Editing John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (section)

==Release==
''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' was released in both the UK and US on 11 December 1970,{{sfn|Womack|2014|pp=490–91}} the same day as Ono's [[Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band|matching album]].{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=17}} Lennon considered issuing "Love" as a single in the US but settled on "[[Mother (John Lennon song)|Mother]]".{{sfn|Norman|2008|pp=655–56}} The song was edited down to under four minutes through the removal of the opening funeral bells and an early fadeout.{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=41}} Backed by Ono's track "Why", the single was released there on 28 December.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=19}} In Japan, the album's title was {{Nihongo|''John no Tamashii''|ジョンの魂|}}, which translates as "John's Soul".{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Several US radio stations banned "Working Class Hero" because of the song's use of the word "fucking".{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=492}}

{{quote box|quote= I think it's realistic and it's true to me that has been developing over the years from "In My Life", "I'm a Loser", "Help!", "Strawberry Fields". They're all personal records ... I didn't really enjoy writing third person songs ... But because of my hangups, and other things, I would only now and then specifically write about me. Now I wrote all about me and that's why I like it. It's me!{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=37}}|source= – Lennon's view on ''Plastic Ono Band'', as offered to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in December 1970|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
Lennon viewed ''Plastic Ono Band'' as his best work up to that point.{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=37}} He called it "Sgt. Lennon", referring to the Beatles' 1967 album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]''.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=144}} His promotion for the album included a lengthy interview with [[Jann Wenner]] of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', recorded in New York on 8 December and published in two installments under the title ''[[Lennon Remembers]]''.{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|p=43}} As with his new music, Lennon's comments reflected the effects of primal therapy.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=656}}{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=152}} He used the opportunity to discuss his troubled childhood, debunk the Beatles as a myth,{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|pp=143–44}} and denigrate his former bandmates' solo albums.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=16}} He also dismissed the effectiveness of the 1960s cultural revolution as a "dream" and committed to political protest as his new artistic direction.{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=658}} Together with the sentiments of "God", the interview ended any hope of the Beatles reuniting and was followed soon after by McCartney filing suit in a London court to dissolve the group as a legal partnership.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2010|pp=4–5}}

The album and Lennon's political stance furthered his credibility among underground radicals,<ref>{{cite book|editor=Hunt, Chris|title=[[NME|NME Originals]]: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980|year=2005|publisher=IPC Ignite!|location=London|page=14}}</ref> as the [[New Left]] welcomed his debunking of the Beatles' image.{{sfn|Frontani|2009|p=170}} Its commercial performance nevertheless paled beside Harrison's concurrently released ''[[All Things Must Pass]]'' and McCartney's [[McCartney (album)|self-titled solo album]], issued in April.{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=34}} ''Plastic Ono Band'' peaked at number 8 in the UK and number 6 in the US, spending eighteen weeks in the top 100.<ref name="blaney56"/> In the Netherlands, it was number 1 for seven weeks.<ref name="nlchart">{{cite web|title=dutchcharts.nl John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=John+Lennon+%2F+Plastic+Ono+Band&titel=John+Lennon+%2F+Plastic+Ono+Band&cat=a|language=nl|publisher=dutchcharts.nl|access-date=12 September 2011}}</ref>

Lennon was especially aggrieved that his LP was overshadowed by the acclaim afforded ''All Things Must Pass''.{{sfn|Doggett|2011|p=148}}{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=657}} According to ABKCO executive Allan Steckler, neither Klein nor promotions man [[Peter Bennett (music promoter)|Pete Bennett]] knew how to go about marketing ''Plastic Ono Band'' in the US, where it received minimal AM airplay.{{sfn|Spizer|2005|p=34}} Starr attributed the muted public response to the album's paucity of "toe-tappers".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2010|p=5}}