"At the One To One concerts, Lennon displayed a certain nervous energy, which pairs well with the sleazeball boogie of Elephant's Memory, a local NYC band best known for its contributions to the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy. Elephant's Memory served as the backing band for Some Time, but were too slack and lackadaisical to get through the One To One concerts without the reinforcement of drummer Jim Keltner, who helps give the performance a serious, heavy swing."
"Even when he and Ono are having an improvisatory freak-out with Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, it's rooted in basic three-chord changes. Almost all of the songs John and Yoko wrote during this period are deliberately simple: "Sisters, O Sisters" is a revved-up girl group number, "Attica State" and "John Sinclair" are straightforward blues, "The Luck of the Irish" is a folk ballad, "New York City" is high-octane Chuck Berry boogie."
"The exception to the rule is the one song of the period that isn't here: "Woman is the N***** of the World," an overblown wall-of-sound homage intended as an anthem of feminist solidarity, inspired by a slogan Yoko Ono likely adapted from a line in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. The box set ignores that track (despite the fact that Lennon chose it as Some Time 's single), cutting it out of the new mixes of the album"
John Lennon exhibited a nervous, high-energy presence at the One To One concerts, paired with Elephant's Memory's sleazeball boogie. Elephant's Memory backed Some Time but often lacked drive, requiring Jim Keltner's drumming to provide a heavy, swinging pulse. The performances and selections emphasize simple, old-time rock'n'roll and three-chord structures. Most Lennon–Ono songs from this period are deliberately straightforward across genres: girl-group, blues, folk ballad, and Chuck Berry boogie. The controversial "Woman is the N***** of the World" is omitted from the box set, shifting focus toward Lennon's return to 1950s rock and casual home jams.
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