Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic anti-war anthems ever, “Give Peace a Chance.”
Although it wasn’t released until July 1969, the song was recorded on June 1, 1969 in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal.
It was the culmination of a week-long “Bed-In For Peace” staged by the Beatles' John Lennon and his new wife Yoko Ono, who arrived in Montreal on May 26, 1969, a month after having a “bed-in” in Amsterdam.
MORE: Montreal Marks 50 Years Since 'Bed-In' For Peace
On June 1, Lennon and Ono invited a group of people — including drug advocate Timothy Leary, comedian Tommy Smothers, singer Petula Clark, and poet Allen Ginsberg — to join them in their suite to record “Give Peace a Chance.”
Montreal recording engineer André Perry set up four microphones and a four-track tape recorder to capture the song, which featured Lennon and Smothers on acoustic guitars and Perry doing percussion.
Relive this Canadian moment in music history: