The Beatles Anthology I
A personal Review for Beginners
TRACK LISTING DISC 2:
- She loves You
- Till There Was You
- Twist and Shout
These three songs are from the famous live performance in the Royal
Variety Show. Very similar to the ones appearing in the albums, they
demonstrate how fresh these first Beatles LPs were, being the live
performances very similar to the studio ones (think nowadays the number of
musicians groups usually use in live concerts to re-create their
recordings). Specially unmissable is this "Twist and Shout" where John
makes his famous petition to the people not sitting in the cheapest seats
to "rattle their jewelry"
- This Boy
- I want to Hold Your Hand
- Moonlight Bay
All recorded at "The Morecambe and Wise Show" (the most popular comic act
of the moment). The first two quite similar to the versions you may
already know, while Moonlight Bay is part of a comic number where
The Beatles join Morecambe and Wise. Just curious.... musically lacks of
almost any interest.
- Can't Buy Me Love: Alternative take of Can't Buy Me Love. The
guitar solo has been taken from take 1 (being the definitive, Take 4 is also
different) The harmonies from George and John change from the LP version,
and I have
serious doubts to which one I prefer (the "aaaaah, love me to" backing
is just delightful). If you like the song (I know you do) you'll love
this. Paul gets the lyrics wrong at some point of the song, and that just
messed up the take. However, is still worth it!
- All My Loving: From the historical appearance at The Ed
Sullivan Show, the quality of this recording is good enough (yes, almost
no screams) to be included here. It demonstrates that The Beatles were
very good stage performers.... as long as they could hear themselves
play, being this version close to the recorded one.
- You Can't Do That: Almost no difference with the one you may
know. Nothing special except for the great song.
- And I Love Her: Quite different version from the one we are
used to and certainly more lively. Quite a lot of drums and a strange
arpegiating electric guitar,
which gets quite annoying. Not the best of their versions... the song
ended up being much better, this being an early take.
- A Hard Day's Night: Slightly different from the definitive Take
9, this is Take 1. First noticeable thing is Paul singing "feeling you
holding me tight, oh! through the night" (not a mention to the night
in the final version) The Beatles
laugh as they record, knowing is not good take. The guitar solo here was
to be subsituted by a piano one by George Martin.
- I Wanna Be Your Man
- Long Tall Sally
Both these songs (and the next two)were recorded at IBC studios for a TV special. Nothing special about these two that makes them very different from the well known versions.
- Boys:From the same IBC recording, this is a quite enjoyable version of Boys, with the "wop shooas" by the backing Beatles even more clear than in the EMI version.
- Shout!: This song seemingly, wasn't part of their early
repertoire. In fact this is the only known recording of The Beatles of
this song. Certainly a MUST HAVE. The video of these recordings is also
available (I think it was called The Beatles LIVE! Ready, steady, Go!)
- I'll be back: Very surprising! I'll be back was a waltz! Check
it out in this first take. However, John found it too difficult to sing (I
don't blame him) and decided to take ot to 4/4. The following take is
already in that tempo with somehow different vocals than in the definitive
version.
- You Know What To Do: Now THIS is a lost track. This is GOOD
news. The second Harrison composition You Know What To Do appears
here. Almost nobody (allowing for the real geniuses here) had heard about
this, until they opened an unlabeled tape box at EMI and pulled out this
song. Only guitar, bass and tambourine for a very clear recording. Just
great!
- No Reply: Demo to be given to Tommy Quickly, this demo presents
an unidentified drummer (not Ringo). As distinctive features from the
final version, the backing harmonies by Paul throughout the song. Just
curious.
- Mr. Moonlight: Different take from the Beatles for Sale
version (taped months later). This one is a mix of two takes with a
strange sounding guitar solo played by George on his guitar bridge and
some howling in the back.
- Leave My Kitten Alone: Another one of the tracks that makes
Anthology worth it. This version of Leave My Kitten Alone had been
several times considered as the new Beatles single (no Free as a Bird was
supposed to be recorded) and thoroughly bootlegged. However the quality of
the copies never matched this one. Fantastic song.
- No Reply: Not very different from the definitive version except
for some promising acoustic guitar strumming (slightly warmer than in the
final version)
- Eight Days a Week: Delightful beginning in the first take of
the ones featured here. Paul and John "oooh" a capella the opening chords.
The Beatles didn't have the entry for the song very clear and decided in
the final version the fading in effect you all know (if you don't, check
it out.... what are you waiting for?) The harmonies are slightly different
as well as the instrumentation. Quite interesting.
- Kansas
City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!: Take 2 of the famous Beatles For Sale
medley. Different solo and very subtle differences... but as we say in Spain,
"every stone builds a wall" and it's good to have it
CONCLUSSIONS
You should own The Beatles
Anthology I, just as you should own the 13 LPs and the two Past
Masters CDs (if you're into CDs) The point is, that you'll probably
enjoy much more the outtakes and rarities once you've heard the original
stuff. I have personally enjoyed it a lot and I'm anxious to get the next
two. This doesn't mean you won't like the Anthology... so maybe we should
give it a push up the charts
©Copyright 1995 Enrique Cabrera
Productions.