Video: Lennon, Ono and Rivera on Aug. 5, 1972 (at 0:00-3:33)

(Saturday, August 5, 1972) — Former Beatle John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, were filmed today in San Francisco for an interview by Geraldo Rivera for Eyewitness News on WABC-TV in New York, travelling through the city aboard a cable car, driving the city’s steep hills in a car, viewing the Golden Gate Bridge and visiting Fisherman’s Wharf.

Later this night at their hotel, Lennon (on acoustic guitar) and Ono performed a medley of the tracks for the benefit of the Eyewitness News cameras, including: “Well (Baby Please Don’t Go)” “Rock Island Line,” “Maybe Baby,” “Peggy Sue,” “Woman Is The Nigger Of The World,” “A Fool Like Me” and “The Calypso Song.”

Lennon and Ono had left their apartment in New York on May 28, 1972, to drive across America to the West Coast, eventually ending up in San Francisco.

Video: John Lennon & Yoko Ono News Footage August 5th 1972' (Aug. 5, 1972 at 4:55)

Rivera traveled to San Francisco to solicit the Lennons’ support in the form of headlining a concert to benefit the Willowbrook State School for Retarded Children in on Staten Island, New York. Rivera had received much critical acclaim for his expose of the appalling living conditions at the facility and decided to spearhead a fundraiser to help provide a better environment for the children.

Rivera’s interview and clips from the day were shown on WABC-TV in New York during the following week along with the official announcement of the benefit concert.

The Lennons would enlist the assistance of the New York-based band, Elephant’s Memory, and the first rehearsals for the show are arranged for Friday, Aug. 18, 1972, at Butterfly Studios in New York. Two benefit concerts would be staged at Madison Square Garden on Aug. 30, 1972.