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.
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Info/Quote Source: SoloBeatlesPhotoForum