6 Biggest Beatles Mysteries
Paul isn't dead. But there's still a lot we don't know about the fab four.
In the space of just ten years, The Beatles would revolutionise music in a manner which is likely never to be repeated on the same scale. John, Paul, George, and Ringo would go from a group of local musicians trying to make their name around Merseyside into internationally renowned superstars regularly mobbed by adoring fans.
Even 50 years after the fab four went their separate ways, the indelible impact on popular music continues to be seen to this day. Their role in the shaping of popular culture has been discussed extensively, and the group are still the highest-selling artists of all time with nearly 280,000,000 sales worldwide.
During peak Beatlemania, and even in the years that followed, the group attracted a legion of adoring fans who have investigated and analysed even the minutiae of their activities extensively. Moreso than any other band in history, The Beatles have been chronicled to a point where fansites can tell you what they were doing on almost any given day during their time together.
Which is why you might find it surprising that despite the sleuthing of superfans the world over, several mysteries about The Beatles, and those around them, have gone unsolved in the years since the group's breakup.
6. What Happened To Carnival Of Light?
During their recording career, The Beatles released a total of 213 songs. However, in the years since their breakup, more than 100 further tracks have been officially released with countless others having been unearthed and released by fans.
Basically, if the band recorded something during the height of their fame, superfans will have managed to get their hands on it in the years since.
Which is what makes the case of Carnival of Light so intriguing. Recorded in 1967 when the group's interest in avant-garde compositions was at an all-time high, the song would only be played in public once, at The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave, though those who did hear it didn't exactly return with glowing reviews of the track with McCartney biographer Barry Miles stating:
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. The Beatles make literally random sounds, although they sometimes respond to each other; for instance, a burst of organ notes answered by a rattle of percussion.
So, maybe it is for the best that this highly sought-after track has never seen the light of day. I defy anyone who can honestly say that the White Album wouldn't still be one of the all-time best albums without similarly avant-garde track Revolution 9.
Despite that, over the years McCartney has confirmed that the track is in his possession so don't be surprised if Carnival of Light does get an official release sometime this decade.