Paul McCartney confirms lost, 14-minute Beatles track

Right around the time The Beatles crafted such pop classics as "Penny Lane," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1967, the band had fully immersed itself in its newfound experimentation with psychedelia and avant-garde pop. The result? A long-rumored 14-minute track entitled "Carnival of Light," which up until recently had been nothing more than a ghost in the minds of Beatles fans.

But during an interview with BBC Radio, Paul McCartney suggested the time has come for the experimental song to see the light of day. And by experimental, we mean the largely improvised track is said to feature wildly distorted electric guitars, discordant sound effects, a church organ and, uh, gargling. Even better, John Lennon and McCartney are said to intermittently interject outré phrases like "Barcelona" and "are you all right?" And they cite Karlheinz Stockhausen as an influence for the track—not too surprising, considering the German composer's stature in the field of electronic composition and his enormous influence on art music.

"I like it because it's the Beatles free, going off piste," McCartney said of the song. (Piste [peest]: an unpaved trail or path. Two points for McCartney's expansive vocabulary.)

"Carnival of Light" has only ever been performed once, at London's Roundhouse music venue in early 1967. It's never appeared on any album, though McCartney pushed for its inclusion on The Beatles Anthology 2. George Harrison apparently vetoed its inclusion, which prompted Entertainment Weekly to ask the question: is the reason the track has never been released because it's not very good? (They said it, not us.)

Even though McCartney owns the song's master tapes, he would need the blessings of Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison to release it to the public. So stay tuned. Until then, tide yourself over with a free track from The Fireman, McCartney's collaboration with British musician/producer Youth. The duo's Nov. 25 album Electric Arguments marks their third collaboration in the last 15 years. 

Related links:
News: MTV snags Beatles for new, non-Rock Band music game
News: Lost Beatles interview discovered in London garage
News: Fifteen unreleased Beatles recordings surface

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