John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s single ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’ was released in the USA on 1 December 1971.
The single was not a commercial success, and failed to chart. The main factor was the lack of promotion it received, mostly due to it being recorded so late in the year.
It was available on green or black vinyl, and issued as APPLE 1842.
In the United Kingdom a dispute over Yoko Ono’s contribution to the songwriting meant its release was delayed until 24 November 1972. It was eventually issued as Apple R 5870, and peaked at number four on the singles chart.
The song was reissued in the UK following Lennon’s death in 1980, and reached number two. It also charted on the following two years, and occasionally in subsequent years.
Page last updated: 8 November 2021
Possibly not the best place for this comment, but it’s curious that there’s no entry for 10 December 1971, the date of the John Sinclair Freedom Rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at which John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed a brief 4-song set. John Sinclair was a political activist who had been arrested for possession of two marijuana cigarettes and sentenced to ten years in prison; John Lennon had written a song about him that appeared on the Some Time in New York City album. The rally was to raise awareness of Sinclair’s situation and featured a large number of musical performers as well as leftist/radical speakers. Among the performers were Phil Ochs, Bob Seger, Stevie Wonder, Joy of Cooking, Commander Cody and David Peel. The speakers included Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Alan Ginsberg, Rennie Davis, Ed Sanders and Jane Fonda, among others.
I attended the rally, driving down with some friends from Michigan State University. We were motivated by the chance to see John Lennon live, as I suspect many in the audience of 15,000 were. I must say the speeches and speakers seemed to go on interminably, so that John and Yoko finally took the stage around 3 a.m. Their short set consisted of only four songs, all from the Some Time in New York album: Attica State, The Luck of the Irish, Sisters O Sisters, and John Sinclair. The rally appeared to have the desired effect though, as Sinclair was released from prison shortly after.