Cayenne: Introduction

“Cayenne” is an instrumental track by The Quarrymen, but it’s on The Beatles’ 1995 album “Anthology 1.”

In Detail

Release Date: November 20, 1995 (UK), November 21, 1995 (US)
Recorded: April 1960 (The Quarrymen)
Genre: Instrumental rock
Track Duration: 1:14
Songwriter: Paul McCartney

Performers And Instruments**

** Because this track is from 1960, Ringo Starr is not part of the band yet.

Where To Find “Cayenne”

If you need this track, you can still buy it on the following album:

Anthology 1 (1995)

Cayenne: Background

Written by Paul McCartney, “Cayenne” is an instrumental rock track in a similar style to that of The Shadows. Although the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership was effective at the time, they would only register as such on October 5, 1962.

At the time of recording Cayenne, The Beatles still had the name “The Quarrymen.” The track itself remained as a bootleg until the official release of their 1995 album, “Anthology 1.” This track, together with “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” and “You’ll Be Mine,” are home demos. Indeed, they are the only ones with an official release that have Stuart Sutcliffe on the bass guitar.

The band recorded the track in Paul McCartney’s bathroom. This 12-bar blues composition was on reel-to-reel tape, but somewhere along the line, he would lose it. However, McCartney’s neighbours on Forthlin Road did manage to find it much later.

In 1961, The Beatles recorded another instrumental rock track, “Cry For A Shadow.” In fact, that one became a single in 1964 after The Beatles became famous. The Fab Four didn’t record too many instrumentals, but they went on to record “12-Bar Original” in 1965 and “Flying” in 1967.

Anthology 1 Version

Although there is a much longer bootleg available, the Anthology 1 version is only one minute and 14 seconds long. It is also running slightly faster and fades out much quicker. Since the album is a collection of Beatles rarities and alternate tracks from 1958 to 1964, perhaps they just wanted to cram in as many tracks as possible.

They recorded their songs on a Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder, and the quality of the recording is surprisingly decent considering it was 1960. Be that as it may, the historical recording survived and is available for us all to enjoy. “Cayenne” is track 8 on side one of the album after their other two home demos, “Hallelujah, I Love Her So” and “You’ll Be Mine.”

Take A Listen

Once you listen to the instrumental, leave us a comment below.