Lost Beatles Song
November 16, 2008
The Beatles in 1967
Paul McCartney says it’s time to release Carnival of Light, the legendary lost psychedelic jam the band recorded in 1967 but immediately sealed up tight and put in a vault.
The track, which is reportedly not at all melodic and consists of whoops, shrieks and wild sounds, was an experiment for the foursome, who wanted to create something that didn’t rely on their harmonies and catchy hooks.
“It was a kind of uncomposed, free-for-all melange of sound that went on,” George Martin once said. “It was not considered worthy of issuing as a normal piece of Beatles music at the time and was put away.”
McCartney wants this out as proof that he’s always been more experimental than people give him credit for. As he tells The Guardian, he isn’t just the master tunesmith people know and love; he’s also a sonic maniac who has released several albums of what-the-fuckness under the name The Fireman.
I didn’t know that, and I know all kinds of stupid useless information. Now I have to go look it up. Okay, here’s a fan-made video set to one of the Fireman’s songs
Hmm. Not my cup of tea, but I admire McCartney for doing something new (and not tooting his own horn about it). I’ve always been of the opinion that some singers should just quietly stop and do something different after a while (hello, Rod Stewart). But it’s encouraging to see one of rock’s legends still likes to expand into new musical territories.
