Let’s kick off a week of solo tunes by former Beatles with one of the first out of the gate, John Lennon’s “Instant Karma!” Released in February of 1970, before the Beatles technically broke up, “Instant Karma!” went all the way to #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, #5 on the UK Singles Chart, and #2 on Canada’s RPM 100.
“Instant Karma!” was written , recorded, and released within a period of ten days. John wrote the song on January 27, 1970, (in an hour, he said) and recorded it at EMI Studios that evening. The single was released on February 6, which was a remarkable accomplishment.
Interestingly, the single is alternately credited to John Lennon, John Ono Lennon, or Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band. Musicians on the track included George Harrison on guitar and piano, Billy Preston on Hammond organ, Klaus Voorman on bass and electric piano, and Alan White on drums and piano. All involved, along with Yoko Ono, Mal Evans, Allen Klein and “revellers” from London’s Hatchett Club (a nearby nightclub), provided backing vocals. Phil Spector was brought in (at the last moment) to produce, and he provided his patented Wall of Sound sheen to the recording.
Here’s what John remembered about the song:
“It just came to me. Everybody was going on about karma, especially in the Sixties. But it occurred to me that karma is instant as well as it influences your past life or your future life. There really is a reaction to what you do now. That’s what people ought to be concerned about. Also, I’m fascinated by commercials and promotion as an art form. I enjoy them. So the idea of instant karma was like the idea of instant coffee: presenting something in a new form. I just liked it.”
Everybody remembers the words to this one:
Instant karma’s gonna get you
Going to knock you on the head
You gonna break your body, darling
Pretty soon you’re going to be dead
What in the world you’re thinking of
Laughing in the face of love?
What on earth you trying to do?
It’s up to you, yeah, you
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Elephant’s Memory Band performing “Instant Karma!” on August 30, 1972, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Yeah, we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun…
