Giles Martin Talks Unearthed John Lennon Demo, Thinking Like His Dad & the Beatles Biopics

Although any newly discovered Beatles recording is always cause for excitement, John Lennon ’s “Little Girl” – which appears on the upcoming Rubber Soul special edition release coming Oct.

2 – is not receiving the same kind of posthumous overhaul as “Now and Then” did in 2023 or “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” did back in the mid ‘90s on the Beatles’ Anthology series.

“Little Girl” was discovered in the Beatles’ vault, along with an early version of the “Day Tripper”/”We Can Work It Out” single that was released concurrent with the Rubber Soul album, in 1965.

“It was found during the process,” Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer George Martin, tells Billboard via Zoom from Abbey Road Studios in London.

Martin, who worked with his father on the impressionistic soundtrack for the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show Love in 2006, has become the main steward of Beatles’ archival projects, including audio portions of Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary and deluxe reissue packages for Sgt.

Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band , The Beatles (aka The White Album), Let It Be , Abbey Road , Revolver and more.

“When we do these projects we cast a net over a period of time and really look for everything,” Martin explains.

“’Little Girl’ comes from the same area as ‘Day Tripper,'” he adds.

“The boys having their own reel-to-reel tapes and recording home demos.

It’s just a little ditty; don’t expect ‘Strawberry Fields’ or ‘In My Life’ from it.” The recording is just as Martin describes – strong in fidelity but clearly unfinished and light on lyrics, with plenty of la-la’s as placeholders.

“John was playing around with the word ‘girl’ quite a lot,” Martin notes.

“’You can run for your life if you can, little girl’; obviously ‘Girl’ was on the record; ‘Little Girl’…You know, he liked words.

He was obsessed with Dylan Thomas, etc.

So it’s a valid sketch of the songwriting of the period.” He adds that there was never a notion of doing more with “Little Girl” than including it amid the wealth of rarities, outtakes, alternative versions and studio chatter included on the Rubber Soul packages.