Product Description

Though the Beatles changed rock & roll forever from low culture to high art, they started as a skiffle group, a Britishamalgam of American rock & roll influences--Elvis' swagger,Little Richard's unholy gospel, the Everly Brothers' country-rock harmonies, Smokey Robinson's sensual soul. THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY: 1 traces these roots, tapping a rich motherlodeof unreleased early Beatles material. There are scratchy recordings of the Quarry Men (Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison,circa 1958) and pre-Ringo Beatles practice sessions that show the Fabs dreaming of being Elvis and Buddy Holly. Amazingly well-preserved tracks from the early '60s show them starting to let their hair down, while rocking merrily through such pop standards of the time as "Ain't She Sweet" and "Besame Mucho". They were an electrifying live band, and among thetreasures here are Ringo tearing through "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Boys" at a 1964 TV taping, and John ripping into "Twist And Shout" at the band's 1963 Royal Command Performanceafter his famous request: "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands, and the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewellry".
Equally compelling is the one "new" track. "Free As A Bird" was the pop event of 1995, a Lennon demo completed by the surviving Beatles with the production guidance of Beatles disciple Jeff Lynne. With a deliberate, mid-tempo pace, doubled piano, slide guitar solo, and signature harmonies and middle eight, it's vintage 1968. colourisethe video, add some psychedelic film effects, drop it into the middle of the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR movie, and see who notices.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Free As A Bird
2. Speech - Lennon, John
3. That'll Be The Day
4. In Spite Of All The Danger
5. Speech - McCartney, Paul
6. Hallelujah I Love Her So
7. You'll Be Mine
8. Cayenne
9. Speech - McCartney, Paul
10. My Bonnie
11. Ain't She Sweet
12. Cry For A Shadow
13. Speech - Lennon, John
14. Speech
15. Searchin'
16. Three Cool Cats
17. Sheik Of Araby
18. Like Dreamers Do
19. Hello Little Girl
20. Speech
21. Besame Mucho
22. Love Me Do
23. How Do You Do It
24. Please Please Me
25. One After 909
26. One After 909
27. Lend Me Your Comb
28. I'll Get You
29. Speech - Lennon, John
30. I Saw Her Standing There
31. From Me To You
32. Money (That's What I Want)
33. You Really Got A Hold On Me
34. Roll Over Beethoven
35. She Loves You
36. Till There Was You
37. Twist And Shout
38. This Boy
39. I Want To Hold Your Hand
40. Speech - Morecambe & Wise
41. Moonlight Bay
42. Can't Buy Me Love
43. All My Loving
44. You Can't Do That
45. And I Love Her
46. Hard Day's Night
47. I Wanna Be Your Man
48. Long Tall Sally
49. Boys
50. Shout
51. I'll Be Back
52. I'll Be Back
53. You Know What To Do
54. No Reply
55. Mr Moonlight
56. Leave My Kitten Alone
57. No Reply
58. Eight Days A Week (Sequence)
59. Eight Days A Week
60. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey

Disc 2:

1. She Loves You
2. Till There Was You
3. Twist And Shout
4. This Boy
5. I Want To Hold Your Hand
6. Speech - Morecambe & Wise
7. Moonlight Bay
8. Can't Buy Me Love
9. All My Loving
10. You Can't Do That
11. And I Love Her
12. Hard Day's Night
13. I Wanna Be Your Man
14. Long Tall Sally
15. Boys
16. Shout
17. I'll Be Back
18. I'll Be Back
19. You Know What To Do
20. No Reply
21. Mr Moonlight
22. Leave My Kitten Alone
23. No Reply
24. Eight Days A Week (Sequence)
25. Eight Days A Week
26. Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11183 in Music
• Released on: 1995-11-21
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

An important historical document
I do not understand how a Beatles fan could NOT give this five stars. It gives us insight into the early days, John's love of Eric Morecambe and goon-style jokes, the close harmonies without any musical air-brushing, the quips and the boys before they became famous (the first disc at least).

I think volume 2 - also reviewed - is better than this, but this is still a five star job and I recommend buying all three volumes of anthology and keeping them on the 6 disc CD changer in your car.

Little to recommend I'm afraid
Even for the most passionate Beatle fan (I count myself as one) there really is not a lot here that stands up to repeat listening other than as a historical document. This is especially the case on the poor quality recordings from 1957 and the practice session from 1960, although granted they are fascinating. The failed Decca audition has passed into folklore and Dick Rowe unsurprisingly has been ridiculed ever since as the `Man who turned down the Beatles' but judging by the selections here this decision doesn't seem as much of a gross miscalculation as it does now with the benefit of hindsight. It shows that Rowe and Decca's musical judgement was more sound than Brian Epstein's who insisted that the Beatles play a more Showbiz and versatile set instead of the primal Rock and Roll that was whipping up the Cavern club on a daily basis. Tracks like Sheik of Araby are particularly excruciating. When the Beatles completed Please Please Me a copy was sent to Decca in an effort to trick them into rejecting them again... they failed to fall for it. The Parlophone test was going the same way until the EMI staff recalled a bored George Martin from the BBC canteen to hear an early take of Love Me Do. Here was something genuinely fresh and unique and it was on the strength of this and their personal charisma that won the day and the rest as they say is history. Other disappointing cuts include an alternative take of Mr Moonlight (as if the world needed another version of what is the worse cover they ever recorded) pointless versions of I Wanna be your Man and Long Tall Sally, indistinguishable from the released versions and a poor early Harrison composition.
It isn't all bad news thankfully. The live tracks are particularly good, especially the 5 cuts from a fantastic live performance on Swedish Radio. The early takes of No Reply are interesting to hear how they got from the schmaltzy nonsense presented here to the excellent dark and brooding opener to Beatles for Sale. Other good cuts are an alternative take of Eight Days a Week an early version of the Let it Be track One after 909 and a version of You Can't Do That without the backing vocals. The real gem however is the cover of Leave my Kitten Alone, unreleased till now but really would have improved the Beatles for Sale album.
Pull all the gems together with the choice cuts from Volume 2 and 3 and you have an excellent playlist for your Ipod.

A fascinating historical document
These 57 tracks are largely works in progress from their very earliest recording days - although their first "new" single "Free As A Bird" is also here. Included are their cover versions from Hamburg, their first self-written efforts, the early Decca audition tapes before they were signed, snippits of interviews, performances on TV and at live concerts. Many of the early stuff is very badly recorded. Overall the first Anthology shows that the band are not yet masters of their art although it is still a must buy for the avid fan.