Bootleg: John Lennon & Paul McCartney – A Toot and a Snore in ’74
It was just another Sunday night in the studio. March 31, 1974 to be exact, right in the middle of John Lennon’s infamous “lost weekend.” Kicked out of the house by Yoko, he was producing Harry Nilsson’s Pussy Cats and doing a lot of coke. “You want a toot, Steve? A snort? It’s going around,” he asks Stevie Wonder (!) at the beginning of these sloppy, drug-addled sessions, notable not only because they capture Lennon at his lowest point but because Paul McCartney was sitting in.
For possibly the first (and definitely last) time since their days in the Beatles, the two greats were in the same room, recording songs. And most of these tracks actually sound pretty good, especially when Wonder takes the lead vocals in the “Cupid / Working for the Chain Gang / Take This Hammer” medley. Stay away from the band’s multiple attempts at “Stand By Me,” though.
John Lennon & Paul McCartney – A Toot and a Snore in ’74
1. A Toot and a Snore
2. Bluesy Jam Session
3. Studio Talk
4. Lucille
5. Nightmares
6. Stand By Me
7. Stand By Me (take 2)
8. Stand By Me (take 3)
9. Medley: Cupid / Working on the Chain Gang / Take This Hammer
There’s more info on this session here and here.
Related: The Beatles – “Revolution No. 1 (Take 20)”
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