Written by Paul McCartney • Unreleased song • Instrumental
Last updated on March 7, 2025
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
The "Get Back / Let It Be" sessions • Day 3
Jan 06, 1969
The "Get Back / Let It Be" sessions • Day 4
Jan 07, 1969
The "Get Back / Let It Be" sessions • Day 6
Jan 09, 1969
"Rupert The Bear" soundtrack session
Jul 05, 1978
Officially appears on We All Stand Together
Officially appears on Red Rose Speedway
Officially appears on Ram - Archive Collection
From Wikipedia:
“The Palace of the King of the Birds”, also known as “The Castle of the King of the Birds”, is a name given to an instrumental by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and was originally recorded by the band during the Let It Be album sessions in three takes between 6 and 9 January, 1969, at Twickenham Film Studios. The recordings vary in length — the 6 January session is fourteen minutes one second long and turned into a loose jam, and was recorded with the demo of “Carry That Weight“. The track was later forgotten, until McCartney recorded a still unreleased version, in his solo recordings, named “The Castle of the King of the Birds”; this version was recorded for the unreleased album Rupert the Bear, sometime in 1978, with Wings with a duration of 1:42.[citation needed] The song was used as the end-credits music for the first episode of the Disney+ documentary The Beatles: Get Back, in which it also makes a brief appearance earlier in the episode, where it was credited to Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey.
Reception
Music critic Richie Unterberger noted McCartney’s “particularly elegiac” organ, and the “flowing, bluesy guitar lines“, saying it was about as close as the band ever came to progressive rock jamming – “highly uncharacteristic territory for the group to be wandering into, but interesting precisely for that reason.” Tom Taylor of Far Out Magazine put it at #1 in his list of “The 10 Greatest Unreleased Beatles Songs,” praising the “effervescing melody that you could listen to all day.” New York Magazine’s Vulture website called each musical element “beautifully considered,” saying “it’s all very turn-off-your-mind-relax-and-float-downstream.“
Unofficial album
5:00 • Demo • 1/7/69
Session Recording: Jan 07, 1969 • Studio Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 6th, 1969 - 1 & 2
Unofficial album • Released in 2004
14:00 • Rehearsal • Jan.06 - D1-20 - The Place Of The King Of The Birds 6.15
Session Recording: Jan 06, 1969 • Studio Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
A/B Road Complete Get Back Sessions - Jan 7th, 1969 - 1 & 2
Unofficial album • Released in 2004
1:23 • Rehearsal • Jan.07 - D1-05 - The Palace Of The King Of The Birds 7.04
Paul McCartney : Piano
Session Recording: Jan 07, 1969 • Studio Twickenham Film Studios, London, UK
See all bootlegs containing “The Palace Of The King Of The Birds”
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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