Carnival of Light
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- For the album by Ride, see Carnival of Light (album).
| "Carnival of Light" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Released | Unreleased | |
| Recorded | January 5, 1967 | |
| Genre | Psychedelic Rock/Musique concrète/Experimental music | |
| Length | 13:48 | |
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
"Carnival of Light" is an unreleased experimental piece by The Beatles. It was recorded on January 5, 1967, after the vocal overdubbing sessions for Penny Lane; a single recorded during the sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The track was created for The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, an event held at the Roundhouse Theatre on January 28 and February 4, 1967. Some people claim that it was around thirteen minutes, and Paul McCartney himself said it was around fifteen minutes (In the book The Complete Beatles Chronicle it's listed as being 13 minutes and 48 seconds).
Contents |
[edit] History
The genesis of the track came in December 1966 from designer David Vaughan (part of the designer trio Binder, Edwards & Vaughan), who had recently painted a psychedelic design on a piano owned by Paul McCartney. About the same time as he delivered the piano to Paul’s Cavendish Avenue address he asked if he would contribute a musical piece for the upcoming The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave. To Vaughan’s surprise Paul agreed to make a contribution.
[edit] The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave
The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave (which is sometimes referred to as The Carnival of Light Rave) was an art festival which was organised by Binder, Edwards & Vaughan as a showcase for electronic music and light shows. It was held at the Chalk Farm Road Roundhouse Theatre and featured on the bill not only a public playing of 'Carnival of Light' but performances by Unit Delta Plus, whose members included early electronic music pioneers Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and fellow electronic artist Peter Zinovieff.
[edit] The Recording
Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn, who listened to the song in 1987 while compiling his book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions says the song included:
"distorted, hypnotic drum and organ sounds, a distorted lead guitar, the sound of a church organ, various effects (water gargling was one) and, perhaps most intimidating of all John (Lennon) and Paul screaming dementedly and bawling aloud random phrases like "Are you alright?" and "Barcelona!"
Another person who has had the privilege of hearing this track is the writer of the official Paul McCartney biography: Barry Miles. In his book Many Years From Now he describes the song has having “no rhythm, although a beat is sometimes established for a few bars by the percussion or a rhythmic pounding piano. There is no melody, although snatches of a tune sometimes threaten to break through.”
The basic bed track of an organ playing bass notes and drums were recorded at a slow speed giving them a deeper sound. There is also a huge amount of reverb used on the instruments and vocals of John and Paul (the only two voices on the track), who also recorded Indian war cries, whistling, close-miked gasping, genuine coughing and fragments of studio conversation. Other overdubs to the song include bursts of guitar feedback, schmaltzy cinema organ, snatches of jangling pub piano and electronic feedback with John shouting 'Electricity!' The track concludes with McCartney asking the studio engineer in an echo soaked voice "Can we hear it back now?".
Also, according to Barry Miles, musically it "...resembles "The Return of the Son of Monster Magnet" from Frank Zappa 's Freak Out! album, except there is no rhythm and the music...is more fragmented, abstract and serious."
Dudley Edwards (one of the organizers of The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave and friend of Paul McCartney's) also said that an early take of "Fixing a Hole" (from Sgt. Pepper's) with a piano appeared during the song.[1] This is unlikely since recording of "Fixing a Hole" did not commence until February 9th, 5 days after the last The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, However McCartney could have played a few bars of the song on the track.
[edit] The Mix
Although Lewisohn's book says that a rough mono mix was given to Vaughan, Miles claims that the mix down “was made with full stereo separation, and is an exercise in musical layers and textures”. Whether a second mix was made after the event or Vaughan was in fact given a stereo mix which was not logged in Abbey Road’s records is unknown. Edwards has said the tape was taken to America by one Ray Anderson (who was brought over from the States to assist with the light show). The master session tapes of Carnival are still at Abbey Road Studios.
[edit] Unreleased
"Carnival of Light" has not yet appeared on any release, be it official or a bootleg recording. However, a minute-long track claimed to be an excerpt from the song containing backwards, sped up electric guitar noises has appeared on various filesharing networks. Unfortunately, it has been confirmed to be a hoax.
In 1996 McCartney had tried to release the track on the compilation album The Beatles Anthology 2. But it was George Harrison who voted to reject it: according to McCartney, the reason being was that "he didn't like avant garde music" and felt it was more a John and Paul track rather than a The Beatles song. This, according to some, explains why the instrumental backings of "Eleanor Rigby" and "Within You Without You" appear on Anthology 2 instead.
In August that year, McCartney claimed (in an interview for Mojo) that he was working on a photo collage film of the Beatles that was similar to a film made about the Grateful Dead in 1995 called Grateful Dead -- A Photo Film. He was planing to use Carnival of Light in the soundtrack, however, as of 2007, this project has yet to be seen and McCartney has not commented on the film's status since 2002.
[edit] External links
- The history of the Beatles' most mysterious unreleased track. Containing an interview with Paul McCartney.
- Unit Delta Plus
- A copy of the hand bill from 'It's Only Rock n' Roll'
[edit] References
- Lewisohn, Mark (1990). EMI's The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-681-03189-1.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1992). EMI's The Complete Beatles Chronicle. Pyramid Books. ISBN 1-85510-021-5.
- McCartney, Paul with Miles, Barry (1997). Many Years From Now. Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-28022-1.
[edit] Notes
- ^ This came from a post from Dudley Edwards on the well known Beatles fan site Abbeyrd's Beatle Page.
