Imagine: the day John Lennon and Yoko Ono forsook The Beatles to play in Cambridge
Six years earlier, he had appeared on stage in Cambridge in the trademark Fab Four smart dark suit and zipped black boots.
Now it is 1969, and John Lennon, bearded, bespectacled, and be-denimed, is back in the city.
These remarkable pictures from the News archive show him not at The Regal, where the band wowed screaming fans in 1963, but in the academic surroundings of Cambridge University's Lady Mitchell Hall.
Also there is Yoko Ono, performing alongside him in what was the first live show by any individual Beatle away from the group.
The event, called Natural Music, took place in March of that year, and it was witnessed by an audience of 500. It was promoted by poet and percussionist Anthony Barnett, who had invited Yoko Ono to attend, and was no doubt delighted when she brought Lennon along too.
The Beatles were at the height of their pop fame. Only a couple of weeks earlier, the Yellow Submarine album had been released, and they were working on their next, Abbey Road, due for release in September. But inspired by Ono, Lennon had branched off in a project called Unfinished Music, which was all about experimentation.
Lennon remained towards the back of the stage, coaxing all sorts of atonal sounds and feedback from his guitar while Ono "howled and shrieked" into a microphone. It lasted just over 25 minutes, and two other musicians joined in halfway through the piece – John Stevens on percussion and piano, and saxophonist John Tchicai.
By: Chris Elliott
Source: Cambridge News
