#27jan

As with some other US TV shows of the time the pilot episode of The Incredible Hulk was released in the cinema in the UK. I wasn't aware of this but can remember Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica episodes getting cinema releases.

On the 27th January 1970, 50 years ago, John wrote, recorded and mixed Instant Karma, all in one day. 

“It just came to me. Everybody was going on about karma, especially in the Sixties. But it occurred to me that karma is instant as well as it influences your past life or your future life. There really is a reaction to what you do now. That's what people ought to be concerned about. Also, I'm fascinated by commercials and promotion as an art form. I enjoy them. So the idea of Instant Karma was like the idea of instant coffee: presenting something in a new form. I just liked it.” [John, All We Are Saying, David Sheff, 1980]

John wrote the song at home in Tittenhurst Park, completing it in just an hour. Eager to get it recorded, Abbey Road was booked for the evening, starting at 7pm. Eric Clapton who had played on the previous Plastic Ono Band single, Cold Turkey, wasn’t available for the session, so John invited George to play. 

“John phoned me up one morning in January and said, 'I've written this tune and I'm going to record it tonight and have it pressed up and out tomorrow - that's the whole point: Instant Karma, you know.' So I was in. I said, 'OK, I'll see you in town.' I was in town with Phil Spector and I said to Phil, 'Why don't you come to the session?' There were just four people: John played piano, I played acoustic guitar, there was Klaus Voormann on bass, and Alan White on drums. We recorded the song and brought it out that week, mixed - instantly - by Phil Spector.” [George]

Pictured is John during the Instant Karma session on 27th January 1970. 

Hotspur No. 1006, dated 27 January 1979.

King Cobra cover by Ron Smith.

George photographed in Cannes, France c. 27th - 30th January 1976, during the Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale (MIDEM) music technology trade show.

Paul: I’d prefer to forget this incident right now!

Reporter: For the next few days, presumably, they’ll be a chance for you to get back to the English way of life and particularly to have a break with your family?

Paul: Yeah! If you fellows would leave me alone, that would be possible.

“I remember walking along the beach earlier when suddenly there was a huge amount of screaming on the croisette, Harrison was visibly nervous until we realised Johhny Halliday the huge french star had arrived at the festival just a few meters away, I think he was relieved he did not have to make a run for it!”

[Michael Putland]

George photographed in Cannes, South France, c. 27th - 30th January 1976. George was in town for the Marché International du Disque et de l'Edition Musicale (MIDEM) music technology trade show.