A previously unheard song recorded in 1968 that features The Beatles‘ George Harrison and Ringo Starr got its world premiere today and will be released as a charity single on Thursday, BBC News reports.
The tune, “Radhe Shaam,” was written and produced by Indian-born journalist/broadcaster Suresh Joshi and was recently rediscovered at his Birmingham, U.K., home during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The song was premiered at an event Wednesday, held at the Liverpool Beatles Museum attended by about 100 people, and then was played on BBC Radio.
In a Wednesday interview with the BBC, Joshi explained that “Radhe Shaam” was recorded at London’s Trident Studios for the soundtrack of a feature film on which he was working. Joshi said Harrison and Starr turned up at the session while The Beatles were taking a break from recording “Hey Jude,” and the two musicians offered to play on the song, which was sung by Indian classical musician Aashish Khan.
Joshi said that the recording initially was shelved and he’d always hoped to release it eventually, but he never got around to it until it turned up again during the lockdown.
Suresh noted that he was inspired to find the master tape of the recording after telling his friend Deepak Pathak about the song. Liverpool Beatles Museum creator Roag Best, half brother of original Beatles drummer Pete Best, also took part in the interview, and explained that Pathak met Paul McCartney at the museum and told him about the track, and McCartney then helped to facilitate its release.
Roag also revealed that “Radhe Shaam” will be released Thursday, with all proceeds benefiting charity.
You can listen to the interview and the song at BBC.co.uk. The song is played at about the two-hour, 28-minute mark.
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