Video: 'A Toot and a Snore in '74' (1974) CD (UK)
(Thursday, March 28, 1974, late evening PDT) — John Lennon and Paul McCartney jammed together tonight for what turned out to be the only time after The Beatles broke-up in 1970.
Lennon was producing Harry Nilsson’s album Pussy Cats, when Paul and Linda McCartney dropped in after the first night of the sessions, a.k.a. “the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour,” at Burbank Studios.
They were joined by Nilsson, Stevie Wonder, Jesse Ed Davis, May Pang, Mal Evans, Bobby Keys and producer Ed Freeman for an impromptu jam session.
Lennon was separated from his wife, Yoko Ono, and living in Los Angeles with Pang in a period of his life popularly referred to as his “lost weekend.”
Although he and McCartney had not seen each other in three years and had lashed out at each other in the press, according to Pang they resumed their friendship as if nothing had happened.
The jam session proved not very productive musically, however. Lennon sounds to be on cocaine and is heard offering Wonder a snort on the first track, then asking someone to give him a snort on the fifth. This is also the origin of the album title, where John Lennon clearly asks: “You wanna snort, Steve? A toot? It’s goin’ round.”
In addition, Lennon seems to be having trouble with his microphone and headphones.
Lennon is on lead vocal and guitar, and McCartney sings harmony and plays Ringo Starr’s drums (Starr, who was recording with Nilsson at the time but not present at the session, complained at the next day’s recording session that “[McCartney] always messes up my drums!”).
Stevie Wonder sings and plays electric piano, Linda McCartney is on organ, Pang plays tambourine, Nilsson provides vocals, Davis is on guitar, Freeman (who was producing Don McLean in the neighboring studio) fills in on bass, and Keys plays saxophone.
It remains the only known instance of Lennon and McCartney playing together after 1969. Aside from informal, special occasions such as weddings, collaborations of more than two ex-Beatles had been rare since the band’s 1969–70 split.
