Anthology: 1 (Capitol)
I was petrified by the “Free as a Bird” concept, especially having heard
Lennon’s original demo. It’s so clearly a “work” tape, the type of personal
rambling that musicians like to keep under lock and key. And John’s vocal is so
unsure and vulnerable that using the track for release — with the three
surviving Beatles overdubbing their parts — seemed a nightmare. Thankfully it
got the work it needed, although the finished product, produced by
ex-Move-ELO-Wilbury Jeff Lynne, sounds less like a Beatles tune and more like
the melding of three solo careers: Lennon’s barren piano and vocals, a big,
melodic McCartney bridge, and Harrison’s slide guitar and congested vocal. The
songs and interview snippets on the ensuing two CDs, however, are Beatles-fan
Heaven; George Martin and the boys have collated and remastered the best of all
those pricey bootlegs (and then some) and have arranged the songs in a thematic
and sequential context. They’ve captured the legendary early “live” Beatle
spunk — to finally have the jewelry-rattling Royal Command Performance on
disc! — as well as the studio bickering and impertinence. John and Paul
squabble good-naturedly as “Eight Days a Week” evolves and we witness how a
subtle tweak of an arrangement makes or breaks a song. As John and Paul brawl
because Paul repeatedly botches a bass line on “One After 909,” the irony is
two-fold: the 1963 session pre-dates the Let It Be sessions in which the
song was finally recorded and the truly vile bitching centered less around
flubbed parts than apathy. The only way this purchase could be a mistake is if
it’s made by or for a neophyte — the Anthology is not an early Beatles
greatest hits sampler. It’s essentially the soundtrack to part one of the
documentary covering the Big Bang of the early Beatles. And what a show it was.
(5.0 stars) — Mindy LaBernz
This article appears in December 15 • 1995 and December 15 • 1995 (Cover).