BIBO99
Member
The re-release of the Beatles Anthology could have been so damn good, but obviously Apple Corps. missed the boat (again).
Anthology 1-3, first released in the mid-90s, were a treasure trove of previously unheard material for Beatles fans, beautifully packaged with artwork by Klaus Voormann and Alfons Kiefer, accompanied by tastefully designed booklets with informative background information on the individual songs. The recordings were rounded off by two “new” tracks, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love“. Now, this November, another set of two discs has been added to the three familiar ones, which—after pressure from fans worldwide, perhaps—is also available separately. I now have this one.
The songs, some of which have already been released on various super-deluxe CD box sets over the past few years - and not every fan likes the fact that these tracks are now being offered again - (which are marked with an asterisk below), would have been better off woven into the track lists of Anthology 1-3 to preserve the chronology; now they come across more as a kind of appendage. Be that as it may, here is a brief overview of what is on offer.
CD 1
“I Saw Her Standing There” The opening track of the first Beatles LP, PLEASE, PLEASE ME. This is take 2, in stereo and with powerful sound.
“Money (That’s What I Want)” An important highlight from the second and magnificent LP, WITH THE BEATLES. This is the recording without additional overdubs.
“This Boy” Takes 12 and 13. Already released on the CD single “Free As A Bird” in 1995. It’s nice to find this recording here again.
“Tell Me Why” Takes 4 and 5. From the album A HARD DAY’S NIGHT.
“If I Fell", Take 11. An almost unplugged recording, if it weren’t for George’s electric guitar. Nice outtake!
“Matchbox” Ringo on vocals, take 1. The track appeared on the 1964 UK EP LONG TALL SALLY.
“Every Little Thing” from the album BEATLES FOR SALE, here we hear takes 6 and 7. One of the Beatles tracks that is often overlooked. Unfairly so.
“I Need You” from the album HELP!. A track by George. Take 1. Played slightly faster than on the later master.
“I’ve Just Seen A Face“, Take 3. From the album HELP!.
John’s melancholic “In My Life” follows next, Take 1, of course without the piano middle section that was later played by producer George Martin.
“Nowhere Man“, the first version. Another highlight from John. From RUBBER SOUL. Almost instrumental.
“Got To Get You Into My Life”*, one of Paul’s best songs, for the 1966 album REVOLVER. The second recording, still without horns and other overdubs.
“Love You To”* By George. Take 7. From REVOLVER. Sitar player George is accompanied by tabla player Anil Bhagwat, who was credited on the record cover, much to his surprise.
“Strawberry Fields Forever”*, take 26, follows next. Here we hear essentially the second part of the song, which was later slowed down for release as a single.
“She’s Leaving Home”*, take 1 and completely instrumental. Very marvelous arrangement by Mike Leander (four violins, two cellos, double bass, and harp). From SGT.PEPPER.
“Baby You’re A Rich Man“, takes 11 and 12, B-side of “All You Need Is Love,” comes next. John and Paul ask for Coca Cola and cannabis before recording. (A good idea, which I will take up after writing these lines, I think...)
This is followed by “All You Need Is Love“, where we listen to the rehearsal recordings for the BBC broadcast, which was then aired live. Before recording, we hear John say in German, “Bless you! What’s going on here?” ("Gesundheit! Was ist los hier?")
“The Fool On The Hill“, take 5 and instrumental. Recorded for the television film MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR.
“I Am The Walrus“, Take 19. The strings, brass, and clarinet overdub. For people who have always enjoyed the song—myself included—this is a very interesting insight of the constructing of this track.
CD 2
“Hey Bulldog“, Take 4 and instrumental, recorded in February 1968, without the bass that was overdubbed later, which pumps so nicely. One of the harder tracks. Take 10 later became the master track.
“Good Night“*, take 10. Ringo sings. Written by John for son Julian. From the WHITE ALBUM.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”* by George, Take 27, which is already very close to the master that appeared on the WHITE ALBUM. Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
“(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care”*, a short spontaneous jam that came about between recordings of Paul’s song “Helter Skelter.”
“Helter Skelter“*, Take 17. At the beginning, Paul imitates the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll when he says, “Hold it, fellas! Let’s get real gone, for a change", an expression heard at the beginning of Elvis‘ song “Milkcow Blues Boogie".
“I Will“,* Take 29, from the WHITE ALBUM.
“Can You Take Me Back?”*, Take 1, a small part of which was used for the WHITE ALBUM as an interlude or transition from “Cry Baby Cry” to “Revolution 9”.
“Julia”*, two short rehearsal recordings by John, which were only discovered around 50 years later on one of the studio tapes while preparing the deluxe edition of the White Album.
“Get Back“*, Take 8.
“Octopus’s Garden“*, rehearsal recording made in January 1969 during the GET BACK sessions.
“Don’t Let Me Down"*, the first version from the rooftop concert.
“You Never Give Me Your Money“*, Take 36. From ABBEY ROAD.
“Here Comes The Sun“*, take 9. By George. From ABBEY ROAD. Take 13 ultimately became the master, onto which overdubs were then played.
“Something”*, another track by George, take 39. Here we can enjoy the pure strings, beautifully arranged by George Martin.
“Free As A Bird“, a new mix. Turned out nice again: thanks to AI technology, John’s voice has been cleaned up and sounds clear and distinct for the first time, as it does on the following “Real Love“. When it was presented on YouTube before its release in November, the new mix sounded anything but perfect. Here on CD, it really comes into its own—I like it! Unfortunately, the track fades out a few seconds earlier than before. Also, they left out some of George's guitar parts, which is unforgivable - clearly the biggest crime committed on ANTHOLOGY IV.
“Now And Then“*, completed in 2022 and released a year later. It completes the trilogy “Free As A Bird – Real Love – Now And Then” in an exquisite and moving way; it also serves as an elegiac final and successful epilogue to the band's history. Well done!
The sound of the tracks is consistently amazingly good. The artwork and booklet design are identical to the predecessors Anthology 1-3. Foreword to the booklet by the late press spokesman Derek Taylor. Background information on each song by Kevin Howlett. The approach taken here has been exemplary.
The points of criticism are that the tracks listed above were not included in the track lists of Anthology 1-3 at the right places; in addition, some songs that fans would like to hear are missing, for example a handful of old Star Club recordings from 1962, which could have been massively improved in terms of sound thanks to the new “Beatles AI“, as I call it; the sound collage “Carnival Of Light“, recorded at the end of 1966, was once again not included (there isn’t even a bootleg copy of this); the Rooftop Concert in its entirety was not included… It’s a shame.
I’m currently considering buying the complete box set, which contains Anthology 1-4, as the sound of the first three volumes has been greatly improved in some cases, as I heard.
Anthology 1-3, first released in the mid-90s, were a treasure trove of previously unheard material for Beatles fans, beautifully packaged with artwork by Klaus Voormann and Alfons Kiefer, accompanied by tastefully designed booklets with informative background information on the individual songs. The recordings were rounded off by two “new” tracks, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love“. Now, this November, another set of two discs has been added to the three familiar ones, which—after pressure from fans worldwide, perhaps—is also available separately. I now have this one.
The songs, some of which have already been released on various super-deluxe CD box sets over the past few years - and not every fan likes the fact that these tracks are now being offered again - (which are marked with an asterisk below), would have been better off woven into the track lists of Anthology 1-3 to preserve the chronology; now they come across more as a kind of appendage. Be that as it may, here is a brief overview of what is on offer.
CD 1
“I Saw Her Standing There” The opening track of the first Beatles LP, PLEASE, PLEASE ME. This is take 2, in stereo and with powerful sound.
“Money (That’s What I Want)” An important highlight from the second and magnificent LP, WITH THE BEATLES. This is the recording without additional overdubs.
“This Boy” Takes 12 and 13. Already released on the CD single “Free As A Bird” in 1995. It’s nice to find this recording here again.
“Tell Me Why” Takes 4 and 5. From the album A HARD DAY’S NIGHT.
“If I Fell", Take 11. An almost unplugged recording, if it weren’t for George’s electric guitar. Nice outtake!
“Matchbox” Ringo on vocals, take 1. The track appeared on the 1964 UK EP LONG TALL SALLY.
“Every Little Thing” from the album BEATLES FOR SALE, here we hear takes 6 and 7. One of the Beatles tracks that is often overlooked. Unfairly so.
“I Need You” from the album HELP!. A track by George. Take 1. Played slightly faster than on the later master.
“I’ve Just Seen A Face“, Take 3. From the album HELP!.
John’s melancholic “In My Life” follows next, Take 1, of course without the piano middle section that was later played by producer George Martin.
“Nowhere Man“, the first version. Another highlight from John. From RUBBER SOUL. Almost instrumental.
“Got To Get You Into My Life”*, one of Paul’s best songs, for the 1966 album REVOLVER. The second recording, still without horns and other overdubs.
“Love You To”* By George. Take 7. From REVOLVER. Sitar player George is accompanied by tabla player Anil Bhagwat, who was credited on the record cover, much to his surprise.
“Strawberry Fields Forever”*, take 26, follows next. Here we hear essentially the second part of the song, which was later slowed down for release as a single.
“She’s Leaving Home”*, take 1 and completely instrumental. Very marvelous arrangement by Mike Leander (four violins, two cellos, double bass, and harp). From SGT.PEPPER.
“Baby You’re A Rich Man“, takes 11 and 12, B-side of “All You Need Is Love,” comes next. John and Paul ask for Coca Cola and cannabis before recording. (A good idea, which I will take up after writing these lines, I think...)
This is followed by “All You Need Is Love“, where we listen to the rehearsal recordings for the BBC broadcast, which was then aired live. Before recording, we hear John say in German, “Bless you! What’s going on here?” ("Gesundheit! Was ist los hier?")
“The Fool On The Hill“, take 5 and instrumental. Recorded for the television film MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR.
“I Am The Walrus“, Take 19. The strings, brass, and clarinet overdub. For people who have always enjoyed the song—myself included—this is a very interesting insight of the constructing of this track.
CD 2
“Hey Bulldog“, Take 4 and instrumental, recorded in February 1968, without the bass that was overdubbed later, which pumps so nicely. One of the harder tracks. Take 10 later became the master track.
“Good Night“*, take 10. Ringo sings. Written by John for son Julian. From the WHITE ALBUM.
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”* by George, Take 27, which is already very close to the master that appeared on the WHITE ALBUM. Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
“(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care”*, a short spontaneous jam that came about between recordings of Paul’s song “Helter Skelter.”
“Helter Skelter“*, Take 17. At the beginning, Paul imitates the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll when he says, “Hold it, fellas! Let’s get real gone, for a change", an expression heard at the beginning of Elvis‘ song “Milkcow Blues Boogie".
“I Will“,* Take 29, from the WHITE ALBUM.
“Can You Take Me Back?”*, Take 1, a small part of which was used for the WHITE ALBUM as an interlude or transition from “Cry Baby Cry” to “Revolution 9”.
“Julia”*, two short rehearsal recordings by John, which were only discovered around 50 years later on one of the studio tapes while preparing the deluxe edition of the White Album.
“Get Back“*, Take 8.
“Octopus’s Garden“*, rehearsal recording made in January 1969 during the GET BACK sessions.
“Don’t Let Me Down"*, the first version from the rooftop concert.
“You Never Give Me Your Money“*, Take 36. From ABBEY ROAD.
“Here Comes The Sun“*, take 9. By George. From ABBEY ROAD. Take 13 ultimately became the master, onto which overdubs were then played.
“Something”*, another track by George, take 39. Here we can enjoy the pure strings, beautifully arranged by George Martin.
“Free As A Bird“, a new mix. Turned out nice again: thanks to AI technology, John’s voice has been cleaned up and sounds clear and distinct for the first time, as it does on the following “Real Love“. When it was presented on YouTube before its release in November, the new mix sounded anything but perfect. Here on CD, it really comes into its own—I like it! Unfortunately, the track fades out a few seconds earlier than before. Also, they left out some of George's guitar parts, which is unforgivable - clearly the biggest crime committed on ANTHOLOGY IV.
“Now And Then“*, completed in 2022 and released a year later. It completes the trilogy “Free As A Bird – Real Love – Now And Then” in an exquisite and moving way; it also serves as an elegiac final and successful epilogue to the band's history. Well done!
The sound of the tracks is consistently amazingly good. The artwork and booklet design are identical to the predecessors Anthology 1-3. Foreword to the booklet by the late press spokesman Derek Taylor. Background information on each song by Kevin Howlett. The approach taken here has been exemplary.
The points of criticism are that the tracks listed above were not included in the track lists of Anthology 1-3 at the right places; in addition, some songs that fans would like to hear are missing, for example a handful of old Star Club recordings from 1962, which could have been massively improved in terms of sound thanks to the new “Beatles AI“, as I call it; the sound collage “Carnival Of Light“, recorded at the end of 1966, was once again not included (there isn’t even a bootleg copy of this); the Rooftop Concert in its entirety was not included… It’s a shame.
I’m currently considering buying the complete box set, which contains Anthology 1-4, as the sound of the first three volumes has been greatly improved in some cases, as I heard.
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