Al's Brain - Lost Media Now Found

 

This photo of Al and Paul has been around for years and we never know what video they were making -- we now know! 

Video Stills from "Al's Brain"

I love learning about Lost Media.  Pieces of video, audio, or video games that were seen or heard a few times and then have disappeared into time.  And I love learning about the hunt to find that lost media and how it became rediscovered.  I regularly watch a YouTube channel called  "blameitonjorge" to learn about what is going on in the world of lost media.   I was listening to his 2024 list of lost media that had been found when I discovered that a piece of lost Paul McCartney media was on the list!

Lost media is around in The Beatles' world.  So many TV performances the Beatles were on were recorded over (I'm thinking about John and Paul's 1968 Tonight Show for example or 1966 Top of the Pops) and from time to time a little snippet that someone recorded with a home movie camera comes to light.  This piece of lost media isn't as old as those, but I thought it was pretty cool.   What was found in February of 2024 was a cameo Paul McCartney had in a Weird Al Yankovic short called "Al's Brian" from 2009.

"Al's Brian" is a 3-D educational short film written and directed by Al Yankovic, who is also the star of the 10-minute feature.   The purpose of the film was to educate the viewer on how the brain works and he used a variety of live action and computer animation.  For Paul's part, he is a "man on the street" and asks Al "How does the Brain work?" He is seen holding his guitar and he strums a chord before he talks, but he doesn't play or sing anything.  At the end of the short, Al sings a song, "The Brain Song," but Paul does not appear again. 

"Al's Brain" premiered at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California.  It played there on a rotating basis from July 15 - August 5, 2009.   From what I can tell, it did not cost extra to watch. Visitors would get a pair of 3-D glasses and sit in theater-style seats for the show.   Merchandise was available to purchase. It was a popular attraction with 250,000 people coming through to see it during the time it was there. It then moved to the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, Washington from September 11-27, 2009.   It could have been shown in 2010 at an Expo in China because it was listed on a program, but there isn't any documentation that it was actually seen. 

So basically after those two Fairs during the summer of 2009, "Al's Brain" disappeared.  It is very strange to me that I never even heard about Paul's cameo during this on any of the Beatles' sites or publications at that time. Usually whenever Paul has a cameo in something we hear all about it.  

In 2020 someone uploaded a copy of the film but it was from someone recording it live in the theater.  Since it is a 3-D film, the copy was all blurry and almost impossible to watch.   And then this past February the entire thing in perfect condition was shared online and is now living at the Internet Archives for all to enjoy.   Check it out! 

https://archive.org/details/als-brain-2009-short-film

Does anyone have any idea what date Paul recorded this?  

Pops and Lenny -- Lost Beatles media

 

May 16, 1963 -  The Beatles appear on the children's television program "Pops and Lenny."  Lenny was a lion puppet used on the show.   You can hear a recording made from the television of the guys singing part of "From Me To You" from this program, but the actual video of the performance is lost media and most likely will never been seen.   There were a few blurry photos (seen here) that someone had taken from their television set 60 years ago today.  

The Jordans film footage -- recently found!

On November 4, 1967, a band from Brazil, The Jordans, went to London and happened to have met the Beatles during the time that they were editing the Magical Mystery Tour. 

Here is some information found in the YouTube comments:

Aladin (Guitar): "We were in London, and we found some of our albums in the stores. And So we bought them to take our money from the Record company in Brazil. During the visit, we went to an Italian restaurant. We all were wearing Quick Draw McGraw shirts; Irupê (Sax) said, "I'll go to the bathroom before we leave" he walked past Ringo and then 5 minutes later, came back and said: "I saw a guy that looked identical to Ringo Starr." We said, "Everyone wants to be a Beatle these days..." But when we walked towards the door, the four Beatles looked at us wearing the same shirt and smiled." Irupê said: "One is all right, but four of them!" We paid the bill, and the owner said: "They are across the street." We figured out the place, but Paul had left in a green car. We knocked, and John Lennon opened the door. We showed him our records, saying: " We are the Jordans, a Brazilian group" John grabbed all of them, saying, "thank you, come in"...…

A home movie was made of the Jordans meeting Ringo and John.  But it has been considered lost media for many, many years.   Good news!  It is now found!