"Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins" is the first experimental album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in November 1968. It was recorded during an all-night session at Lennon’s home studio at Kenwood, while his wife, Cynthia, was away on holiday in Greece. The album is known not only for its avant-garde content but also for its controversial cover, which features the couple naked. The image sparked outrage, prompting the album to be sold in a plain brown paper bag, and it was distributed by Track Records in the UK and Tetragrammaton Records in the US after EMI refused to handle the cover. Although the album failed to chart in the UK, it reached number 124 in the US. This album was followed by Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions in 1969.
The album was born from a chance meeting between John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Indica Gallery in London in 1966. After a period of communication, Lennon invited Ono to his home while his wife was away, and the two began working on avant-garde musical experiments. These experiments involved the use of tape loops, various sound effects, and instrumentation like piano, organ, and drums. The couple aimed to create a record that was not just music, but an expression of their life together. The music on Two Virgins was meant to be perceived as unfinished, reflecting the idea that the listener’s mind would create the music rather than just listening to it in a conventional sense.
The album’s cover, shot in October 1968 using a time-delay camera, caused a massive public uproar. It featured John and Yoko both naked, with the front cover showing them from the front and the back cover showing them from behind. The couple chose to release the images as a declaration of their freedom and relationship, but the controversial nature of the photographs led to the album being sold in a plain brown wrapper with quotes from Genesis Chapter 2 printed on the back. The nudity was a key part of the controversy, but Lennon later suggested that the outrage may have had more to do with the fact that they were "two slightly overweight ex-junkies" rather than the nudity itself.
The album was released by Apple Records in the US on November 11, 1968, and in the UK on November 29, 1968. It was distributed by Track Records in the UK and Tetragrammaton Records in the US, after EMI refused to produce the album with the original cover. It was the first time that Lennon had released a project that did not involve any of the other Beatles, and parts of the album were reminiscent of the experimental tracks that had appeared on later Beatles Christmas records. Despite the initial backlash, the album sold around 25,000 copies in the US and achieved some level of notoriety. It was also released in various formats in the years following its initial release, including unauthorized versions.
Critics and the public were largely negative about the album. Many found the music difficult to listen to, and the cover became a symbol of the era's counterculture. Retrospective reviews, however, have been more mixed. Some critics have regarded it as a fascinating and experimental product of a unique collaboration, while others have criticized it for being unpolished and disjointed. The album’s influence, however, cannot be denied, as it marked a bold new direction for Lennon and Ono's artistic partnership.
