Speculative Beatles time again: what if Revolution #9 was unreleased like 'Carnival Of Light'?

Picture this: The Beatles veto Revolution #9 for the White Album, because too experimental etc. 'Hey Jude' gets bunged on in it's place, making for a less spooky but more smooth listening experience. But 'Rev #9' gets canned, and even when Anthology rolls around, George H says 'nah' again. As of 2018, it has never leaked.


How desperate would you be to hear it? How legendary would it be? And most importantly, how disappointed/pleasantly surprised would you be if you finally got to hear it?

 

Then it would be their GREATEST SONG EVER RECORDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I've often wondered what would have happened if it were left off. For one thing, there would be room for two or more likely 3 more music tracks. We have done a lot of discussion on that already though in the White Album Deluxe track. So what of #9 itself? It certainly is, well, interesting. Even if a casual Beatles listener hears it, they probably won't forget it, so it is memorable to say the least. Lennon seemed to be super convinced that this song was a huge monumental step, at least for himself, so I don't think there's any chance that Lennon would have missed an opportunity to get as many people to listen to it as he could. So, instead of an album release or Carnival of Light thing where it gets played at a club party, lets suppose that Lennon takes the tape and then he and Yoko go around to DJ's playing it. They appear on radio in the US and UK, talking about the track, and Yoko and John talk about it's meaning and their art and so forth. Maybe for some reason no one manages to get a tape of it, but there is probably no way this would have remained unheard, Lennon would have made sure of that. Or instead of radio shows, maybe it does go more the Carnival of Light route and they play it at Yoko-art shows. No one gets a tape of it, like Carnival, but some people wind up hearing it at least and talk about it later as the decades go by. The general gist of it would be people remembering the ominous voice saying "Number nine" over and over and maybe they'd recall there were some bits of music, but not much else.

Personally, I am interested in hearing Carnival of Light, at least once, to see what it is all about. And had #9 never been released, I think I would regard it the same way and would want to hear it. At least there is some modest Beatles participation in this - Paul plays piano, and George seems to be ready something rather scary ("only to find.... the night watchman...") at one point. So it is not just like a "total John" thing like the Two Virgins album and a couple other things he did where he recorded totally non-commercial "artistic" material. Overall, it's probably more interesting that Carnival and there seems to be some kind of thought behind it rather than it being whatever random things were recorded in a room or a bunch of nonsense all strung together. I can't say I listen to it a lot now, though I did when the White Album was "new to me," and I'll still to it on rare occasions where it comes up on random play.

 

Its reputation would be legendary because of its scarcity, but then, were it to leak, people would crap all over it upon hearing it.

 

Probably a similar reaction to when I heard Revolution Take 20. Loved it

 

Yes, if only released now, Revolution 9 would be a massive letdown.
In the 21st century, 50 years later, the startling, non-musical sounds on that track would be consider almost passé... so many artists, musicians, media, movies, video games, and other cultural events have bombarded the masses with various creations that there’s seemingly less surprises to be had.

However -

Released as it was on the White Album, seems almost as a given now, but it was incredibly gutsy and quite ballsy.
However, I guess the Fab Four were basically strangers to failure.

Plus, their double album had 3+ sides of other great songs that their fans could play...

 

Always found it kind of weird George blocked COL from being released. The man who released Electronic Sound and collaborated with John on Revolution 9 didn’t want Carnival of Light to be released??

 

Obvious answer: it really is that bad.

 

Revolution 9 is a work of genius.

 

Was George even involved in 'Carnival Of Light'? I always read it's mainly Paul and John doing noises there.

 

I suspect that John would have asked Paul if he could release it as a Plastic Ono Band track in 1969, and Paul would have agreed to that. Maybe "Revolution 9" b/w "What's the New Mary Jane" as a post-Cold Turkey POB release.

Paul was partial to "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" and with his heavy involvement and all four band members playing on it, it was ludicrous for John to try to take that as a Plastic Ono Band song...But "Revolution 9" and "Mary Jane"? I think they could have become POB tracks without any fuss from the others.

If not a Plastic Ono Band single, then we'd be getting it in the WA50 box for the first time this year, ha!

 

I wouldn't be desperate to hear it, but I may have some mild curiosity.
Overall, I think it is okay to listen to once or twice, but I skip it now.
There were better songs that probably should have been on the album over this one.

 

I've read in several instances where Carnival of Light is NOTHING like Revolution 9, so it is hard for me to gauge the type of curiosity fans would have for an unreleased Rev. 9.

There are probably 100 more coherent jams and song fragments on Nagra tapes alone than either of these tracks-so it is amazing the difference in perspective and curiosity. Even loose but somewhat complete songs like Dig It...

That being said, I would like to hear Carnival of Light at least once, and of course would want to hear Rev. 9.

 

Take Revolution 9 off the White Album, trim some of the other weak tracks off anf make the famous single album.

Then put out a semi-official bootleg with Revolution 9, the other rejects, some outtakes etc. It would have been a smash.

Leave Carnival Of Light in the vaults to be discovered some time later.

 

John would have put it out on his own, in some form.

 

Or better yet, what if Revolution 9 actually is Carnival of Light and they've been pulling one over on us for years!

Sincerely though, I think they should put out a "The Beatles Go Too Far" release - even if it's just as a bonus for ordering online or something - that has the 25 minute Helter Skelter, Carnival of Light, Revolution 'take yer knickers off', the full version of It's All Too Much, their Floyd-inspired Jams from spring 67, and maybe the Yoko Jam from the day George left.

 

The people that will be disappointed by COL are those that are expecting some sort of revelationary Beatle track that had been waiting to be gloriously unearthed. While I want to hear it (and own it in some form), it's more of a "completist" type curiosity for me. I know it won't be anything "stupendous" but because it's 'The Beatles", I'm interested...and that's about it. I'd feel the same way about Rev 9: a Beatles title as yet "unheard" which I'd be curious about. But another question I have is, if Rev 9 hadn't come out on The White Album, would it have been kept in "mystery" all these years as a "Beatles" track or a lost "John Lennon (with George appearing as on other solo-Lennon recordings)track?? And if it were the latter, would people care as much about hearing it??

 

I am certain that if and when Carnival of Light and the 27 minute Helter Skelter ever see the light of day, they are probably going to be listened to a couple of times by most fans who then will promptly forget about them, wondering what all the fuss was about.

 

Then Giles Martin laptop would be insured for twice as much.

 

I think Anthology 1-3 demonstrates conclusively that The Beatles knew what to release and what not to release.

They didn't want this stuff heard, and I've come to trust that judgement. I'm not even slightly interested in hearing CoL.

 

What if #9 and COL plus one other had been released together as a trippy party EP?

 

These type threads always bring me back to..
“If a frog had wings......”