John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band: Sweet Toronto (1971)

This music documentary is produced and directed by the same filmmaker who brought Monterrey Pop to the screen. It features performances from a 1969 Toronto rock 'n roll festival. The film ... See full summary »

Director:

D.A. Pennebaker

Stars:

Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley

Cast

Credited cast:
Chuck Berry	...	Self
Eric Clapton	...	Self (guitar)
Bo Diddley	...	Self
John Lennon	...	Self
Jerry Lee Lewis	...	Self
Little Richard	...	Self
Yoko Ono	...	Self
The Plastic Ono Band	...	Themselves
Klaus Voormann	...	Self (bass guitar)
Alan White	...	Self (drums)

Storyline

This music documentary is produced and directed by the same filmmaker who brought Monterrey Pop to the screen. It features performances from a 1969 Toronto rock 'n roll festival. The film shows performers Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Eric Clapton, Bo Diddley, Alan White, Klaus Voorman and John Lennon and Yoko Ono with the Plastic Ono Band.

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Plot Keywords:

bass guitar | rock 'n' roll | toronto ontario | man wears eyeglasses | concert | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's opening prologue reads: ''In the fall of 1969 John [Lennon] and Yoko [Ono] agreed to appear at the Toronto Rock and Roll Festival as the newly created Plastic Ono Band. With Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard performing on the same program, John could at last introduce Yoko to the heroes of his childhood.''

User Reviews

Go Johnny go..

I didn't realise for a long time that my "Live Peace In Toronto" Lennon /Plastic Ono Band album had actually been filmed and by esteemed "rockumentary" maker D A Pennebaker at that, so it was a rare treat to pick up this bargain DVD at my local music store.

The story goes that Lennon only agreed to top the bill to help ailing ticket sales for a show containing some of his favourite rock and roll acts from his youth and so put together a pick-up band (admittedly a crack one!) to blast out some down-home rock before he unleashed Yoko to do her extemporising (I'm being kind) thing all over the crowd as he actually puts it himself.

Lennon's set is enjoyable, certainly ragged most of the time, but the band hits its stride on "Yer Blues", while the premiere of his superb drug-song "Cold Turkey" on the other hand fails to really take off and significantly doesn't inspire Lennon into the harrowing screams of pain and release on the recorded version. I'm no fan of Mrs Lennon's supposed music however and wish I could have had at least one more song from each of the great early rockers in her stead. That said, the fact that this represents almost certainly the only time Eric Clapton went avant-garde does give it some curiosity value.

Of the early rockers, Bo Diddley impresses most with his flashing feet and Tina Turner influenced dance routine with a female backing singer, although Chuck, Jerry and Richard all acquit themselves admirably (they could barely have been in their forties any of them and yet they still come across as veterans).

As a viewing experience this is obviously for Lennon die-hards only (that means me!) but I'll take JL's warts and all, no holding back approach to his music as documented here over the mythological pretensions of his rival from Duluth in Pennebaker's earlier ego-stroking "Don't Look Back".

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sweet Toronto

Filming Locations:

Varsity Stadium, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pennebaker Associates, The Douglas Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min (original cinema release)

Color:

Color