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Why This Beatles No. 1 Single Was Banned

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Why was a Beatles number one single banned?
In 1969, The Ballad of John and Yoko became a huge hit around the world, but its lyrics also caused problems with broadcasters and censors. In this video, we follow the story from John and Yoko’s wedding and the song’s remarkably quick recording session to radio bans, censorship and a very unusual Spanish Beatles album.
And the reason it disappeared in Spain may not be the one you expect.

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20 Comments

@nickfield1569 3 weeks ago

Such a shame Instant Karma couldn't be made with Paul like this just nine months later

@markstevenson6635 3 weeks ago

There's no doubt that they were more popular than Gibraltor.

@buzzbabyjesus 3 weeks ago

"Go a bit faster, Ringo", "Ok George".

@TheAerovons 3 weeks ago (edited)

Was there the night they recorded this. We were waiting around on the couch (lounge) in the front of the studio. They did this in Studio 3, which required those in the studio to come out, walk a little bit down the hall toward where we sat, and turn into a door that led into the control room. Paul came out and we looked up and just kind of nodded and said "Hi Paul," and he said "hi" in return. When he came back out of the control room to return to the studio, he looked over and said "Ah, not gonna say hi this time!" and we all laughed. They truly were just "the way they was before they was." :)

@GeoffCB 3 weeks ago

We got the drum beat version on radio in Australia. That was the only version I knew until I bought the Hey Jude album. I still own it!

@roberth9197 3 weeks ago

'Synch!' I always heard 'Sing!' I checked a couple of songbooks for the lyrics, and see 'Think!'

@PierreMercier-w7n 2 weeks ago

Great video. Just one little correction. In Canada, the couple did not stay in Toronto. They were in Montreal.

@mikejohnson5914 3 weeks ago

Great story. I am still learning new Beatles stories for the past 50 years.

@MrKaywyn 3 weeks ago

A very interesting video. Personally I prefer the b-side Old Brown Shoe.

@larsbagger7840 4 weeks ago

That "All You Need Is Love" bedspread (9:00) with characters from the Yellow Submarine movie is just lovely❤

@bengtl331 3 weeks ago

Spain also replaced Sister Morphine on the Rolling. Stones' Sticky Fingers LP with first 30 seconds of silence followed by the live Let It Rock. And the jeans cover with a treacle cover.

@johnburns4017 3 weeks ago

Ballard of John and Yoko. One of their best. That base intro!

@EricSchultz-zs8hz 3 weeks ago

This is another really good and interesting video. I remember reading in Ron Schaumburg's "Growing Up With the Beatles," one of his local radio stations edited a tape of the single, so that each time John sang "Christ," that bit of tape was cut and spliced in backwards. The author said that it sounded like someone bumping the turntable of a record. I did not know about "Gibraltar near Spain" being such a controversial thing that the Franco regime banned it. About the "Hey Jude" album, I long thought that they should have put "Revolution" on Side 2, right after the title track, and that they could have put "I'm Down" (never on any LP until the "Rock and Roll Music" compilation album in 1976) on Side 1.

@markastoforoff7838 3 weeks ago (edited)

I think it's silly to ban a song because it contains the word Christ, but the whole Gibraltar thing brings censorship idiocy to a whole new level. Dictators rule with an iron fist and think of themselves as the biggest and toughest hombres, but often are the biggest snowflakes with the thinnest of skin.

@RonaldBrown59 3 weeks ago

I never knew it was banned in Spain. Interesting history behind the making of this single. Great video, and thanks for sharing.

@slowpawstevet3676 3 weeks ago

My wife's favourite Beatles song :-)

@ScottRoberts-i8b 3 weeks ago

Thanks Andrew. I, too have a Spanish copy of that album.

@xaviercallobre6822 3 weeks ago

Andrew, great stuff as always. I have to mention two things: first, look at those Billboard Hot 100 charts. I paused the video to look through them in detail, and man, what an incredible assortment of songs! There's so much good stuff, and so much variety! I was nine years old that summer - no wonder my childhood was so fantastic! And second, I too, always thought John said, "Think!" in that moment that the song pauses. I thought it was him quoting Yoko telling him to think about what she had just said. That's what lyric sheets had on them, too. In any case, I enjoyed the always-informative video.

@matthewhumcke3182 3 weeks ago

The stereo imaging in this song is emmaculate

There has been one word to explain the tone of this song in the context of The Beatles' catalogue and the context of its time:

funky

this song is funky. and i love it