Episode 62 – Beatles ’72 pt7

With the sting of critical and commercial failure for their Some Time In New York City double album still lingering in the air, John and Yoko let trepidation be damned in the name of a charitable cause to take the stage at Madison Square Garden in the waning weeks of summer 1972. The One to One benefit concert was organized on short notice by Geraldo Rivera, following his expose of the appalling treatment of handicapped children at the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island. With enthusiastic support from the Lennons, Geraldo’s event would bring a Beatle back to the Garden for a charitable cause in the span of a year - the last being George Harrison’s historic Concert for Bangladesh. John and Yoko were backed by the Elephant’s Memory Band, and Lennon tore through a hurriedly-rehearsed set of solo songs, covers and even the Beatles’ Come Together across two performances that late August day. While the shows left John energized, the reviews were once again harsh - a blow that would derail any future touring plans for John and send him once again to a dark place. John wasn’t the only former fab to struggle in the latter half of 1972 - Paul McCartney’s home was raided on drug charges, and Ringo Starr’s former band leader Rory Storm died alongside his mother in their Liverpool home on September 28th. George Harrison, however, found himself back in the studio developing tracks for the follow-up to his mega-successful All Thing Must Pass...