Singers on John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ Didn’t Know They Were Being Recorded
Pop singer Petula Clark was one of several celebrities who sang backup on John Lennon‘s “Give Peace a Chance.” The “Downtown” singer didn’t completely understand what was going on at the time. Clark also revealed a certain something was missing from the recording session.
John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ was recorded at a famous protest
During a 2019 interview with The Guardian, Clark recalled singing English and French songs at a 1969 concert in Montreal. She was heckled for this choice, as the Quebec nationalist movement was going strong. Afterward, she went to see John for advice regarding the situation. The “Imagine” singer and Yoko Ono were in Montreal protesting the Vietnam War with one of their famous Bed-Ins.
“They were both still in their nighties,” Clark recalled. “I sat there, dripping water all over their bed, and told them the story. He said: ‘Oh, f*** ’em.’ I said: ‘Thank you, John.'”
“He was so funny and very philosophical,” Clark added. “We had a chat about the situation. Did it really matter? ‘This too shall pass.’ That sort of stuff.”
John offered Clark a drink, then they moved into the next room. A crowd was there, including some famous faces. Clark was given a lyric sheet before the crowd started singing “a simple little melody: ‘All we are saying, is give peace a chance.’ I don’t think any of us knew we were being recorded,” she recalled.
Petula Clark was different from other 1960s icons at the recording of ‘Give Peace a Chance’
Other people at that Bed-In were psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary, poet and psychedelic drug advocate Allen Ginsberg, and Tom Smothers from The Smothers Brothers. All those celebrities were associated with the 1960s counterculture. On the other hand, Clark was known for old-fashioned songs like “Downtown” and “My Love,” as well as her role in the musical film Finian’s Rainbow. On the surface, she was closer to being Julie Andrews than being Joni Mitchell.
The “Don’t Sleep in the Subway” singer discussed her connection to the counterculture scene. “I was on the edge of it quite often,” she said. “There used to be some parties in LA where all you had to do was walk in and that was it, you were stoned from the moment you took a breath.”
While substances were a big part of that milieu, Clark mostly eschewed them because she thought taking drugs was irresponsible and damaging. Despite its hippie vibe, Clark said the recording of “Give Peace a Chance” was drug-free.
John Lennon said he might not have come up with the song’s title
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes an interview from 1980. In it, John was asked about the creation of “Give Peace a Chance.” He said the title of the song might have just fallen out of his mouth after protesting the war so much. Perhaps, John said, Yoko was the one who coined the phrase. Interestingly, John didn’t mention the track’s star-studded recording.
Clark didn’t realize it at the time, but her voice was being recorded for one of the most important protest songs of all time.
