An off piste 14-minute experimental Beatles track which many fans did not believe existed could soon be released, Sir Paul McCartney said in comments released Monday.
Carnival Of Light was recorded for an electronic music festival in 1967 – between takes of Penny Lane, one of the band s most famous songs – but was never released because the other Beatles deemed it too weird.
Explaining the recording process, McCartney told BBC radio: I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn t need to make any sense.
Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around.
So that s what we did and then put a bit of echo on it … I like it because it s the Beatles free, doing off piste.
McCartney says the track, which he initiated, was inspired by the works of avant garde composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
It features a church organ, distorted lead guitar, gargling water and McCartney and John Lennon screaming words and phrases like Barcelona and are you alright?
The former Beatles bassist said he still has a master tape of the recording, adding: The time has come for it to get its moment.
But before it can be released, he must get the consent of the only other living Beatle, Ringo Starr, plus Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of Lennon and George Harrison, the Observer newspaper reported.
Its release would show fans that the Beatles were working on really avant garde stuff as well as more conventional pop tunes, McCartney said.
McCartney s comments, to be broadcast in full Thursday, come as he releases a third album under his experimental alias, the Fireman. -AFP
