An Accessible Listening to the Music of Yoko Ono

“It is quite likely that having John Lennon fall in love with her was the worst thing that could have happened to Yoko Ono’s career as an artist.”

Critic-author Robert Palmer presents that view in a perceptive essay in the illustrated booklet that is contained in Rykodisc’s new six-hour CD box set “Onobox”--and there is much truth in the provocative remark.

Note that Palmer, whose liner notes last year for Ray Charles’ “The Birth of Soul” album were nominated for a Grammy, didn’t say that meeting and eventually marrying Lennon was the worst thing that happened to Ono’s music , but her career . Everything in the six-disc Rykodisc retrospective, in fact, was recorded after she met Lennon.

But their relationship raised such resentment among Lennon’s followers that Ono’s music was largely rejected out of hand.

Beatles fans blamed Ono for the breakup of the group and then resisted when she recorded with Lennon or on her own. She was an easy target because her avant-garde emphasis, as singer and composer, seemed quirky and indulgent to the average pop or rock fan in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Ono’s work after Lennon’s murder outside the Dakota apartment building here in 1980 was hailed by critics who explained that her early, experimental style had been an influence on many contemporary groups in the ‘80s. Still, the music was not widely appreciated and sales were slight.

To much of the pop world, Ono was simply trying to cash in on her late husband’s fame. After 1985’s “Starpeace” album, Ono stopped making records.

“I felt discouraged by the fact that there was so much antagonism,” Ono, 59, said during a recent interview in the kitchen of the Dakota apartment where she has continued to live since Lennon’s death.

“It wasn’t anything new really because we were discouraged many times. I thought the ‘Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band’ album (in 1970) created a new music, but we were getting photos in the mail of trash cans with arrows saying things like ‘Throw Yoko Ono records here.’

“By the time of ‘Starpeace,’ though, the pressure was getting heavy and I said, ‘Let’s just give it a rest.’ I thought there were so many other things I needed to do that I didn’t need to keep fighting that (musical) one. I believed in the music and that it would eventually be appreciated. . . . I thought it might just need some time.”

So Ono was delighted when Rykodisc contacted her last year about putting out a collection of her albums. The small, tasteful Salem, Mass., company has shown consistent high standards of sound and design quality in CD packaging involving such artists as David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa.

Though Ono was approached by another company about putting together a box set in 1989, she felt there was an element of exploitation about the project and passed. The 10th anniversary of Lennon’s death was coming up at the time and there was a lot of emphasis from the company on including Lennon material in the set.

Rykodisc, however, seemed chiefly interested in her material.

Originally, Ono thought about including some of the Lennon-Ono recordings, but there wasn’t enough room to include everything she had done on six discs. “I thought Rykodisc was going to be offended if I dropped ‘Two Virgins’ or the ‘Wedding Album’ (Lennon-Ono projects from the ‘60s), but they said, why don’t you start with the ‘Plastic Ono Band’ period. ‘Wow,’ I thought. ‘They really are talking about my music.’ ”

Lennon’s presence, however, is felt in the 105-song box set, both as a musician (Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Carlos Alomar are among other guests) and, of course, in much of the subject matter.

Disc one, titled “London Jam,” is devoted to the period around 1970 when Ono was still deeply into the avant-garde scene, while disc five, titled “No, No, No,” is the music released after Lennon’s death.

The latter disc includes selections from “Season of Glass,” the especially passionate 1981 album whose controversial cover featured a photo of Lennon’s blood-splattered glasses. From “I Don’t Know Why” to “Goodbye Sadness,” the songs that open and close the disc, the music offers a tale of survival. It’s a brave and original work.

The final disc, titled “A Story,” is highlighted by previously unreleased material recorded in 1974 when Ono and Lennon were separated.

There is an extraordinary musical range in “Onobox,” from the early experimental music--which should seem a lot more accessible to pop-rock ears today--to the later attempts to add more of a pop sensibility to the songs and arrangements. There’s a consistently warm, personal edge to themes ranging from love to social issues.

For someone wanting to sample the material, Rykodisc next month will release “Walking on Thin Ice,” a 19-song, single disc compilation featuring highlights from the box set.