{"id":22220,"date":"2017-04-30T21:00:12","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T01:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=22220"},"modified":"2024-11-28T13:14:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T18:14:49","slug":"2024-50-years-ago-tonight-john-lennons-last-public-performance-with-elton-john-at-msg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com\/?p=22220","title":{"rendered":"2024 – 50 Thanksgivings Ago Tonight: John Lennon\u2019s Last Public Performance (with Elton John at MSG)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on November 28, 2024)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that 1974 Thanksgiving was also on November 28.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yeah, I was there and it was one of my favorite nights ever<\/u><\/em>. You\u2019ll see why as you read these pieces that I\u2019ve stolen from my site\u2019s writeup about it.<\/span><\/p>\n

NOT on my site is this part of my old Madison Square Garden seating chart that shows the orchestra (floor) seating sections:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you can see, the closest-to-the-stage sections were O, R, A and C and each section had 24 rows. My tickets were for the first two seats in O, Row 11 (where the red X is):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yoko Ono was seated in the Section R aisle seat a few feet away, right across the aisle from me.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, I just dug up that ticket that I haven\u2019t seen in years. I had forgotten what was on the back:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yoko signed both my and my date\u2019s ticket stubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An odd thing happened before the show started. Everyone in Section O moved their seats a few feet to the right so that they sat right next to the people in the aisle seats in Section R, which suddenly got wider.<\/span><\/p>\n

That put me right next to Yoko.<\/span><\/p>\n

I made small talk with her and then asked her what everyone in the building was sure would happen: was John here to perform with Elton? She calmly said \u201cyes\u201d and then signed our tickets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the show, I noticed a few celebrities in the audience, so I walked around and took some pictures. I just found the half-century-old slides and they\u2019re horrible<\/em>, so I\u2019ll tell you who I had photographed: Bette Midler, Andy Warhol, Billie Jean King and – of course – Yoko.<\/span><\/p>\n

I worked extremely hard to make the Yoko ones visible, but they\u2019re still pretty bad. Here\u2019s the \u201cbest\u201d one (note: I originally posted the horrible one on the left. After Bob Kunath got rid of the grain with an AI program, I got rid of the bad color…..and lost a bit of sharpness). Thanks, Bob(s):<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>She was holding a balloon that you can see the top of.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why I took this one, but it shows more of the balloon:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Obviously, I had to take extreme measures to get it to be only this<\/em> bad, but it says, \u201c99X Stereo\u201d, so I guess some AM station was involved in promotion for the show:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you know why John agreed to show up and perform? He lost a bet with Elton.<\/span><\/p>\n

They had recorded a single (\u201cWhatever Gets You Through The Night\u201d) that John wasn\u2019t crazy about. Elton proclaimed that it would go to #1. John laughed and said that if it DID get to #1, he would join him onstage at Elton\u2019s Thanksgiving Day show on November 28.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it went to #1. Welcome, Dr. Winston O’Boogie!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The show started off normally with Elton playing his hits (pic is from my site):<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then he introduced Lennon. The crown went insane!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll let my site talk for a while\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elton and John even did a little \u201cDancing With The Stars\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then Lennon exited to HUGE applause<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At that point, Yoko left her seat to reunite with her husband backstage, as I mentioned earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oh yeah – remember that \u201cscrap of paper\u201d that she found on the floor that she wrote her name and address on?<\/span><\/p>\n

I found that too:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(The reddish writing on it appears to be mine)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elton also played MSG the next night. Too bad Lennon didn\u2019t perform that night. Why? I had second row seats. Here\u2019s a peek:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SO\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.Elton John Lennon played THREE songs:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever Gets You Through The Night\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLucy In The Sky With Diamonds\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI Saw Her Standing There\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can hear all three songs on Elton\u2019s \u201cHere and There\u201d CD AND on YouTube. BOTH include many Elton songs from that same 1974 Madison Square Garden show:<\/span><\/p>\n