Paul McCartney struggled to pick his favourite album by The Beatles as each “has something special” in it.
The Wings frontman and Beatles member responded to an interviewer who suggested Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the best of The Beatles‘ discography. While McCartney would not be coaxed into commenting quite so quickly, the veteran songwriter was full of praise for the work he made with Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon. McCartney, whose last album release was 2020’s McCartney III, considered the difference between cultural impact and musical skill in the interview, and believes there is little difference between The Beatles’ albums.
The Beatles’ work on albums such as Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Abbey Road, has been praised by critics of the time and today as revolutionary pieces of work. McCartney’s own assessment of these albums saw the frontman say each album had their merits, but a post-Rubber Soul release is his personal favourite.
He said: “I don’t really make any differentiation between the albums. I kind of think for the time and for the musical knowledge we had, each one’s got something special. I probably would choose Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band myself, because I had a lot to do with it.
“The alter ego band, it wasn’t entirely my idea, but yeah, to get us away from being The Beatles I had this idea that we should pretend we’re another group.” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has one of the most recognisable album covers in history, and provided The Beatles with hits like A Day in the Life and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Archival tapes from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band recordings are still wanted for by fans, including a “soundscape” which has yet to be released.
One track which appears in conversation more than most for fans is Carnival of Light, a Paul McCartney track, which the songwriter has wanted to release for some time. But as of this year, the song is no closer to being released. A proposal to include the song on Anthology was vetoed by George Harrison, who deemed it “too boring” to release.
One user recalled: “George Harrison vetoed Carnival of Light appearing on Anthology. It’s a sound collage The Beatles made during Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and has never been released.
George said it was ‘too boring’ although McCartney wanted it on Anthology.” But there are hopes of hearing the song yet. Carnival of Light came close to release on a 50th Anniversary edition of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band but, according to Giles Martin, was cut.
He said: “Yes, it was [considered]. As was It’s Only A Northern Song, as well, actually. But it wasn’t really part of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It wasn’t part of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band recording. It’s a very different thing. I hope we can do something interesting with that at some point…but it wasn’t really part of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.”
