Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
| Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins | ||||
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| Studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono | ||||
| Released | 11 November 1968 (US) 29 November 1968 (UK) |
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| Recorded | 19 May 1968 at Kenwood, Surrey | |||
| Genre | Avant-garde | |||
| Length | 29:27 | |||
| Label | Apple/Track | |||
| Producer | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | |||
| John Lennon and Yoko Ono chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| MusicHound | woof! |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Pitchfork | 6.8/10 |
Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins is the first of three experimental albums released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Apple Records. It was the result of an all-night session of musical experimentation with Yoko in John's home studio at Kenwood, while his wife, Cynthia Lennon, was on holiday in Greece. Their debut recording is known not only for its avant-garde content, but also for its cover which features the couple naked: This made the album controversial to both the public and the parent record company EMI, which refused to distribute it. In an attempt to avoid controversy, the LP record was sold in a brown paper bag, and distributed by Track and Tetragrammaton in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively. Two Virgins, while failing to chart in the UK, reached number 124 in the US. The album was followed six months later by Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions.
John Lennon met Yoko Ono in November 1966 at the Indica Gallery in London after he received an invitation from its owner, John Dunbar, to preview an exhibition by an obscure Japanese artist. Lennon described the exhibition as "positive" and kept in touch with Ono. Two years later, Cynthia Lennon, feeling miserable and increasingly distanced from her husband, decided to go on holiday to Greece with her friends Jenny Boyd and Magic Alex. Whilst on his own, Lennon called Ono and invited her over for the night. The genesis of the album came about when Yoko expressed an interest in John's avant-garde home recordings after he had asked "Do you want to hear some of the things I've been playing around at in my studio?" Lennon then played her some of his tapes which consisted of comedy recordings and electronic sounds, both of which he knew the other Beatles would not allow on their albums. After hearing the tapes, Ono insisted that they make their own recording. Cynthia returned home unexpectedly the next day to find them sitting cross-legged on the floor in matching white robes, staring into each other's eyes. The "Unfinished Music" series was an attempt by the pair to keep a record of their life together. With Ono's Grapefruit in mind, they had imagined that the sound was not etched into the vinyl's grooves but was meant to be created by the listener's mind. Lennon described "Unfinished Music" as "saying whatever you want it to say. It is just us expressing ourselves like a child does, you know, however he feels like then. What we're saying is make your own music. This is Unfinished Music."
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