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A previously unheard 1968 song featuring George Harrison and Ringo Starr has been released, with all proceeds reportedly going to charity. You can listen to “Radhe Shaam” below.
The track was rediscovered by a friend of writer and producer Suresh Joshi during quarantine. “Radhe Shaam” dates back to his soundtrack work for a documentary called East Meets West at Trident Studios in London. Harrison and Starr stopped by while on a break from nearby sessions for the Beatles‘ “Hey Jude.”
“The song itself revolves around the concept that we are all one, and that the world is our oyster,” Joshi told the BBC. That is “something that we have all realized during this pandemic.”
Joshi, a 75-year-old U.K.-based broadcaster, introduced Harrison to the celebrated sitar player Ravi Shankar, sending the Beatles star on a new musical path. Somewhere along the way, however, “Radhe Shaam” ended up tucked away in Joshi’s loft.
“Time had gone on,” he admitted, then “the Beatles were breaking up and had various problems so no one wanted to [release it].”
Deepak Pathak, a huge Beatles fan, stopped by to check on his elderly neighbor during lockdown, and their discussion revealed Joshi’s connection with the group. Pathak insisted they search for the master tape. The quarantine, Joshi added, was a “blessing in disguise as we had nothing to do.”
He sent “Radhe Shaam,” which also features classical musician Aashish Khan, to be restored and mixed by producer Suraj Shinh. The unearthed song premiered before approximately 100 people at the Liverpool Beatles Museum, with Joshi in attendance, before being aired for the first time Wednesday on the BBC.
“It was quite a moment. It took you somewhere else,” museum manager Paul Parry told the BBC. “It was unmistakably George’s guitar; it was like almost bringing him back to life. It was unmistakably Ringo’s drumming, too.”
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