Carnival of Light

"Carnival of Light"
Recording by The Beatles
Recorded	5 January 1967
Length	13:48

"Carnival of Light" is an unreleased experimental piece recorded by the Beatles on 5 January 1967 for "The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave", an event held at the Roundhouse Theatre on 28 January and 4 February 1967. The track is nearly 14 minutes long and contains distorted sounds of percussion, keyboards, guitar, vocals, and various effects.

The piece has not yet appeared on any official Beatles release. In 1996, McCartney tried to release the track on the compilation album The Beatles Anthology 2, but George Harrison voted to reject it. The track was confirmed by McCartney to be in his possession in 2008, but his attempt to release it to the public has been unsuccessful. As of 2016, he was still considering the track's release.

The genesis of the track came in December 1966 from designer David Vaughan (part of the designer trio Binder, Edwards & Vaughan), who had recently painted a psychedelic design on a piano owned by Paul McCartney. About the same time as he delivered the piano to McCartney's Cavendish Avenue address, he asked if McCartney would contribute a musical piece for The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave. To Vaughan's surprise McCartney agreed to make a contribution.

The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave (sometimes referred to as "The Carnival of Light Rave") was an art festival organised by Binder, Edwards & Vaughan as a showcase for electronic music and light shows. It was held at the Chalk Farm Road Roundhouse Theatre and featured on the bill not only a public playing of "Carnival of Light" but performances by Unit Delta Plus, whose members included early electronic music pioneers Delia Derbyshire, Brian Hodgson from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and fellow electronic artist Peter Zinovieff. "Carnival of Light" was created for this event.

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