On the eve of the U.S. release of his new solo album, “Flaming Pie,” Paul McCartney has revealed that he owns a book of never-recorded songs that he wrote with John Lennon.
The songs were written 40 years ago, soon after Paul met John at the Woolton Church Fete in Liverpool. They are the earliest Lennon-McCartney compositions – and the world never knew they existed.
Paul told how – as a then schoolboy at The Liverpool Institute (now the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) – he jotted down the songs written with John in his homework book. And far from being lost in time, Paul still has the songs.
Said Paul: “There is this book of songs that we first wrote together. There are probably five or six of them and I do believe I’ve still got the book; I wrote them in my school exercise book. It’s got “Love Me Do” in it – and four others that were never recorded.”
News of the existence of the unsung songs comes as Paul is poised to release “Flaming Pie,” reckoned to be his most Beatley solo album in almost 30 years.
“Flaming Pie” – which takes its title from long-standing Beatles mythology that the name Beatles came to John Lennon in a vision – was heavily influenced by Paul’s recent work with “The Beatles Anthology,” and Paul admitted the new album is deliberately imbued with the Beatles’ spirit.
Said Paul: “I came off the back of ‘The Beatles Anthology’ with an urge to do some new music. The ‘Anthology’ was very good for me, because it reminded me of The Beatles’ standards and the standards that we reached with the songs.
“So in a way, it was a refresher course that set the framework for this album.
“Watching the ‘Anthology’ also reminded me of the time that we *didn’t* take to make an album and of the fun that we had when we did one. The Beatles were not a serious group.
“So I wanted to get back into some of that; to have some fun and not sweat it. That’s been the spirit of making this album.”
“Flaming Pie” features Paul McCartney’s son James, making his recording debut playing guitar alongside his father, and also includes two songs recorded with his Beatles pal Ringo Starr on drums as Paul plays on his old Beatles Hofner bass.
Said Paul: “Playing with Ringo again was just like the old days. I realised that we hadn’t done this for so long; but it was really comfortable and the bond is still there.
“Flaming Pie” also features arrangements and production by Beatles producer George Martin.
This is a fax by Geoff Baker, Paul’s publicist, forwarded by Matt Hurwitz of Good Day Sunshine Magazine
