Sometimes different takes of one song were edited together as one track to make them a bit more interesting to listen to (and in some cases Bowdlerized for the general public).Ĭertain fans and critics felt that the video documentary was interesting and a welcome gift to the fans, though it didn't exactly provide much information that hadn't been told before. The unreleased takes had never before been heard by anyone outside the Abbey Road Studios, though they weren't always exact renditions. Even to those people The Beatles Anthology was a collectors' treasure, because it compiled a lot of the material in excellent CD quality. Some material, like the concert tracks, had been collected on separate bootlegs before. Some of them would end up on solo albums by the members, such as McCartney (1970), All Things Must Pass (1970) and George Harrison (1979). Most of the material was a case of What Could Have Been, with some songs only kept off Beatles albums because the other members vetoed them. The most interesting stuff are the numerous out-takes, demos, unreleased recordings, early versions, alternative takes that give the audience a glimpse inside the creation process behind the Beatles’ most beloved songs. (Pete Best, the original Beatles drummer who was fired from the band right after they were signed by EMI, can be heard on nine tracks, including both the Decca and EMI auditions.) A lot of concert material is also present – and some snippets from the Beatles Anthology TV documentary. All other tracks were archive material, recorded in The '60s, but veritable collectors’ items of historical value, such the very first Beatles recordings from the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the demos that failed to impress the music labels before EMI signed them to a contract. Paul, George and Ringo recorded two new singles, 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love', based on two old unreleased songs by John Lennon with his lyrics kept intact, while they added their musical and vocal performances. The series was also a real gem for the fans because it also showed complete concert footage in between interviews that had seldom before been seen on TV, or in some cases footage never even outside the Beatles’ inner circle.Īpart from this prestigious TV documentary series the Beatles also brought out three double discs with new material. This documentary series interviewed all three surviving members, producer George Martin and used Stock Footage of John Lennon to fill in his death. It was surrounded by much hype because the three surviving members of The Beatles had reunited to participate in a TV documentary where, for the first time ever, they would tell their side of their own band’s history. The Beatles Anthology was a huge mediatized project that came about between 19.

The beatles anthology series