WI: The Beatles Released a Secret Reunion Album

The Beatles had a great deal of mythology and urban legend built around them. It was a parlor game for any fan of any band in the age before the internet. A rumor would start and develop, and be told from record store employees, radio disc jockeys, and a friend whose cousin's brother knew a guy, and it would spin out from there. The Beatles had a great deal of that when the band was together, and it really built up after they split up in a frantic quest for them to maybe get back together. Among those urban legends was a very, very persistent one that the Beatles had actually gotten back together in a secret reunion. Not only that, but they had released an album of new material without telling anyone that it was the Beatles.

Such a fate befell the band Klaatu, and their album 3:47 EST. They were not the only band, nor the only album to get this reaction, but they were the biggest result of that perpetual rumor. The album was not forthcoming with information, but it sounded like the Beatles so people believed it was the Beatles. Based on the rumors alone, record sales and word of mouth were enormous. And then the reality came crashing down.

http://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting/klaatu-the-secret-band-as-good-as-the-beatles/

Of course, there is also the fact that Paul McCartney, at the height of Pop fame, actually did release an album which was secretly done by himself. The album Thrillington, however, failed to do much of anything. So that may be a drag on the idea. Albeit, that album was in the easy listening and jazz genre, and held neither the style nor the interest of Beatles or solo career fans.

What if the rumor had eventually come true? What if at some point in the 1970s, the Beatles had reunited, recorded an album, and released it in secret without indication in the album credits or cover art or anywhere else that it was the Beatles? What if, though not the Klaatu album, a story like that had ended with the result of "Yep, it was us" and kept going?
 
Interesting idea.

The problem is that the Beatles' voices are so well known that as soon as one of them starts singing, it's gonna get attention & rumour that it might be them.

I'm thinking the album might need an outside singer to avoid that or a truckload of effects on the vocals.
 
Something I just considered is that this may be the beginning of viral marketing. No one says anything or announces anything, but word of mouth literally moves units by the truckload without any overt money on marketing, and the public acts as unpaid advertisers. It could be very revolutionary in terms of marketing and advertising. Given the example of Klaatu, I think the Beatles could even outsell that album. And it would be harnessing the culture of rock rumor and urban legend as an asset for sales. "Paul is Dead" did that, but it was not an active effort on the part of the band. It just so happened that the rumor started on it's own, and then the demand side started buying based on that. The revenue stream on the album, without marketing/advertising costs, would be insane.

Interesting idea.

The problem is that the Beatles' voices are so well known that as soon as one of them starts singing, it's gonna get attention & rumour that it might be them.

I'm thinking the album might need an outside singer to avoid that or a truckload of effects on the vocals.

It wouldn't need to be hidden forever. Just insofar as not telling anyone at the start or announcing it, and then copping to it when everyone catches on. It also is not ironclad that people would get it or not get it based on the singing voices. They thought Klaatu were the Beatles. They thought countless bootlegs that turned out to be by Badfinger or some rejected band were the Beatles. There were even people that thought ELO was the Beatles.
 
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oberdada

Gone Fishin'
Hard for the most famous Band in the world to record a record in secret.
Especially if they want a top end quality product, there weren't that many recording studios up to it in the 70s.

Didn't Prince try something like that, but somebody talked, so that the album was shelved for decades?

Maybe if John Lennon isn't shot, a digital produced album in the late 80s is possible, they don't even have to meet to do it.
 
Hard for the most famous Band in the world to record a record in secret.
Especially if they want a top end quality product, there weren't that many recording studios up to it in the 70s.

Didn't Prince try something like that, but somebody talked, so that the album was shelved for decades?

Maybe if John Lennon isn't shot, a digital produced album in the late 80s is possible, they don't even have to meet to do it.

"Exile on Main St.", "The Basement Tapes"....
It was the Seventies. It was possible to keep a secret, and it was possible to record material without anyone really noticing, or even outside of a recording studio with available recording technology at the time. And even if they got a recording studio, it was the Seventies, so it was still possible to keep it from leaking. The pre-internet age was glorious for people not being able to get into your business. If John Lennon walked out his door and did not return someone's call the next day, it would be the same as if he was abducted by aliens to the world. And if he lied and said he was going on a trip, but really showed up at Paul McCartney's house, no one would have known. It was easy to fall off the face of the earth.
 
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It is definitely an interesting scenario - and given the commercial success of Klaatu's album based on the rumors, this would surely outsell it.

I could see John and loving the idea of it. Paul especially liked to flirt with concepts of anonymity (Sgt. Pepper, Thrillington, his ideas for a '69 Beatles tour, the Wings University tour...). It'd be sort of an anti-marketing strategy, and would be seen as a huge event in pop music history.
 
Here's an idea..

During John Lennon's "Lost Weekend", John, Paul & Ringo get the idea during a weekend hanging out in LA to record an album quickly & quietly. They book a couple of weeks in a studio & start working up songs.

After a few days, the invite goes out to George Harrison. He's cold on the idea, until John suggests they record two albums in secret. A weird one with wacky instrumentals, comedy songs & psychedelic stuff - to be followed by a good solid pop album... both under an assumed name (not the Beatles). That'll confuse 'em! Plus that first album won't be burdened with any comeback pressure.
 
Here's an idea..

During John Lennon's "Lost Weekend", John, Paul & Ringo get the idea during a weekend hanging out in LA to record an album quickly & quietly. They book a couple of weeks in a studio & start working up songs.

After a few days, the invite goes out to George Harrison. He's cold on the idea, until John suggests they record two albums in secret. A weird one with wacky instrumentals, comedy songs & psychedelic stuff - to be followed by a good solid pop album... both under an assumed name (not the Beatles). That'll confuse 'em! Plus that first album won't be burdened with any comeback pressure.

My impression of John Lennon after the fact:
"There was so much pressure to do it that we all sort of realized we just had to say "fuck it", you know? And just do it. I think the only way we were going to do another album together as the Beatles was if we didn't need to be the Beatles. There was just so much bullshit around it, you know? 'Well, how the fuck do you do that?', one asks. And we did it by just playing together on our own terms. No money men. No fan with some bullshit daddy issue for us. We didn't even put our names on the fuckin' thing, which Paul and I both loved by the way. Fuck it. Let the music stand on it's own, and if people figure it out, good for them. By the time anyone got wise, the album was out and about, and we just happened to become the Beatles again. Keepin' it secret kept the pressure off, and that's how the world got back the illustrious Beatles. A boiled watch never kettles."
 
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395129BF-6EA4-4D8B-9A12-6D5677EAAF1D.jpeg
Here's an idea..

During John Lennon's "Lost Weekend", John, Paul & Ringo get the idea during a weekend hanging out in LA to record an album quickly & quietly. They book a couple of weeks in a studio & start working up songs.

After a few days, the invite goes out to George Harrison. He's cold on the idea, until John suggests they record two albums in secret. A weird one with wacky instrumentals, comedy songs & psychedelic stuff - to be followed by a good solid pop album... both under an assumed name (not the Beatles). That'll confuse 'em! Plus that first album won't be burdened with any comeback pressure.
 
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