Wedding Album is the third studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in 1969 through Apple Records. It was the final part in a trilogy of experimental collaborations between John and Yoko that began with Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins (1968) and Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions (1969).
The first part of the album is, in a nutshell, John and Yoko saying each other's names. The second part is recorded in their hotel room during the "Bed-In" project, where they stayed in bed for a full week to promote world peace. This recording is mostly interviews with the press, some random background noise and a few short songs on acoustic guitar.
For the 1993 album by Duran Duran, see The Wedding Album.
Tracklist:
Side One- "John And Yoko" (22:44)
Side Two
- "Amsterdam" (25:00)
Bonus Tracks (CD Reissue):
- "Who Has Seen The Wind?" (2:05)
- "Listen, The Snow Is Falling" (3:25)
- "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)" (2:35)
John! Yoko! Sorry... TROPES!:
- A Cappella: "John And Yoko", if you consider saying a name "singing".
- Album Filler: Side 1 is more than 22 and a half minutes of John and Yoko saying, screaming, whispering, laughing, sighing, moaning, crying,... each others' names to a heartbeat soundtrack. Side 2 starts off with Yoko and John singing a song about peace, followed by a press interview in their hotel room in Amsterdam and some random recording where John orders room service. Another short interview is heard, followed by sounds of people in the street outside and John and Yoko performing a song called "Stay In Bed For Peace". Then they say each other good night, sing one final short song and the album concludes.
- Avant-Garde Music: John's final album in this genre, though it may be his most accessible. Yoko would go on to make more in this style, but hers also started incorporating straight rock and blues numbers as well (with her singing and her signature vocalizations on them, of course.)
- Call-and-Response Song: "John And Yoko"Yoko: John!John: Yoko!
- Careful with That Axe: Some of the yelling during "John And Yoko".
- Concept Album: The album is mostly devoted to their marriage and their Bed-In campaign for peace.
- Cut Short: During "Amsterdam" a man asks John why he is holding a campaign for "Bed Peace?", but the recording is interrupted, so we don't hear John's answer to that.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The album cover is in black-and-white.
- Epic Rocking: Both sides of "The Wedding Album" LP are one continuous recording.
- Erotic Eating: John eats an apple at the start of "John And Yoko" and continues doing this after 13 minutes or so. As he gets more into this Yoko also starts eating an apple. All this while they keep calling each other's names.
- Face on the Cover: John and Yoko are featured on the album cover, inside a small picture of them standing on the steps of a building in wedding outfit.
- Gratuitous Foreign Language: During "Amsterdam" a reporter congratulates John and Yoko with their marriage and tries to say this in Dutch: "Ge-feli-citee'd met je getrouw", which is actually a rather literal translation and would translate back to English as "Cong'atulations with you marrying". What the reporter ought to have said is: "Gefeliciteerd met je trouw" or "Gefeliciteerd met je huwelijk." But John and Yoko's answer to him: "Dank u wel" ("Thank You") is correct Dutch.
- Gratuitous German:John: Gutenmorgen, Meinen Damen und Herren. This is the peace corps.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: A heartbeat soundtrack is heard during "John And Yoko".
- Humans Are Bastards: During the interview heard on "Amsterdam" Lennon and Yoko hold the entire world responsible for war. John mentions he heard that Austria is the only European country who didn't engage in war the last couple of centuries.note John and Yoko also admit that everyone has a violent side in them, but they prefer being peaceful.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: "John And Yoko". Both title and recording won't make you forgot the name of the singer.
- Leave the Recorder Running: After the song "Peace" an interview with Lennon and Yoko can be heard in their hotel room in the Hilton Hotel. Only a few seconds in a phone goes off in the background. It happens again some minutes later and is answered almost unaudibly by someone in the distance.
- Let's Duet: "John And Yoko", where Lennon and Ono call each other's names. "Amsterdam" is a pacifist song where Yoko provides lead vocals and John plays guitar and backing vocals.
- Miniscule Rocking: Some of John and Yoko's jams during the second half of "Amsterdam" are fairly short.
- Non-Appearing Title: The album title is not mentioned in any of the tracks. But allusions to their marriage are heard during "Amsterdam".
- The Power of Love: "John And Yoko", where they lovingly say each other's names, and "Amsterdam", where they promote love for world peace.
- Protest Song: "Peace", a protest song against war.
- Ripped from the Headlines: John reads some bad reviews about their "Bed-In Peace" project from the newspaper at one point.
- Room Disservice: John is heard ordering room service - two cups of tea - during the track "Amsterdam". But we only hear this recording, so we don't know for sure whether their order was brought to them? Anyway, it's certainly disservice to the audience, because nobody is interested in this fly-on-the-wall exchange.
- Say My Name: "John And Yoko" is nothing but this, for almost half an hour! Could count as either
Padding or an Overly Long Gag too. - Shout-Out:
- During the second interview on "Amsterdam" some sitar music can be heard playing on a record player. At the end of the track John starts singing "Good Night", which was the closing song of The Beatles' The White Album from 1968.
- "John and Yoko" seems like it's taking the concept of Stan Freberg's debut single "John and Marsha" and playing it for performance art (the Beatles were admitted fans of Freberg).
- Singer Name Drop: "John And Yoko" is the most literal example of this trope. It consists of nothing but John and Yoko saying/screaming and whispering each other's names for 22:44 minutes straight. During the song "Peace" on "Amsterdam" Yoko also sings "Oh John" at various moments.
- Solo Side Project: This was Lennon's third solo album recorded while still being a member of The Beatles. However, by the time this album was released (October 1969), Lennon had already quietly quit The Beatles in September of that year.
- Stock Sound Effects: John can be heard eating an apple at the beginning of "John & Yoko" and around the 13:00 mark. Background noise in John and Yoko's hotel room can be heard during "Amsterdam", including the sound of people on the street.
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Peace", which proves that Yoko can sing beautifully if she wants.
- War Is Hell: John and Yoko's central message on the second side of this album.
- Weapon of Peace: "Amsterdam" starts off with Yoko singing a track called "Peace", while John sings along.Peace... let's hope for peace
Oh, John
For our children, for our countries
For our world
For our future - Work Info Title
