Editing The Beatles Anthology

{{Short description|Multimedia project focusing on the history of the Beatles}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2014}}
{{The Beatles history}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2010}}{{italic title}}
'''''The Beatles Anthology''''' is a [[multimedia]] retrospective project consisting of a [[television documentary]], a three-volume set of double albums, and a book describing the history of [[the Beatles]]. Beatles members [[Paul McCartney]], [[George Harrison]] and [[Ringo Starr]] participated in the making of the works, which are sometimes referred to collectively as the ''Anthology'' project, while [[John Lennon]] appears in archival interviews.

The documentary series was first broadcast in November 1995, with expanded versions released on [[VHS]] and [[LaserDisc]] in 1996 and on [[DVD]] in 2003. The documentary used interviews with the Beatles and their associates to narrate the history of the band as seen through archival footage and performances. The [[The Beatles Anthology (book)|''Anthology'' book]], released in 2000, paralleled the documentary in presenting the group's history through quotes from interviews.

The initial volume of the album set (''[[Anthology 1]]'') was released the same week of the documentary's airdate, with the subsequent two volumes (''[[Anthology 2]]'' and ''[[Anthology 3]]'') released in 1996. They included unreleased performances and outtakes presented in roughly chronological order, along with two new songs based on demo tapes recorded by Lennon after the group broke up: "[[Free as a Bird]]" and "[[Real Love (Beatles song)|Real Love]]", both produced by [[Jeff Lynne]].

==Documentary series==
{{Main|The Beatles Anthology (TV series)}}
Approximately coinciding with the release of the "[[Free as a Bird]]" single and ''[[Anthology 1]]'' album (the first of three double-CD albums), ''The Beatles Anthology'' series of documentaries was broadcast on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in the United Kingdom and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television in the United States in 1995. The ''Anthology'' series takes a form similar to that of the ''Anthology'' book, by being a series of first-person accounts by the Beatles themselves, with no external "objective" narration.  Footage in the ''Anthology'' series features [[voice-over]] recordings of all four Beatles to push the narrative of the story, with contributions from their producer, road manager and others. As well as telling their story through archival footage, [[Paul McCartney]], [[George Harrison]] and [[Ringo Starr]] appear in interview segments recorded exclusively for the series; [[John Lennon]] appears only in historic archival footage.

The series, which included over 5000 hours of planning and production, is composed of numerous film clips and interviews that present a complete history of the band from the Beatles' own personal perspectives. When it aired on ABC, the series comprised six hour-long programs, aired on three nights in November 1995. The series was later released as eight expanded episodes on VHS, laserdisc and as a boxed set of five DVDs (4 discs with 2 episodes apiece and a disc of extras).

Air dates on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]:

* Sunday, 19 November 1995: 9–11 p.m.
* Wednesday, 22 November 1995: 9–11 p.m.
* Thursday, 23 November 1995: 9–11 p.m.

Part 1 of the series drew 17 million households,<ref name="sun">Kaltenbach, Chris. "[https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/12/03/beatles-appeal-appears-limited-ho-hum-millions-of-people-tuned-in-to-the-three-part-anthology-on-abc-but-many-more-were-watching-other-shows/ Beatles' appeal appears limited Ho-hum: Millions of people tuned in to the three-part 'Anthology' on ABC, but many more were watching other shows]." ''The Baltimore Sun''. 1995-12-03. Retrieved 2015-10-13.</ref> meaning an average of 27.3 million viewers,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-29-ca-8209-story.html|title=TV Ratings : 'Beatles' Fades; 'Football,' With Elvis, Is No. 1|first=Lee|last=Margulies|date=29 November 1995|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> which was much better than usual for ABC at the time, but behind most broadcasts of ''[[Friends]]'' on [[NBC]],<ref name="sun" /> which in its second season was averaging 29.4 million viewers per episode.

In promoting the series, ABC identified itself as "A-Beatles-C" – an homage to the mid-1960s "77 W-A-Beatles-C" call sign of the network's flagship NYC AM radio station – and several of the network's prime-time sitcoms replaced their regular opening credit themes with Beatles tracks.

==Albums==
{{Main|Anthology 1|Anthology 2|Anthology 3}}
To accompany the ''Anthology'' series, three albums were issued, each containing two CDs, two cassette tapes or three vinyl LPs of mostly never-before-released Beatles material (the exceptions being the Tony Sheridan-era material), although many of the tracks had appeared on [[Bootleg recording|bootlegs]] for many years prior.

Two days after the first television special in the series had aired, ''[[Anthology 1]]'' was released to stores, and included music recorded by [[the Quarrymen]], the famous [[Decca Records]] [[The Decca audition|audition tapes]], and various out-takes and demos from ''[[Please Please Me]]'', ''[[With the Beatles]]'', ''[[A Hard Day's Night (album)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' and ''[[Beatles for Sale]]''. It also included the song "Lend Me Your Comb", omitted from the collection ''[[Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)|Live at the BBC]]'', released the previous year (1994). The song "[[Free as a Bird]]" was included at the very start. Some 450,000 copies of ''Anthology 1'' were sold in its first day of release, the most sales for an album in a single day ever. The band's first drummer [[Pete Best]], replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962 before the Beatles recorded professionally for EMI, received his first substantial Beatles royalties from this album, for the inclusion of early demo tracks on which he played.

''[[Anthology 2]]'' was released on 17 March 1996. The second collection presented out-takes and demos from the Beatles' sessions for ''[[Help!]]'', ''[[Rubber Soul]]'', ''[[Revolver (The Beatles album)|Revolver]]'', ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' and ''[[Magical Mystery Tour (album)|Magical Mystery Tour]]''. These included selected early demos and takes for Lennon's "[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]", previously available only to bootleg collectors. The new song "[[Real Love (John Lennon song)|Real Love]]" – which, like "Free as a Bird", was based on an unfinished Lennon recording – was also included in the two-CD collection.

''[[Anthology 3]]'' was released on 28 October 1996. The third collection featured out-takes and demos from ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'' ("White Album"), ''[[Let It Be (album)|Let It Be]]'' and ''[[Abbey Road]]'', as well as several songs from Harrison and McCartney which later became post-Beatle tracks.

[[Mark Lewisohn]] wrote the liner notes that appear in the booklets accompanying all three audio sets. These notes, including the date and location of each session or appearance, were based on his own extensive research.

===Collage===
[[File:Anthology cover collage.jpg|center|Collage of the three covers of ''The Beatles Anthology'', created by [[Klaus Voormann]].]]

The three album covers, when laid side-by-side, become one long painted collage of various peeling posters and album covers representing the different stages of the Beatles' career. This was the work of [[Klaus Voormann]], who also created the album cover for ''Revolver'' in 1966. The ''Anthology'' covers required Voormann to recreate elements of his cover for ''Revolver'' within the collage. During the music video for "[[Free as a Bird]]", the ''Anthology'' collage appears as posters on a shop window as the camera pans quickly across the street. The design also adorned the VHS, [[laserdisc]] and DVD releases, again to be properly encountered by laying the cases side by side.  Upon the release of ''Anthology 3'', [[HMV]] stores made available a limited edition cardboard sleeve designed to hold all three CD volumes of which each side of the sleeve make up half of the collage.

===Digital release and ''Anthology Highlights''===
All three albums were made digitally available on the [[iTunes Store]] on 14 June 2011, alongside a new ''Anthology Highlights'' album which featured a selection of tracks from all three albums and reached number 184 on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s United States [[Billboard charts#Albums|Top Current Albums]] chart.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/biz/charts/2011-07-02/current-albums|title=Top Current Albums|date=2 July 2011|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|access-date=12 October 2018|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====''Anthology Highlights'' track listing====
#"[[Free as a Bird]]" – 4:25
#"[[One After 909]]" (Complete) – 2:55
#"[[That Means a Lot]]" – 2:26
#"[[Leave My Kitten Alone]]" – 2:56
#"[[If You've Got Trouble]]" – 2:48
#"[[Can't Buy Me Love]]" – 2:10
#"[[Mr. Moonlight (song)|Mr. Moonlight]]" – 2:47
#"[[Kansas City (Beatles song)|Kansas City]] / [[Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!]]" – 2:46
#"[[Eight Days a Week]]" (Complete) – 2:47
#"[[I'm Looking Through You]]" – 2:53
#"[[Yesterday (Beatles song)|Yesterday]]" – 2:34
#"[[Tomorrow Never Knows]]" (Take 1) – 3:14
#"[[Strawberry Fields Forever]]" (Take 1) – 2:34
#"[[Across the Universe]]" (Take 2) – 3:30
#"[[Something (Beatles song)|Something]]" – 3:18
#"[[Not Guilty (song)|Not Guilty]]" – 3:22
#"[[Octopus's Garden]]" – 2:49
#"[[All Things Must Pass (song)|All Things Must Pass]]" – 3:04
#"[[Come and Get It (Badfinger song)|Come and Get It]]" – 2:30
#"[[Good Night (Beatles song)|Good Night]]" – 2:38
#"[[While My Guitar Gently Weeps]]" – 3:27
#"[[The Long and Winding Road]]" – 3:41
#"[[Real Love (Beatles song)|Real Love]]" – 3:54

==Book==
{{Main|The Beatles Anthology (book)}}

In October 2000, ''The Beatles Anthology'' book was released, which included interviews with all four band members and others involved, plus rare photos. Many of the interviews quoted are from those featured in the documentary films. The book is designed as a large-format hardback, with imaginative artwork throughout, and several visually vibrant and colourful spreads featuring graphics relevant to the proceeding chronology, photographic arrays and a variety of text styles and layouts. The book went straight to the top of ''[[The New York Times]]'' bestsellers list.<ref>[http://www.hawes.com/2000/2000-10-22.pdf The ''New York Times'' Best Seller List – 22 October 2000]. From Hawes.com</ref> In 2002, the book was released as a large-format paperback.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2002/12/08/the-beatles-anthology-publish/5881b4c7-2dd0-445b-8fbe-f4ce665d6c3c/|title=The Beatles Anthology (publish ...|access-date=8 January 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

==Unreleased recordings==
<!-- [[All for Love (The Beatles song)]], [[Hiroshima Sky]], [[Hiroshima Sky is Always Blue]] redirect here. Should these songs ever become notable enough to merit their own articles, please make the changes accordingly to those redirect pages. -->
{{See also|Carnival of Light|Now and Then (Beatles song)|Grow Old with Me}}

During early 1995, as work on ''The Beatles Anthology'' continued, [[Yoko Ono]] and McCartney recorded an [[avant-garde]] piece called "Hiroshima Sky Is Always Blue". Ono provided vocals and McCartney played bass, while [[Sean Lennon]], [[Linda McCartney]], and McCartney's children played various instruments. The piece was broadcast on Japanese public television in memory of the 50th anniversary of the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|atomic bombing of Hiroshima]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A new song for history |date=4 August 1995 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Times Daily |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PV8eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E8kEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2618,562306}}</ref>

The track "[[Carnival of Light]]", recorded during the ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' sessions, was intended to be released on the ''[[Anthology 2]]'' album, but was vetoed by George Harrison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/carnival-of-light/2/ |title=Carnival of Light |date=15 March 2008 |publisher=The Beatles Bible |access-date=20 August 2011}}</ref>

It was reported that McCartney, Harrison and Starr worked on a new composition called "All for Love" in March 1995, intended as a track on ''Anthology 3'', but the effort was abandoned.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/411allforlove.html |title=More on 'All For Love' -- what Paul really said (with pictures) |publisher=Abbeyrd.best.vwh.net |access-date=20 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128100439/http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/411allforlove.html |archive-date=28 November 2013 }}</ref> No version of the song has reached the public.

McCartney, Harrison, Starr, and Jeff Lynne attempted a full band recording of Lennon's song "[[Now and Then (Beatles song)|Now and Then]]" using his demo vocals, intending it to anchor ''Anthology 3''. The poor fidelity and excessive ambient noise of the original tape proved too difficult to alleviate with contemporary digital equipment, and the song was abandoned. George Harrison was dismissive of the quality of the song, calling it "fucking rubbish".<ref>{{cite magazine |url-status=live |archive-date=Aug 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804141404/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/18/paul-mccartney-doesnt-really-want-to-stop-the-show |last=Remnick |first=David |author-link=David Remnick |date=October 11, 2021 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en |access-date=8 August 2023 |title=Paul McCartney Doesn't Really Want to Stop the Show |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/18/paul-mccartney-doesnt-really-want-to-stop-the-show}}</ref> The song was replaced as the opening track on ''Anthology 3'' with the ''[[The Beatles (album)|White Album]]'' outtake "[[Don't Pass Me By#"A Beginning"|A Beginning]]". In 2023, McCartney, Starr and [[Giles Martin]] refurbished and completed the track, using [[artificial intelligence]] to extricate Lennon's vocal from the demo tape, and released it as a "final Beatles song", both as a single and as a bonus track on the expanded edition of the ''[[1967-1970]]'' compilation album.<ref>{{Cite news |url-status=live |archive-date=Aug 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805102233/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65881813 |date=13 Jun 2023 |website=[[BBC]] |language=en |access-date=8 August 2023 |title=Sir Paul McCartney says artificial intelligence has enabled a 'final' Beatles song |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65881813}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/music/news/beatles-now-then-final-song-release-red-blue-hits-albums-expanded-editions-1235768825/|title=The Beatles' 'Last Song,' 'Now and Then,' Is Set for Release, Along With Expanded, Remix-Filled 'Red' and 'Blue' Hits Collections|work=Variety|date=26 October 2023 |publisher=26 October 2023|access-date=26 October 2023}}</ref>

==Promotional items==
Each of the three ''Anthology'' albums was accompanied by a promotional CD sampler sent to radio stations shortly before the official release dates. These CDs have since become highly sought collector's items. Even rarer is a vinyl version of the sampler for ''Anthology 2'', which was only sent to college radio stations and featured a different cover (though the contents were the same).

In October 1996 there was a strictly limited release from [[EMI]], a slip case cover to house all three CD volumes, which have since become extremely rare, fetching high prices among collectors.

==Parodies==
{{unreferenced section|date=December 2021}}
The success of the ''Anthology'' albums was parodied by the release of the [[The Rutles|Rutles]]' ''[[Archaeology (album)|Archaeology]]'' some months later. Delays in the release of the third volume of the Beatles' series ultimately meant that the Rutles' parody arrived in shops on the same day as its inspiration.

[["Weird Al" Yankovic]] parodied ''The Beatles Anthology'' in an ''[[Al TV]]'' special. He said he had a copy of a fictional ''Anthology 17'', which he claimed would not be available to the public for a while. He played for the audience a track of Paul McCartney brushing his teeth and Ringo Starr shaving before ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. Yankovic also considered parodying the album's single "Free as a Bird" as "Gee, I'm a Nerd", and requested McCartney's permission for the parody.<ref>{{Cite news |title="Weird Al" Yankovic - Alpocalypse Now? and Then (Page 7) ? Timeline ? exclaim.ca |url=http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/weird_al_yankovic-alpocalypse_now8230_then/Page/7 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20121007083116/http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/weird_al_yankovic-alpocalypse_now8230_then/Page/7 |archive-date=2012-10-07 |access-date=2025-02-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/alicon.html |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=www.al-oholicsanonymous.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-06-24 |title="Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ask Al Archive |url=http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm |access-date=2025-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624113954/http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm |archive-date=24 June 2010 }}</ref> McCartney had no problem with the parody; however, since "Free as a Bird" was written by John Lennon, he deferred the decision to Yoko Ono, who was not comfortable with the idea.

''The Beatles Anthology'' was also parodied on the short-lived ''[[Dana Carvey Show]]'', which was being aired on [[ABC Television Network|ABC]] around the same time that ''Anthology'' was being televised on the network.

On ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' the host had the remaining Beatles adding music and doing backup singing to a fictitious vocal track of John Lennon's [[answering machine]] message.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{The Beatles Anthology}}
{{The Beatles albums}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Music Film}}
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[[Category:The Beatles Anthology| ]]
[[Category:1960s in music]]
[[Category:British music history]]
[[Category:Mass media franchises]]
[[Category:Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video]]
[[Category:Chronicle Books books]]
[[Category:Anthologies]]
[[Category:Grammy Award for Best Music Film winners]]