On January 27, 1970 John Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed his new single Instant Karma! all in one day.
The record, also sometimes titled Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history.
The song was credited to Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band apart from in the US where the credit was John Ono Lennon. It was conceived, written, recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios and released within ten days.
The song was produced by Phil Spector, marking a comeback for the American producer after his self-imposed exile in 1966 and led to him being offered the producer’s role on The Beatles Let It Be album.
Instant Karma, which featured contributions from George Harrison and Billy Preston among others, reached the top five in the British and American charts and in the US it became the first solo by a member of The Beatles to sell a million copies.
Paul Weller, Duran Duran and U2 are among the acts to have covered Instant Karma and its chorus also inspired the title to Stephen King’s 1977 novel The Shining.
Check out our two Exclusively John Lennon stations.
EXCLUSIVELY JOHN LENNON LISTEN HERE
EXCLUSIVELY JOHN LENNON ONLY HITS LISTEN HERE
