Editing John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (section)

==Recording==
Having exhausted the extensions of their American visas, Lennon and Ono returned from the US on 15 September 1970.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Madinger |first1=Chip |last2=Raile |first2=Scott |title=Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed – A Scrapbook of Madness |year= 2015 |publisher= Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books |page=210 |isbn= 978-1-63110-175-5}}</ref> Soon afterwards, Ono [[Miscarriage|miscarried]] at close to eight months pregnant, and Lennon's equilibrium was tested when his father, [[Alf Lennon]], resumed contact, having recently remarried and become a father again.{{sfn|Norman|2008|pp=652–53}} At Alf's request, they met up at [[Tittenhurst Park]] for Lennon's 30th birthday, but Lennon launched into a primal therapy-inspired tirade against him{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=653}} and, according to the account Alf left with his solicitor, threatened to kill him.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=145}}

Recording for the album took place at [[Abbey Road Studios]] in London, beginning on 26 September.{{sfn|Du Noyer|2010|p=21}} Lennon played guitar or piano on the songs, with bassist [[Klaus Voormann]] and drummer [[Ringo Starr]] as the other core musicians.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=14}} The album title refers to the [[Plastic Ono Band]], the conceptual band Lennon and Ono formed in 1969 of various supporting musicians they would use on their various solo albums. Lennon asked [[Phil Spector]], who had produced Lennon's hit "[[Instant Karma!]]" earlier that year,{{sfn|Du Noyer|2010|p=21}} to co-produce the new album. Since they were unable to contact Spector before recording began, [[Allen Klein]], Lennon's manager, took out an advertisement in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine that read: "Phil! John is ready this weekend."{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=144}}

Spector and Apple artist [[Billy Preston]] each played piano on a track.<ref name=Norman>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=f5SiS3qlhDIC&q=John+Lennon/Plastic+Ono+Band+recording&pg=PT934 |title=John Lennon: The Life |first=Philip  |last= Norman |publisher=HarperCollins UK |year= 2009|access-date=2 December 2011 |isbn= 978-0-00-734408-6}}</ref> During the sessions, Lennon, Voormann and Starr jammed on a variety of songs in between recording the new tracks: "When a Boy Meets a Girl", "[[That's All Right|That's All Right Mama]]", "[[Glad All Over (Carl Perkins song)|Glad All Over]]", "[[Honey Don't]]", "[[Don't Be Cruel]]", "[[Hound Dog (song)|Hound Dog]]" and "[[Matchbox (song)|Matchbox]]".{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=14}} They also taped the basic track for Starr's "[[Early 1970]]" in which the drummer describes his relationship with each of his former bandmates;{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=145}} in the verse dedicated to Lennon, Starr sings, "They screamed and they cried, now they're free".{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=294}}

As longstanding friends of Lennon, Voormann and Starr were disturbed by his emotional behaviour in the studio.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=144}} In his 2004 book ''[[Postcards from the Boys]]'', Starr recalls that Lennon would burst out crying or start screaming midway through recording a track.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|pp=144, 363}} Voormann said that Lennon would change from being upbeat to highly emotional and would discuss his feelings with Ono as they listened to playbacks in the studio control room. In Voormann's view, the effects of Lennon's therapy were especially confronting to Starr, since "The old John was gone; it was a different John. It wasn't the one he was used to."{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=144}}{{refn|group=nb|In a 2015 interview, however, Starr called ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' "one of the best experiences of being on a record I have ever had". He said that due to their closeness, he and Lennon "were psychic where the atmosphere was going to go".<ref>{{cite web|first=Luke|last=Morgan Britton|title=Ringo Starr says working with John Lennon on 'Plastic Ono Band' was 'best experience' of career|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/ringo-starr-5-1213059|work=[[NME]]|date=29 May 2015|access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref>}}

According to music critic [[Richie Unterberger]], bootlegs from the sessions suggest that Lennon was far from the despondent artist reflected in the finished album.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|pp=293, 294}} As the ensemble recorded "Remember" on 9 October, Lennon's 30th birthday,{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|pp=307–08}} [[George Harrison]] visited the studio and delivered a tape of "[[Apple Jam#"It's Johnny's Birthday"|It's Johnny's Birthday]]", after Ono had asked Lennon's friends for musical greetings to mark the occasion.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|pp=144–45}}{{refn|group=nb|Starr's gift was "Happy Birthday, John", a 79-second piece in the style of [[Chuck Berry]]'s "[[Johnny B. Goode]]".{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=294}} It included contributions from Preston, Voormann and [[Stephen Stills]].{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|p=498}}}} The session tapes reveal Lennon and Starr's delight at Harrison's arrival.{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=308}} In author Robert Rodriguez's description, the meeting reflects the three former Beatles' closeness, at the expense of [[Paul McCartney]], as well as Lennon's playfulness while making ''Plastic Ono Band''.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2010|p=28}}

Lennon and Ono produced ''Plastic Ono Band'' largely on their own, as Spector was absent for much of the recording sessions. Spector [[Mixing (music production)|mixed]] the album for three days towards the end of October.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=14}} All work on the record was completed by 27 October, when Lennon and Ono flew to New York to publicise primal therapy and collaborate on the experimental films ''[[Up Your Legs Forever]]'' and ''Fly''.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=15}}