Wedding Album - John and Yoko

Wedding Album
John and Yoko
Apple SMAX-3361
1969 

This originally came in an elaborate box with various posters and facsimiles of wedding stuff.  The box isn't terribly difficult to find although it is generally pretty expensive in collectible condition.  I bought the record without the box, but it only cost me $4.00 and even at that price I think I overpaid.  I've had this record more than 30 years and this was only the fourth time I ever listened to it.  It was the first John Lennon solo record I ever bought.  My crummy hometown briefly had a used record store and I saw this in the Beatles bin and bought it out of curiosity.  Of the three John and Yoko avant-garde albums, I like "Life with The Lions" best and "Two Virgins" least and this one is in the middle.  Depending on how you feel about Yoko's singing there is little on this album that resembles pop music, aside from John crooning a few bars of "Good Night" from the "White Album."  It is actually more like a performance art piece.  Side one features "John and Yoko" which consists of them reciting each other's name accompanied by some heartbeats for about 22 minutes.  It is not quite as boring as you would expect, it even made me smile a few times.  It would be decent background "music" for doing housework or some other mundane activity, it is easy to sing along with, maybe you could try saying your own name along with them.  It was presumably inspired by Stan Freberg's classic record "John and Marsha" which is the same idea only shorter and funnier.  Side two is entitled "Amsterdam" and begins with Yoko apparently improvising a song about peace.  I'm not a big fan of Yoko's crooning but this song would suck even if Sandy Denny were singing it.  That is followed by various excerpts from the couple's 1969 Bed-In in Amsterdam.  They are both funny and irritating.  Aside from Yoko and her son, I can't imagine who could possibly enjoy this album very much.  I find it more interesting than fun and not all that interesting at that.  Recommended for people who like Yoko's art more than John's music.