November 15, 2008

The 14-minute long Beatles recording, "Carnival of Light," will finally be released, after 41 years.

How bad can it be?
... distorted guitars and drum-beats, gargling, church organs, and Sir Paul and John Lennon yelling: "Are you all right?" and "Barcelona!"...

"I said to the guys, this is a bit indulgent, but would you mind giving me 10 minutes? All I want you to do is just wander round all the stuff and bang it, shout, play it. Then we put a bit of echo on it. It's very free."...

The producer who oversaw the recording, Sir George Martin, described the track as "a kind of uncomposed free-for-all melange of sound".

22 comments:

Palladian said...

Not just any noise, but The Beatles making noise!

Anyway, it can't be any worse than Revolution Number 9 can it?

Anonymous said...

10:40 pm and the puppies are in full cute mode!!

There is audio. Turn up the speakers.

Ann Althouse said...

I disagree. I assume it will have to be much worse that "Revolution #9," which made it onto the white album. "Carnival of Light" was rejected from Anthology.

Ann Althouse said...

Hey, the puppies are cute.

I turned up the audio. Seemed like they were yapping "Are you all right?" and "Barcelona!"

Palladian said...

"I disagree. I assume it will have to be much worse that "Revolution #9," which made it onto the white album."

So did Honey Pie.

[shudder]

Bob W. said...

The Beatles are on my 2009 comeback list, as an homage to my dad, the most diehard Beatles fan ever. I have heard even him admit that Revolution #9 is pretty bad, though. . .

I didn't know that they actually had a buried old track to release, though, so I guess my comeback list is spot on!

Unknown said...

I'm kind of partial to this one

Then there was music and wonderful roses
they tell me in sweet fragrant meadows
of dawn and dew

There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No I never heard it at all
Till there was you

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ron said...

No, no, no...I want the 40 minute Helter Skelter, not this Paul-aver! It ends with "I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!" line.

Plus, John's anti Semitic "Baby you're a rich man" aimed right at Eppy... If you've got the tapes Paul, and we know you do!!!

Revenant said...

I assume it will have to be much worse that "Revolution #9," which made it onto the white album.

It certainly SOUNDS like it will be worse than Revolution 9...

Anonymous said...

...but I liked Honey Pie...

blake said...

Just say "No", kids.

Wince said...

There was both a Honey Pie and a Wild Honey Pie on the White Album.

Honey Pie was a Paul's homage to the British music-hall style, while
Wild Honey Pie sounded like, well, a drum circle at the Spahn Ranch.

I do like the classical guitar lead-in from Wild Honey Pie to Bungalo Bill, however.

This sum-is-greater-than-the-parts transition approach was improved upon on the next album, Abbey Road, in the B-side medley, which starts with You Never Give Me Your Money and ends with The End.

As for Carnival of Light, the Beatles' last albums was called Let It Be, wasn't it?

Wince said...

And let's also remember the Beatles put out their entire body of work in the time it takes most bands today to put out only two, maybe three, albums.

zeek said...

It cracks me up when people say Revolution #9 was bad, as if it was supposed to be a hummable melody like Yesterday or a catchy ditty like Lady Madonna but just didn't turn out as well, or that it was supposed to be listened to as often as an AM radio pop song.

Roger Sweeny said...

The movie they made of Magical Mystery Tour was suppressed for many years. I finally got to see it and understood why. I'm going to pass on "Carnival of Light."

john said...

stever - Did Shirley Jones play with the Beatles? I heard she got around a bit.

George M. Spencer said...

1967

2008

Everybody's dancin in a ring around the sun—
Nobodys finished, we ain't even begun.
So take off your shoes, child, and take off your hat.
Try on your wings and find our where its at.

Hey, hey, hey, come right away!
Come and join the party every day.

DC 1/20/08

Anonymous said...

"We're not going to do a free-form jazz exploration in front of a festival crowd!"

Unknown said...

John: I guess it was Paul's love of showtunes, not Shirley Jones, that explains it. At least they didn't do "76 Trombones"

veni vidi vici said...

I put Revolution 9 up on my reel to reel player once while blazing on acid in the 80's; listened to it forwards, then backwards, several times in a row.

You Rev #9 haters just don't appreciate greatness...

James Hardy said...

Cheers for this audio, enjoyed it.....