Free As a Bird Turns 20

It sounds like it. John sounds a lot more natural, like his voice is right there alongside the others' (instead of them singing over a bad quality demo tape).

 

"Free as a Bird" -- one of my favorite Beatle tracks, from that night on.

 

I love the song but just don't like lennons voice and piano

 

I'm a lifelong Beatles fan who dates from the sixties, but Free As a Bird just never worked for me. It feels so cobbled- together and at the same time tired and lifeless. Real Love works better for me. But both tunes can't help but bring back for me the insane tragedy of John's murder, so listening to either tends to make me sad.

 

I love both songs and embrace them as part of the Beatles' legacy. They are minor miracles.

Think of all the hooey that goes on with recording technology, sampling, uncredited musicians. These are Beatles songs and we are lucky to have them.

 

I've always wondered what would have happened if the single of "Free As a Bird" was released months in advance of "Anthology 1". Would it have made it to the #1 position on the charts since that would have been the only way of getting a new Beatles song? I'm assuming that since the single and Anthology 1 were released at almost the same time, most people decided to go with the album. Perhaps they didn't know the single contained non album tracks?

Same thing with "Real Love".

 

That's the beauty of technology. We can finally realize things that were once only a dream.

 

Yes - even if the single were available in stores the day after the ABC premiere- how many of us would have rushed out to buy them? Would have been instant #1

 

I remember watching the video premiere, which screened after Anthology. I saw it more as a curiosity, not as a 'new Beatles song'. I think I sort of liked it then, but I can honestly say I haven't listened to it or thought much about it in the past two decades. I just don't really think of it as a song in the Beatles canon (it's more like a homage). I don't know if Beatles fans see it that way?

 

20 years of "Free As A Bird", means 20 years since my Dad passed away ...

I missed a lot of the Anthology week stuff, since we moved Dad into hospice; he flew from this world early morning before the Thanksgiving holiday (as I recall.) I left the hospice to drive home, exhausted; got in the car and drove off just as the radio DJ announced "... here's the new Beatles record!!" I pulled the car over and just listened; the tears streaming ...

 

I like the song.

I like the video with all the Beatles references. We would guess which belonged to what song or era.

 

I remember crying just because of the song. So I can only imagine what it must have been for you…

 

I thought I'd give us a chance to hear what the song would sound like with your proposed 6% tempo increase.



It's definitely a little more upbeat. Great suggestion.

 

I really don't know why they slowed down John's demo, but perhaps they wanted it to kind of sound like a funeral dirge.

 

I think that's just how slow the demo was. If anything, it sounds like they didn't want to change the speed out of respect for the original recording. Of course, it's a demo, and so the tempo may not have been representative of the final product had John finished the song on his own. It's not quite consistent throughout the recording either. Jeff had to make adjustments, but the overall tempo remained relatively unchanged.

 

You are correct...I goofed! I made the mistake of comparing the finished product to this demo upload that someone sped up flawlessly without changing the pitch:



It had been years since I had listened to John's demo, thus I didn't notice the discrepancy. I do however still think the Threetles should have sped it up by 5 or 6%.

 

OK+ track, lousy single.

Should have been a hidden track at the end of Anthology 3.

They should have said "Well, we did this little thing, and it's no big deal, but it came out pretty well, and we thought you'd like to hear it."

But no, the marketing people had to hype it to the nines, didn't they.......

I think it's OK, but it doesn't compare to their 60s output.

The video was fantastic, I thought.

Real Love was a better single, although not a better track.

 

The video was a work of art. Especially if you know some of those places, like Bioletti's, it's very moving to see and the way it was all put together absolutely amazed me. Beautiful.

 

I don't know why many don't like FAAB or RL. As one poster mentioned that it was cobbled together and lifeless. They did the best with what they were given. Obviously, they couldn't drastically change the songs being stuck with what Lennon recorded. Who knows? Probably Lennon didn't even think that much of it as he didn't bring it to the DF sessions. I'm happy to have these songs as they are. It was wonderful to hear them again doing something new.

 

I've always said they make great lp cuts.

 

Exactly. As it was, the singles still did really well, with Free As A Bird reaching no.2 in the UK, and no.6 in the US, and with Real Love reaching no. 4 in the UK and no.11 in the US.

Had they been released before the albums were, they would probably both have gone to no.1.

 

Actually, you answered your very own query about why many don't like them.

"cobbled together"

"lifeless"

"They did the best with what they were given"

That's damning the recordings with very faint praise. They never did much for me, but if they float your boat, good for you, seriously.

 

Oh yeah, totally. The three remaining Beatles working together in the studio for the first time in decades should NOT have been marketed AT ALL.

 

As some others have said, it could have just been an Anthology album cut.
Personally, I don't think it was single material. Way too much of a dirge.
Real Love is a much better single, even though the shine had worn off by the time a second single was released a year later.
Just because the three remaining Beatles were in the studio doesn't mean it should become a single.
Using that logic, Blue Moon of Kentucky and Thinking of Linking should have been a double A-side?