An unreleased, newly restored video of John Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’ has been released.
The newly remixed version features in a new box set called ‘Power To The People’, due for release on October 10, which explores the pair’s NYC era and political activism through unreleased demos, home recordings, jam sessions, live cuts, unique mixes and more.
The restored recording of ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’ is taken from the afternoon performance of the pair’s ‘One To One’ concerts held at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. These were John Lennon’s only full-length shows after leaving The Beatles, and also the last gigs John and Yoko ever performed together before his death.
The ‘One To One’ concert was held 53 years ago today (August 30), and the release of this new footage is to mark the anniversary.
The newly released recording was premiered on YouTube at 2pm NYC time (7pm UK / 11am LA / 3am Tokyo), which was the exact time of the performance.
“That Madison Square Garden gig was the best music I enjoyed playing since The Cavern or even Hamburg,” John Lennon told NME of the MSG shows in 1972. “It was just the same kind of feeling when The Beatles used to really get into it.”
Watch it below.
In a Preface to the box set, Yoko Ono Lennon writes: “The ‘One To One’ concert was our effort in Grassroots Politics. It embodied what John and I strongly believed in – Rock for Peace and Enlightenment. And this one in Madison Square Garden turned out to be the last concert John and I did together. Imagine Peace. Peace is Power. Power To The People!”
The upcoming ‘Power To The People’ box set is produced by John and Yoko’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, along with his five-time Grammy-winning team. It is made up of 123 songs, including 90 never-before-heard and previously unreleased tracks, and chronicles the couple’s most political era.
Nine CDs are included in the box set, along with three HD audio Blu-ray discs, a 204-page book, a newsprint poster, two postcards, two sticker sheets, and two replica ticket stubs, VIP backstage passes and aftershow invitations.
Visit here to pre-order ‘Power To The People’, and find the tracklist for the ‘One To One: Best Of’ CD, New York City: The Ultimate Mixes CD, and the Studio Jam CD below. The tracklists for the remainder of the box set can be found here.
In other John Lennon-related news, ‘The Beatles Anthology’ project is returning in 2025 with a new book, album and video. The new episode features unseen behind-the-scenes footage of McCartney, Harrison and Starr coming together between 1994 and 1995 to work on the original ‘The Anthology’. It will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+ from November 26.