The Lost Lennon–McCartney Song With the Barking Dog in the Background

There’s a bootleg floating around collectors’ circles called “The Catcall Tape.”

Nobody agrees on where it was recorded — some swear it's Paul’s living room, others think it’s a back room at Forthlin Road. What they do agree on is that it includes one of the strangest unofficial Lennon–McCartney tracks ever captured.

The tape rolls. John strums. Paul harmonizes. It's loose, sweet, half-finished — the kind of melody that feels like it could’ve turned into a Side B gem if they'd given it another 20 minutes.

And then…
A dog barks. Loudly. Off-key. Repeatedly.
John stops.
Paul laughs.
The dog barks again, louder this time, like it's auditioning.

What makes collectors obsessed with this tape isn’t the melody. It's the humanity of it. The Beatles are demigods now, frozen in marble. But this recording? It’s two best friends, goofing off, writing something pretty, and getting interrupted by a creature who did not care that the greatest songwriting partnership of the 20th century was at work.

The dog wins.

And that’s the beauty of the bootleg.