by Bill Kopp
feature
No, She’s Not a Witch The Times May Finally Be Right for the Music for Yoko Ono
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o, she’s not a witch. Not at all. In fact, this writer found Yoko Ono to be a most diplomatic, self-deprecating interview subject. She made a genuine effort to use my name when speaking to me (a sign of respect one rarely finds in understandably busy and weary public figures) and offered thoughtful, considered answers to my wide-ranging questions. Though her publicist granted me a mere fifteen minutes in early March, we covered a lot of ground. Even when she deflected a question, she did so in such a gracious way, I didn’t notice until it was too late.
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Yoko’s new album is a collaboration of sorts. The publicity info for Yes, I’m a Witch states, “each artist was given her catalog to listen to, and upon selecting a cut, was provided with the vocals and whatever other instrumental elements attracted them from that cut. Almost all the artists chose just the vocals.” I probed the “almost” part of that quote, and Yoko explained that, in fact, none of the instrumental tracks was used. It seems the artists were gently encouraged not to use them. The Yes, I’m a Witch project is not without precedent; it’s quite similar in concept and execution to Todd Rundgren’s 2001 Reconstructed album, but Yoko’s project is much more successful. In part this may have to do with the selection of artists involved; the list reads like a who’s-who of 21st century cutting-edge music: Peaches, The Flaming Lips, DJ Spooky, Porcupine Tree, The Polyphonic Spree, The Apples In Stereo and Cat Power…and that’s less than half of the roster. In a famous quote, John Lennon asserted that “’Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)’ is one of the best fuckin’ rock n’ roll records ever made!” Now, nearly 40 years later, I asked her what she thought of that quote. Though fiercely proud of John, she seemed a bit embarrassed to admit that she thought he was right.
So why didn’t anyone cover it for this album? In fact, most of the songs selected for Yes, I’m a Witch date from Yoko’s post-Apple days. The songs selected arguably draw upon her more—dare I say it—accessible and conventional work, bypassing the more avant-garde offerings of the early 70s. I asked Yoko if perhaps her earlier work remains too difficult for artists to get a handle on. She chuckled at the “accessible and conventional” reference—those aren’t words often used to describe Yoko’s music—but didn’t express an opinion as to why those Appleera works weren’t given the treatment. I was able to coax some enticing thoughts on the future from Ms. Ono, however. John’s Anthology box—lovingly compiled by Yoko—came out almost a decade ago. But there are hours and hours of quality unreleased material remaining unreleased. So I asked: are there plans to continue archival releases, or will fans be forced to chase after bootlegs? Yoko talked first about the effort and expense in putting together such a collection, and then made the case that Anthology was a good, representative collection of John’s unreleased work. But finally she allowed that we might see something “for the professionals” (diplomatic Yoko-speak for “fanatic Beatles bootleg collectors like this writer interviewing me”) in time for the 30th anniversary of John’s death, in 2010.
theosis, Erection, etc.) will be commercially available on DVD. She seemed genuinely shocked that anyone even remembered these films from the 60s and 70s, and both flattered and amused that anyone would want to view them now. I got no definitive answer, and was left with the sense that Yoko hadn’t given the issue much prior thought. She did take a moment to express her approval of a more current film, 2006’s The US vs. John Lennon. That movie portrayed her and John in a very evenhanded way, subtly—and convincingly—making the case that the couple was prescient and wise beyond description in many of their political/ anti-war efforts.
“’Don’t Worry Kyoko’ is one of the best fuckin’ rock n’ roll records ever made!”
Yes, I’m a Witch was released on Astralwerks in February of this year. A second, thematically similar volume of vintageYoko-meets-today tracks (Open Your Box) was released in April, but we didn’t discuss it in March, as Yoko explained diplomatically that she “does not comment on future projects.”
Trying to tie up a few tangential loose ends, I asked Yoko if she foresees a time when her experimental films (Fly, Apo-
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