Disco de The Beatles: “Free as a Bird [Germany CD Single]”

If you already have "Anthology 1," then you're really only getting three tracks. I was hoping that this disc would have the original demo that Lennon recorded alone, but instead, it has the Beatles version, the exact same as on the "Anthology 1" album. But the other three tracks are pretty good. There's a take of "I Saw Her Standing There," that sounds a little shaky. It's the entire take that provided the "One-two-three-four" count-in that's on "Please, Please Me." The Beatles' first album had a different take, but they used the count-in from the take presented on this disc.

There are two takes of "This Boy," which are good. I love the between-take chatter that the Anthology albums are also full of.

The best track is track four, "Christmas Time is Here Again." However, the song is mainly the four Beatles repeating the title phrase over and over, with a few little phrases by Paul, John and Ringo wedged in. There are also little greetings by each of The Beatles, no more than five seconds each, saying "Merry Christmas, we hope you have a great New Year..." etc. At the end is a strange monologue by John Lennon with wintry wind whistling back and forth from one speaker to the other.

Although you may feel a little cheated that there are only three new tracks, consider this: these tracks aren't available anywhere else...ANYWHERE. Now, that's quite worth the money, if you ask me!

I have a hard time listening to "Free As a Bird" as I can't help thinking about what George said in the Anthology CD: It felt weird for the three of them to be working on John's song and he wasn't there. He stated that he felt like John was in another room.

Besides that, the melody and the finished product in general just gets a Beatlemaniac to thinking about what John would have thought of major events that have happened since his murder (not the least of which were the Reagan years).

This import CD single, as everyone knows by now, includes alternate versions of "I Saw Her Standing There" and "This Boy," and the short version of "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" (minus the mini-skits that was released to their fan club).

It amazes me, someone born years after the end of the original Beatlemania, that the Boys' music endures and that this single, released 25 years after their public breakup, went to Number One. - Donna Di Giacomo

Quality of product was excellent and only goes to prove that only the Beatles can top themselves!

So, you thought that the remaining Beatles and producer George Martin cleaned out the vaults when they put together the alternative tracks for the three volume mulit-disc "Anthology" retrospective. Of course not. "Anthology" was filled with alternative tracks and false starts, which is why the chief attraction of this CD-Single is not the "new" Beatles single, "Free as a Bird," which opened up volume 1 of the "Anthology," but the three additional unreleased tracks. "Free as a Bird" was put together by taking a demo track recorded by John Lennon in 1977 and adding additional vocals and instrumentation by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. It is basically an okay song; Paul McCartney gave away better songs to Peter & Gordon during the Sixties. The other tracks are Take 9 of "I Saw Her Standing There," two incomplete takes of "This Boy," and a newly edited version of the fan club-only seasonal song "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)." I am much more interested in the alternate takes, mainly because they put me in a better position to appreciate Martin's skills as a producer in picking tracks and putting hit together. Worthwhile for the Beatles fan who still has their John, Paul, George, and Ringo dolls and who knows what else from the period of Beatlemania.

Did you know that this comes from a land down under? Well, it does and I've been waiting 2 weeks for this 4 SONG single. A heafty wait for such a short cd. It seems that Amazon forgot to disclose the fact that this is so rare, you can only get it from Australia! I will give it some credit for the brilliant song, Free as a Bird, but seriously, why wait when you can get it faster from the Anthology?