''A Toot and a Snore in '74'' is a

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

consisting of the only known recording session in which

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

played together after the break-up of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

in 1970. First mentioned by Lennon in a 1975 interview, more details were brought to light in

May Pang May Fung Yee Pang (born October 24, 1950) is an American former music executive. She worked for John Lennon and Yoko Ono as a personal assistant and production coordinator, and when Lennon and Ono separated in 1973, Pang and Lennon began a re ...

's 1983 book, ''Loving John'', and it gained wider prominence when McCartney made reference to the session in a 1997 interview. Talking with Australian writer Sean Sennett in his Soho office, McCartney said the "session was hazy... for a number of reasons".

Recording history

Lennon was producing

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

's album ''

Pussy Cats ''Pussy Cats'' is the tenth album by American singer Harry Nilsson, released by RCA Records in 1974. It was produced by John Lennon during his " Lost Weekend" period. The album title was inspired by the bad press Nilsson and Lennon were getting ...

'', when Paul and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

dropped in after the first night of the sessions, a.k.a. "the

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".Howard Sounes. ''Down ...

Fan Club Hour", at Burbank Studios on 28 March 1974. They were joined by Nilsson,

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, J ...

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...

Bobby Keys Robert Henry Keys (December 18, 1943 – December 2, 2014) was an American saxophonist who performed with other musicians as a member of several horn sections of the 1970s. He appears on albums by the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Harry Ni ...

and producer Ed Freeman for an impromptu jam session. Lennon was separated from

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

and living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with Pang in a period of his life popularly referred to as his " lost weekend". Although he and McCartney had not seen each other in three years and had lashed out at each other in the press, according to Pang they resumed their friendship as if nothing had happened. The jam session proved not very productive musically. Lennon sounds to be on

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

and is heard offering Wonder a snort on the first track, then asking someone to give him a snort on the fifth. This is also the origin of the album title, where John Lennon clearly asks: "You wanna snort, Steve? A toot? It's goin' round". In addition, Lennon seems to be having trouble with his

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

and

headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

. Lennon is on lead vocal and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, and McCartney sings

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and plays

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s (Starr, who was recording with Nilsson at the time but not present at the session, complained at the next day's recording session that " cCartneyalways messes up my drums!"). Stevie Wonder sings and plays

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

, Linda McCartney is on

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, Pang plays

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

, Nilsson provides vocals, Davis is on guitar, Freeman (who was producing

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

in the neighboring studio) fills in on bass, and Keys plays

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

. Keys was questioned a number of times about the session, but could not recall any of it. It remains the only known instance of Lennon and McCartney playing together after 1970. Aside from informal, special occasions such as weddings, collaborations of more than two ex-Beatles have been rare since the band's 1969–70 split.

Track listing

#"A Toot and a Snore" – 0:27 #"Bluesy Jam" – 2:33 #"Studio Talk" – 2:40 #* The group plays a few bars of "

Little Bitty Pretty One "Little Bitty Pretty One" is a 1957 song written and originally recorded by Bobby Day. The same year, the song was popularized by Thurston Harris. Produced by Aladdin Records (located in Los Angeles, Calif.), and featuring The Rivingtons, the Shar ...

" by

Thurston Harris Thurston Harris (July 11, 1931 – April 14, 1990) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1957 hit "Little Bitty Pretty One". Career Harris first appeared on record in 1953. He was the vocalist for South Central Los Angel ...

, and John sings the first line but says he can't remember any more #" Lucille" – 5:59 #"Nightmares" – 2:38 #* Actually the band is playing "

Sleep Walk Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness. It is classified as a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. It occurs during slow wave stage of sleep, in a state of low ...

", the 1959

Santo & Johnny Santo & Johnny were an American rock and roll instrumental duo of Italian descent from Brooklyn, New York, composed of brothers Santo Farina (born October 24, 1937) and Johnny Farina (born April 30, 1941). They are known best for their instrum ...

instrumental hit. #" Stand By Me" – 2:18 #* Mostly Lennon complaining about the sound in his headphones and reminiscing about how it was better half an hour ago. #"Stand By Me" – 3:41 #* Lennon complains about the sound again, saying that it was better two hours ago. #"Stand By Me" – 6:04 #*Because of Lennon's complaints, the studio has changed the microphone levels on the recording itself (rather than the performers' headphones), and most of his lead vocals can no longer be heard. #Medley – 3:10 #*After the general chaos of the Lennon-led session, Stevie Wonder tries steering the group into the following medley. #:"

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...

" #:"

Chain Gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was no ...

" #:"

Take This Hammer "Take This Hammer" (Roud Folk Song Index, Roud 4299, AFS 745B1) is a prison, logging, and railroad work song, which has the same Roud Folk Song Index, Roud number as another song, "Nine Pound Hammer", with which it shares verses. "Swannanoa, North ...

Personnel

:in alphabetical order: *

– guitar *

– tambourine *Ed Freeman – bass *

– saxophone *

– guitar, vocals *

– organ *

– drums, vocals *

– vocals *

– tambourine *

– electric piano, vocals (mostly on "Cupid") Linda McCartney and Freeman are not credited on the bootleg's back cover. After the musicians, Mal Evans is credited with "Tea" and Pang with "Sympathy."

Artwork

The album's front cover is based on ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'', the back cover of ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'', and the 1979 compilation album ''

The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away ''The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away'' is a conceptual compilation album containing the original artist recordings of songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s that they had elected not to release as Beatles songs. The ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toot And A Snore In '74 1992 albums Bootleg recordings John Lennon albums Paul McCartney albums