Fly (Yoko Ono album)

Updated on Dec 28, 2023

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Recorded 1970–71 Producer John Lennon Yoko Ono Release date 20 September 1971		Length 94:52 Artist Yoko Ono Label Apple Records

Released 20 September 1971 (1971-09-20) Studio Various Abbey Road Studios (London, England) Ascot Sound Studios (Sunninghill, Berkshire, England) The Record Plant (New York City, New York, U.S.) Fly (1971) Some Time in New York City (1972) Genres Rock music, Experimental music, Punk rock, Proto-punk Similar Yoko Ono albums, Rock music albums

Fly is the second album by Yoko Ono, produced by her and John Lennon, and released in 1971. It was a complete avant-garde/Fluxus package in a gatefold sleeve that came with a full-size poster and a postcard to order Ono's book Grapefruit. Notable songs include the singles "Midsummer New York" and "Mrs. Lennon", "Hirake" aka "Open Your Box" and "Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)", dedicated to Ono's daughter Kyoko Cox. "Airmale" is the soundtrack to Lennon's film Erection, showing a building being erected in time lapsed photography, while "Fly" is the soundtrack to Ono's film Fly.

Recording

The album was recorded around the same time as Lennon's Imagine. Ono had to re-record her vocals on "Open Your Box", on 4 March 1971 at Abbey Road Studios, after a managing director of EMI called the lyrics "distasteful"; The song featured a line that went "Open your trousers, open your skirt, open your legs and open your thighs". "Trousers", "skirt", "legs", and "thighs" were changed to "houses", "church", "lakes", and "eyes". Lennon and Ono didn't complain about the change of words, and only "wanted to get the record out", as a spokesman said.

"Will You Touch Me" was first recorded during the Fly sessions sometime in November 1971, later ending up on 1981's Season of Glass. The original version ended up on the Rykodisc reissue of Fly in 1998.

Each edition of the US, UK and Japanese albums utilized that country's distinctive telephone ring in the track "Telephone Piece" (i.e. each edition of the album used entirely different recordings) - the Rykodisc CD edition used the US variation.

Release

Fly peaked at number 199 in the Billboard charts. On 1 February 1972, Lennon and Ono Lennon recorded "Midsummer New York" backed by Elephant's Memory for an episode of The Mike Douglas Show which aired on 15 February.

Track listing

All songs written by Yoko Ono.

Side one

"Midsummer New York" – 3:51
"Mind Train" – 16:52

Side two

"Mind Holes" – 2:47
"Don't Worry, Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" – 4:55
"Mrs. Lennon" – 4:12
"Hirake" – 3:31
"Toilet Piece/Unknown" – 0:30
"O'Wind (Body Is the Scar of Your Mind)" – 5:22

Side three

"Airmale" – 10:43
"Don't Count the Waves" – 5:24
"You" – 8:59

Side four

"Fly" – 22:52
"Telephone Piece" – 0:37

Reissue bonus tracks

"Between the Takes" – 1:58
"Will You Touch Me" – 2:45

Singles

"Mrs. Lennon"/"Midsummer New York" (7") (Did not chart)

"Mind Train" (Edit)/"Listen, The Snow Is Falling" (7") (Did not chart)

Personnel

Yoko Ono – vocals, claves on "Airmale" and "Don't Count the Waves"

John Lennon – guitar, piano, organ, automated music machines on "Airmale" and "Don't Count the Waves"

Klaus Voorman – guitar, bass guitar, bells on "Mrs. Lennon", cymbal on "O'Wind", percussion on "Don't Count the Waves"

Bobby Keyes – claves on "O'Wind"

Eric Clapton – guitar on "Don't Worry, Kyoko"

Jim Keltner – drums, tuned drum, tabla, percussion

Ringo Starr – drums on "Don't Worry, Kyoko"

Jim Gordon – drums on "Hirake", tabla on "O'Wind"

Chris Osborne – dobro on "Midsummer New York" and "Mind Train"

Joe Jones - automated music machines on "Airmale", "Don't Count The Waves" and "You"

George Marino - mastering engineer

Songs

1Midsummer New York3:50
2Mindtrain16:50
3Mind Holes2:46

References

Fly (Yoko Ono album) Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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