Question about fake Beatles song "Oh I Need You"

I've noticed there's one or two folks here who are moderately interested in the Beatles, so I thought I'd throw out this question which I've never been able to find an answer to:

There's a couple of recordings that have appeared on bootlegs over the years (most recently on the "Anthology Plus" boot), which are passed off as Beatles recordings. One is a song called "Oh I Need You" and the other is a version of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which supposedly has Paul on lead vocal. They are purported to be Abbey Road outtakes.

Anyway, one listen makes it clear it's not the Beatles. What I'm wondering is, has anyone ever identified where these recordings DID come from, and who it is playing them? Or is this one still unsolved, like "Peace of Mind"? I think I read somewhere that the tracks first appeared on boot in the late 70s.

 

There is an authentic version of Paul singing "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" taken from an acetate, but at the wrong speed. Slow it down a bit and it will sound like Paul, albeit singing in his lower register. You can find mention of it in Mark Lewisohn's book of the Beatles' recording sessions.
A lot of people wonder why John let/had Paul sing lead vocal on one of his songs. My guess is based on John having wanted to sing the lead vocal on "Oh Darling". Perhaps this was some kind of trade that didn't work out.
Oh, don't confuse this rendition of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" with a bootleg with a totally different song "I Want You" that doesn't sound like any Beatle, even with the flu.

 

Aren't both recordings by the same guys? The singing sounds similar to me, even though the liner notes of the boot credit "I Want You" to Paul and "Oh I Need You" to John.

 

Has this ever been bootlegged? And if so, on what album...?

 

It first showed up on a British bootleg around 1983. I wish I could remember the title, but it was all "Let It Be" material except for this song (April 1969). As for CD, I know it's on a Silent Sea compilation.

 

Hmm. I wonder if you're talking about the same version which I consider to be a fake. Is it just one guitar, bass, and drums, with some very busy, non-Ringoesque drumming?

 

Mark Lewisohn only made mention of the Paul version in the first edition of his Recording Sessions book. At that time, it was still believed by many collectors that this bootleg version was actually Paul and it is thought that Lewisohn made mention of it simply to account for it.

However, when the consensus was reached that there was no way this was Paul and the rest of the Beatles, later printings of the book, and his reconfigured Chronicles book, dropped all references to the recording.

Does a legitimate version exist? My guess is probably not as it would have appeared on Anthology 3. However, that is not to say that there may not be a quick snatch of Macca singing it on the Abbey Road session tapes or possibly during the Get Back sessions, but it is probably no longer than a couple seconds and certainly not a complete version. I am unaware of any acetate existing of a full length legit version.

 

General Beatles boot discussion semi-related to the thread: I've got a boot that has "Have You Heard the Word", which I understand was the Bee Gees or someone else (not sure). Also, I have one called The Beatles at Sam Houston Colosseum that is two records, the first one is the afternoon concert, the second LP is the evening performance of the same setlist. Pretty interesting.

 

Why do you consider this "I Want You" w/ Paul vocal to be a fake, exactly? Apart from the drumming?

Not ruling it out, of course, but since Lewisohn confirms, and is the guy with the tapes access, we can't just conclude he was trying to play up to the bootlegs. He doesn't do that anywhere.

I got fairly taken in by "Cheese and Onions" which was on a bootleg I got in '86, only to find later it was the Rutles.

 

Well, in terms of the sessions, "I Want You" IS "Let It Be " material -- the 2 albums were basically one continuum of rehearsal-cum-recording. There are "Get Back/Let It Be" recordings of lots of the songs we now associate strictly with "Abbey Road."

 

I just listened to the Friday, January 31st session and between "The Long and Winding Road" and "Let It Be" they perform "I Want You" with Paul on vocals. It sounds like all the other attempts dating from the Get Back sessions.

 

Once the recording that appeared on the Rough Notes bootleg was deemed to be a fake, why did Lewisohn then remove all reference to this recording in subsequent printings of his books?

Remember, even Lewisohn admits that he did not listen to all the Beatles tapes in the Abbey Road library. He never actually confirmed that such a tape exists in the vaults - only that a "test" version existed with Paul on vocals.

He makes no mention of this recording coming from the Get Back sessions proper (January 1969), but rather writes about it in the section describing the recording of this song during a formal session post January. There is no dispute that there is a short fragment of Paul singing this during the Get Back sessions - but this is not the version that appears on the Rough Notes bootleg. With the deletion of this reference from the later printings of his book, it can be safely assumed that the original mention was only to account for the bootleg version (assumed at that time to be genuine).

 

I no longer have these lps, but my notes tell me that the "Rough Notes" (1980) version is an obvious fake. A few years later a bootleg called "I Had A Dream" (1984) had a different rendition that sounded like Paul when slowed down (with non-snare drumming, more like Paul than Ringo). Both have vinyl noise characteristic of acetates. I'll listen to my Get Back stuff when I get home.

 

You're right m'lord, the circumstances around Lewisohn's mention are distinctly weird. Funny -- I always was surprised about the Paul vocal but accepted it somehow. I wonder what else I'm taking as genuine that ain't?

 

The True Story of "Have You Heard the Word?" is explained in an online Interview with Mr. Steve Kipner, one of the duo "Tin Tin":

http://b4.yoll.net/haveyou/kipner.html

Here is a link to a (poor quality) scan of the lables (with an interesting postscript about Yoko):

http://www.jpgr.co.uk/fut.html

 

Well, aside from the drumming (which is definitely not Ringo and doesn't really sound McCartneyish either) is the fact that to me at least the vocals do not sound like Paul, they sound more like someone singing in a McCartneyish voice. Sounds kinda like Robin Zander to me (not that I'm saying it's him, though). My exposure to this version comes from the Anthology Plus CD... I'm not sure if it's the same version that originally appeared on the Rough Notes boot, since I guess there's more than one version floating around, according to Hawthorne. If I get a chance, I'll post an mp3 of the version I have tomorrow or the next day.

 

For anyone interested, here's the first minute or so of the version I'm talking about, which in my opinion pretty clearly is not the Beatles:

http://www.22designs.com/foshaytower2/music/shessoheavy.mp3

 

I have the real version that Xyzzy speaks of in his post from January 31st but this most surely doesn't sound like Paul singing if anything it's meant to sound more like John. I have never heard this version of "I Want You" ever before not even from Alternate Abbey Road bootleg!

Strange indeed.

Also very nice article on "Have You Heard The Word" though I never thought that was the fabs either!