Beatles Anthology Vol.1, The - Beatles (The)

...almost 30 years since The Beatles split up over 33 years since they played a live gig and yet as the recent album of number 1 hits confirmed they are still hugely popular. Their continued popularity cannot be satisfied by truly new material so a re-visit of some of their early recordings is inevitable. There are probably few groups whose back catalogues can withstand such scrutiny or whose position in pop and social history have merited such attention.
...when The Beatles burst onto the scene in 1963. I do therefore have to admit that I was not in the first wave of record buying Beatles fans. I liked them but I could not claim as so many people do now that they were a huge part of my life then. It was probably not until 1965/6 when they were experimenting and producing phenomenally innovative and inventive music that I understood that The Beatles were very special. In listening to Anthology 1 you ... more

It is now almost 30 years since The Beatles split up over 33 years since they played a live gig and yet as the recent album of number 1 hits confirmed they are still hugely popular. Their continued popularity cannot be satisfied by truly new material so a re-visit of some of their early recordings is inevitable. There are probably few groups whose back catalogues can withstand such scrutiny or whose position in pop and social history have merited such attention.

I was only 9 years of age when The Beatles burst onto the scene in 1963. I do therefore have to admit that I was not in the first wave of record buying Beatles fans. I liked them but I could not claim as so many people do now that they were a huge part of my life then. It was probably not until 1965/6 when they were experimenting and producing phenomenally innovative and inventive music that I understood that The Beatles were very special. In listening to Anthology 1 you are listening to the earliest recordings and some interview archive material. This is very much an album which shows their earliest work and it therefore sits within the context of what they achieved later. Early recordings prepared for their audition for Decca records who turned them down are comprehensively covered. It also graphically shows the huge influence George Martin was to have later in the production of their classic albums.

The album comes with comprehensive notes on all the featured recordings so I will not merely copy what these notes say. In reviewing the Anthology album I will use my own ears, heart and thoughts on what the album says to me. It is a double-CD with over 2 hours of archive material.

It is unfortunate that the album opens with ‘Free As A Bird’. This track was little more than an early demo produced by John Lennon a couple of years before his death. Jeff Lynne who collaborated with George Harrison on the Travelling Wilburys albums did much of the production work so it ends up a bit of an ELO/Beatles hybrid. It was a well-intentioned but ultimately misguided attempt to produce a ‘new’ Beatles track. I question its place on the Anthology album which should not have been tainted by anything that was not a truly contemporary recording.

Six of the 34 tracks on the first side are short passages of speech from Paul McCartney, John Lennon or manager Brian Epstein and these help provide the insight into was is beginning to happen musically. The earliest available recording made as The Quarrymen is included which doubles the Buddy Holly classic That’ll Be The Day with one of their own early songs In Spite Of All The Danger. There is no hint of anything special in these tracks nor with the cover of Ray Charles ‘ Hallelujah I love her so’. Of greater interest is ‘You’ll be Mine’ which has traces of the humour and differentiation which The Beatles were to develop. Much of the earnings the band had at this stage was playing covers of other artistes music but their own songs were not absolute copies of those of others and the hints are there quite early that they were developing their own sound.

The Decca sessions had 5 songs which are all included. It became a famous urban legend as to who was the guy at Decca who heard this recording and chose to turn them down. I will here consult the sleeve notes to say it was Mike Smith. Listening to these songs though the error could be forgiven. The Beatles sound nervous and disjointed in parts. A mix of more covers and own songs but nothing that original in content or style. Fame was still some way off but the missing ingredient was being added and future recordings were under the guidance of George Martin.

An early recording of Love Me Do is included and the improvement forged by practice and sharper production is beginning to be noticeable. Please Please Me follows and like many of the tracks included the version differs slightly from that which was subsequently released. It is these subtle differences in some of the tracks that make the Anthology volumes so interesting. You can understand how the songs have developed from a rough outline to the finished article.

The album’s first CD ends with 5 tracks recorded live in late 1963. That the band were now polished, good musicians and immensely popoular is clear from these tracks. As well as their own hits ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘From Me To You’ there remains covers of others including #Roll Over beethoven’ with George on lead vocals as he had on some of the earlier songs.

CD2 opens with what remains The Beatles most famous live TV appearance – The Royal Variety Performance of 1963. Only 20 months after being turned down by Decca they were at the pinnacle of British entertainment. ‘She Loves You’ barely surfaces above the screaming to be followed by the slower ‘Till There Was You’ which is excellent. They finish off with ‘Twist and Shout’ again to the backbeat of a thousand screaming voices. British pop music was never to be the same again and from this point The Beatles could do no wrong. The only thing which could destroy them would be themselves.

Next up was another TV appearance which marked The Beatles as mainstream entertainers. Their appeal was surely widened as a result of their being the guests on The Morecambe and Wise Show. How many artistes at their peak of their power would allow such self deprecation and self mockery. The band sang ‘This Boy’ and ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ before combining with Britains favourite comedians for a rendition of ‘Moonlight Bay’ complete with Eric and Ernies ‘yeah yeah yeahs’ and woooooos.

A version of ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ follows again subtly different in vocal performance. All My Loving from the Ed Sullivan Show is next. The album has early work-throughs of numbers like ‘You Can’t Do That’ and ‘And I Love Her’. What The Anthology albums do so well is demonstrate how The Beatles experimented with the sound on each track. Vocal performances are developed based on different styles. Whilst many groups at this time would have been happy to get any sort of acceptable vocal performance on tape The Beatles try different styles and techniques with superb results.

The first take of A Hard Days Night follows with many differences from the eventual version. The take ends with laughter as the band lose their way. There is an overriding feeling listening to this that The Beatles are enjoying recording which considering the phenomenal schedule the band had was surprising. A host of 1964 recordings follow with each band member sharing duties on the vocals. Included is Shout which was the song which began Lulu’s career. The song is used as a demonstration of The Beatles ability to play a song with musicianship rare for such a band.

There are then two versions of ‘I’ll Be Back’ showing the depth of their understanding of writing music in different tempos. ‘You Know What To Do’ was a George Harrison song and symbolises how the song-writing within the band became less evenly spread as Lennon and McCartney compositions got stronger.
‘No Reply’ appears first as a demo track as Lennon and McCartney had a surplus of songs for the group and offered them to other artistes. The track is covered again later on the album.

‘Mr Moonlight’ has a Hawaiian feel and displays a superb guitar arrangement in a distorted style. Another sign of increasing experimentation in sound. ‘Leave My Kitten Alone’ was typical of the R’n’B records of the time. There are a couple of takes of ‘ Eight Days A Week’ which demonstrate how the band worked on the vocal arrangements and the feel they were trying to get in the backing. The album ends with ‘Kansas City’ a rollicking Little Richard number which Paul plays on the piano. Paul McCartney always comes across well on a track like this where he can throw in his raunchy vocal style and gift for performance.

Anthology 1 is an essential album for Beatles enthusiasts certainly. It does however have a resonance and value to those who would wish to hear how a band can develop over time, how achievement rewards those who work hardest , how the initially raw talent of these four young men became the greatest band the world has ever seen. The Beatles will never be surpassed, the foundations of how that came to pass is in this album.
 

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