Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of John Lennon’s fifth solo album, Walls and Bridges, which went to #1 and features “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night,” Lennon’s first U.S. #1 as a solo artist, and his only solo song to top the chart in his lifetime.
The album was recorded during Lennon’s “lost weekend,” the 18-month period in which he was separated from wife Yoko Ono and was in a relationship with his assistant May Pang.
Pang tells ABC Audio that Walls and Bridges was one of John’s “proudest moments,” not only because of the #1 single, but because “he did it all in eight weeks from start to finish.” She noted he was “jumping around” when he finished the record and handed it in.
Pang appears on the album’s second single “#9 Dream,” which was a top 10 hit. She can be heard whispering John’s name in the song, although fans probably didn’t think it was her.
“To this day, people didn’t realize it was me,” she said. “Because you had the natural assumption, of course, (it’s) Yoko.”
And while “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night,” which featured Elton John on backing vocals and piano, did top the chart, Lennon wasn’t so confident it would get there.
During the recording of the tune, Elton bet Lennon the song would go to #1, with Lennon agreeing to join him onstage if it did. After losing the best, Lennon made a guest appearance at Elton’s Nov. 28, 1974, concert at Madison Square Garden, performing “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night,” and The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” He also played tambourine on Elton’s encore of “The Bitch is Back.”
The concert would wind up being Lennon’s last major concert appearance.
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