Customer Reviews

Anthology Vol 3

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Far from "scraping the bottom of the barrel," as some would have it, this third and final installment of the ANTHOLOGY CDs is clearly the most essential. Anthology 3 fills in the more gaping holes in Beatle lore. Not only should it be required listening for Beatle fans, there is plenty that will appeal to casual listeners too -- in contrast to the first two Anthologies.

There appears to be some confusion regarding this album's purpose. This is NOT a greatest hits collection. Rather, these are two CDs of outtakes from the WHITE ALBUM, GET BACK/LET IT BE and ABBEY ROAD sessions. Most of these recordings were much discussed but seldom heard over the years. A few had been unofficially released in the late 1980s and early '90s as part of the ULTRA RARE TRAX bootleg series. In 1995 and 1996 Capitol finally got around to officially releasing them to coincide with a prime time TV documentary about the Beatles.

Everyone is referring to Disc 1 as the Unplugged White Album and there is truth in that description. Seven songs are homemade recordings from May 1968; it's great fun to hear "Glass Onion," "Honey Pie," "Piggies," and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" in such intimate acoustic form. Later, in the summer and early autumn of '68, the Beatles went into the studio to make the WHITE ALBUM. In those sessions they recorded fascinating alternate takes of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" and a calypso version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (with acoustic guitars and conga drums) which sound nothing like the White Album versions. Other highlights include a slower, bluesier rehearsal of "Helter Skelter." There is a terrific demo of "Hey Jude," in which McCartney delivers an even more impassioned lead vocal than he does on the "official" version of the song. "Not Guilty" is a previously unreleased George Harrison tune that was left off of the White Album; in my unbiased opinion, it is better than "Savoy Truffle," which did make it onto the White Album. John Lennon's previously unreleased "What's the New Mary Jane" might be described as "Imagine" meets "Revolution 9." It's a strangely surreal piece that improves with repeated listening.

Moving on to Disc 2, its versions of "I've Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony" are considerably better than the ragged performances of those songs that appear on the forlorn Let It Be album. "The Long and Winding Road," presented here without Phil Spector's controversial overdubs, is another high point. [Update: The other non-Spector take of "The Long and Winding Road," released on LET IT BE: NAKED in 2003, is even better.]

Lennon had one foot out the door during the Let It Be sessions and it shows. Indeed, George Harrison is a more conspicuous presence on Disc 2 than Lennon is. The demo that George made of "Something," alone with his electric guitar, is beautiful. His demo of "Old Brown Shoe" is more compelling than the more elaborate version that was released as a B-side in 1969. The more keyboard-based version of "For You Blue" is charming. Most poignant of all is the demo of "All Things Must Pass," which became the title song of his epic debut solo album in 1970.

ANTHOLOGY 3 also offers a retrospective sneak peak at McCartney's solo career. "Junk" and "Teddy Boy" both went on to grace his first solo album. Even better is "Come and Get It," a song that McCartney gave to Badfinger (it was Badfinger's first hit).

This is not to say that everything on this album is a masterpiece. The rehearsals of "Octopus Garden," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and "Let It Be" are dispensable and add little; the same may be said of some of the White Album outtakes. Also, with a combined running time of almost two and one-half hours, there may be too much music here for casual listeners to digest all at once. Still, Anthology 3 has plenty of great music to behold and every Beatle fan owes it to him or herself to hear it.

Sometimes when you listen to a great song - whether it be the Beatles or some other great recording artist - you forget that the version you're listening to is the end result of alot of different takes and revisions and changes.

That's what this and the other 2 Anthology CD's are all about. They give you a snap shot into the thinking of John, Paul George and Ringo and at times you feel as though you were actually in the recording room with them.

Listen to the early take of John's beautiful ballad / tribute to his mother Julia. The song just presents John alone with an acoustic guitar fingerpicking this tune. He gets quite far into the song before a mistake brings the take to a screeching halt and you are able to listen in on the conversation between John in the studio and Paul in the control room.

I find it interesting because it was only months earlier in Rishikesh, India at the Maharishi's retreat that folk singer Donovan taught John how to finger pick. And like any great artist, John Lennon takes this new technique, writes an incredibly beautiful ballard around it and the listener is presented with Julia.

Many of the songs on this CD were from the White Album, a disk that was probably the beginning of the end for this incredible band. If Sgt Pepper, for example, was the result of what these guys working collectively could acheive, the White Album clearly shows four guys working relatively independantly of each other. Many of the White Album songs had their beginnings in India and clearly there was very little, if any collaberation, going on.

Does anybody think that John Lennon had ANYTHING to do with Ob La Di Ob La Da despite the fact that it was attributed to Lennon / McCartney.

Some might say this is the weakest of the three Anthology CDs. Maybe it is. Certainly it's the "hardest" to listen to because you know that these guys are playing out the string now.

At the time these songs / demos/ takes were being made, the listener knows that John, for example, has met Yoko and the Beatles now seem to be very secondary now.

Or Paul has recently met Linda Eastman. And the business / personal problems that will soon engulf these four guys is not too far away from the time of these recordings.

I'll conclude with the same comment I made re Anthology 1 and 2. If you're a new or relatively young Beatles fan, these are not the CDs I would recommend that you start with. When you've come to love their music as much as I do, then you'll want to listen to these and savour the humble origins of some memorable songs.

This is the most no-frills Anthology since there were no "new reunion" songs to promote.

The 1st CD offers a generous helping of White Album demos. You have a reggae version of "Ob-La-Di..." with guitars and congas which I like even better than the original. "Glass Onion" features some bizarre but quirky sound effects ("It's a goal!"). Songs being released for the 1st time are George's "Not Guilty" (1 of the best ones), John's "What's the New Mary Jane" (1 of the worst), George Martin's "A Beginning" (reminiscent of the background music in Yellow Submarine) and Paul's "Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias" (a fun jam). With the exception of the raucous blues jam "Helter Skelter", most of the songs on CD1 are acoustic. Paul improvises on "Rocky Racoon" (on this take, Rocky is from Minnesota!), "Mother Nature's Son", "Honey Pie", "Hey Jude" ("..when I was a robber in Boston Place.."), and "Why Don't We Do It,,". George features some pretty acoustic blueprints for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Piggies". Ringo gets help from his friends on "Good Night". John shows his wit on the acoustic "Glass Onion" (double tracking and joking with himself!), intorduces "Mean Mr. Mustard", "Polothene Pam", improvises on "Happiness is a Warm Gun" ("Mother superior... oh s___!"), and showcases his solo debut on "Julia" (with Paul giving him some advice in the control panel!).

CD2 features Let It Be sessions. Most interesting are "Oh! Darling" (with John's news, singing "Free at last!"), the Beatles final performance ever on "I Me Mine" (George comically excuses John's absence), the rock medley with "Blue Suede Shoes" (great organ from Billy Preston!), and Paul's acoustic "Teddy Boy" (with wisecracks galore from John!). Then there's the Abbey Road sessions. George has some great sounding demos of "Something" and "All Things Must Pass". Paul does his own version of "Come & Get It" (which he later gave to Badfinger). Ringo warbles through "Octopus' Garden before sarcastically remarking "That was superb!" John warms up on "Come Together" and slows down on "Ain't She Sweet". A beautiful acapella version of "Because" is included. And the closer is an alternate version of "The End" (with a little more jamming and the final chord on....).

Anthology 3 covers the period from 1968-1970 that includes the releases "The Beatles," "Abbey Road" and "Let it Be." As with the previous Anthology issues, it contains mostly outtakes, demos and early versions of well-known songs, plus several unreleased songs. It's best to be familiar with the thre disks mentioned above before delving into this material. The package is loaded with material, the liner notes are informative, and again, it's like being a fly on the wall of the studio listening to the development of some great songs. That said, some of these takes are far from great.

Disk 1 is mostly material from "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" and reflects that disjointed period in the quality of many of these versions. A lot of these songs were written while the Beatles were in India, so there is an organic feel to the acoustic presentations. John Lennon entered a renewed period of prolific songwriting, and George Harrison was putting out a lot of material as well.

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" shows Lennon starting to put together this song, which was composed of three parts. Here we get the "I Need a Fix" and "Mother Superior" parts. "Helter Skelter" is a heavy dirge that lacks the intensity of the released version. "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" are presented in early acoustic form, but would not reappear until Abbey Road. I kind of enjoyed the slightly altered "ObLaDi, ObLaDa" with a ... reggae feel. The real treats on this disk are the warm, intimate version of George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with added verse that was left out on the electric version, and the heavy "Not Guilty" which George did as a lighter piece later in his solo career. "What's the New Mary Jane" has no real structure and seems to be endless.
Disk 2
This side kicks off with "I've Got a Feeling" and includes 12 selections that the Beatles recorded and filmed for the aborted "Get Back" project. George Harrison finally gets his due with versions of "For You Blue," "All Things Must Pass (not released until George's solo debut)," "Old Brown Shoe," a spare "Something," and "I Me Mine."
"Two of Us" lacks the spirit of the "Let it Be" version, a song about friendship during a period of disintegration. There's a version of "Get Back" here, similar to the regular release, but I wanted the rarely heard German language version. "Come and Get It" sound eerily like the version by Badfinger. "Because" without instruments showcases the beautiful three-part harmonies that John, Paul and George could produce. "The End" offers an extended guitar solo portion and one gets a feel of the style of the three string players.

Anthology 3 is a set worth owning, but if one is not yet familiar with the regular issued work, it might be disappointing. Use this as a supplement to study the music.

Anthology Three shows the Beatles at the end of their career together and increases the awe at the quality of their music, even at a period when they were falling apart. Again, we get alternative versions of songs mixed with outtakes and experimentation. Most endearing, is the final performance of Get Back from the Apple rooftop, which, while rather disjointed (owing to the presence of police) shows the band at a brief moment of togetherness and unity.

Ever wondered what some of the tracks on Let It Be sounded like before Phil Spector performed surgery on them? If you have, you will no doubt have been most curious about The Long and Winding Road which was undeniably over produced on the album. Here, we finally get to hear it on disc without the overdubs and the result is a beautiful ballad which is more moving in its sparse rendition than it was laden with epic strings and choirs. The same goes for I Me Mine.

Witness Glass Onion without the George Martin string arrangement, but with interesting sound effects put there by John Lennon. Hear a Paul McCartney solo song, Teddy Boy, with John Lennon making comical remarks and noises in the background, much to the amusement of Paul.

This album is a must have, again!! It will provide years of amusement and interest.

GET IT NOW!!!!

There are many beautiful demos of the White Album on disc 1, while disc 2 covers the Let It Be/Abbey Road period.

My only problem with both discs is the inclusion of mediocre outtakes of average McCartney songs like Rocky Racoon (on this take he flubs the lines, but plods on anyhow) and Maxwell's Silver Hammer (one of Paul's granny songs, as John Lennon would wryly point out).

However, you can hear crystal clear studio versions of unrealeased tracks What's The New Mary Jane and Not Guilty, as well as a hauntingly beautiful All Things Must Pass; all three should have been included on one of their last three albums, instead of mediocrities like Octopuss, Maxwell, Rocky Racoon and the like.

I agree with George Harrison that of the three anthology sets, this is the most interesting, in that it covers their studio years where they could hone their talents without the distraction of concerts and the like. Unfortunately, by disc 2 side two the well had almost ran dry, so there is less revealing material than on the first disc, with the exception of George's demo of Something.

Again, buy the original albums first, then Past Masters 1 & 2, and finally consider the anthology sets in that order.

Anthology 3 covers the expansive White album sessions as well as the Abbey Road and Get Back/Let it Be recordings. It is amazing that even after all the great music they made in 1966-67, they would still have such a catalog of songs. It is interesting to hear songs that would eventually appear on solo albums like "All Things Must Pass" and "Junk" in the context of a Beatles album and to her the Let It Be songs in their raw, un-Spectorized versions. A great final chapter to the revealing and enlightening Anthology series.

Remember the new album "Let it Be Naked"? Well, disc 1 of this set is sort of the same, only it's the "White Album Naked." We get to hear acoustic versions of all the great songs, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Glass Onion," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and "Helter Skelter." I particularly enjoyed the outtake for "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da." "Helter Skelter is also quite interesting. Then on disc 2 we get outtakes from the "Let it Be" and "Abbey Road" sessions. Among my favorites from that set are the acoustic "Something," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and the oldies medley of "Rip it Up," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Shake Rattle and Roll." I have been a Beatles collector for many years, so I found this set to be spectacular.

The first disc is awesome (though I could certainly do without the version of "Helter Skelter" found here). From the great orchestral arrangement "A Beginning" to the the awesome demos (what a beautiful song "Junk" is!) to the incredible stripped-down version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (after you listen to it, you'll wonder why George ever changed it to the way it appeared on the White Album) to "What's the New Mary Jane" (which is not "underwhelming" as the reviewer says above) which can be quite catchy (and has a lot of great sound effects), I was quite impressed by this disc. As far as Disc 2 goes, it's not nearly as good as the first, but certainly worth it--I like the version of "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" here (though it's been described as plodding). Also, "The Long and Winding Road" and "All Things Must Pass" are gorgeous (I don't know why the latter was passed up for a Beatles album). And after "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" (which I could do without) the rest are great. Bottom line : best of the Anthologies, and well worth buying whether you're a Beatles fan or not.

Listening to the anthologies was such fun! Bonuses include "Come and Get It," "Los Paranoias" at the end of "Step Inside Love" and "Rocky Racoon.." (Paul: "The doctor walked in...sminking of gin....Sminking?!") Sometimes you find yourself laughing at them laughing.

Overall, good stuff.