YOKO ONO: interview w.ith prod. Rob Stevens

GDS: Rob, our first question, of course, concerns the CD for New York Rock, Yoko Ono's musical. First I'd like to ask about the title of New York Rock, because I know that it's also the same title that was used as the title from one of the CD's for Yoko's box set, Onobox. I'm wondering if there's any connection between the two.

RS: Not really. I think when you hear New York Rock [from the Onobox set], you hear something urban. Certainly on the boxed set, it was a very rock-oriented CD. Whereas, in this case, in certain respects, it could be a little misleading, since the music on the CD is not necessarily that rock and roll in nature. It's much more "legitimate" interpretations of Yoko's compositions. And in that respect, it's probably surprising to the conventional wisdom out there who are really familiar with Yoko Ono and what she does. People who perceive the more "catterwalling" kind of vocalizations that are almost a caricature of her. They don't by any means address the full scope of what she does. In the case of this record, her compositions, through arrangement and production, reveal a much more melodic side of her composition, and perhaps will be more palatable to some people, simply because she is not the one singing the material. In that regard, it's a real eye-opener for people who have these pre-conceived notions about what she is, what she does, and her capabilities and their notion of her limitations.

GDS: I've often said on my radio show that, unfortunately, all the media ever shows of Yoko is when she's doing her free-form vocal expressions, which really only account for maybe 5% of her entire catalog. And most of her songs do have melodies to them.

RS: Right. And that is something that has not been brought to light by her own solo work, since that prejudice exists whenever people hear her voice. I think there's probably also some, unconscious almost, resentment of this Japanese- sounding accent singing these pop songs. And I think that's something that no one will admit to, and perhaps isn't even aware of, but I think it exists. Also, in this case, her music is being performed by New York singers, actors and performers who really show it in an entirely different light. They bring to light the strength of some of her compositions.

GDS: I know. The beautiful thing about New York Rock for me is that given these new arrangements to songs, and also for the people who don't really care for Yoko's vocals, it makes it easier, more palatable, to the common public, and more easy to accept. I was actually amazed myself, and I've been a fairly big Yoko fan for years, to see how this music can adapt to a Broadway-type format.

RS: Yeah. A lot of her writing, during the periods that she created these songs - because a lot of these songs pre-existed the musical. There are some songs that were written specifically for the musical, but I would say a great number of these songs existed prior to the musical.

GDS: You mean Yoko actually had the musical as a concept in the back of her mind while she was doing her solo albums?

RS: I can't speak for her in that regard. I don't really know the answer to that. But I do know that there have always been constant themes that run through her music, so it really wouldn't be that difficult, nor was it that difficult, to take music from her pre-existing body of work and weave it into a cohensive form, as New York Rock is.

RS: I think that her involvement probably. . . my guess is that she made initial input to the arranger, and then gave him feedback once his arrangements were presented to her. I think that's how it went, I could be wrong about that, because I wasn't involved in that preliminary aspect of things.

GDS: There are four new compositions on the CD that were used in the musical. I'm wondering if those songs were written specifically for the musical, or were they perhaps just unreleased songs through the years that were recently copywritten and then added to the musical.

RS: "I'll Always Be With You" was written specifically for the musical. "Light On the Other Side" was written written specifically for the musical. "War Zone" was written about a year prior to the musical, but really fit in very very well, given that one of the themes of the musical is urban violence. And the fourth one is what?

RS: "Where Do We Go From Here" was also written for, I would say, for the musical. Or written just prior with the musical in mind. Interestingly enough, Yoko has now recorded her own versions of both "War Zone" and "Where Do We Go From Here," and they'll be appearing on her upcoming solo record.

GDS: I know that there was enough music to fit onto two CD's, actually, because I did see the play, and I know there's a lot of songs in there. And I know a very conscious effort was made to put as much music into one CD as possible.

GDS: I know that "Peter the Dealer" was in the musical, because it's one of my favorite songs of hers, and I noticed that wasn't left in there. And there are two tracks that are listed here as being in the musical that are not on the CD. "If Only" is one of those tracks.

RS: "If Only" is described in the libretto inside. Again, we could only fit 77 minutes on the CD. Simply for pragmatic reasons, there was some reluctance to go to a double CD for an extra 10 minutes of music. For one thing, the purchase price goes astronomically higher. So some stuff had to be left off.

RS: Yes. "Smashing My Face" was edited from the version that existed in the theater.

GDS: Because I'm familiar with Yoko's versions, I only heard the musical versions once.

RS: Right. And again, I finished working on this record about a year ago, so I am actually looking through it to see where there might otherwise have been edits. I don't think there were very many other edits. Either the songs exist in their entirety, with the exception of "Smashing My Face," or they were omitted from the record in their entirety, like "If Only" and "Peter the Dealer".

GDS: Given the story line of New York Rock that a young boy loses his mother at a young age, and there's a couple that gets married, lives in New York, and the man gets killed, obviously people are going to see the parallel there to the life of John & Yoko. Was Yoko at all concerned about that?

RS: I don't think so. I think that on the one hand, we all draw, in our creative endeavors, from our experience. It almost makes it seem more tragic that her life had to follow those. . . Let me try to put this better. . . It's almost a real sadness that you can bring that to bear, that you can say, "These dramatic things that exist here in the musical as dramatic tools actually so sadly reflected her life." Could she help bringing them in? Probably not. Again, I can't speak for her, and I can't speak for how cognizent she was of the comparison. Surely she was not ignorant of the comparison that would be made, and yet was willing to bare that part of herself that goes through the emotions that are revealed by the characters in the play.

GDS: Because no matter what Yoko does for the rest of her life, she's always going to be scrutinized. I'm sure that you'll agree with that. As far as what she will do with John's catalog and John's art. I'm sure some people will say that she's relying on the story of John & Yoko to "sell a musical."

RS: Understood. And, again, there is no speaking for them or responding to it past a certain point. She is living her life, and it's a very full life, and it's a very creative life. If you've got to answer to everybody who wants to be answered to, you won't have time to brush your teeth in the morning.

GDS: Also, I remember reading, and a lot of Beatle fans will know about, the project that John had discussed called The Ballad of John & Yoko. And that was supposed to be a Broadway musical about the story of John & Yoko and the troubles they had early in their marriage, and the prejudices and the racism that they experienced, and how they came out of it in the end. So I'm wondering if maybe Yoko bringing this musical to life, and the story is similar to the John & Yoko story, do you believe that she's trying to carry on John's dream with her own music to tell the story?

RS: I think it was their dream. I don't think that you can say that it was just "John's dream." And I do know that a number of years ago, she put together some demo versions of some of his unreleased material with an eye towards this Ballad of John & Yoko that you were referring to. And I think that at this point she probably felt that to include his stuff would be to unfairly almost capitalize on his name and his material's appearance in this. I think that's one of the reasons why she kept it her stuff. There may be a time in the future where she can create some other theatrical vehicle that incorporates John's material and her material. Again, when you refer to it as "John's dream," I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I think that this is something that they probably created and conceptualized together, and so she has had a hankering for a long time to do something on the stage.

GDS: Sean does the artwork for the CD. So what we see on the front cover of the mother and child, that drawing there is actually done be Sean.

GDS: And the drawing of Yoko on the CD [on the disc label], was that also done by Sean?

RS: I believe that was done by Hershfeld, who does the - you can actually see his signature on the corner - he does a lot of the caricatures for the "Arts & Leisure" section of the New York Times. And he did this of her, I believe, a number of years ago, or at least a couple of years ago, and it served its purpose very well here. I want to bring something else out. You had mentioned the listing of songs on the back. There is a song that exists on the CD that is not listed here. And it probably was on your CD before you unwrapped it, there was a little sticker that said, "Bonus Track No. 29 - 'Never Say Goodbye' Male/Male Version." So it exists here.

RS: It absolutely is on the CD. Index No. 29. Let me explain that a little bit. There's a song in the show, and a song Yoko wrote called "Never Say Goodbye." In the show, it's a duet that's sung between Bill and Jill, the two lovers in the show. And for the CD, the proceeds of which are going to AmFAR, we recorded a male/male duet of "Never Say Goodbye." Subsequently, there was just a video which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and that is actually the single from the CD.

RS: And because the decision was made very late in the produciton of the actual CD to include the male/male version on the CD, nowhere does it appear on the printing that it is there! And the only way that you could know is by the little sticker that is actually on the outside of the wrapping. So once you get rid of the wrapping, there is no indication that the cut's on the CD!

GDS: Yoko, over the years, has contributed a lot towards various charities, and she's had her own Spirit Foundation. How did she come to choose AmFAR?

RS: I don't know the genesis of that. I don't how that happened. I know that she's maintained contact with them well before this. I just don't know.

GDS: We should point out that the first $100,000 in net proceeds will automatically go to AmFAR. How long did it take to develop the musical from its conception to the time that it was actually shown in New York?

RS: Well, I know that we were doing demos of these songs that were created specifically for the show, and we were creating sequences of songs that Yoko could then describe a story line from as early as a couple of years before the show premiered in New York, or "opened" in New York - that's the theater lingo, isn't it!

RS: She was involved with every aspect of it. She was at all the rehearsals. She was giving feedback. And the feedback was really needed because this was not a "big-budget production" by any means. It was a very spirited production, and there were very talented members of the cast and very talented members of the band. There was just talent all around, but it was not something that was mounted over the course of many, many months, like a Broadway show. It was not something that had been done before and this was a revival and people had some idea. Everybody was creating as they went along, to some degree. And so her feedback was requested, required, and was a very important part of the entire process.

RS: Yeah. It clearly was. I remember the period of time. It was very creative, it was very tumultuous, and it was also working with many, many people, where there's usually a finite cast of characters. You had lighting, you had scenery, you had direction, you had choreography, you had a lot of cooks. It was intense.

RS: I believe she was at the auditions. Again, I wasn't involved in the produciton aspect of the show itself. I actually mixed the sound of the show and then produced the cast album, but was not involved in a lot of the early stages of actually pulling it together.

RS: It hasn't traveled anywhere yet. There is talk of Japan, there is talk of different companies in different cities, but so far, there has not been another company performing it.

RS: A video of the musical was shot by Lincoln Center, who traditionally go around to every Broadway and Off-Broadway show and do a video for their archives. So there is a video that exists.

GDS: Let's talk about your beginnings with Yoko. The first album that you worked on of hers was Starpeace. Were you already a big Yoko fan before you started working with her?

RS: I cannot confess to being that. I was not a big fan. I was hired by Bill Laswell, who was producing that record, and I was hired to record and mix the album. I had done several records with Bill prior to that.

RS: Herbie Hancock's Sound System, Bill's own record called Praxis, and a number of others. So I was hired to record and mix the record, and I was not that aware of the breadth and scope of what Yoko does, and did. That record was actually not the best introduction to it either, since it was a fairly, kind of, light, very "pop"-y kind of record. Now that I've seen Yoko at work in many different circumstances, she was very, very reserved during the making of that record. She was not as active as she's been on every other project I've worked with her on.

RS: I think at that time, Bill was, and he still is, a very respected producer, and at that time, he was a very hot and respected producer. She chose to supply the material, supply, certainly, whatever input she gave him, respond and react to the mixes, but she took a much more reserved role. I cannot explain her thinking any more completely than that.

GDS: How about the John Lennon albums that you worked on, such as Menlove Avenue? There's one question that, for years, I've wanted to know the answer to, is why were those songs selected? Why was it a cross-section of songs from Mind Games, Walls and Bridges, and Rock 'n' Roll? There's a whole side there of Walls and Bridges outtakes, there are songs from the Rock 'n' Roll sessions, and "Rock and Roll People" came from the Mind Games sessions. Why was it so spread out?

RS: I think at that point, at least for Side 1 of the record, those were the only quality multi-tracks that existed. So that's what Side 1 was about. Side 2 was meant to give a look at the pre-cursor to the records that everybody was more aware of. Those were basically rehearsal tapes. They were well-recorded rehearsal tapes, and they were John not "crossing his T's and dotting his I's," but simply revealing a more relaxed, in certain respects, manor of doing the songs.

GDS: One could ask, why not just release an album of multi-track outtakes of all of Walls and Bridges or all of Rock 'n' Roll. Why was it done this way?

RS: I don't know the rationale for that. I know that those were the tapes that were brought to bear at that point, and since then, and currently, in preparation for what we've been referring to as the "Ultimate John Lennon Boxed Set," all of the material, the likes of which you're describing, is being culled through. It's being gone through it to see what exists. Actually, we know what exists. We know that there aren't very many other complete multi-tracks, because John was very efficient when he did albums. Unlike a lot of artists today, and there's reason for it when you cut 20 tracks to put 12 on a CD. If he cut 12 tracks, those 12 tracks are probably on the album. There wasn't much waste.

GDS: And how about Live in New York City? I've always wondered why most of the songs came from the afternoon concert of the "One to One" shows, as opposed to the evening one.

GDS: Most of the songs came from the afternoon one, though I believe "Hound Dog" came from the evening.

RS: Perhaps the afternoon show, John was in better voice than the show following the first one. I mean, two shows in one day, when you're not used to performing live at all, your first show, you're probably going to be in better voice. The second show you're going to be in more ragged voice, especially when you sing with the intensity that he sings with.

RS: Very. I mixed Onobox with Yoko. There are about 103 songs, and I think we mixed about half of them. That was an intense 6 months. We're talking about 50 to 55 mixes, and different versions of the mixes, as we would reflect on them. Even the songs that were not remixed, a lot of them were, to some degree, processed in terms of being remastered. Because a lot of those songs, even the ones we didn't remix, were originally released on vinyl. Now that this was a CD set, we had the ability to expand the entire sonic scope of it. Deeper lows, higher highs. And we took advantage of that.

GDS: So when exactly did you fully explore Yoko's catalog and become aware of. . .

RS: Well, upon being hired to do Starpeace, I listened to everything that she had done, and then left myself open to the fact that what was about to come might not be anything like any of the other stuff, because she has a history of unpredictability, which very creative people have.

GDS: You've been affiliated with Yoko for a good 10 years. So, obviously, there was a very strong connection there between the two of you. What do you think, what do you believe has led to this long relationship?

RS: I think that she is not an easy woman to gain the trust of, simply because so many people would love to gain her trust. There are obviously very cynical reasons for that, and then a lot of them are true, because the world is the way it is. So if she is guarded, it's probably with a purpose, and probably with a purpose that reflects reality. I can't honestly say why, after Starpeace, she hired me to do Live in New York City. But I think that one of the requirements you have to have to work with her, to work for her, is the ability to verbally exchange criticism, and not wilt in the face of it. Either her criticism, or being able to tell her the truth. Because there are a lot of people - and this is probably true around people of wealth and people of position - it's kind of the "Emperor's New Clothes" syndrome. People will tell them what they think they want to hear. So finding someone with whom you can have a decent and an honest exchange of what both parties believe is real is difficult. I mean, Yoko does not mince words sometimes when she is not happy with something. And you have to be able to withstand that without withering. You also need to be able to tell her when you think you see something that she's missing. And it may turn out that she's not missing it, she's just not looking at it at that point in time. But that's a very valuable thing. I have to hypothesize for her, since, again, the world being the way it is, she's not always going to get the straight talk from people she's asking opinions from.

GDS: She appreciates the straight talk. She wants someone that's brutally honest with her, no matter what.

RS: It's not like it's mindlessly brutal honesty. You still have to deal with it civilly. But you gotta get the truth across, and what you believe to be the truth. And even there will be times where I will say, "Look, I don't think this is right, but this is your record," and it's good to be reminded of that, also. I mean, this is her stuff. And this is a legacy, in terms of John's stuff, that she has custody and responsibility for. So in certain respects, the final call has got to be hers, but that doesn't mean that you should wither when you have something to say. And I think that's probably being able to have this exchange, and being able to withstand the strength of character that she brings to bear on certain things is certainly a part of it. And also respecting, you know, I think people have odd ways of letting each other know about how they feel about each other, but I have a real respect for things both tangible and intangible about how she goes about doing things. This is one incredibly, incredibly bright woman, and incredibly creative, sometimes uncannily so. And for the world who sees her in more of a caricatured way, and also for a world that's constantly assaulted with books that describe her in the light that some of the books have described her, there's a whole other story to be told. And this is not simply from somebody who "works with her," this is really the truth of the matter.

RS: I don't want to go specifically through it. That's something I would have to give a great deal of forethought to, in terms of how to describe it. Not in terms of what I know, but in terms of how to describe it. And I think that this is not the forum for that.

GDS: I have not heard yet the new CD for Live Peace in Toronto. It came out as an import.

GDS: It came out a few weeks ago in England. And, from what I understand, you remixed from the original 8-track master tape. What changes did you bring to the sound of Live Peace?

RS: Hopefully, the spirit of it wasn't changed. I mean, it was Lennon, it was Eric Clapton, Yoko, Klaus Voormann, Alan White. And from the way that Yoko tells it, they literally went over the songs on the airplane flying over from London. This was not a well-rehearsed gig.

RS: Right. And on a couple of songs, "Blue Suede Shoes," for one, and one other song, Eric's guitar is distorting horribly. It was maybe well-recorded, but somewhere along the line, there were breakdowns. So Eric's guitar was very scrappy sounding on a couple of the songs. But there was this real "seat of the pants" feel to the whole thing. And there's something about listening to it and knowing that it could break down at any moment, but it doesn't. It doesn't. So I tried to maintain that feeling while, I guess, just beefing it up. Like anybody who would remix something, you try to maintain the original spirit, and not get so involved in the technology of 1995 that the mix sounds like an anachronism. Too much of a superimposition of today's technology would ruin the fact that this was 1969, it was almost impromptu, as you describe it. And in that regard, I think we got it right.

GDS: It would be wrong in any way to try to really perfect it. To take out any mistakes or anything ruins the whole idea of what "live" is.

RS: Wouldn't work. Wouldn't work. And the same thing with Live in New York City. I mean, John's voice cracks. There are things that only happen in live shows.

RS: Yeah. And the other thing is that for someone who has been held on such a pedestal, there's probably something very refreshing about hearing a human performance, as opposed to one that's been perfected in the studio.

GDS: There are a lot of people who don't like the idea of live albums consisting of songs where the artist goes back in the studio and touches up on vocals or certain instrumental tracks.

GDS: Let's talk about Yoko's new album, and when we might expect it to come out.

RS: Well, the tentative, working title of it is Rising, which is also one of the songs on the album. And the last I heard it was coming out in September, but details on that are not clear to me, so I can't really state definitively what's going to be happening on that. But the album is nearing its completion. I was actually, before I came here tonight, I was in with Sean working on some remix ideas he had for the record. I'm very happy with the record.

GDS: Would you say that this album sounds at all similar to Starpeace or her 80's work?

GDS: This record runs the gamut. This record has Yoko at her improvistory wildest! A song called "Dying," which was a spontaneous jam, between her on vocals and the three-piece band that is called "Ima," which, I believe means "now" in Japanese. I could be wrong about that, but I recall hearing something from them that that's why they took that name. And a spontaneous live jam that was then remixed, because it was recorded on multi-track. And then there are some very, very melodic and very somber material. There are a couple of songs, one called "Talking to the Universe" and one called "After the Dragon," that are very rhythmic, and may end up being remixed for dance remixes. And the record is somehow tied together, in fact when we were thinking about sequencing, it was a real challenge to come up with a sequence that led us through this entire gamut of expression. And again, it will surprise some people who only picture Yoko in one light, but it will also please some people who enjoy her Plastic Ono Band album.

GDS: Did Yoko ever express to you how she felt about the success that she did achieve, to some degree, with some of her dance tracks? "Walking on Thin Ice" did fairly well, as did "Hell in Paradise."

RS: Well, we're hoping we add to that, and in fact, improve upon that legacy, with "Ask the Dragon," with "Talking to the Universe." So, how she feels about it? No, not tangibly. But I can't see how it would displease her to gain a recognition that I think is deserved, that is almost withheld and resented. Because there is part of her existence, I think, that, in certain respects, is resented by people who have the ill-conceived notion that she "broke up the Beatles," for example.

GDS: Anyone who's studied the whole history of the Beatles knows that there are a lot of reasons why the Beatles broke up, and no one single reason led to it.

RS: Right. But again, it's easy to put a face on blame, without investigating deeper, more complex reasons for things like that.

GDS: When Onobox first came out, the press releases that came out with it, and what many of the articles in the media had said, was that now finally, this is what Rykodisc wanted the world to know, was that Yoko's time had finally come. It was time for her to get the recognition that she finally deserved, and that she was one of the early influences on the punk movement, and a vocal influence on people like Lene Lovich and Nina Hagen. Do you think that there's ever going to come a time when the mass public will recognise her and accept her?

RS: I really can't say. I do know that upon Onobox's release, there were a number of very, very prominent articles in very prominent publications that said very much what you just said. So it didn't just come from the record company press release. Whether or not a large group of people out there will drop whatever resistence they might have to accepting her in a broader way, I can't say. What you're asking about right now has more to do with sociology and the psychology of kind of mass culture, of popular culture. I don't know. I think that this record, the record we're working on now, may communicate with more people than anything she's ever done. But, if I knew for sure, I'd be out picking horses!

RS: It's not clear yet. I haven't heard one way or the other definitively. There's always talk about such things.

GDS: Let's talk about Sean, and his new band, Ima. What kind of musical direction is Sean going in right now? When I met with him a few years ago, and this was at the launch party for the Onobox, he had said to me that he was basically into all kinds of music except Country.

RS: I think that's still true, except that now he's probably into Country. His musical tastes are eclectic, his musical skills are substantial. On Rising, he is on various cuts playing keyboards, either acoustic piano or Fender Rhodes. He's playing guitar, acoustic and electric. He's playing bass on some of the songs. He's singing backup on some of the songs. He's got a very broad understanding of music, not just the particular styles of music that you were referring to. But he's really an astonishingly bright and talented young man, and wise well beyong his years, in certain respects.

RS: I haven't heard too much recent stuff. About a year ago, we worked on a demo that he did where. . . I don't know if I can describe it as being "like this" or "like that." I know that his voice has a certain resemblance to his father's. It is not as, I mean, if you think about Julian's first record, where it was almost a conscious effort to make him sound as much like his dad as possible, . . .

RS: I really wouldn't know, but the end result, cause you know, it takes two to create that. But you can hear John in Sean's voice, but it's not the kind of exact replication. And I think that, in terms of where his songs were at that point, he was at that point 18, he's now 19 going on 20, and he's interested in everything. And that is not exaggeration. He's just interested in everything around him and all kinds of music around him.

GDS: Well, that's great, because that's what the Beatles and the Lennon-Ono legacy is all about. Diversity. And just to be brought up in a family like that. I know Sean is very supportive of Yoko's music.

GDS: If Yoko's been a major influence, as his father, you're going to have just overpowering music coming out of him.

RS: And you have to picture, Sean does the best imitation of Yoko doing free-form that you've ever heard!

GDS: Have you gotten to hear this new recording of "the Lennons and the McCartneys"?

RS: Yes, in fact I mixed the new version of it. I don't know if it's "the" version that will be released, but I mixed a version of it.

RS: I don't know. The title of the piece is "Hiroshima - The Sky is Always Blue." I think it has something to do with the 50 year anniversary of the dropping of the bomb. So I would guess that it will be released around the time that happens.

GDS: So that is something separate we wouldn't even consider with any of her albums, probably.

RS: I think there was some consideration, but at the present time, it's not going to be going on Rising. And that could change, also.

GDS: Any idea as to when Sean's recording career is going to start for himself?

RS: Well, he does that. In his mind, he records now, he just hasn't gone public with the recordings. But I actually spoke with him before this interview. I said, "Is there anything that's off limits in terms of information about you?" And he said, "No." It's not like he's trying to create some kind of "press buildup," and be secretive about what he's doing. He's making music, he continues to develop, and he will probably know when the time is right. This is a wise young man. He'll have a sense when it's time to make his first public statement.

GDS: Only when he's most comfortable with his music will it come out. And finally, any word on this "Lost Lennon" box set? When might that be coming out?

RS: Well, we began work on the "Lost Lennon" boxed set last summer with the idea that it might actually come out for last Christmas. But it became very clear in the limited time that was alotted to complete it for that deadline, we weren't going to do justice to John or his legacy. And so now the picture has expanded, and we are now going through all of John's material to create possibly two sets. One, which we're referring to as "The Ultimate" set, and another one, which we'll refer to, although it may not be called this, as the "Lost Lennon" set, composed of not so much reflecting the radio series that occurred, but simply putting together the best of John's home demos. Some of which will occur probably on the "Ultimate" set also. We're now just going through all of the material without a sense of which set it's going to go on.

RS: Well, one of the things that I've been doing is going through the cassette archives, which are well over 400 hours of tapes.

GDS: No harm in volunteering! Look, I know a lot of people who would ask that question.

RS: No, I know! There's a great deal of interest. It's just everything's got to be gone through because this "Ultimate" set is, perhaps, the definitive statement. It's of John's entire career, mostly as a solo artist in this case, because, obviously, the Beatles stuff is tied up with the Beatles. And before making that monumental statement, we've got to find out everything that exists.

GDS: Would any of these box sets have any Beatle material, or would it strictly be his solo music?

RS: I think we're steering away from the Beatle material, simply because I'm sure Capitol-EMI have plans to do Beatle box sets.

GDS: Well, I'm sure the unreleased Beatle material, whatever's coming out, will be part of the Anthology that's coming out.

RS: Right. So, this will, by and large, focus on John's solo career after the Beatles.

RS: No. It's very interesting for me to sit here and go back through a decade's worth of memories, because I don't do it very often. But keep your eye out for Rising, if that, indeed, ends up being the title of the album. And check out New York Rock, also, which is where we started.

GDS: Oh, I have been listening. I love it. The best thing about this, as I said, is that it gives you more of an appreciation for her music when you hear different arrangements of it. There are certain songs from Yoko that I didn't care for as much, but when I hear these versions. Like "Never Say Goodbye" has never actually been one of my favorite Yoko songs. When you slow it down and you have this ballad version, the melodies stand out more, and suddenly you realize this is a great tune.

RS: Exactly. Yeah, I don't think that Yoko's version of "Never Say Goodbye" did justice to the song. Yoko's version of "Never Say Goodbye" was done in the early 80's, and it reflects the style of those times. It made something of an attempt to be kind of a Disco cut. It didn't really succeed on that level, and the melodic nature and the wonderful melody of the song and the very simple, but very direct lyrics were not in a frame that made them as easily appreciated as the frame that's provided here in New York Rock.

GDS: And also certain songs are done as duets here, and they sound marvelous as duets. Like "Loneliness," which was another song which was never one of my favorites of hers.

RS: "Loneliness" really kicks on this. And "Loneliness" is a really good example of the "bigness" of the stage. Because "Loneliness" really grows. "Loneliness" is arguably my favorite cut on the album.

GDS: My favorite Yoko song is going to be "Nobody Sees Me Like You Do." A great tune. The whole Season of Glass album I love, and especially Approximately Infinite Universe. And I'm glad that she put "Peter the Dealer" in the musical, though not on the CD. "I Felt Like Smashing My Face," that's a song that I used to play a lot on the radio.

RS: "Smashing My Face" and "Peter the Dealer" were similar in the show, in that it was three of the "teenage boys" who delivered both of the songs. They were very similar in approach. And as long as something needed to be cut for time, that was one of the things that we felt wouldn't really take away from presenting an aspect of the show. Whereas other songs if we took away, then that aspect of the show would not have been revealed. By cutting out "Peter the Dealer," there was already "Smashing My Face," which revealed a very similar side of things.

::: onoweb :::

::: newstand :::

::: library :::

::: the paths :::

::: PROJECTS :::

YOKO ONO PRODUCER ROB STEVENS TALKS TO GDS