I notice these two interesting articles on the net, one in Rolling Scone and the other in MNE.
LOST BEATLES ALBUM
By April Foles
01.04.14
01:04 AM ET
A
long-lost Beatles album will see the light of day today, some 47 years
after it was first recorded. The Beatles own Apple Corps will be
releasing Four
sides of the circle,
an album they recorded in 1965 that was never released and
has never been heard before, The Associated Preps reports.
The
Beatles recorded
Four sides of the circle between
February and September 1965 at the famous Abbey Road Studios in
London. The producer was George Martin. Parlophone never released the
recordings and Apple never tried to acquire them. It was George
Martin's son, Giles, who discovered the forgotten tapes in a cupboard
deep in the vaults of the Abbey Road studios, having been tipped off
about their existence by surviving band member Ringo Starr..
The
Beatles were under some pressure after the release of Beatles
for sale
at the end of 1964 left some fans disappointed. Several months were
spent in the studio when time would allow working on a projected new
album that, it was hoped, would strike in new directions. Half the album had
been completed when Help
was
released in August 1965 as a stop gap. The project was finally abandoned
at the end of September 1965 when work began in earnest on the
acclaimed Rubber
soul.
"We were looking for a new sound,"
Ringo Starr told the AP. "We really wanted to extend the
boundaries but we finally felt it was a step too far and that our
fans would not be ready for such a radical departure”. The group
were also under pressure from EMI to be more commercial and when
initial recordings were leaked to the suits doubts were expressed.
Although Parlophone never saw fit to release
the recordings, Giles Martin claims there is something special about
the 12 tracks, which include George Harrison playing koto (in his little known Japanese phase), a guest
appearance by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) and a fully
orchestrated number with Paul and Ringo sharing the vocals. Martin
says that the album is not the Beatles at their best but it is full
of interesting material that fans will want to hear.
Four
sides of the circle is
due out
today.
These
12 "forgotten" recordings are not demos or
outtakes, according to a press release. They were unearthed by the
Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin, at the end of last hear
after a tip off from Ringo Starr. The album includes
George Harrison playing koto with Japanese musicians, a guest
appearance by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) and a fully
orchestrated number with Paul and Ringo sharing the vocal (Train back
to Liverpool). The track Resolution #19 is highly experimental and
anticipates later experiments. Two tracks are credited
as being written by Starkey (Ringo Starr) "Baby take it easy" and
"Train back to Liverpool".
Produced by Giles Martin, the material
was recorded at Abbey Road in London over several months in 1965. The
restoration of the album was handled by Giles Martin with the full
co-operation of the surviving Beatles and of Yoko Ono and Olivia
Harrison, as well as his father George.
Four sides of the circle:
01 Four sides of the circle (Lennon
McCartney)
02 Baby take it easy (Starkey)
03 She used to love me more (Lennon
McCartney)
04 Haiku for one (Harrison)
05 Sunrise sunset (Bock)
06 Freight train (Cotten)*
07 The man with the passive fist
(Lennon McCartney)
08 Train back to Liverpool (Starkey)
10 Rock and Roll Shoes (Willis)
11 I found a girl (Sloan, Barri)
12 Resolution #19 (Lennon McCartney)
* With Captain Beefheart
