 Although still officially a member of the Beatles , Lennon had privately announced his departure from the group in September 1969 . He was now keen to issue " Instant Karma ! " immediately as a single , the third under his and Ono 's Plastic Ono Band moniker . The recording session took place at Abbey Road Studios in north @-@ west London , on the evening of 27 January . Lennon 's fellow musicians at the session were Harrison , Klaus Voormann , Alan White and Billy Preston – all of whom had performed at the December 1969 Peace for Christmas Concert , as part of the Plastic Ono Supergroup . The recording engineer for " Instant Karma ! " was EMI mainstay Phil McDonald . Spector produced the session , arriving late after Harrison had found him at Apple 's office and persuaded him to attend . 
