Interesting [fake?] Beatles recording

I searched and found nothing about this...

This article (the link was on whatgoeson.com)
http://www.earcandymag.com/beatles-peaceofmind.htm
is about the song "The Candle Burns" which was on a lot of late 70s Beatles bootlegs. The article has a link to the song as well. Probably not the Beatles, but putting them anywhere near the song certainly makes it interesting.

Anyone out there know the real story or lack thereof?

 

It's not the Beatles, but the tape was found in an Apple trash can in the early 1970s. It does have that Lennon-McCartney sound (in a Pink Floyd vein), and is rather hypnotic, but no one has come forward to claim their tape that was sent to Apple with so many others in 1968-1969. the first appearance on a bootleg ("Supertracks"?) in 1973 was the longest version, but sounded awful.

 

In the mid-90s, on the AOL Beatles board, a poster who was quite knowledgeable and not known to make up things claimed to have met the individual who created "The Candle Burns" (aka "Peace of Mind"). This individual did indeed state that he was actually trying to imitate Syd-era Pink Floyd rather than a Lennon Beatles track. IIRC, the creator of the track was from New York. No way to verify this, I suppose, but I wish I had kept that series of posts.

I've not ever heard before that this track was found in Apple's trash can. Do you have a source for this? Seems to me, though, I've heard a similar claim for other alleged Beatles-related tracks that turned out to be not that at all (e.g., "Lullaby" by Grapefruit).

 

The tape was NOT found in an Apple trash can. This is just one of those silly urban legends perpetuated by the bootleggers to give it some sort of Beatles connection. Beatles "historian" Martin Lewis was a source for many of the unreleased songs rumoured to have existed back in the glory days of boots. But not a single title has ever surfaced...the closest Colliding Circles...which was close to George's 1968 song Circles. Ron

 

The "Apple trashcan" has been an alleged source for a number of rare "Beatles" recordings, but this tape was the first to gain such a distinction, found in a dumpster full of tapes when Apple's store-room was cleaned out around 1970, according to the late Joe Pope (who ran a Beatles mail-order business and fanzine in the 1970s, and was also involved in the creation of some Beatle bootlegs).

 

I know that Martin Lewis fessed up to creating some false information about alleged out-takes, but "Peace Of Mind" aka "The Candle Burns" appears to be a song sent to Apple. I wish Joe Pope was around to tell what he told me.

 

I've always loved this track. The vocals, everything. Downright eerie. The closest vocal sound to me is actually The Everly Brothers "Roots" version of "I Wonder If I Care As Much". Why someone hasn't covered Piece Of Mind though, is beyond me, as there is no copyright on it. Maybe, I will.

 

I've since read the material at the link provided in the original post, and I think this guy wants way too bad to believe it's The Beatles.

If nothing else, all of his going on about the "talented singers" and their intricate harmonies rings false to me, as this recording has all the hallmarks of one singer overdubbing his voice three times.

The comparisons to "Dear Prudence" are fatuous, as John Lennon didn't learn the fingerpicking pattern employed on that song and "Julia" until Donovan taught it to him in India. So you can't have that if this is a 1966 track.

The Editor's Note that follows the main piece makes a lot more sense.

Having said all this, I've always enjoyed "The Candle Burns" as a marvelous period piece. I think its creator should step forward proudly and claim it!

 

I believe I first read the trashcan story in You Can't Do That!: Beatles Bootlegs & Novelty Records, 1963-1980 by Charles Reinhart.