Do you regard "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird" as real Beatles songs?

I don't regard them as part of the Beatles' canon but they did no harm to the legacy.
And I really really like "Real Love".

 

I adore that song, however badly it was recorded or dubbed or whatever.
I hope Giles does something with it some day.

 

I'm easy. The Beatles said they were Beatles songs. Good enough for me.

 

It seems to me this question hinges entirely over whether a fan allows a band to exist after a prominent member dies. Just like the Queen + arguments.

 

Well if that is the only test then every song ever made by either John, Paul, George, or Ringo is a Beatles song.

.. unless of course Yoko was to disagree.

 

Difference being they were actually happy -hard to tell with George but Paul & Ringo probably loved every minute of it

 

No. Nope. Not even a little.

Did the band sign off on it while it was still a band?

Was it written during the band's run allowing them to make a group decision?

It was created after the band split. By some of the group. Using a piece of unfinished demo by a deceased member of the band. That sounded like he was singing it in a closet. Under water. You can enjoy it. If you like. But it isn't a Beatles product. And it will never be

 

Yes, they are. Like them or not.

 

The songs are entirely Beatles compositions ... performed entirely by the four members of The Beatles ... and were released by The Beatles ... under the name “The Beatles.”

They are most definitely Beatles songs.

The only two factors some people can even cite as evidence they are not Beatles songs is that they (1) were completed with one member not in attendance and (2) they were released with one member unable to give his ok on the finished product. But if one were to apply those criteria to the whole Beatles catalogue there would be literally dozens of Beatles songs from the 1962-70 era that wouldn’t qualify as Beatles songs.

 

I always saw them as a coda to The Beatles career and a nice tribute to John.

 

Anybody here who feels it's their duty to defend John over these recordings because he wasn't there are wasting their time. John even said shortly before he died that the group would likely get back together to record for a project in some form eventually anyway. The Anthology was in it's very early stages then, known as The Long And Winding Road. Unfortunately John was gone by the time it happened. Nobody wanted it that way, but yet it was a fact. I think the other three did a wonderful job representing the sprit of The Beatles with these two Lennon compositions and they did it with his estate's full blessing. The artist on the label says "The Beatles" and therefore it is. The people who play and sing on it are John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Anybody who thinks it isn't The Beatles is a fool. I loved these songs in the 90's when they came out and I love them now.

 

Is it safe to say that many who feel they are not “Beatles” songs are first generation fans (or thereabouts)? And those who are closer to my age (I’m 35) are more accepting? As someone who was a pre-teen when Anthology came out, “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” were my first opportunity to experience hearing “new” Beatles songs. As the resident Beatles nerd at my school, I remember the Monday after “Free as a Bird” premiered I had everyone asking my opinion of it. I was unsurprisingly positive. I recall one kid being disappointed that it was a slower song, and I opined that they were older guys, they’re not going to be doing “Helter Skelter” or something. It’s weird to imagine 12 year-olds having that kind of conversation, but I swear it happened.

“Free As a Bird” was also the song that made me realize that The Beatles were basically a supergroup. I was into their solo careers too, and for whatever reason, “Free As a Bird” made it click that it was John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, AND Ringo Starr, all in one band. That was the magic, right?

But as much as I enjoyed “Free As a Bird”, it was “Real Love” that really did it for me. That video with the Threetles together, to this day, makes me tear up. I remember holding a little tape recorder up to the speaker on my TV to record “Real Love” so I could listen to it until Anthology 2 came out. I still adore that song.

But it’s funny - being younger when I heard it, I simply didn’t have the same breadth of musical knowledge as I would as an adult. Consequently, I wasn’t comparing “Free As a Bird” or “Real Love” to anything else, I was just hearing them as Beatles songs, and loved them for it. I actually feel grateful to have been able to do so, otherwise I’d probably be on the side of those that dismiss them as sounding too ELO or what-have-you. I was familiar with Jeff Lynne’s production (at least as far as the Wilburys, Cloud 9, Full Moon Fever, and Roy Orbinson’s Mystery Girl) but the absence of descending guitar lines followed by two hits on a tympani kept them from feeling too Jeff Lynne-like for me at the time.

 

Yes, as they're all on the recordings. I might not like the way it came about, but basically you had two rich people and one who needed the money and who may not have done it otherwise, who probably felt coerced into it - perhaps not an unfamiliar feeling for him, sadly.
Good on George, though - he said 'we're having my mate producing' and Paul had to wear it - things have a way of coming around, I suppose.
Some would say that George's musical contributions were the most impressive thing about the recordings.

 

I think it is a valid Beatles song, original members and all. But, I think it kind of has a tired feeling to it like the boys are thinking "Do we really have to do this?"
Fidelity is poor as it sounds and is very brick-walled. Don't know why that happened. Anyway, I enjoy the songs, but compared to the canon, they are sadly inferior.

 

Nope. No. It sounds nothing like The Cure.

 

No. They're Jeff Lynne's songs with guest artists.

 

It could have been a completely valid exercise for a reunion single to have Paul, George and Ringo overdub bass, guitar and drums to John's voice and guitar parts for.........







(Just Like) Starting Over!!!!

 

By that logic, all their 60s records are George Martin's songs with guest artists. George stamped his sound on them as much as Jeff did. You've only got to hear the similarity in the production of Gerry's, Billy J Kramer's and The Fourmost's records to hear that.

 

No. Sorry

 

Could be

 

Yes. It is obviously not how any of us would have wanted a 'reunion' to have happened. But it did and all four Beatles contributed. They were clearly not recorded in the same way as Love Me Do, but then neither was Strawberry Fields Forever or The Long And Winding Road. In fact you could perhaps make a case for the latter being less of a Beatles' track than Free As A Bird or Real Love. Paul, as composer, did not really get the opportunity to sign off the Phil Spector additions on that one. Yes, you could say that John did not on the two Anthology singles either, but his family did. And he would have been there if he been given the chance.

They clearly all contributed to these tracks and they formed part of a major retrospective. They were absolutely valid and when you see the three of them working on the tracks there were plenty of smiles. I did not see grudging contributions from George there. And stop knocking Jeff Lynne. It was essential to have a 'third party' there to give technical help and an 'outside' viewpoint, just like George Martin would have done. I added some balance to the overall team.

Some have said that they would have preferred a rockier track but I think that the tone was perfect for what they were. Free As A Bird was somewhat sad but with uplifting feel overlaid. Nostalgic if you like. Real Love hit a similar feel. The Lennon vocals are probably not as punchy as they would have been if you had recorded them live for the sessions but they are suitably ethereal and do add an extra poignancy. Maybe technology could do more now with the advances of demixing etc. but perhaps they do not need that.

Yes, they were a beautiful and heartfelt gift to all of those fans would were never going to get their wish of a full-scale reunion.

I wonder if there was enough done with Now And Then to revisit it. It may be politically difficult if George wasn't keen, but I'm sure that could be overcome. Has anyone ever found out if any additional overdubbing was completed before things were abandoned? I think as long as some George guitar was included I think it could be made to work and, with modern technology, there are perhaps now more options than there were twenty-odd years ago.

 

No, since John Lennon doesn't even know the rest of the Beatles would ever play on them. Therefore I regard them as Lennon solo songs with the rest of the Beatles making a guest appearance. It may have 4 times as many Beatles on it than songs like "Yesterday", "Julia" and "Blackbird", the fact that Lennon had absolutely no control over the final product and the fact that the other Beatles' contributions were recorded 15 years after the fact makes it impossible for me to regard them as true Beatles songs. I really like "Real Love" though.

 

I felt that the remix of "Real Love" was an improvement, but that the remix of FAAB wasn't... #teamlove