Lost song featuring The Beatles unearthed
A previously unheard song featuring George Harrison and Ringo Starr has been discovered in a Birmingham loft during lockdown.
The song, titled Radhe Shaam, was written and produced by broadcaster Suresh Joshi in 1968 and features George on guitar and Ringo on drums at the height of their fame.
The track was unearthed in Suresh’s home by a friend who was checking up on him during lockdown, and was played for 100 people at the Liverpool Beatles Museum.
Mr Joshi was a good friend of George Harrison’s and was the one who introduced him to Ravi Shankar: one of India’s most celebrated musicians.
He was a big influence on the Beatle and famously taught him to play the sitar.
The broadcaster was working on music for a documentary film in London at the time the song was recorded, when George Harrison and Ringo Starr turned up and offered to play.
The pair were taking a break from recording Hey Jude at the same Trident Studios in London’s Soho at the time.
The track also featured renowned Indian classical musician Aashish Khan, but Suresh Joshi said he never got round to releasing it to the public.
"Time had gone on, [then] The Beatles were breaking up and had various problems so no-one wanted to [release it]," he said to the BBC.
However he said the coronavirus lockdown was a "blessing in disguise as we had nothing to do".
Despite the track being locked away, Mr Joshi said the song is still relevant to today’s audiences.
"The song itself revolves around the concept that we are all one, and that the world is our oyster," he said.
"[That is] something that we have all realised during this pandemic."
Image credits: Getty Images