"Etcetera" is an unreleased song recorded as a demo by

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 ...

on 20 August 1968, during a session for ''

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 ...

'' (also known as "the White Album").

Background

Paul McCartney recalls in his authorised biography, ''

Many Years from Now ''Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now'' is a 1997 biography of Paul McCartney by Barry Miles. It is the "official" biography of McCartney and was written "based on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews undertaken over a period of five years", ...

'', that he had written the song, intending to give it to

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

to record, but she passed on recording it, as did

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 ...

. The music was then adapted, and given to the

Black Dyke Mills Band Black Dyke Band, formerly John Foster & Son Black Dyke Mills Band, is one of the oldest and best-known brass bands in the world. It originated as multiple community bands founded by John Foster at his family's textile mill in Queensbury, West ...

, whose brass band instrumental version "Thingumybob" became the A-side of one of the first four simultaneously released singles on the Beatles' new record label Apple.

Recording

The song was recorded as a demo during the same session that produced other "White Album" songs "

Mother Nature's Son "Mother Nature's Son" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was ins ...

" and "

Wild Honey Pie "Wild Honey Pie" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. Less than a minute in length, th ...

". McCartney recorded one take of the song while waiting for session musicians to arrive. After the take was recorded, the tape was taken away by

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

's assistant, Chris Thomas. The recording is said to have lyrics, a bridge, and an introduction that is reminiscent of "

Here, There and Everywhere "Here, There and Everywhere" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. A love ballad, it was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney includes it among his personal favour ...

Unreleased status

McCartney himself has not spoken well of "Etcetera". He has stated that "it's a bad song" and that he's "glad it died in a tape bin". On the other hand, engineer Alan Brown called it "a very beautiful song." Brown described the song as a "ballad and has the word 'etcetera' several times in the lyric. I only heard it twice: when cCartneyrecorded it and when we played it back to him. The tape was taken away and I've never heard of it since." Music critic

Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

describes "Etcetera" as "the second most sought-after outtake" from the White Album. In terms of the tape itself, Unterberger writes that EMI engineer Alan Brown recalled that the tape is no longer in EMI's vaults. However, an acetate copy of the song has surfaced in McCartney's personal archive in the early years of the 21st century. The song has yet to be released officially.

Personnel

– vocals,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

Personnel per ''The Beatles Bible''.

References

;Bibliography * {{The Beatles (White Album) 1960s ballads The Beatles songs Unreleased songs Songs written by Paul McCartney