History
It was 40 years ago today... The Ballad of John and Yoko declared their love to the world and told how they 'got married in Gibraltar near Spain, honeymooned down by the Seine' and then 'travelled to the Amsterdam Hilton where we stayed in our beds for a week... Man, we only wanted to get us some peace.'
John and Yoko were masters of media manipulation and invited the world to witness their week-long honeymoon - a Bed In for world peace in the Presidential Suite, room 902 of the Amsterdam Hilton.
The press invaded their cosy cuddle session in droves expecting the infamous nudists to make love in front of their cameras. Their white wedding celebrations became unadulterated performance art, laced with protest against the Vietnam war.
John explained that they were trying to sell the idea of peace to the world by asking people to grow their hair and stay in bed.
In mid-May the couple planned a second Bed In in New York City, but authorities at the US Embassy in London refused John a visa because of an earlier marijuana arrest. So they headed north and their efforts culminated on Sunday 1 June, in room 1742 at the Hotel Reine Elizabeth in Montreal, Canada, where John and Yoko recorded Give Peace A Chance, which has been embraced worldwide as a peace anthem.
Bearing a Lennon & McCartney songwriting credit and released by The Plastic Ono Band, it reached Number 14 in the US and hit the Number 2 spot in the UK.
John and Yoko's mission was accomplished - people across the world were chanting their song and they had sold the idea of peace.
