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Surprise: The Beatles Have a 1965 John Lennon Song That Nobody’s Heard Before
A previously unknown John Lennon home demo from 1965, titled "Little Girl," will be released for the first time on the upcoming Rubber Soul Special Edition, due out on 2 October. The track had never been bootlegged, rumoured or referenced before, making its discovery a rare surprise even for veteran Beatles archivists, and it offers a fresh glimpse into Lennon's songwriting during one of the band's most pressured creative periods.
Producer Giles Martin said the recording came from the Lennon Estate, believed via Sean Lennon, and was found on a tape reel with Martin splicing two sections together to create the final 2:17 version. The song, a sparse acoustic performance echoing Buddy Holly and later Beatles tracks such as "I'm Only Sleeping," can be dated to no earlier than summer 1965 because Lennon reworks a lyric from Paul McCartney's "I've Just Seen a Face." Its emergence is especially notable given the Beatles were under a tight four-week deadline that October to finish Rubber Soul at Abbey Road.
In short
- Unheard 1965 John Lennon demo "Little Girl" surfaces after decades hidden
- Featured on Rubber Soul Special Edition, out 2 October
- Producer Giles Martin says it came via the Lennon Estate
Explained simply
The Beatles were the hugely influential British rock band that dominated popular music from the early 1960s onwards. John Lennon was one of the band's two main songwriters and performers, and this story concerns a previously unknown home recording he made in 1965.
The song's discovery is significant precisely because it had never been bootlegged, rumoured or referenced before—even among the most dedicated Beatles historians. The recording comes from 1965, an especially important period when the band was under intense pressure to finish their album Rubber Soul, a crucial moment in their creative development.
The tape was found among materials from the Lennon Estate and has been prepared for release by producer Giles Martin. The song is a sparse acoustic performance that offers insight into Lennon's songwriting during that formative time.