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112.
Holograph manuscript relating to “The Connection”, the title of the course given by Yoko Ono at the Anti-University of London.
Approx. 179 words in black ink + spirograph drawing to lower part. No date (c. early March 1968). Single sheet of letterhead stationery (25x20cm.), folded in three. Together with original envelope bearing Yoko’s holograph inscription: “YOKO ONO/ To Bill Levy/ URGENT”. First line of ms. note crossed through in blue biro with six-word amendment, possibly in a different hand. The letterhead prints the address and telephone number of Yoko’s flat at 25 Hanover Gate Mansions, next to Regent’s Park. Minor handling wear only.
The manuscript is divided into two numbered parts. The first concerns Yoko’s concert appearance with Ornette Coleman at the Royal Albert Hall in February 1968, and the second outlines her course at the recently opened Anti-University of London. It seems likely that Yoko was requesting Bill Levy, then editor of International Times, to publish some form of statement on her behalf relating to the concert, along with an announcement of her planned course for the Anti-U (though neither were published).
In the first part, Yoko refers to “THE INSTRUCTIONS for Yoko Ono’s composition ‘TO ORNETTE’ ” (this line has been scored through, replaced with the words: “Yoko Ono’s instructions for ‘Emotion Modulation’ ”). She writes that the programme which printed the instructions “was confiscated by Mr. Mundy of the Albert Hall that night on the ground that improper words were used in the INSTRUCTIONS” (this was the same Frank Mundy who three years later banned The Mothers of Invention from playing the soundtrack to “200 Motels”).
Yoko Ono first met Ornette Coleman in Paris, and he took turns with Jean-Jacques Lebel inside the bag during the performance of her ‘Bag Piece’ at Place de la Contrescarpe in early January 1968. On February 29 they performed together at the Royal Albert Hall, where Dan Richter helped to arrange the stadium-style seating, much as it had been for the International Poetry Incarnation he helped organise in 1965 (Dan and Jill Richter lived next door to Yoko, in flat 26 Hanover Gate Mansions). Afterwards, John Lennon intended to use tapes recorded at the concert to produce an “Ornette-Yoko record under Apple before Easter”, which never materialised, though a piece titled “AOS” recorded during rehearsal appeared on Yoko’s first solo album in 1970.
In the second section, “About YOKO ONO’S ORIENTAL PSYCHIATRY SESSION called ‘CONNECTION’ ”, Yoko describes six features of the sessions, which she states were to last for one hour at her flat, during which she “will observe astronomical, numerological and other aspects of the individual by listening to his or her problems and will help connect them to their own reality. Also, will give Zen instructions, some physical thing for them to do, for the next day.” Her note in the margin to Levy suggests that he “put it in better wording” and to “Call me if it’s unclear.”
The catalogue for the Anti-University of London’s second session lists her course, which was scheduled for Friday evenings at 8.30, and describes it as an “attempt to connect people to their own reality by means of ‘brain sessions’ and ritual.”
Yoko’s choice of “Connection” as the course title hints at her desire to combine Eastern philosophy with psychology as practiced in the West, and suggests a further use for her ‘Instructions’ as a method of opening up the mind. “The Connection” was also the title of a poem dating from 1952 containing themes that would re-emerge in later writings; originally written in Japanese, it was translated by her and published in the Touchstone edition of “Grapefruit” in 1971.
Written around the time of her marriage breakup with Tony Cox and the intensification of her relationship with John Lennon, this previously unseen Yoko Ono manuscript offers a rare glimpse of her creative endeavours during a period of transition and personal upheaval.
