ABCKO
Jun 20, 2001, 12:30 AM
Caught this in one of our local newspapers on Tuesday. I will translate the more important bits:
(From U.S.A. today)
A Beatle hoax that has lasted 30 years
In the mysterious world of bootlegs, fans of the Beatles have been searching for over 30 years for 4 un-released songs: "Colliding Circles" & "Pink litmus paper shirt" by George, "Left is right (and right is wrong)" by John as well as "Deck chair", a vaudeville kind of song (of the same type as "Honey pie") by Paul.
Fans have suggested that these songs are being kept in vaults until the next Anthology.
These songs have never existed exept, as a joke, in the mind of a teen-ager.
Martin Lewis, animator of annual Beatlefest conventions and consultant for the albums "Anthology" & "Live at the B.B.C.", has publicly admited the hoax at the premiere of his autobiographical show "Great exploitations" in New York on June 6th.
He had recognized his "crime" two years ago in Los Angeles but Beatle fans who have been trying to find these songs had chosen not to believe him..
"I was surprised and horrified to see that so many Beatle fans refused to believe me" said Lewis. People would tell me "You are lying, I know someone who has those songs. So, I state again: there are no such songs !"
The legend started in a discography of Beatle bootlegs compiled in 1971 for the British magazine "Disc". Worried that his list did not hold many surprises, Lewis added the titles of 4 songs that he wrote when he was 14 years old. "They were horrible songs. I was an ardent fan, trying to be a Beatle".
Knowing that Apple regularly denied the existence of un-released songs, Lewis believed that he had nothing to worry about. "I told myself, it's only a piece of paper. I knew that Apple would not say: These songs, particularly these four, do not exist".
These songs have been mentioned in articles, biographies and on web sites.
"All these peoples have participated, without knowing it, in a montruous farce" says Lewis. Certain people have even embelished them mentioning that John played clarinette on this one and so on... Once these four titles had appeared in a serious book, everybody assumed that these four songs really existed".
Lewis decided to admit all of this publicly after having confessed himself to George Martin. Martin, upon hearing this, started laughing and said that he would have liked to have had one penny for each question that he had been asked about these songs over the years.
http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gif
[This Message Has Been Edited By ABCKO On June 20, 2001 12:35 AM]
(From U.S.A. today)
A Beatle hoax that has lasted 30 years
In the mysterious world of bootlegs, fans of the Beatles have been searching for over 30 years for 4 un-released songs: "Colliding Circles" & "Pink litmus paper shirt" by George, "Left is right (and right is wrong)" by John as well as "Deck chair", a vaudeville kind of song (of the same type as "Honey pie") by Paul.
Fans have suggested that these songs are being kept in vaults until the next Anthology.
These songs have never existed exept, as a joke, in the mind of a teen-ager.
Martin Lewis, animator of annual Beatlefest conventions and consultant for the albums "Anthology" & "Live at the B.B.C.", has publicly admited the hoax at the premiere of his autobiographical show "Great exploitations" in New York on June 6th.
He had recognized his "crime" two years ago in Los Angeles but Beatle fans who have been trying to find these songs had chosen not to believe him..
"I was surprised and horrified to see that so many Beatle fans refused to believe me" said Lewis. People would tell me "You are lying, I know someone who has those songs. So, I state again: there are no such songs !"
The legend started in a discography of Beatle bootlegs compiled in 1971 for the British magazine "Disc". Worried that his list did not hold many surprises, Lewis added the titles of 4 songs that he wrote when he was 14 years old. "They were horrible songs. I was an ardent fan, trying to be a Beatle".
Knowing that Apple regularly denied the existence of un-released songs, Lewis believed that he had nothing to worry about. "I told myself, it's only a piece of paper. I knew that Apple would not say: These songs, particularly these four, do not exist".
These songs have been mentioned in articles, biographies and on web sites.
"All these peoples have participated, without knowing it, in a montruous farce" says Lewis. Certain people have even embelished them mentioning that John played clarinette on this one and so on... Once these four titles had appeared in a serious book, everybody assumed that these four songs really existed".
Lewis decided to admit all of this publicly after having confessed himself to George Martin. Martin, upon hearing this, started laughing and said that he would have liked to have had one penny for each question that he had been asked about these songs over the years.
http://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gifhttp://www.beatlelinks.net/ubb/smilies/thinker.gif
[This Message Has Been Edited By ABCKO On June 20, 2001 12:35 AM]