Video: Watch Never-Before-Seen Footage of John Lennon & Yoko Ono in 'You Are Here' (Ultimate Mix)'

Incredible, never-before-seen footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono Lennon, filmed in July 1968 at John’s first major art show You Are Here (To Yoko From John Lennon, With Love) at London’s Robert Fraser Gallery, has been paired together with the brand new Ultimate Mix of “You Are Here,” from his 1973 album Mind Games, for a fascinating new video that offers a rare glimpse into the Lennon’s lives.

Directed by John Lennon and filmed by William Wareing and Dick Lorriemore, the beautifully restored video from the Lenono Film Archives captures a 27-year-old John on June 30, 1968, as he, Robert Fraser and their team make last minute preparations for the art show, culminating with the festive opening the following day, July 1. At the time, John would have been in the midst of writing and recording The Beatles’ eponymous album, more popularly known as The White Album, which released just a few months later in November 1968.

“It consisted of a bare gallery and a big white canvas that was round and it just had my writing on it: ‘you are here’ and I dedicated it to Yoko,” said John of the “You Are Here” exhibition which also contained an assortment of charity collection boxes. “I wrote to a lot of charities telling them about the exhibition,” he said at the time. “I had a lot of nice letters and a lot of charity boxes back. There are no hidden secrets. My art is in fact displaying these boxes for charity.”

The film crew, which was set up behind a dark window in the style of the hidden camera “Candid Camera” TV show, filmed people’s honest and at times humorous reactions as they walked through the gallery and encountered the various donation boxes which led up to the huge circular canvas with John’s handwritten message: “you are here.” Next to the minimalist artwork was a hat to put money in for “the artist” and a large jar filled with small white badges so attendees could take the poignant proclamation with them. 

A wonderful time capsule of London in the late ‘60s, the video for “You Are Here” shows John and Yoko, dressed in white to match the art exhibit, and a fashionable crowd of hundreds, which included various guests, reporters and such Beatles and Apple Corps associates as Derek Taylor, Jill Johnston, Kevin Harrington, Neil Aspinall, Richard DiLello, gallery owner Robert Fraser, artist Richard Hamilton (who designed The Beatles’ White Album cover and inserts), and actor Victor Spinetti, as they release 365 helium-filled balloons into the London sky. Attached to each balloon was a printed card with the words “you are here” on one side and a message to write John Lennon via the gallery if they found a balloon on the other. John then sent back a signed letter with one of the badges.

“'You Are Here' - that's more than just a joke, I suppose,” said John about the mindfulness mantra. “People read it and suddenly realise it's true. 'Yes, I'm here,' they think. 'So are these other people. We're all here together.' And that's where the vibrations start being exchanged. Good and bad ones according to who is sending out and how they feel. A lot of people went to India to find out they were here. Like [Timothy] Leary's friend Richard Alpert [Ram Dass] went to India and saw all the gurus, chasing all over the place, and all the gurus said to him was, 'Remember, be here now'. That's all them gurus will ever tell you. Remember this moment now.”

Written by John about his love for Yoko, whom he met in 1966 at London’s Indica Gallery, “You Are Here,” is a tranquil, poetic song with heartfelt lyrics about their love: “From Liverpool to Tokyo… what a way to go.” Newly mixed from the original tapes by producer Sean Ono Lennon with triple Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Paul Hicks and engineering by Sam Gannon, the winsome track sounds better than ever as the instrumentation, previously buried in a muddy and thin treble-heavy mix, has been made more prominent, allowing the playing of John Lennon (vocal, acoustic guitar, various percussion) and his sensational band of David Spinozza (electric guitar), Gordon Edwards (bass), Jim Keltner (drums), Ken Ascher (piano, organs), “Sneaky” Pete Kleinlow (pedal steel guitar) and background vocals by Something Different (Angel Coakley, Christine Wiltshire, Jocelyn Brown, Kathy Mull) to shine through like never before. The new mix is truly a revelation.

“You Are Here,” which is also available stream now everywhere, is the second track to be released from the forthcoming Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection suite of releases, due July 12 via Capitol/UMe, celebrating and exploring John’s pivotal and intensely personal 1973 album, Mind Games. Available in a variety of formats, including 2CD, 2LP, a 6CD/2-Blu-ray audio Standard Deluxe Edition and an eye-popping, multi-format Super Deluxe Edition, limited to 1100 copies worldwide, John’s fourth solo record, Mind Games, has been completely newly remixed and expanded to offer an immersive, deep listening experience and in-depth exploration of this classic, yet underappreciated record.

MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION

Fully authorized by Yoko Ono Lennon and produced by Sean Ono Lennon, who oversaw the production and creative direction, the Ultimate Collection is from the same audio team that worked on the critically acclaimed Imagine and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Ultimate Collections, including the aforementioned Paul Hicks, and mixers/engineers Sam Gannon and Rob Stevens, with production researched and managed by Simon Hilton.

The definitive Ultimate Collection puts listeners in the center of the studio and explores the album’s 1973 recording sessions at the Record Plant in New York City, from inception to the final master, through scores of unreleased outtakes, unadulterated versions, instrumentals, stripped down mixes, studio chatter and more, revealing how these fan favorite songs evolved and came to life.

Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection offers six different unique listening experiences that are at once immersive and intimate, ranging from the brand new Ultimate Mixes of the timeless album, which put John’s vocals front and center and sonically upgrade the sound, to the Elements Mixes, which isolate and bring forth certain instruments from the multitrack recordings to highlight playing previously buried in the original mix, and the Raw Studio Mixes, which allows listeners to hear the recording that John and The Plastic U.F.Ono Band laid to tape, mixed raw and live without vocals effects, tape delays or reverbs.

The Evolutionary Documentary is a unique track-by-track audio montage that details the evolution of each song from demo to master recording via demos, rehearsals, out-takes, multitrack exploration, and studio conversations. The Out-Takes allow listeners to hear compelling different takes of each song while the Elemental Mixes, a new set created especially for the Mind Games – Ultimate Collection, inhabit a world between the minimalism of the Elements Mixes and the Ultimate Mixes, stripping the songs back to simpler, lean-back arrangements with John’s voice to the fore, and without drums. An array of listening options, including High-Definition, studio quality 192kHz/24bit audio in stereo and enveloping 5.1 Surround and Dolby Atmos mixes, are available on Blu-ray.

All of the tracks have been completely remixed from scratch from the 15 original two-inch multitrack session tapes using brand new 192-24 digital transfers. The Ultimate Collection includes previously unreleased out-takes and stems plus additional never-heard-before audio from archive ¼” reel-to-reels, cassettes, and videotapes. 

Truly a work of art and in a class of its own, the Super Deluxe Edition box set is, in essence, a time capsule into John and Yoko’s world around the writing and recording of Mind Games, including the times leading up to and after its release in 1973. As innovative as it is elaborate, the Super Deluxe is presented in a 13-inch cube, a perspex reproduction of Yoko’s 1966 artwork “Danger Box.” Once lifted, four sides, featuring artwork from Mind Games on shiny Mirror Board, fall to reveal nine individual boxes of various shapes and sizes interlocked together, each with its own look and focus. Hidden throughout the comprehensive and creative set are many Easter Eggs, some of which can only be revealed by using other items in the box to see them, along with loads of other hidden secrets, surprises, puzzles, and “mind games”. The box is housed inside a striking 13” packing container cube adorned with custom art.

Among many of the unique elements included in the Super Deluxe Edition is a limited edition, 12-inch circular canvas reproduction of John’s artwork, You Are Here, 1968, with a Certificate of Authenticity, as well as a replica “You Are Here” badge.

For more information about all the Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection formats available or to pre-order, visit HERE.

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