Beatles Anthologies ....Largely Forgotten?

So is sessions worth getting? I thought it was alt mixes

 

I'll clarify it was the bonus DVD. That is gold when reissued in 2003 on DVD.

 

And there is this....

 

Is there somewhere on the net a site where one can find out where the best version of each of the above is found?

 

Hey PB, what's different about that one?

 

One of the many examples over the years showing how out of touch Paul (and the Beatles business model) is when it comes to their fans. The recent download only fiasco for "Flowers In The Dirt" being the latest.

 

Well, this is why I come to this forum - I didn't realise that If You've Got Trouble was a new remix so thanks for clarifying that. That Means a Lot does sound horrible though. As we know from the John Barrett mixes, a 'dry' McCartney vocal exists - but would it not have been possible to remix the rhythm track so that it doesn't sound like it was recorded in a wind tunnel? Or was all that reverb printed during the recording?

 

No, there are some decent sounding versions/mixes of That Means a Lot out there.
I agree the one on Anthology is just horrible.

 

It's the energy I'm lacking.

 

We can't post links to unauthorized material on this forum. Sorry. Ron

 

The Anthology discs are available on Tidal.

 

Didn't the Anthology disc appear on Spotify for a brief time? I thought I saw them on there last year...

 

I just checked. They're still there.

 

Yeah, they turned up a few months after the Beatles catalogue was added.

 

Yes, and they're on Spotify now. The post you quoted was old. I already have them on a playlist.

 

I was around 32 when this came on tv in 1995 ? & At the end of the first 2 hour segment, PG&R were sitting around a coffee table reminiscing & there was a timer on the tv screen, & it said

" the first new Beatles song in 25 years will premiere in 7 minutes, then six then five, & so on,

Then it started , visually it was a stunning video, & fleetingly I was disturbed by Lennon's weak sounding vocal, but my God it was awesome, it sounded just like the Beatles ! The Beatles harmonies, Harrison's guitar, I wept... Oh my God the Beatles it sounded like a lost White album track Oh My God

Then the next night at the end of part 2 the process was repeated with Real Love Oh My God, a lighter song, a bit more like Rubber Soul, but not really it sounded kind of like a Double Fantasy song, which it was kind of...

It was months until we could actually buy the first Anthology album, months more for vol 2- & then 3.

The letdown at not having a new song on vol 3 was huge. I had been reading in Beatle fan magazine , this obscure magazine I'd bought at newsstands, it said in various issues there were two more new songs recorded Now & Then & also a new McCartney/Harrison number called All For Love, Oh My God,,,,,,,,, where were they ?

I talked to A&R at Capitol, I said hey where is the 3rd new song ? I just bought vol 3 there's no new song !!!!!!

She said, there's only 2 new songs, that's all there was ever gonna be. I said oh yeah, well that's not what I heard, & I quoted her segments of the articles on Now & Then & All For Love..... The Capitol A&R lady hissed at me in a hoarse whisper, where did you read that,,, Right here in Beatle fan issues number bla bla bla...

Listen she told me, we'd love more Beatles, they decide what comes out, we have no control click.

For me Free As A Bird was one of life's significant days, burned into memory, like my wedding day, or birth of my children or the day Lennon was shot, or watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.

For fans who experienced it 21 years ago in real time it was huge, maybe less so for people that are younger & only heard it 10-15 years later.

But among the general public it's somewhat forgotten, but not to the millions of fans, still living that experienced it the way I described..

There was also footage of PG&R doing Blue Moon of Kentucky live on the morning news, & numerous solo interviews with P G & R for months discussing it. The record store nearby in Vegas where I was living, opened at Midnight to start selling volume 1, hundreds of large stores did the same across the country...this was huge..

For all intents & purposes it appeared the Beatles were back together, they were on radio & tv, new songs, music video, sitting around jamming & talking , down at Abbey Road with George Martin

A milder form of Beatlemania definitely took hold for 6mo or a year. The problem & they knew it, at least a 3rd song for vol 3 was needed, & really for a classic single P G & R had to record a new song from scratch without being burdened by the handicap of overdubbing to a mono cassette, any decent new song by the 3 of them would have rocketed to number one for at least a couple weeks. But as we learned Harrison pulled the plug, possibly because Harrison & McCartney argued while recording a new PG&R song. Argued about the direction of the song during a session.

Even a 3rd Lennon song, & a 4th new song written by P&G as the single would if been great, 2 songs on vol 3 ! So at this late date will we ever hear the confirmed 3rd song, I hope so, I'll never accuse Apple of giving the people what they want, that's for sure. All will be forgiven if they do it tomorrow, but there will still be the question, why didin't you do this sooner ?

 

It was bootlegged 10 years before Anthology 1 was released, first on the Sessions LP, and then a bit later on the Ultra Rare Trax and Unsurpassed Masters CDs. It was easily available.

 

Nope.

 

If this was 1985, then yes. It's not worth getting now.

 

That was added on the mask the severe drop outs that are on the mastertape, some you can hear some of them though the reverb.
The song is on one of the Yellow Dog releases without the reverb and it sounds quite rough.

 

There's no dropouts on the master tape. The mixes that have surfaced in the last few years sound considerably cleaner than the Sessions/Anthology mix. Here's a cute little thing. The vocal overdub/tambourine session. Ron

 

Yup

 

He denigrates it in his own book!

 

I thought I read on the forum somewhere that the remastered Anthology albums had turned up (legally) in high-res somewhere. I know it's true, because I went to the link back then, and there they were -- but now that I want to find them again, I can't remember what site it was. Anyone know/remember?

Also, as to the "laughing" "And Your Bird Can Sing" -- in addition to using OOPS to get a mono "non-laughing" version, you can pull the stems off one of the Anthology DVDs (it plays, complete, over the credits of one of the episodes) and just mix out the laughing track. You get the complete alternate version, in stereo, without the laughing -- although it will always sounds somewhat incomplete because they never finished the vocal overdubs.

 

I love the "laughing" version of 'And Your Bird Can Sing', and I like how coy Mark Lewisohn was in the liner notes, where he says (paraphrasing) "It's not clear what was making them laugh". I can think of about 420 things that were making them laugh...