Sir Paul McCartney has said he wants to release an experimental track recorded by the Beatles in the 1960s. The piece, called 'Carnival of Light', has only been heard once in public, more than forty years ago, and has never been released in any format. Rob Norris reports:

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Now, Paul McCartney has confirmed to the BBC that 'Carnival of Light' does still exist, and that he has the master tape. It's fourteen minutes long - a weird jumble of shrieking and psychedelic effects. Paul was asked to record it for an electronic music festival in 1967, where it was played only once. He told the BBC how he asked the other members of the Beatles to help him with it:

MCCARTNEY:
I said to the guys - look, a bit indulgent but would you mind just giving me 10 minutes? I've been asked to do this thing... All I want you to do is just wander round all of the stuff , bang it, shout, play it. Doesn't need to make any sense. Hit a drum, then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes and just wander around. So that's what we did and then we put a bit of echo on it. It's very free.

Before he can release the track, he has to get permission from the other surviving Beatle, Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison. Before he died, George said it was too avant-garde, but Paul believes that the time has now come for the public to hear it, to show how experimental the Beatles were in the studio. He says he was inspired by the avant-garde composers John Cage and Karl Stockhausen.

Some of the Beatles other sonic innovations are already world famous - there's a sound collage called 'Revolution 9' on the White Album for example. But this piece, if it surfaces, may prove to be the strangest piece that the Beatles ever recorded.

Rob Norris, BBC

Listen to the words

the subject of rumour and speculation
something that people widely talk about or suggest, even though they don't have enough factual information to say it's definitely true

the master tape
here, the original recording

a weird jumble
a very unusual and strange combination, or mixture

shrieking
shouting made in a loud, high-pitched voice

psychedelic
causing strange mental experiences (e.g. by being wildly colourful or, as here, by sounding extremely unusual), similar to ones caused by taking drugs

indulgent
so enjoyable and uncontrolled that it may not be good for you

avant-garde
made in a style that is highly original and innovative for that period in time

experimental
here, not afraid to try new styles and types of sound

sonic innovations
here, pieces of music that are unlike any others created before

surfaces
is released, made available to public

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