LENNON-MCCARTNEY : THE CREDITS ON 'GIVE PEACE A CHANCE'

On the first day of June ’69, John and Yoko led the dozens of people in their room in a recording of “Give Peace a Chance.” One of the Smothers Brothers played guitar along with John while Yoko, Timmy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and others in attendance chanted the chorus.

The recording was about as informal as they come. A month later, the track went out as a single by the Plastic Ono Band.

On the label, buyers found the eternal Lennon-McCartney stamp in its usual place. Looking back, John said he could hardly remember why he’d given Paul credit for something that had nothing to do with him.

“It’s there because I kind of felt guilty because I’d made the separate single — the first — and I was really breaking away from the Beatles,” he told Playboy in 1980. “We always had that thing that our names would go on songs even if we didn’t write them,” he added. “It was a silly thing to do, actually. It should have been Lennon-Ono.”While John’s explanation (it was a habit) makes enough sense, some point to Paul’s work on “The Ballad of John and Yoko” as the prime motivator. In Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald wrote that John credited Paul on “Give Peace a Chance” as payback for “his partner’s help” on “Ballad.”

In April ’69, just after the Amsterdam bed-in, John had returned to London yearning to record his new song idea. However, with George Harrison and Ringo out of town, John needed more help than usual to get the track on record.

After helping John put the finishing touches on “The Ballad of John and Yoko,” Paul  headed to the studio with him and played bass, drums, and piano on the record, sang backing vocals as well.
“Paul knew that people were being nasty to John, and he just wanted to make it well for him,” Yoko told Rolling Stone later. “Paul has a very brotherly side to him.”