A few days ago YouTube thought I should watch a video on a lost Beatles song.
Of course that would pique my interest. I started the video, and the “lost” song was none other than “Piece of Mind,” which I wrote about in the distant days of 2008.
For those who have not heard it, let me embed it.
It’s a strange song. It is distinctly low quality. Some thought it was a demo. Some thought it had been left in the trash. I wrote in 2008, “no one knows where this song came from. Some argue passionately that it’s a Beatles demo. While others argue that it’s clearly not the Beatles. Maybe it’s Pink Floyd. Maybe it’s a bunch of stoned kids trying to sound like Pink Floyd.”
The mystery was solved several years ago. It was recorded by two friends in Florida, they had a college radio program in the 60s, and they played it on their show one night, claiming it was a Beatles song.
Wikipedia does not currently tell you this. If one delves into the “Talk” page of the article, there’s a lengthy discussion about why the origins of the song are not fit for Wikipedia’s standards.
Anyway, the video on “Peace of Mind” — or, technically, “Piece of Mind” — is fascinating. It delves into the evidence and the theories, and closes with the story of two kids in Florida fifty-five years ago who recorded a song as a prank and shared it on their radio program, only to have the song live on on Beatles bootlegs in the 70s and beyond.