Craig (2005). The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record. Lincoln: iUniverse, Inc.. ISBN 0-595-34663-4. 
• Fong-Torres, Ben (26 July 1969). "Christ, They Know It Ain't Easy". Rolling Stone. http://www.macca-central.com/macca-news/morenews.php?id=991. "When 'Ballad' was released in late May, dozens of stations immediately announced a ban. Program directors have called the casual reference to the deity 'profane,' 'sacrilegious,' 'offensive,' and 'generally objectionable.'" 
• Fontenot, Robert (2010). "The Ballad of John and Yoko". About.com. http://oldies.about.com/od/thebeatlessongs/a/balladjohnyoko.htm. 
• Harry, Bill (2003). The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0716-1, 978-0753507162. 
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5248-8. 
• "RIAA Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - The Beatles Gold Singles". RIAA. 2009. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=The%20Beatles&format=SINGLE&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=Platinum&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 20 July 2009. 
• Smith, Alan (3 May 1969). "Beatles Music Straightforward on Next Album". New Music Express. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1969.0503.beatles.html. 
• Smith, Alan. "Beatles Ultimate Experience: Songwriting & Recording Database". New Music Express. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dba11road.html. 
• Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2. 

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "The Ballad of John and Yoko"

Preceded by "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe

UK number one single 11 June 1969 (three weeks)

Succeeded by "Something in the Air" by Thunderclap Newman