‘Carnival of Light’: The Beatles’ most experimental piece of music
The Beatles were pioneering musicians, popularising unconventional recording techniques and instruments. Drawing influence from Indian artists, the Liverpool lads were the first to incorporate unique sounds into Western pop music. They were also the first band to use ‘backmasking’, essentially reversing the audio, as demonstrated in ‘Rain’.
The Beatles might have been the biggest band in the world, with 32 number-one singles to their name in both the UK and the US, but that didn’t stop the band from experimenting within the realms of the avant-garde genre, which is the antithesis of popular. One of the reasons the Beatles are so revered – and have been able to withstand the test of time – is because of their willingness to try out new methods of creation. In the space of ten years, the Beatles went from making easily digestible pop songs to experimental slices of genius.
The Beatles hit their experimental peak with the highly contested ‘Revolution 9’ from their self-titled album released in 1968. The song is a sound collage comprised of different effects, overdubbed vocals, and musical tape loops. However, there is another avant-garde Beatles track in existence that has become one of the most sought-after unreleased songs by the band.
‘Carnival of Light’ was recorded in 1967, taped in one evening during the Penny Lane sessions. David Vaughan asked Paul McCartney if he could create some music for two events – The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave and the Carnival of Light Rave – at the Roundhouse in Camden, London. The recording was unknown until 1988 when Mark Lewisohns’ book The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions revealed the existence of a secret experimental Beatles track.
McCartney’s biographer Barry Miles has described the song in exquisite detail. “The tape has no rhythm, though a beat is sometimes established for a few bars by the percussion or a rhythmic pounding on the piano. There is no melody, though snatches of a tune sometimes threaten to break through.”
He claims that the band make “random sounds, although they sometimes respond to each other; for instance, a burst of organ notes answered by a rattle of percussion. The basic track was recorded slow so that some of the drums and organ were very deep and sonorous, like the bass notes of a cathedral organ. Much of it is echoed, and it is often hard to tell if you are listening to a slowed-down cymbal or a tubular bell.”
Furthermore, John Lennon and McCartney yell over the track, which is laced with reverb, and “there are Indian war cries, whistling, close-miked gasping, genuine coughing and fragments of studio conversation, ending with Paul asking, with echo, ‘Can we hear it back now?'”
Adding: “The tape was obviously overdubbed and has bursts of feedback guitar, schmaltzy cinema organ, snatches or jangling pub piano, some unpleasant electronic feedback and John yelling, ‘Electricity’. There is a great deal of percussion throughout; again much of it overdubbed. The tape was made with full stereo separation and is essentially an exercise in musical layers and textures.”
If you need any more descriptions of the song, Miles compares it to ‘The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet’ by Frank Zappa before noting: “Except there is no rhythm and the music here is more fragmented, abstract and serious. The deep organ notes at the beginning of the piece set the tone as slow and contemplative.”
In a 2002 interview, McCartney compared the track to a John Cage composition, saying: “It’s very free-form. Yeah man, it’s the coolest piece of music since sliced bread!” Sadly, George Harrison didn’t want the track to be released on Anthology 2; according to McCartney, “George vetoed it. He didn’t like it. Maybe its time hadn’t come.”
Since there is no official release of the song, a fan-made interpretation has widely been circulated and often mistaken for the original recording. Listen to it below.
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