Maybe not John’s most memorable melody, but his most enduring sentiment? Yes.
Kronomyth 1.0: Sun queen in the way she moves.
“The peace was in our minds, really. I mean, we did seven days press conference for peace in which we donated one week of our two week holiday for world peace. Now a lot of cynics have said, oh, it’s easy to sit in bed for seven days. But I’d like some of them to try it, and talk for seven days about peace. All we’re saying is give peace a chance.” – John Lennon in a 1969 interview at the Sacher Hotel.
Not to be confused with the Spongebob theme song (all they were saying was “give cheese some pants”), this, the first “normal” music from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, comes in the form of an anti-war protest song. Fashioned loosely after The Beatles’ “All Together Now,” which had appeared in the Yellow Submarine film, “Give Peace A Chance” is an acoustic chant featuring astral traveller Timothy Leary (among other Earth-bound luminaries) and credited to Plastic Ono Band. The B side is one of Yoko’s prettiest songs, “Remember Love,” which suggests a feminine spin on John’s “Julia” or “Sun King.”
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Give Peace A Chance (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) (4:49)
B1. Remember Love (Yoko Ono) (4:01)
7-inch single reissue (Old Gold)
A1. Give Peace A Chance
B1. Cold Turkey
The Players
John Lennon (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Petula Clark (backing vocals), Timothy Leary (backing vocals), Yoko Ono (handclaps, tambourine, backing vocals), Andre Perry (percussion), Tom Smothers (acoustic guitar). Produced by John and Yoko.
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single on July 4, 1969 in the UK (Apple, APPLE13) and the Netherlands (Apple, 5C 006 90372), on July 5, 1969 in Germany (Apple, 1C 006 90 372), on July 7, 1969 in the US and Canada (Apple, 1809), on July 21, 1969 in Japan (Apple, AR-2324) and in 1969 in Australia (Apple, A-8833), Brazil (Apple, 7-BT-24), France (Apple, 2C 006-90.372 M), Ireland (Apple, APPLE 13), New Zealand (Apple, NZP.3333) with regional picture sleeve. Reached #2 on the UK charts and #14 on the US charts (charted on July 26, 1969 for 9 weeks).
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in 1980/1 in the UK; reached #33 on the UK charts in 1981.
- Re-issued on 7-inch single in January 1981 in Japan (EMI Odeon, EAS-17120) with picture sleeve.
- Re-released with “Cold Turkey” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in March 1984 in the UK (Old Gold, G452) with picture sleeve.
