Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins | ||||
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Genre | ||||
Length | 29:27 (original LP) 33:32 (1997 CD reissue) | |||
Label | Apple/Track/Tetragrammaton | |||
Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | |||
John Lennon and Yoko Ono chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins is the first of three experimental albums released by
Background
John Lennon met Yoko Ono in November 1966[7] at the Indica Gallery in London after he received an invitation from its owner, John Dunbar,[8][9] to preview an exhibition by an obscure Japanese artist.[10] Lennon described the exhibition as "positive" and kept in touch with Ono.[11] Two years later, Cynthia Lennon, feeling miserable and increasingly distanced from her husband,[12] decided to go on holiday[13][14] to Greece with her friends Jenny Boyd and Magic Alex.[nb 1][15] Whilst on his own, Lennon called Ono and invited her over for the night.[12] The genesis of the album came about when Yoko expressed an interest in John's avant-garde home recordings[15] after he had asked "Do you want to hear some of the things I've been playing around at in my studio?"[16] Lennon then played her some of his tapes[14] which consisted of comedy recordings and electronic sounds, both of which he knew the other Beatles would not allow on their albums.[17] After hearing the tapes, Ono insisted that they make their own recording.[14][18] Cynthia returned home unexpectedly the next day to find them sitting cross-legged on the floor in matching white robes, staring into each other's eyes.[19]
The Unfinished Music series was an attempt by the pair to keep a record of their life together.[15] With Ono's Grapefruit in mind, they had imagined that the sound was not etched into the vinyl's grooves but was meant to be created by the listener's mind.[19] Lennon described Unfinished Music as "saying whatever you want it to say. It is just us expressing ourselves like a child does, you know, however he feels like then. What we're saying is make your own music. This is Unfinished Music."[20]
Recording
The recordings that ended up on the album consisted largely of
Shortly after the release of the Two Virgins, John stated in an interview that he believed the album "can change people", as others "have changed my head, just with their records."
Cover
Lennon and Ono used a time-delay camera, which was set up by Tony Bramwell, to take nude photographs of themselves for the album's cover: these were taken at 34 Montagu Square,[25] in early October 1968.[15] Lennon explained that they "were both a bit embarrassed when we peeled off for the picture, so I took it myself with a delayed action shutter."[25] The front cover showed them frontally nude while the rear cover showed them nude from behind. John's idea was to have the nude shot for the front album cover.[27] Neil Aspinall recalled that Lennon gave the roll of film to an Apple employee called Jeremy, with instructions to develop the photographs.[25] Jeremy claimed that the pictures were "mind-blowing"; Aspinall wryly observed that "Everything was always 'mind-blowing' to Jeremy" and then went on to say "but – just that one time – he was actually right. He couldn't believe it."[25]
The cover provoked an outrage, prompting distributors to sell the album in a plain brown wrapper.
Release and aftermath
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Pitchfork | 6.8/10[38] |
Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins was released by Apple Records in the US in electronically rechanneled stereo on 11 November 1968,[nb 2] and in the UK in mono and electronically rechanneled for stereo on 29 November 1968.[nb 3][7] The mono version was available only in the UK by mail order.[27] The album was distributed by Track Records in the UK and Tetragrammaton Records in the US after EMI refused to produce the cover or sleeve to the record, unless it was changed.[20][27][nb 4][15] EMI, however, pressed the record in Britain, while the album cover was printed by Technik.[27] Apple employee Jack Oliver got around the sleeve packing problem by hiring several Apple scruffs to package the album into sleeves "in the basement of the old Apple shop".[27]
It took Lennon six months to persuade his fellow band members to agree to the release of the album, and despite not approving of the front cover,
The cover art was changed for each of the album's three
Critics and the public abhorred the album.[42] Actress Sissy Spacek, using the pseudonym Rainbo, recorded the song "John, You Went Too Far This Time" in response to the album's cover.[nb 7][44][45] In a retrospective assessment, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic remarked that it was "not unlike what you might get if you turned on a tape recorder for a random half-hour in your home", calling the music "naked".[35] More favourable, Pitchfork reviewer Seth Colter Walls considered the album the "fascinating" product "of a first date", while noting "it has plenty of competition" with other Fluxus-inspired sound artefacts from the era. He also wrote that "Revolution 9", created by Lennon and Ono with George Harrison, is a "much tighter" sound collage than Two Virgins.[38]
John and Yoko went on to release a further two related recordings:
The album was reissued on LP, CD, and digitally by Secretly Canadian on 11 November 2016. The LP was a brand-new remaster of the unedited fake-stereo mix. The CD was identical to the Rykodisc CD edition.
Track listing
All selections by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, except where noted.
- Side one
- "Two Virgins Side One": – 14:14
- "Two Virgins No. 1"
- "Together" performed by Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians, vocalist: Tony Craig (George "Buddy" DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson)
- "Two Virgins No. 2"
- "Two Virgins No. 3"
- "Two Virgins No. 4"
- "Two Virgins No. 5"
- Side two
- "Two Virgins Side Two": – 15:13
- "Two Virgins No. 6"
- "Hushabye Hushabye" ("I'd Love to Fall Asleep and Wake Up in My Mammy's Arms" performed by Fred E. Ahlert)
- "Two Virgins No. 7"
- "Two Virgins No. 8"
- "Two Virgins No. 9"
- "Two Virgins No. 10"
- Bonus track
- "Remember Love" (Ono) – 4:05
Personnel
- John Lennon – sound effects
- Yoko Ono – vocals, spoken dialogue, screaming, piano, percussion, various instruments, tape loops, sound effects
- Pete Shotton – tape loops
Charts
Chart (1968) | Peak position |
Total weeks |
---|---|---|
U.S. Billboard 200 | 124 | 8 |
References
- Footnotes
- ^ John told them that if he was not working on a new Beatles album, he would have joined them.[12]
- ^ LP: US Apple T 5001; 8-track: US Apple TNM-85001[7]
- ^ Mono LP: UK Apple APCOR 2; Stereo LP: UK Apple SAPCOR 2[7]
- ^ EMI's chairman Joseph Lockwood once commented "Why don't you use Paul instead? He's much better looking."[39]
- ^ Rock Classics SSI 9999[41]
- ^ US Rykodisc RCD 10411[41]
- ^ US Roulette R-7030[43]
- Citations
- ISBN 9781631101748.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-6321-0.
- ISBN 9780241458310. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
John and Yoko's public life became a series of conceptual art events. They made avant-garde films and sound collage albums, including Two Virgins (1968) where they appeared naked on the sleeve.
- ^ Walls, Seth Colter (5 December 2016). "Yoko Ono / John Lennon: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
The Lennon/Ono collaborative albums were a critical part of their take on celebrity coupledom. ... The first set to be issued, subtitled Two Virgins, was a sound-collage set reportedly produced during their first night together.
- ISBN 978-0-19-533579-8. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
...They also released an album of musique concrete, Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, the first record issued on the Beatles' Apple label, later that year.
- ^ Maume, Chris (2 April 2015). "Cynthia Lennon: The first wife of John Lennon whose steadfastness was rewarded by cruel treatment at the hands of the Beatle". The Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Blaney 2005, p. 3
- ISBN 0-7535-0404-9.
- ISBN 0-600-20466-9.
- ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0.
- ^ Blake 1981, p. 35
- ^ a b c Blake 1981, p. 44
- ^ a b c "The Beatles Studio: John Lennon <> Discography <> UK Albums <> Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins". Thebeatles.com.hk. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ a b c Blaney 2005, p. 8
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Calkin, Graham. "Unfinished Music No.1 – Two Virgins". Jpgr.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ Blake 1981, pp. 44–45
- ^ Blake 1981, p. 45
- ISBN 978-1-4564-6600-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-512941-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "John Lennon Discography". Homepage.ntlworld.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-84732-665-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-275-99180-7.
- ^ Blaney 2005, p. 7
- ISBN 978-0-8128-8072-4.
- ^ a b c d e f Blaney 2005, p. 9
- ISBN 978-1-4402-1649-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Blaney 2005, p. 10
- ^ "Lennon's toilet in Liverpool Beatles auction". BBC News. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-8147-9910-9.
- ISBN 978-0-00-719742-2
- ISBN 978-0-252-06131-8.
- ^ Blaney 2005, pp. 9–10
- ^ Christman, Ed (26 March 1994). "Stickered Stock: Retail's Reaction To Increased Responsibility". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 13. p. 42.
- ISBN 0-06-091444-0.
- ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "Unfinished Music, No. 1: Two Virgins – John Lennon, Yoko Ono : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ISBN 1-57859-061-2), p. 667.
- ^ "John Lennon: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
- ^ a b Seth Colter Walls (5 December 2016). "Yoko Ono / John Lennon Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-84836-752-4.
- ^ Blaney 2005, pp. 10–11
- ^ a b c d e Blaney 2005, p. 11
- ISBN 978-0-7660-3675-8.
- ^ "John You Went Too Far This Time / C'mon Teach Me to Live by Rainbo". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ Spacek, Sissy (2002). Inside the Actors Studio
- ^ Borack 2010, p. 124
- ISBN 978-0-8356-0875-6.
- Further listening
- "Testimony – The Life and Times of John Lennon: "In His Own Words"" recording by John Lennon & Yoko Ono Label: Synergie OMP / The Orchard