Experimental Beatles release?

[Bronson Lee]

Sir Paul McCartney has said he would like to release an experimental Beatles track for the first time.

Carnival Of Light is a 14-minute experimental track the Fab Four recorded in 1967 but never released.

The band played the recording for an audience just once, at an electronic music festival in London. It reportedly includes distorted guitar, organ sounds, gargling and shouts of "Barcelona!" and "Are you all right?" from Sir Paul and John Lennon.

Sir Paul said during a recording session at Abbey Road studios he asked the other members of the band to "just wander round all of the stuff and bang it, shout, play it. It doesn't need to make any sense."

"I like it because it's The Beatles free, going off piste," he told the BBC in a radio interview to be broadcast on Thursday.

Sir Paul said he still had a master tape of the piece and "the time has come for it to get its moment."

Sir Paul, usually regarded as the most melodically minded Beatle, told the BBC he had a long-standing interest in avant-garde music. He said Carnival Of Light was inspired by experimental composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

He said he had wanted to include the track on the Beatles' Anthology compilation, but was vetoed by his bandmates.

He would need permission from Ringo Starr and the widows of Lennon and George Harrison to release the track.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_Of_Light

[colonel]

Oddly enough, you can hear cover versions on YouTube- but not the real thing. Obviously, the cover versions recorded at home can't convey the master recording in its complexities- but you get a sense of the gist.

Macca has always liked Stockhausen- and it sounds very Stockhausen-esque.

[colonel]

Macca did tape loops first, overdubs first and LSD first- and was mightily pissed off at John for taking all the credit.

[Bronson Lee]

colonel wrote:
> Macca has always liked Stockhausen- and it sounds very
> Stockhausen-esque.

Yes, thats what I thought,
I would love to hear this recording,
bet its worth a few quid in royalties as well.

[colonel]

It is probably in EMI's vaults; but the copyright in the release [as opposed to the actual recording] is owned by Apple Corps. So nothing doing unless all agree....how likely is it that Yoko will let Macca release something more avantgarde than anything John ever did?

[The Last Word]

I'll be interested to hear this, and I presume this ties in with Macca's recent return to the fold as The Fireman, his collaboration with producer Youth that's produced some very interesting experimental stuff.



New offering 'Ring the Changes' is rather good indeed.