US album release: Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions by John Lennon and Yoko Ono – 26 May 1969

May 26, 2026

US album release: Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions by John Lennon and Yoko Ono – 26 May 1969

Monday 26 May 1969 | Release

On 26 May 1969, Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions by John Lennon and Yoko Ono was released in the United States as Zapple 01 — the launch release of The Beatles' experimental Apple subsidiary Zapple Records. It was released simultaneously with Electronic Sound by George Harrison (Zapple 02). The label had been in existence since October 1968, but these were its first — and only — releases. Zapple was closed by Allen Klein in June 1969.

The Album

Life With The Lions was Lennon and Ono's follow-up to the controversial Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (1968) — the album whose cover, featuring Lennon and Ono nude, had caused widespread outrage and led to copies being seized by police in New Jersey. Life With The Lions was no less uncompromising, though its provocations were sonic rather than visual.

The Tracklisting

Side one was filled entirely by 'Cambridge 1969' — an improvised performance recorded on 2 March 1969 at Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge University, before a live audience. The performance was divided into five sections:

'Song For John'
'Cambridge'
'Let's Go On Flying'
'Snow Is Falling All The Time'
'Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow'

The Cambridge performance consisted largely of Ono's extended vocal improvisations — keening, wailing, and shrieking over Lennon's guitar feedback and drone. It was, by any conventional measure, not music in the pop sense; it was avant-garde performance art, rooted in Ono's background in Fluxus and the New York experimental scene.

Side two contained four tracks:

'No Bed For Beatle John' — a collage of newspaper headlines and radio reports from the period of Lennon and Ono's hospitalisation in November 1968
'Baby's Heartbeat' — a recording of the heartbeat of Lennon and Ono's unborn child, made at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London in November 1968, when Ono was hospitalised following a miscarriage. The child — a boy, named John Ono Lennon II — was stillborn on 21 November 1968.
'Two Minutes Silence' — exactly what it describes: two minutes of silence, in the tradition of John Cage's 4'33"
'Radio Play' — a recording of Lennon randomly tuning a radio, producing fragments of music, speech, and static

Context: The Hospital Recordings

The most emotionally charged material on the album is the side two content relating to Ono's miscarriage in November 1968. Lennon had slept on the floor of Queen Charlotte's Hospital to be with Ono during her hospitalisation — hence the title 'No Bed For Beatle John', drawn from the newspaper coverage of the unusual sight of a Beatle bedding down in a hospital corridor. The recording of the baby's heartbeat, made before the miscarriage, gives the album a dimension of genuine grief that sits in stark contrast to the confrontational noise of side one.

Zapple Records

Zapple was conceived as an Apple Records subsidiary for experimental, avant-garde, and spoken word recordings. It was run by Barry Miles, a writer and counterculture figure who was a close friend of Paul McCartney. Miles later wrote McCartney's authorised biography, Many Years From Now (1997).

Beyond the two released albums, Zapple had ambitious plans:

A spoken word album by novelist Richard Brautigan (to have been Zapple 3 — acetate copies were pressed but it was never released)
Spoken word albums by poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Michael McClure
A recording of a UK appearance by comedian Lenny Bruce

Barry Miles later recalled:

“The Zapple label was folded by Klein before the record could be released. The first two Zapple records did come out. We just didn’t have [Brautigan’s record] ready in time before Klein closed it down. None of the Beatles ever heard it.”

— Barry Miles

Allen Klein and the Closure of Zapple

Allen Klein was appointed as The Beatles' business manager in February 1969, supported by Lennon, Harrison, and Starr but opposed by McCartney. Klein closed Zapple in June 1969 on commercial grounds, just weeks after its US launch. The closure reflected the broader tensions within Apple Corps in 1969 — a year of financial crisis, management disputes, and creative fracture.

Key Facts: 26 May 1969

Album: Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions
Artists: John Lennon and Yoko Ono
Label: Zapple Records (Zapple 01)
US release date: 26 May 1969
Side one: 'Cambridge 1969' (recorded 2 March 1969, Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge)
Side two: 'No Bed For Beatle John' / 'Baby's Heartbeat' / 'Two Minutes Silence' / 'Radio Play'
Hospital recordings: Queen Charlotte's Hospital, London, November 1968
Released same day: Electronic Sound by George Harrison (Zapple 02)
Zapple closed: June 1969 (by Allen Klein)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Unfinished Music No.2: Life With The Lions?

The second avant-garde album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released as Zapple 01 in May 1969. Side one features the improvised 'Cambridge 1969' performance; side two includes recordings made at Queen Charlotte's Hospital during Ono's miscarriage in November 1968, including the heartbeat of their unborn child.

What is 'Baby's Heartbeat'?

A recording of the heartbeat of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's unborn child, made at Queen Charlotte's Hospital in London in November 1968. The child — John Ono Lennon II — was stillborn on 21 November 1968.

What was the Cambridge 1969 performance?

An improvised performance by Lennon and Ono at Lady Mitchell Hall, Cambridge University on 2 March 1969, before a live audience. It consisted largely of Ono's extended vocal improvisations over Lennon's guitar feedback, divided into five sections.

What was Zapple Records?

An Apple Records subsidiary for experimental and spoken word recordings, run by Barry Miles. It launched in the US on 26 May 1969 and was closed by Allen Klein in June 1969 after releasing only two records.