And when at last I find you
While they didn't consummate their relationship until a year or so later, Yoko slowly began to find herself wedged in to the band dynamic. She first appeared in the studio, usually a space dominated by the boys and treated as an unspoken men's only club, on May 30th, 1968. The band had just returned from their decampent to India in which they'd written the bulk of their new material. On a whim, McCartney invited the artist down to the studio.
Geoff Emerick: "
For the next couple of hours Ono just sat quietly with us in the control room. It had to have been even more uncomfortable for her than it was for any of us. She had been put in an embarrassing situation, plunked right by the window so that George Martin and I had to crane our heads around her to see the others out in the studio and communicate with them. As a result, she kept thinking we were staring at her. She’d give us a polite, shy smile whenever she’d see us looking in her direction, but she never actually said anything."
McCartney had made note of this uncomfortable atmosphere and opted to try something different, inviting ono down into the studio when the others had packed up after a day of rehearsing. The pair then attempted to make music together for the first time, with both coming to slight conflicts with their own respective ideas about melody and pitch. Ono had first performed her unique style of singing (what others would call 'screaming) earlier that year in February, alongside jazz musician Ornette Coleman in the Royal Albert Hall.
above: Ono (far right) rehearses with Ornette Coleman's band, 1968
The composition performed with Coleman, titled "AOS", had been met with confusion by the general public. Very quickly, tho, McCartney saw that she wasn't all moaning and wailing.
Paul McCartney: "
She has quite a lovely singing voice, really. The screeching she did was...interesting? I couldn't really do with it. But her singing voice was lovely. Not even comparatively, either."
At the time, the Cute Beatle (as he was known) was still amongst a handful of relationships and casual flings. He had a long-term relationships with actress Jane Asher, travelling with her to India, but was also in two seperate affairs with model Maggie McGivern and scriptwriter Francie Schwartz. This would all eventually come to a head when Asher caught McCartney in bed with Schwartz, following which he broke things off with McGivern in a show of good faith, hoping to repair his and Asher's relationship. They tried, but by the end of '68, the pair had annulled their engagement.
Following this, McCartney invited Ono to his home on Cavendish Avenue in hopes that the creative sessions could continue in a more comfortable environment. It was during that session, after two hours of recording acoustic compositions, they made love at dawn.
Paul McCartney & Yoko Ono - Grapefruit
released May, 1968
SIDE 1
1. Open Your Box (Ono-McCartney)
2. Junk (McCartney)
3. Who Has Seen the Wind? (Ono)
4. No Bed (Ono)
5. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? (McCartney)
6. Remember Love (Ono)
SIDE 2
1. Can You Take Me Back (McCartney)
2. Don't Worry (Ono)
3. Heather (McCartney-Ono)
4. Never Say Goodbye (Ono)
5. Goodbye (McCartney)
The resulting compositions, collected together in an album titled "Grapefruit", was treated as some sort of oddity by listeners, with the more softer McCartney guitar plucking being counterbalanced by the ethereal otherness of Ono's voice. The BBC opted to ban the album, not due to its contents, but more so due to the 'unspoken suggestiveness' of its cover.
