Yoko Ono
Artist x Artist: Ben Gibbard and Japanese Breakfast Discuss Their Appreciation of Yoko Ono
For the past year and change, Ben Gibbard has been busy working on his passion project: a Yoko Ono tribute album. Paying respect to one of the most misunderstood artists of the past half-century, Gibbard enlisted high-profile artists like David Byrne, Yo La Tengo, his bandmates in Death Cab for Cutie and Japanese Breakfast to record Ono covers. Japanese Breakfast’s tender piano-driven take on Ono’s “Nobody Sees Me Like You Do” showcases a depth of knowledge for her catalog. Ahead of that album’s release, Gibbard and Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast sat down to chat about all things Yoko Ono. The duo discussed the project’s formation, their mutual respect for Ono and digging in to her vast catalog. They spoke about their takeaways of Ono as an artist and what they appreciate about her ...
David Byrne, Yo La Tengo Contribute to Upcoming Ben Gibbard-Curated Yoko Ono Tribute Album
Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie announced the forthcoming release of Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono, a tribute album he complied that features a slew of legendary artists covering the seminal works of Yoko Ono. The album’s first single features David Byrne and Yo La Tengo covering Ono’s “Who Has Seen The Wind?” which is out now. Ocean Child is set to release on February 18, Ono’s 89th birthday, via Canvasback Music. Other artists taking on Ono tracks include Sharon Van Etten, Japanese Breakfast, Death Cab, US Girls, Amber Coffman, Deerhoof, the Flaming Lips, and many more. [embedded content][embedded content] A portion of the album’s proceeds will be donated to Why Hunger, an organization that Ono has worked with for decades. “Some of her best songs have been covered and compi...
To Live and Die in L.A.: Our 1996 Red Hot Chili Peppers Cover Story
This article originally appeared in the April 1996 issue of SPIN. “Los Angeles is my favorite city in the world!” declares super foxy Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, offering as proof of his conviction the city’s name tattooed on the back of his neck. “I would never live anywhere else.” Navarro, drummer Chad Smith, and I are wedged into Newsroom, a trendy Beverly Hills restaurant/coffee house/media mill where omnipresent TV monitors serve up the latest from the E! network with your rice-milk cappuccinos. “But I feel like the bad is taking over,” says Smith, an unadulterated rock dude and Detroit native who, Navarro says, wrote the book on that city’s infamous evening of arson known as Devil’s Night. “I wouldn’t want my kids growing up here,” admits Smith, who at age 33 s...
The Reissue Section: Spring 2021
A pair of classic comedy albums from a revolutionary standup, a previously unreleased live recording from one of Germany’s most influential bands, a new collection honoring a post-disco R&B queen and the “Ultimate” edition of a John Lennon masterpiece are just a few of the archival gold hitting retail this Spring. But first, we dive headlong into a box set that classic rock fans have been anticipating since the news broke of its existence. The Who, The Who Sell Out: Super Deluxe Edition (UMe) When you listen to The Who with a 21st-century mind, especially the 1967 concept album The Who Sell Out, it’s easiest to think of them in the context of a group like Van Halen or Aerosmith when it comes to their lusty feelings about young women. By the mid-60s, teenage girls across Ameri...
Watch Never-Before-Seen Demo of John Lennon, Yoko Ono Performing ‘Give Peace A Chance’
Nearly 50 years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace A Chance” at their Bed-In for Peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal on May 31, 1969, a new demo has arrived showing a glimpse of how that legendary moment came to be. Released and restored by the John Lennon Estate, the unearthed video shows the artists side-by-side in another bed, at the Sheraton Oceanus Hotel in the Bahamas, just days before the real thing, on May 25th 1969. It’s a playfully unvarnished version of the Lennons test-driving the anti-war anthem. Here, they genuinely seem at peace. Lennon mumbles unintelligibly (“Everybody’s talking about revolution, masturbation, hasturbation, constipation … uh … rasturbation, cake, chocolate cake … uh… fake, cake, glasses, passes”) while Ono shoots him looks as if...
John Lennon ‘Look At Me’ Video Features Unearthed 1968 Footage of John and Yoko
The John Lennon Estate has gifted a music video for the ultimate mix of “Look At Me” featuring never-before-seen footage — black and white and color, shot on 8 mm — of John Lennon and Yoko Ono from 1968. The married artists are captured in their home in Weybridge, Surrey. “Look At Me” is featured on John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’s The Ultimate Collection due out on April 23 via Capitol/UMe. The release will commemorate 50 years since Lennon’s debut solo album. “With the Plastic Ono Band albums, John and I liked the idea of this really raw, basic, truthful reality that we were going to be giving to the world,” Ono says in the book that accompanies the Collection. “We were influencing other artists, giving them courage, giving dignity to a certain style of vulnerability and strength that was ...
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band The Ultimate Collection Reissue Will Feature 87 Never-Before-Heard Recordings
Yoko Ono Lennon will celebrate 50 years of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band — a record Lennon described as “the best thing I’ve ever done” — with the release of a massive eight-disc super-deluxe box set. The 159-track, 11-hour collection, which boasts 87 never-before-heard recordings, arrives April 16 via and Capitol/UMe. The ultimate mix of “Mother” launches the album as the first single. The box explores the album’s 1970 recording sessions at EMI Studios 2 & 3 and Abbey Road along with John’s post-Beatles singles “Give Peace A Chance,” “Cold Turkey” and “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On).” Tracks from inception to the final master are revealed via unreleased and rare demos, rehearsals, outtakes, jams and studio conversations. A variety of new listening ex...
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr Remember John Lennon on the 40th Anniversary of His Murder
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Sean and Julian Lennon, remember their bandmate and father on the day when, 40 years ago, John Lennon was shot and killed in front of his New York City apartment, in what news outlets at the time called “an unspeakable tragedy.” A deranged fan, Mark David Chapman, killed the former Beatle with two gunshots. Lennon’s Yoko Ono was by his side at the time and the singer was only 40. In 2020, Chapman was denied parole for the 11th time; he’ll next be eligible in 2022. On social media, McCartney said, “a sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world.” A sad sad day but remembering my friend John with the great joy he brought to the world. I will always be proud and happy to have known ...
John Lennon Tribute Concert to Feature Patti Smith, Jackson Browne and More
The 40th Annual John Lennon Tribute, featuring previously unseen and newly recorded performances Jackson Browne, Patti Smith, Natalie Merchant, Taj Mahal, Rosanne Cash, Bettye LaVette and more can be viewed online beginning on the late Beatles’ birthday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. ET. It will be shown through Oct. 12 at Midnight and benefits the Theatre Within’s Real Love Fund. The program will include unreleased performances from previous Tributes, plus new performances of Lennon and, of course, Beatles classics. For more information, and to view the concert, go here. “For 40 years, Theatre Within has remembered John with its heartfelt annual tribute, while having a powerful positive impact with its John Lennon Real Love Project music program for those by impacted cancer. What a wonderful...
Pearl Jam, David Byrne, Postal Service and More Contribute New Songs to Voting Rights Compilation
If you thought the first Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, which featured R.E.M., Hayley Williams, Matt Berninger, Phoebe Bridgers and more was a colossus, wait ’til you see this. Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2, featuring 77 previously unreleased songs from Pearl Jam, David Byrne, Postal Service, Mark Ronson, Big Boi and Sleepy Brown, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and many more will be available for 24 hours only on Bandcamp This Friday, Oct, 2. One hundred percent of those net proceeds go to Voting Rights Lab, a nonpartisan organization that brings state advocacy, policy, and legislative expertise to the fight for voting rights. GMTATCOAD Volume Two will feature a slew never-before-heard new songs, covers, remixes, live versions, ...
