Ongoing History Daily: How did The Beastie Boys end up sampling the Beatles?

There are a couple of acts that will never, ever allow anyone to sample their work. The first is AC/DC. The second is The Beatles. So how did a Beatles sample end up on The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique album?

There are more than 100 samples used on the album, something that would be prohibitively expensive today. But back when the album came out in 1989, it was still an anything-goes situation with sampling. The record featured bits from Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles. And not just one Beatles sample, but five on one song called “The Sound of Science.”

How did they do that? Mike D is pretty tight-lipped on this. He either doesn’t know or refuses to say. All he’ll say is “Thank you, Sir Paul.”