Paul McCartney And The New 40-Year-Old Beatles Song: Carnival of Light

Paul McCartney has revealed that he wishes to treat fans to a never-before released Beatles track called “Carnival of Light” which the Fab Four deemed too adventurous at the time of its inception, in 1967.

The 14-minute track was recorded in 1967 with the four Beatles, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr experimenting what they could do with their instruments and voices. McCartney’s indication at the time had been for them to “just wander round all of the stuff and bang it, shout, play it.”

Titled “Carnival of Light,” it was recorded for an electronic music festival, McCartney told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row in an interview that is to be broadcast later this week. The musician had asked his bandmates to be “indulgent” for ten minutes during a recording session at Abbey Road Studios.

The final product was deemed too adventurous by the other three members and thus it was never released. It was played only once at an electronic music festival in London.

McCartney, 66, said he was fond of the song and that he felt the time had come for it to fulfill its fate – that is be available for listening.

It was inspired by experimental composers John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen, the veteran artists said and it shows The Beatles “free” and “going off piste.”

One detail that McCartney must settle first though is obtaining permission from surviving member Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, who all manage the band’s estate.

“Carnival of Light” is said to include distorted guitar and organ sounds as well as random shouts from the members such as “Barcelona!” and “Are you alright?”

Paul McCartney also helped complete The Beatles’ legacy earlier this year when he performed in Tel Aviv, Israel. The concert, titled “Friendship First,” gathered some 50,000 fans and was a rewriting of history, as The Beatles were once scheduled to perform in the country in 1965 but were ultimately denied this possibility by the government. He refused to cancel his September concert in Israel, despite threats from Islamic militants.

Another historical event was last month’s announcement that a video game in the vein of “Rock Band” would be released in 2009 featuring songs from The Beatles’ catalog. The game is to be conceived by Apple Corps, the company handling The Beatles’ music catalog, game developer Harmonix and publisher MTV Games.

Surviving Beatles McCartney and Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, have all given their blessing to the project and will be active in its creation. Giles Martin, son of the Beatles’ producer George Martin will serve as the project’s music producer.

Via efluxmedia.com