Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Producers: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Engineer: Phil McDonald
John Lennon had recorded ‘God Save Us’ on 17 April and 22 May, along with its b-side ‘Do The Oz’ on the latter date. A mixing session for both songs was held on 23 May at Abbey Road, London.
Further work on both songs took place on 16 June at Abbey Road. For contractual reasons Lennon needed another singer to replace his guide vocals. This role was taken by Bill Elliott, who later became one half of Splinter, a group signed to George Harrison’s Dark Horse label in the 1970s.
I sang it just to show him how to sing it, how it should go, and we got this guy that Mal had found in a group called Half-Breed or something, and he sounded like Paul. So I thought, ‘That’s a commercial sound,’ – it would have been nice to have Paul’s voice singing ‘God Save Us’ – but the guy imitated more my demo, so he sounds like himself because he doesn’t sound like me really, but he doesn’t sound like Paul either.
Elliott also added vocals to ‘Do The Oz’, as did Yoko Ono. The songs were then mixed in stereo.
‘God Save Us’ was issued as a single by Apple in July 1971, credited to Bill Elliott & The Elastic Oz Band, but failed to chart in either the US or UK.
Lennon’s guide vocal performance of ‘God Save Us’ was included on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology, and also on the highlights collection Wonsaponatime. On both releases it was titled ‘God Save Oz’.
Various versions of ‘God Save Us’, including the demo and outtakes, were included in the 2018 box set Imagine: The Ultimate Collection.