Unfinished music no. 2 : Life with the lions

"Life With The Lions, is a darker affair. Released on Zapple in May 1969, the album's second side was recorded at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, where John lay by his lover's bed as she suffered a miscarriage. What happened in the Second West Ward was tragic, resulting in the tabloid-derived No Bed For Beatle John and Baby's Heartbeat, built around the palpitations of the late John Ono Lennon II. Side one's Cambridge 1969 is as harrowing as its flip. 26 improvised minutes of live wail, with Lennon on electric feedback, his back to the audience for the entire show. Noted free jazzers John Tchicai (sax) and John Stevens (drums) join towards the end, but aren't tested".

"Tensions from Beatlemania carry over into the couple's second, less idyllic "Unfinished Music" release, subtitled Life With the Lions. Corporate tussles between the Beatles and their record label provide some of the inspiration for "No Bed for Beatle John," a piece recorded in Ono's hospital room, following a miscarriage. The album's dominant track, though, is the side-length workout "Cambridge 1969," a live recording driven by Lennon's guitar feedback and Ono's harshest vocalizations.In failing to create much interest over its 26 minutes, "Cambridge 1969" reveals something important about Ono's art. The performances of hers that work don't do so merely because she can kick up a unique noise. Instead, the takes that have true liftoff usually find her switching up those extreme textures with greater frequency. Unlike some of the composers she hung out with, circa 1961, Ono is not a drone artist. She's an expert in subtle variations, carved from blocks of seeming chaos".

Read review