Disco de The Beatles: “Anthology 3”

Sometimes when you listen to a great song - whether it be the Beatles or some other great recording artist - you forget that the version you're listening to is the end result of alot of different takes and revisions and changes.

That's what this and the other 2 Anthology CD's are all about. They give you a snap shot into the thinking of John, Paul George and Ringo and at times you feel as though you were actually in the recording room with them.

Listen to the early take of John's beautiful ballad / tribute to his mother Julia. The song just presents John alone with an acoustic guitar fingerpicking this tune. He gets quite far into the song before a mistake brings the take to a screeching halt and you are able to listen in on the conversation between John in the studio and Paul in the control room.

I find it interesting because it was only months earlier in Rishikesh, India at the Maharishi's retreat that folk singer Donovan taught John how to finger pick. And like any great artist, John Lennon takes this new technique, writes an incredibly beautiful ballard around it and the listener is presented with Julia.

Many of the songs on this CD were from the White Album, a disk that was probably the beginning of the end for this incredible band. If Sgt Pepper, for example, was the result of what these guys working collectively could acheive, the White Album clearly shows four guys working relatively independantly of each other. Many of the White Album songs had their beginnings in India and clearly there was very little, if any collaberation, going on.

Does anybody think that John Lennon had ANYTHING to do with Ob La Di Ob La Da despite the fact that it was attributed to Lennon / McCartney.

Some might say this is the weakest of the three Anthology CDs. Maybe it is. Certainly it's the "hardest" to listen to because you know that these guys are playing out the string now.

At the time these songs / demos/ takes were being made, the listener knows that John, for example, has met Yoko and the Beatles now seem to be very secondary now.

Or Paul has recently met Linda Eastman. And the business / personal problems that will soon engulf these four guys is not too far away from the time of these recordings.

I'll conclude with the same comment I made re Anthology 1 and 2. If you're a new or relatively young Beatles fan, these are not the CDs I would recommend that you start with. When you've come to love their music as much as I do, then you'll want to listen to these and savour the humble origins of some memorable songs.

Anthology 3 covers the period from 1968-1970 that includes the releases "The Beatles," "Abbey Road" and "Let it Be." As with the previous Anthology issues, it contains mostly outtakes, demos and early versions of well-known songs, plus several unreleased songs. It's best to be familiar with the thre disks mentioned above before delving into this material. The package is loaded with material, the liner notes are informative, and again, it's like being a fly on the wall of the studio listening to the development of some great songs. That said, some of these takes are far from great.

Disk 1 is mostly material from "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" and reflects that disjointed period in the quality of many of these versions. A lot of these songs were written while the Beatles were in India, so there is an organic feel to the acoustic presentations. John Lennon entered a renewed period of prolific songwriting, and George Harrison was putting out a lot of material as well.

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" shows Lennon starting to put together this song, which was composed of three parts. Here we get the "I Need a Fix" and "Mother Superior" parts. "Helter Skelter" is a heavy dirge that lacks the intensity of the released version. "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" are presented in early acoustic form, but would not reappear until Abbey Road. I kind of enjoyed the slightly altered "ObLaDi, ObLaDa" with a ... reggae feel. The real treats on this disk are the warm, intimate version of George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with added verse that was left out on the electric version, and the heavy "Not Guilty" which George did as a lighter piece later in his solo career. "What's the New Mary Jane" has no real structure and seems to be endless.

Anthology 3 is a set worth owning, but if one is not yet familiar with the regular issued work, it might be disappointing. Use this as a supplement to study the music.

There are many beautiful demos of the White Album on disc 1, while disc 2 covers the Let It Be/Abbey Road period.

My only problem with both discs is the inclusion of mediocre outtakes of average McCartney songs like Rocky Racoon (on this take he flubs the lines, but plods on anyhow) and Maxwell's Silver Hammer (one of Paul's granny songs, as John Lennon would wryly point out).

However, you can hear crystal clear studio versions of unrealeased tracks What's The New Mary Jane and Not Guilty, as well as a hauntingly beautiful All Things Must Pass; all three should have been included on one of their last three albums, instead of mediocrities like Octopuss, Maxwell, Rocky Racoon and the like.

I agree with George Harrison that of the three anthology sets, this is the most interesting, in that it covers their studio years where they could hone their talents without the distraction of concerts and the like. Unfortunately, by disc 2 side two the well had almost ran dry, so there is less revealing material than on the first disc, with the exception of George's demo of Something.

Again, buy the original albums first, then Past Masters 1 & 2, and finally consider the anthology sets in that order.

There is some good stuff on here. But there is also better stuff from this period they left off (I've got a boot leg with two great original songs "Commonwealth" and "Suzy Parker." That they didn't include those songs on this album maddens me.) Many of the songs here are in their early stages, and so aren't nearly as good as the official versions. This album disproves Ringo's modest comment that, "The songs are what made the Beatles. Nobody whistles the drum part when they whistle a Beatles song." But the people whistling a Beatles song hear that drum part in their HEAD. And the fact that these are the same songs--but not as good because they don't SOUND as good--as the finished product, shows that the SOUND the Beatles created was as important--if not more so--as the songs themselves. And Ringo was very important to that sound. So, Ringo, that these songs aren't as good as the finished product, when you went all out and perfected them, shows that you were indispensable to the Beatles being great. So, this album is more an album of academic, historical interest, than a source of sheer listening pleasure.

Anthology 3 is by far the best of the Beatle's Anthology series. More great tracks than vol 1 and 2 combined. The sound is remarkable - better than any of the Beatles original CDs because in almost all cases it was transfered from first-generation tapes to CD. This ranks up there with Abbey Road, White Album, and Sgt. Pepper.