Written by: Lennon-Ono
Recorded: 22 May 1971
Producers: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector
Released: 2 November 1998
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic guitar
Charles Shaar Murray, Michelle: acoustic guitar
Klaus Voormann: bass guitar
Phil Kenzie, Geoff Driscoll: tenor saxophone
Dave Coxhill: baritone saxophone
Ringo Starr: drums
Available on:
John Lennon Anthology
Do The Oz was the b-side of God Save Oz, a fundraising single written by John Lennon in 1971.
The single was to help with the legal costs incurred by the defendants in the Oz magazine obscenity trial. Lennon had written two songs for the cause, and sang on Do The Oz, accompanied by Yoko Ono.
Do The Oz was a dark, riff-driven recording, given an echo-laden Phil Spector production and featuring lyrics that referenced the childhood dance the Hokey Cokey: "Pull your left wing in, and put your right wing out/Do the Oz, baby/Spread it all about".
John and I actually once were thinking, 'Why don't we create a dance, you know, a dance movement, and put the instructions of how to do this new dance on the back of an album.' And he started to roll on the floor, trying to find a unique kind of action. But it just didn't happen. It was a bit difficult.
Rolling Stone
The God Save Oz single was recorded at Ascot Sound Studios, Lennon's home recording facility at Tittenhurst Park in Ascot, England. It also had two contributors to the infamous Schoolkids OZ edition on acoustic guitar, including future New Musical Express journalist Charles Shaar Murray.
It was issued by Apple in July 1971, under the Elastic Oz Band name, and failed to chart in either the UK or US. Both God Save Oz and Do The Oz were included on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology.
In 2000 Do The Oz was remixed and included as a bonus track on a compact disc reissue of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, along with Power To The People.
thank you for this article! seems like it would have made more sense to release it as a bonus track to “Imagine” considering the time it was recorded and the spirit of the song
John is just listed on acoustic guitar, I would think he played electric guitar. Looking who is on the record, maybe it was included on POB, because John, Klaus & Ringo are on it, same line-up as POB.
I was contacted as usual by Mal Evans to provide two tenor sax players, myself being one and Geoff Driscoll the other, as well as a Baritone sax player, Dave Coxhill. We were conveyed by Mal in George’s Mercedes Limo out to Tittenhurst where we spent the evening recording the OZ tracks. Bobby Keys was not there. The Limo had been John’s but he sold it to George. Please correct this article, Yours Phil Kenzie
Hi Phil. Many thanks for sharing your recollections here. I’ve amended the line-up to show the correct sax players.