Syd Barrett with The Beatles

I am also a Beatles fan and I just listened to both the earlier demo "What a Shame Mary Jane" and the Anthology 3 release "What's the New Mary Jane." The song has got to be absolutely fascinating and perhaps the weirdest song the Beatles have ever recorded. While Syd cannot be heard in either cut (the demo is of very poor sound quality), I am more than certain that he heavily influenced that original demo.

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"And so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky"

I don`t think it sounds like John Lennon sings it. I`m listening to it right now( I got it on a c.d.), and I think Syd sings it. I have been wrong before, so I am feeling a little bit uncertain, but still...

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I got to say this, I hope you don't mind!

Syd is playing bass on that track and Sri Harrison singing the lead vocals. This is the Truth, kids!

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yeah!

The story goes that while 67' model Floyd were recording P@TGOD debut LP at Abbey Road, the Beatles minus Lennon stopped in to say hello to their receptive disciples. McCartney encouraged them and told them they would do well. Later Pink Floyd would recieve advance copies of the Beatle's latest - the mindblowing "Sgt. Pepper"!

The only mindblowing thing in Sgt. Pepper is the production

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If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

It's true.

The production of Sgt. Pepper's is indeed mindblowing - considering that it was done on 4-track machines. That never fails to amaze me.

I actually like the songs, too.

This thread is now pretty old, I though I'd add what I know of the track though.

I downloaded it a while ago and was unsure of who exactly was in it.

This website says this:
http://www.sai.msu.su/~util/pfd.html

"What A Shame, Mary Jane
(1967) An unreleased Beatles track featuring Syd. Recorded at Abbey Road when both the Beatles and Pink Floyd were recording albums there (SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND and THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN, respectively)."

This is in the section from the "Syd Barrett non-LP material".


The information included said it was recorded at Abbey Road on 15-04-67.

A CDDB search for Syd Barret and What A Shame Mary Jane yielded two albums: Last Screams and Vegetable Man. However to my knowledge this version track was never released.

I think fire is right with Syd being on the bass and George on the lead vocals.


Hope this helps clarify things.

can someone post an mp3 so that i can hear it, i cant find it anywhere

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~Tzvia

Entry in The Complete Beatles Chronicle, by Mark Lewisohn:

Wednesday, August 14th, 1968 - Studio Two, EMI Studios, London

Yoko's influence over John's musical ideas was by now quite evident... in this session, again with Yoko in evidence, John set about the recording of the bizarre 'What's the New Mary Jane', which he later claimed to have written with Alexis Mardas (Apple electronics engineer) but was copywrited to Lennon/McCartney. This wacky "song" nearly made it onto The Beatles but was left off at the last minute and remains unreleased...
John and George were the only Beatles playing on 'What's the New Mary Jane' and John the only singer. But Yoko and Mal Evans (Beatles roadie/assistant) also participated in the four takes recorded during the session, the "best" of which, the fourth, was mixed into mono, the tape being taken away by John...

Mark Lewisohn listened to the orignal session tapes while writing this account, and also had a look at the documentation regarding the session (the recording sheet is printed along with this entry in the book). EMI/Abbey Road was very detailed in their paperwork, and if Syd Barrett had been on this recording, it would been noted, by either George Martin or Geoff Emerick (producer and engineer respectively) at the time of the session, or Mark Lewisohn himself while listening to the session tape.
The song was released on Anthology 3, but I'm told it has numerous edits and was remixed. I haven't heard the so-called 'demo', but a demo was made by John at George's house in Weybridge on May 30th, '68 - and Syd couldn't have been on that one, either.

So it just ain't true, folks.

Hey Shane, thanks for the info, but I'm not entirely convinced. If anything it would be George singing and Syd on bass, although the voice sounds like Syd. The filename when I downloaded said it was recorded on 15.04.67.

I've tagged the file so you'll be able to get al the info.

Tzvia_lovefloyd,
I finally found somewhere to host the file:
http://muteloop.live.com.au/Interview.mp3

It's 3.1mb.

You're certainly welcome, but...
In 1967, there were sessions at Abbey Road on the 7th and 17th of April. Both sessions were stereo mixing sessions for Sgt. Pepper's.
In 1968, there were *no* sessions during April - the one before being on the 15th of February (mono mixing of 'Lady Madonna') and after on 30 May (recording of 'Revolution 1' for the White Album).

I just find it hard to believe that EMI (which was so stringent on details and paperwork) would have failed to note Syd's contribution to the song if he was on it. Surely John or George would have talked to the press about working with Syd sometime in their lifetimes. We do know that the Beatles were in Abbey Road the same time as PF in early to mid '67, and did meet them... but 'What a Shame Mary Jane' was recorded in 1968.

thank you very much PrimeDaz, i really wanted to hear it

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~Tzvia