August 30, 1972: John Lennon Performs the One to One Concert

August 30, 1972: The "One To One Concert" is held at Madison Square Garden in Midtown Manhattan. It is a benefit for developmentally disabled children. The headliners are John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

The former Beatle was asked to do it by journalist Geraldo Rivera, as a benefit for the children at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island in New York City. Rivera, in his first big scoop as a journalist, had exposed abuses of the children there. Lennon had seen Rivera's report on WABC-Channel 7, and contacted him about the story. Rivera asked him to do a benefit concert, he agreed, and Rivera introduced him.

There were actually 2 concerts at The Garden that day, an afternoon show and an evening show. Among the other performers were Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and the doo-wop tribute group Sha Na Na.

The concerts were filmed and recorded, and later served as the basis for the live album Live in New York City, released in 1986. Backed by the band Elephant's Memory, John sang mostly his solo material, plus a cover of "Hound Dog," which Elvis Presley had sung there a few weeks earlier, and exactly one Beatle song: "Come Together."

Of his own material, he sang, "New York City," "It's So Hard," "Well Well Well," "Instant Karma," "Mother," "Cold Turkey" and "Power to the People." Yoko sang "Sisters, O Sisters" and "Born in a Prison. Together, John and Yoko sang "Woman Is the (N-word) of the World" and "Imagine," and closed the show with "Give Peace a Chance." The Vietnam War was still going on.

These turned out to be Lennon's only full-length concerts after leaving The Beatles, and the evening show was his last full concert anywhere. Two years later, he returned to The Garden to play 3 songs with Elton John. But that would be it, for the worst of reasons.

When Elton wrote a tribute song, it was titled "Empty Garden (Hey, Hey, Johnny)."

A few years ago, somebody took footage of John singing "Come Together" at the One To One Concert, and matched it up with George Harrison and Ringo Starr from the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, and Paul McCartney from the Wings Over America tour in 1976, all at Madison Square Garden, so it looked like they were all together again. But that video no longer seems to be on YouTube.

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August 30, 1972 was a Wednesday. American actress Cameron Diaz and Czech soccer player Pavel Nedvěd were born on this day.

These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Rob Gardner was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with an RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd inning, something that American League pitchers can only do for another month, as the designated hitter was coming in.

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Don Gullett outpitched Jon Matlack. Willie Mays appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Pete Rose went 1-for-3 and was hit with a pitch. Johnny Bench went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Joe Morgan went 0-for-4.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 3-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Ernie McAnally came into the game 2-14, but outpitched Phil Niekro. Hank Aaron appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 11-0 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell hit a home run. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jim Hickman won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3. Rod Carew went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The California Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Al Kaline appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. John "Blue Moon" Odom went 7 1/3 innings, with with Darold Knowles and Rollie Fingers finishing off a 7-hit shutout, beating Gaylord Perry. Mike Epstein, who apparently didn't mind being called "Superjew" but was traded away after the season because he couldn't get along with his teammates, hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4.