According to Plastic Ono Band founder John Lennon the group is less a band than a concept. Nonetheless, various albums have been put out under the name since it was first coined for the ad-hoc collection of musicians playing on Lennon's single 'Give Peace a Chance', recorded while he and his Yoko Ono were taking part in their 'Bed for Peace' protest shortly after their marriage. The song was recorded on a portable rig and Lennon chose the name Plastic Ono Band after taking inspiration from some plastic music stands he was using.
The name Plastic Ono Band has subsequently been used for various albums and performances from Lennon and from Ono, being applied to whoever happened to appear on the recording or stage. Over the years The Plastic Ono Band's ever-shifting line-up has included the likes of George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White. Lennon used the name for various singles between 1969 and 1971 including 'Cold Turkey', 'Instant Karma', 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' and 'Power to the People'.
In 1970 the name was used for two simultaneous albums recorded using the same musicians during the same studio sessions - 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' and 'Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band'. It was used on 1972's 'Some Time in New York City', though the musicians were also credited as Elephant's Memory. Ono used the name on 'Approximate Infinite Universe' and 'Feeling the Space', while Lennon began playing with it and credited the Plastic U.F.Ono Band and the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band on a couple of projects.
The name was then dropped for several decades, resurfacing for Ono's album 'Between My Head and the Sky' in 2009 and 'Take Me to the Land of Hell' in 2013.
