Disco de The Beatles: “The Beatles Anthology: 1”

The ANTHOLOGY series is definitely not for the casual fan. But for any true Beatles fan who grew up in the Sixties awaiting each new release, this first volume in the series presents a treasure trove of musical memorabilia from the Fab Four's genesis as the Quarry Men through 1964, when they spearheaded the British Invasion and forever changed popular music.

Disc 1 begins with the much ballyhooed "new" recording "Free As a Bird." It is a stunning track performed by Paul, George and Ringo recorded in 1994 using a 1977 John Lennon demo. Since the remaining tracks date from 1958 to 1964, this track seems out of place on ANTHOLOGY 1, but the advance hype of this song didn't allow for its delayed inclusion on ANTHOLOGY 3.

What makes this first volume special is the historical importance of many of these tracks. While the sound quality is marginal on some of these recordings, where else will you find anything by the pre-Beatles group the Quarry Men or any Beatles tracks with Stu Sutcliffe on bass or Pete Best on drums?

Most of the rarities are on Disc-1. Here are the previously unreleased highlights:

"That'll Be the Day" / "In Spite of All the Danger": A 1958 recording by the Quarry Men. [Note: The latter track was written by McCartney-Harrison.]

"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" / "You'll Be Mine" / "Cayenne": Home tapes featuring the only known recordings with Stu Sutcliffe on bass.

"Searchin'" / "Three Cool Cats" / "The Shiek of Araby" / "Like Dreamers Do" / Hello Little Girl": Five songs from their 1962 Decca audition. Pete Best is on drums. The latter two tracks were Lennon-McCartney originals that they never recorded after securing a contract with EMI.

"Besame Mucho" / "Love Me Do": From their initial 1962 EMI session produced by George Martin. Both tracks feature Pete Best on drums.

"How Do You Do It": Brought to the group by George Martin to be used for their first single. The session features Ringo on drums. The song was eventually scrapped in favor of "Love Me Do." [Note: But labelmates Gerry & The Pacemakers would have a hit with it.]

"One After 909": A 1963 attempt at a song that would not resurface until 1970's LET IT BE.

"Lend Me Your Comb": A 1963 BBC recording that was not included on 1994's LIVE AT THE BBC.

Disc-2 contains fewer unreleased rarities:

"Moonlight Bay": a comedic number performed in 1963 on "The Morecambe and Wise Show." The boys ham it up with the show's comedy duo.

"All My Loving": The live performance from the Beatles' historic first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964.

"Shout": A 1964 live performance of the Isley Brothers' song that never made onto another Beatles' recording.

"You Know What To Do": A demo of a George Harrison original from 1964. The song was never completed.

"Leave My Kitten Alone": Recorded for inclusion on BEATLES FOR SALE, Lennon provides the vocal on this cover of a Little Willie John number.

Technically, all of the tracks on this collection are previously unreleased; but the above tracks represent mostly songs that were never released in any form until the release of ANTHOLOGY 1. The rest of the tracks are either live recordings or alternate takes. None of these songs are presented in their original released studio versions. So if you're looking for the recordings you remember, you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for a glimpse at the formation of the most popular band in pop music history, this is a must-have release. ESSENTIAL

There is one thing to be said about the Anthology series - if you haven't bought The Beatles before, DO NOT BUY THESE CDs. Not yet, anyway. This series is complementary to an existing collection of Beatles albums. The main reason for buying these CDs is to compare these outtakes and alternate versions with the ones that appeared on their original albums. This particular volume is probably the best as it contains the original Quarrymen single (In Spite Of All the Danger) and a killer version of Love Me Do (the master tape of which went missing for more than 30 years). I'm not too impressed by Free As A Bird and Real Love which could only be a poor attempt to recapture past glories - you can't have The Beatles without Lennon alive. To sum up, these albums are a must for any Beatles collection.

It's a shame that the Beatles didn't put more thought into this, the first volume of the Anthology series. Why? Because this is simply the worst of the bunch and it managed to turn a lot of Beatles' fans off to the entire Anthology output.

That being said, this is not a bad investment for a serious fan of the band. The early material presented on the first disc is hardly essential compared to their released output, but you won't find all of these songs in the same place for this price anywhere else. That is, the Beatles pre "Please Please Me" output had previously been available on scattered, expensive bootlegs.

The second disc, however, is redeeming. There are a treasure trove of live versions of early classics such as 'Twist and Shout.' But the real interest of the disc lies in the alternate versions of songs like 'Eight Days a Week' and 'And I Love Her.' The latter is much faster than the version the Beatles chose to release. In any case, this disc contains most of their early standards through late 1964.

Nevertheless if only one Anthology installment is in your budget, pick the second or the third volume instead as they contain more groundbreaking material. If, however, the Beatles are the apple of your eye (sorry)as they are in my case, you will want to make this investment to help round out your collection.

The Beatles need no introduction when it comes to the elite of Rock/Pop music. When trying to "rank" the greatest artists of the Rock/Pop era, there is no doubt that the quartet from England ranks number one on just about every list. Going even further, the Beatles might be the top act in the history of modern music - among any genre. Some quarter-century after their breakup, the Beatles began to consider their place in history. This impetus played a key role in the release of the three volume, "Beatles Anthology" CD set and corresponding television documentary. One of the main attractions of this project was that it would bring the three surviving Beatles together for the first time since the famous breakup. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would collaborate together on two unfinished John Lennon songs: "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" - creating a "virtual" reunion among the four band members. This three volume set would not be an ordinary greatest hits collection - it would provide a historical retrospective to the band through rare and unreleased material. It is the first volume, "Beatles Anthology 1" that covers the early days of the Beatles from their days as the Quarrymen through their material in late 1964 found on their fourth album, "Beatles For Sale".

As mentioned, this CD serves as a historical retrospective to the band. The material is arranged in chronological order. Some of the material is prefaced with spoken words by Lennon, McCartney, and Brian Epstein. The spoken words help set the stage for the material that is to follow. Included with the collection is a 46 page booklet that describes each of the tracks. As for the tracks themselves, these consist of demo cuts, alternative cuts, live cuts, and bootlegs. One thing that helps is to follow the material in the booklet with the music - using the booklet and music hand-in-hand helps complete the historical experience that this collection provides. This should not be confused with a traditional "Greatest Hits Collection". This is no greatest hits collection: Some of the material consisted of covers and songs that were never heard before. At the same time, the "name" songs are all different versions from what is heard in the mainstream. As a result, this helps enhance the listening experience.

Here are 10 things to look for - in no particular order:

1) "Free as a Bird" is a good song - it isn't a great one. There probably wasn't much to choose from to sustain a "virtual" reunion between the four members of the Beatles. The engineering of the song isn't bad. The song will grow on you as you hear it. It would have been nice if Ringo Starr had gotten a vocal since the other three Beatles got vocals. It is also worth noting that Harrison's "Wilbury" partner Jeff Lynne produced the song. I didn't think this song belonged as the first song, but given the fact that this doesn't fit in with the early material - I'm not sure where this should have been put.

2) George Martin does a masterful job at providing continuity and fusion to the collection. While he didn't actually produce "Free as a Bird", he produced the Anthology series as a whole.

3) The "Pre-Beatles" material is very interesting. This isn't going to have the best recording quality. In fact the 1958 Quarrymen cuts from the Phillips studio are going to have some pretty bad quality. Yet, this is going to add to the whole "historical" listening experience that this collection provides.

4) The Quarrymen and early Beatles material consist of a large number of covers. Some of the more common covers include "That'll Be the Day" (Buddy Holly), "Aint She Sweet" (Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps), and "Shout" (Isley Brothers). But perhaps the best one is the Beatles cover of the song made famous by the Coasters - "Besame Mucho". This cover stands out and shows a Latin side to the band that was rarely seen.

5) I was also surprised about the instrumental pieces that were included. "Cayenne" and "Cry For a Shadow" are two instrumentals that are included on this collection. Both instrumentals stand out.

6) The Tony Sheridan song, "My Bonnie" is included as well. It is on this version that features Sheridan on lead vocals and the Beatles supporting him as his band. Only some shouts by McCartney can be heard on background vocals.

7) There is a very funny comedy skit featuring the Beatles on the British comedy show, "The Morecambe and Wise" show. I can't get enough of when Ringo is referred to as "Bongo". This skit has a segue into a very funny version of "Moonlight Bay". This shows a lighter side of the band.

8) I would have liked to have seen more of the Ed Sullivan material included on this CD collection. I'm disappointed there isn't Ed himself providing the introduction It would have made the historical perspective "complete". The only "Sullivan" song included is "All My Loving".

9) As for the spoken words, I actually would have preferred if more spoken words were included. The spoken parts that are included serve as a great lead-in - but there are parts that don't have the spoken word add-in.

10) I love some of the unfinished demo cuts. I heard a disc-jockey in "New York" so impressed with this collection as he said "...and this is the junk!" It's amazing how stuff that didn't make it through editing could sound so good, but in this case it works.

Overall, this is one terrific collection. I've heard that this collection is not geared toward the novice fan, but I think anyone with an interest in modern music history will appreciate this collection. This collection is best listened to when you listen to it from start to finish. I wish more groups would follow this formula for producing retrospectives. This collection is highly recommended.

What you have here are songs that are outakes or unfinished in one way or another.

Several are historical songs of the Beatles very early on that were recorded on Tape Recorders and do not have the sound quality.

What is interesting is that you get to hear them do songs by their idols, such as Buddy Holly and others.

The songs on the CD are from the early parts of their career.

Most of the songs with minor changes are very much like they appeared on their perspective albums.

Freebird is also on here and along with Real Love is the first new Beatles recording in 26 years. That alone is worth the price of the CD.

Another song of note is the recording of One After 909.

This version in my opinion is actually better than the one that appeared later on Let It Be.

There are some live recordings as well.

If you are into the historical aspects of music this is a must for any Beatles collector. And for Rock and Roll historians this is a must also