Anthology 1 Explained

Anthology 1
Type:compilation
Artist:the Beatles
Cover:Anthology1cover.jpg
Recorded:12 July 1958 – 18 October 1964; and February–March 1994
Genre:Merseybeat
Label:Apple, Capitol
Producer:George Martin, Jeff Lynne ("Free as a Bird")

Anthology 1 is a compilation album of music by the Beatles, released on 20 November 1995 by Apple Records as part of The Beatles Anthology series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–64, including songs with original bass player Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best. It is the first in a trilogy of albums with Anthology 2 and Anthology 3, all of which tie in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. It contains "Free as a Bird", the first new Beatles song in 25 years, which was released as a single two weeks after Anthology 1.

The album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified 8× Platinum by the RIAA. It reached number 2 on the UK albums chart.

The Anthology albums were remastered and made available digitally on the iTunes Store on 14 June 2011, individually and as part of the Anthology Box Set.

Content

The album includes material from the Beatles' days as the Quarrymen, through the Decca audition to sessions for the album Beatles for Sale. It is of historical interest as the only official release of performances with Best and Sutcliffe in the band – Sutcliffe, the band's original bass player during 1960, and sporadically during the group's second Hamburg season, appears on the disc-one tracks "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", "You'll Be Mine" and "Cayenne"; while Best, who was the official drummer from just prior to the group's first departure for Hamburg in August 1960 until 15 August 1962 when he was replaced by Ringo Starr, is on Disc One, tracks 10–12, 15–19 and 21–22.

Disc One, tracks 10–12, were recorded at a session in Hamburg where the Beatles served as the back-up band to the English rock and roll musician Tony Sheridan. Some songs from this session were released on the 1962 album My Bonnie, credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. The song "My Bonnie" would be their introductory single in England, featuring Sheridan on lead vocal and guitar. Tracks 21–22 are the only surviving recordings of the Beatles' first EMI session. Track 22 is the original recording of "Love Me Do", which would be re-recorded by the group four months later for their first single. Track 24 features EMI session drummer Andy White, in place of Ringo.

Disc Two contains performances from comedy duo Morecambe and Wise's popular television programme, Two of a Kind, as well as the opening song from their famed performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, which introduced the band to most of the US in 1964.

The flash-point for the album came with the song "Free as a Bird" – the three remaining Beatles Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr re-working a John Lennon demo recording given to McCartney by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. Produced by Harrison's Traveling Wilburys bandmate Jeff Lynne, the three added additional music and lyrics, instrumentation and backing vocals, with McCartney and Harrison both taking a turn at a lead vocal. Released a week after the compilation, the CD single featured three exclusive B-sides.

The live BBC Radio recording of "Lend Me Your Comb" was held back from Live at the BBC for inclusion on this album, but it was later also included on On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2.

Album cover

The cover of Anthology 1 is the first third of the Anthology collage made by Klaus Voormann and Alfons Kiefer. Various photographs and album covers are torn and collected together. Pete Best's face was torn away from the Savage Young Beatles record jacket in the centre of the album cover, revealing the face of his successor, Ringo Starr, below. The bottom leftmost photograph on the Anthology 1 cover does feature an unobscured Best.[1]

The missing portion of the photo was subsequently used on the cover of Best's 2008 album Haymans Green, an act described by one fan as "Pete Best's revenge".[2]

Reception

The album was a large success throughout the world. It was the first Beatles album to enter the Billboard 200 album chart at number one. It sold 855,473 copies in its first week, the 27th largest one-week sales in the Soundscan history, succeeding Fresh Horses by Garth Brooks. In its second week, Anthology 1 sold 453,000 copies and maintained the top spot. This was repeated the following week, with 435,000 copies sold. In its fourth week, the same quantity was sold, but the album fell to number two, behind Mariah Carey's Daydream. In the following week, the album fell to number three but with 601,000 sales. Anthology 1 was certified 3× Platinum by the RIAA after six weeks in the US market. In all, the album spent 29 weeks on the Billboard 200, reaching cumulative sales of 3,639,000 sales as of April 2001. In the UK, reaction was similar, but the album peaked at number two, behind Robson & Jerome's eponymous album. In Australia, the album spent two weeks at number one in December 1995.

Track listing

Spoken word tracks in italic.

CD release

All tracks in stereo, except spoken word tracks and where noted.

Vinyl release

Side one
  1. "Free as a Bird"
  2. "We were four guys ... that's all"
  3. "That'll Be the Day"
  4. "In Spite of All the Danger"
  5. "Sometimes I'd borrow ... those still exist"
  6. "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"
  7. "You'll Be Mine"
  8. "Cayenne"
  9. "First of all ... it didn't do a thing here"
  10. "My Bonnie"
  11. "Ain't She Sweet"
  12. "Cry for a Shadow"
Side two
  1. "Brian was a beautiful guy ... he presented us well"
  2. "I secured them ... a Beatle drink even then"
  3. "Searchin
  4. "Three Cool Cats"
  5. "The Sheik of Araby"
  6. "Like Dreamers Do"
  7. "Hello Little Girl"
  8. "Well, the recording test ... by my artists"
  9. "Besame Mucho"
  10. "Love Me Do"
  11. "How Do You Do It"
  12. "Please Please Me"
Side three
  1. "One After 909" (sequence)
  2. "One After 909" (complete)
  3. "Lend Me Your Comb"
  4. "I'll Get You"
  5. "We were performers ... in Britain"
  6. "I Saw Her Standing There"
  7. "From Me to You"
  8. "Money (That's What I Want)"
  9. "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
  10. "Roll Over Beethoven"
Side four
  1. "She Loves You"
  2. "Till There Was You"
  3. "Twist and Shout"
  4. "This Boy"
  5. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
  6. "Boys, what I was thinking..."
  7. "Moonlight Bay"
  8. "Can't Buy Me Love"
Side five
  1. "All My Loving"
  2. "You Can't Do That"
  3. "And I Love Her"
  4. "A Hard Day's Night"
  5. "I Wanna Be Your Man"
  6. "Long Tall Sally"
  7. "Boys"
  8. "Shout"
  9. "I'll Be Back" (Take 2)
  10. "I'll Be Back" (Take 3)
Side six
  1. "You Know What to Do"
  2. "No Reply" (demo)
  3. "Mr. Moonlight"
  4. "Leave My Kitten Alone"
  5. "No Reply"
  6. "Eight Days a Week" (sequence)
  7. "Eight Days a Week" (complete)
  8. "Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!"

Cassette release

Side one
  1. "Free as a Bird"
  2. "We were four guys ... that's all"
  3. "That'll Be the Day"
  4. "In Spite of All the Danger"
  5. "Sometimes I'd borrow ... those still exist"
  6. "Hallelujah, I Love Her So"
  7. "You'll Be Mine"
  8. "Cayenne"
  9. "First of all ... it didn't do a thing here"
  10. "My Bonnie"
  11. "Ain't She Sweet"
  12. "Cry for a Shadow"
  13. "Brian was a beautiful guy ... he presented us well"
  14. "I secured them ... a Beatle drink even then"
  15. "Searchin
  16. "Three Cool Cats"
  17. "The Sheik of Araby"
  18. "Like Dreamers Do"
  19. "Hello Little Girl"
Side two
  1. "Well, the recording test ... by my artists"
  2. "Besame Mucho"
  3. "Love Me Do"
  4. "How Do You Do It"
  5. "Please Please Me"
  6. "One After 909" (sequence)
  7. "One After 909" (complete)
  8. "Lend Me Your Comb"
  9. "I'll Get You"
  10. "We were performers ... in Britain"
  11. "I Saw Her Standing There"
  12. "From Me to You"
  13. "Money (That's What I Want)"
  14. "You Really Got a Hold on Me"
  15. "Roll Over Beethoven"
Side three
  1. "She Loves You"
  2. "Till There Was You"
  3. "Twist and Shout"
  4. "This Boy"
  5. "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
  6. "Boys, what I was thinking..."
  7. "Moonlight Bay"
  8. "Can't Buy Me Love"
  9. "All My Loving"
  10. "You Can't Do That"
  11. "And I Love Her"
  12. "A Hard Day's Night"
Side four
  1. "I Wanna Be Your Man"
  2. "Long Tall Sally"
  3. "Boys"
  4. "Shout"
  5. "I'll Be Back" (Take 2)
  6. "I'll Be Back" (Take 3)
  7. "You Know What to Do"
  8. "No Reply" (demo)
  9. "Mr. Moonlight"
  10. "Leave My Kitten Alone"
  11. "No Reply"
  12. "Eight Days a Week" (sequence)
  13. "Eight Days a Week" (complete)
  14. "Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!"

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Anthology 1! Chart (1995–96)! Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[3] 1
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[4] 20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[5] 2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[6] 3

Year-end charts

1995 year-end chart performance for Anthology 1! Chart (1995)! Position
Australian Albums Chart[7] 18
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[8] 37
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[9] 32
Canadian Albums Chart[10] 17
1996 year-end chart performance for Anthology 1! Chart (1996)! Position
Canadian Albums Chart[11] 32
German Albums Chart[12] 98
Japanese Albums Chart[13] 41
US Billboard 200[14] 8

Personnel

The Beatles
Additional musicians

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The Beatles Anthology 1 Album Cover Cropped Out Original Drummer Pete Best. Rossell. Raul. 2011-04-08. FeelNumb.com. 2018-07-29. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20191007232226/http://www.feelnumb.com/2011/04/08/the-beatles-anthology-1-album-cover-cropped-out-original-drummer-pete-best/. 7 October 2019. dead.
  2. Web site: The Daily Beatle: Pete Best's revenge. Stormo. Roger. 2016-04-19. The Daily Beatle. 2018-07-29.
  3. Web site: Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé . InfoDisc . fr . PHP . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080820092500/http://www.infodisc.fr/Albums_ChartRun.php . 20 August 2008 . dmy . Find "The BEATLES" on the drop-down menu to see results.
  4. Web site: Archivum: Top 40 Album . . hu . 2 August 2011.
  5. Web site: History. it. FIMI. 31 May 2022. Set "Ricerca per" on "Titolo", then search "Anthology 1" and click "Classifiche".
  6. Web site: ザ・ビートルズ-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック . "Highest position and charting weeks of Anthology 1 by The Beatles" . ja. oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. 29 August 2011.
  7. Web site: ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1995 . aria.com.au . Australian Recording Industry Association . 12 December 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110528193142/http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-50albums-1995.htm . 28 May 2011 . dmy .
  8. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 1995. nl . Ultratop. Hung Medien . 19 January 2014.
  9. Web site: Rapports annuels 1995. fr . . Hung Medien . 19 January 2014.
  10. RPM Top 100 Albums of 1995 . RPM . 18 December 1995 . 12 December 2013.
  11. RPM Year End Top 100 Albums . RPM . 16 December 1996. 18 December 2013.
  12. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. de . GfK Entertainment. 8 September 2016.
  13. Web site: 1996年 アルバム年間TOP100 . Oricon Year-end Albums Chart of 1996 . ja . 1 January 2011.
  14. Web site: Billboard.BIZ - Year-end Charts - Billboard 200 - 1996 . billboard.biz . 7 November 2010.
  15. Book: MacDonald, Ian . 1997 . Ian MacDonald . Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . Pimlico / Random House . 978-0-7126-6697-8 . 330.
  16. Book: MacDonald, Ian . 1997 . Ian MacDonald . Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . Pimlico / Random House . 978-0-7126-6697-8 . 330.
  17. Book: MacDonald, Ian . 1997 . Ian MacDonald . Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . Pimlico / Random House . 978-0-7126-6697-8 . 330.
  18. Book: MacDonald, Ian . 1997 . Ian MacDonald . Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties . Pimlico / Random House . 978-0-7126-6697-8 . 330.

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