How long does it take to write a song, record it and have it mixed and ready for release? In the case of John Lennon’s “Instant Karma” a day.
That day was January 27, 1970 and as John Lennon was quoted as saying, “I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”
And who was in Abbey Roads Studio that day and played on the record. George Harrison on guitar, Klaus Voorman on bass, Alan White on drums, and keyboard player Billy Preston.
Ten days later the song was in the stores. It reached #3 on the US Charts and No. 5 in the UK.
Where did the title come from? Yoko Ono had heard her former husband Tony Cox wife, Melinde Kendall, use the phrase.