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Ringo Starr hit the jackpot when The Beatles asked him to join the band. Likewise, the Fab Four’s career might have looked much different without Ringo’s hall-of-fame drumming talent. Beatles fans hit the jackpot when a long-lost secret song Ringo and George Harrison worked on finally saw the light of day in 2021.

Ringo Starr (left) and George Harrison, who secretly worked on a long-lost song while recording 'Hey Jude,' take a break during a 1967 recording session.
(l-r) Ringo Starr and George Harrison | Cummings Archives/Redferns

Ringo Starr and George Harrison started breaking away from The Beatles before they broke up

Ringo focused his efforts on The Beatles once he joined the band in August 1962. When the band started splintering at the end of the decade, he started branching out. He played on the Plastic Ono Band single “Cold Turkey” in 1969 and contributed to the 1969 album Is This What You Want by Jackie Lomax, per AllMusic.

Likewise, George started writing music at such a prolific pace that he once said he’d have to make a hundred Beatles albums to get his songs out. Still, George found a way to release his first solo record while still a member of the Fab Four.

George and Ringo secretly worked on another long-lost song while still members of The Beatles.

Ringo and George secretly played on one song during breaks in recording ‘Hey Jude’

The Beatles broke up for good in 1970, but the mile markers signaling the end of the road approached before then. The recording sessions for 1968’s The White Album saw both Ringo and George briefly leave the band as tensions rose. 

The Fab Four recorded the non-album track “Hey Jude” in 1968, and George and Ringo secretly worked on a separate long-lost song from another artist during breaks at Trident Studios in London.

Journalist Suresh Joshi wrote “Radhe Shaam” for a film he planned to make. Joshi and George crossed paths at London’s Trident Studios, and George’s interest in Indian culture led to the pair having a conversation. George and Ringo offered to work on the song while not in the studio for “Hey Jude,” writes The Guardian.

Joshi uncovered the recording during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown and released it in November 2021. Beatles fills will surely recognize George’s smooth guitar work and Ringo’s steady beat and rolling fills. It’s not quite a Beatles song and not like anything George or Ringo did in their solo work, but it’s a fine snapshot of their skills.

The two former Beatles worked together many times after The Beatles broke up

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Ringo never could get George to join one of his All-Starr Bands, but the two former bandmates still collaborated after The Beatles broke up.

Even though George forgot his contributions, Ringo drummed on several songs for George’s solo debut, All Things Must Pass, in 1970. It was the first No. 1 record by a former Beatle. “My Sweet Lord” hit No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart in 1970, and “What Is Life” was a top-10 hit in 1971. 

Meanwhile, Ringo scored his first No. 1 hit with the George-penned “Photograph” in 1973 from Ringo’s third self-titled solo record. The guitarist helped write two other songs from the same record.

Ringo and George secretly worked on a long-lost song while taking breaks from The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” sessions, and they continued to collaborate even when the Fab Four ended.

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