Records, CDs and Music:

Believe it or not this November will mark thirty years since The Beatles issued their critically acclaimed multi-media “Anthology” documentary series. Thirty years! It hardly seems possible.

Not only was “The Beatles Anthology” a multi-part video documentary, it also spawned three double CD sets, all of which hit the number one spot of the Billboard Hot 200, as well as a lovely coffee table book that expanded on the interviews in the documentary.

Originally conceived shortly after the group’s break-up in 1970, with the working title of The Long and Winding Road, The Beatles Anthology was the result of many years of searching for and compiling all the pertinent video and audio from the bands history as a group.

This huge mass of archival footage and music was pieced together with interview footage from the three surviving Beatles, as well as archival interview video and audio from John Lennon, to form The Beatles Anthology which is the band’s final and only official version of what happened to them in their journey as a group called The Beatles.

At the time the series was released in 1995 it was the beginning of The Beatles opening up their vaults in a major way as the group finally began to embrace its own legendary past.

Previously the “Live at the BBC” album, which was released 1994, was the only comprehensive set of unreleased music that had managed to come out as a fully-sanctioned new Beatles release since their break-up in 1970 so this new video and audio documentary was quite the revelation.

Of course the way “The Beatles Anthology” ultimately turned out was also due in large part to all of the high quality bootlegs of unreleased Beatles music that had been flooding the underground market since around 1988 which gave a much wanted glimpse into how The Beatles worked in the studio carefully crafting their recorded output.

And if that wasn’t enough also included among all the archival material were two brand new Beatles songs, the first new Beatles songs since 1970 – “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love”. 

In January 1994, Paul McCartney was given unreleased demos of songs John Lennon made at home in the ’70s. Amongst those songs The Beatles picked three – “Free As a Bird” ,“Real Love” and “Now and Then” – to embellish by adding new vocals and backing tracks and dropping Lennon’s voice and piano into the mix thus creating the first new Beatles songs in over twenty-five years.

Of course both “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” were big hits both reaching the upper regions of the charts worldwide while “Now and Then” had a much longer gestation finally being released in 2023 and hitting the top of the British charts and placing in the Top Ten in the US.

Now here we are in 2025 and The Beatles Anthology is coming out once again this time with a special anniversary edition in both video and audio.

The Disney Channel will exclusively stream the 2025 video series that has been upgraded in picture and sound by renowned director Peter Jackson starting this November on the 21st – thirty years to the week the original Anthology premiered on US television.

Now totally nine episodes, including an extra episode featuring new footage of the surviving Beatles working on the music during the making of the original Anthology series from the 1990s, this new 2025 version of The Beatles Anthology is something that I’m personally looking forward to seeing. 

The brief clip of some of the restored footage looks very enticing so I’m hoping that the much needed buffing up of all the magnificent footage that encompassed the original Anthology documentary is well worth the wait.

There will also be a new box set of the music from The Beatles Anthology that will comprise the original three double CDs (and triple vinyl packages) as well as a new Anthology 4 set that will include 13 previously unreleased studio outtakes and outtakes that previously appeared on the special deluxe sets of Beatles albums that have been released since the 2017 “Sgt. Pepper” box set.

This new version of the Anthology audio sets has been remastered by Giles Martin and both “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” have both been remixed by original producer Jeff Lynne and feature much clearer vocals from John  Lennon. 

I’ve the new mix of “Free As a Bird” and I must say I really like it. Lennon’s voice is so much more prominent that it seems as if he’s singing with Paul McCartney and George Harrison as opposed to his voice sounding like it was floating in the mix below them as in the original 1995 mix.

I love that the original mixes of both “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” will still be available as part of the Anthology 1 and Anthology 2 sets in the new box set as well as the new mixes which will appear on the new Anthology 4 set.

Now there has been a lot of bad buzz from fans online to this new set which is a little baffling to me. Most fans don’t seem to want the remastered Anthology 1, 2 and 3 sets as a group as they mainly want the new Anthology 4 which contains the 13 previously unissued outtakes which can only be purchased as part of the new Anthology collection.

I mean I get that for sure but I personally have wanted a remastered complete set of all the Anthology albums so I’m stoked to have the complete collection.

As for Disney+ I’m a little bit more concerned that they’re streaming the new series as they tend to not want to release their content in physical form. To me The Beatles Anthology is the one set by the group that I’d rather have in physical form than streaming as all of the older clips and interviews are a terrific watch and I do go back to them often.

I’d prefer a Blu-ray set of the new series but will be happy to at least see how Peter Jackson has transformed the look of the footage and hopefully I won’t be disappointed. I’m guessing it will look fabulous but time will tell.

I’ve included photos above of the terrific Beatles Anthology Director’s Cut bootleg DVD set that features a rough cut of the series with different interview footage and different edits that is really fun to compare to the finished version.

In an ideal world this would make a wonderful bonus addition to any physical release of The Beatles Anthology but I’m sure that that would never happen.

As it is I’m excited to see and hear this new revamped Beatles Anthology 2025 and will report what I think of the makeovers when they are released this Fall.

Until then enjoy the photos above and be well and see you soon.

List of songs on the new Anthology 4 set (from thebeatles.com):

Anthology 4

CD Disc One:

1. I Saw Her Standing There (Take 2)
2. Money (That’s What I Want) (RM7 undubbed)
3. This Boy (Takes 12 and 13)
4. Tell Me Why (Takes 4 and 5)
5. If I Fell (Take 11)
6. Matchbox (Take 1)
7. Every Little Thing (Takes 6 and 7)
8. I Need You (Take 1)
9. I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)
10. In My Life (Take 1)
11. Nowhere Man (First version – Take 2)
12. Got To Get You Into My Life (Second version – unnumbered mix)
13. Love You To (Take 7)
14. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26)
15. She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 – instrumental)
16. Baby, You’re A Rich Man (Takes 11 and 12)
17. All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal for BBC broadcast)
18. The Fool On The Hill (Take 5 – Instrumental)
19. I Am The Walrus (Take 19 – strings, brass, clarinet overdub)

CD Disc Two:

1. Hey Bulldog (Take 4 – instrumental)
2. Good Night (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version – Take 27)
4. (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care (Studio jam)
5. Helter Skelter (Second version – Take 17)
6. I Will (Take 29)
7. Can You Take Me Back? (Take 1)
8. Julia (Two rehearsals)
9. Get Back (Take 8)
10. Octopus’s Garden (Rehearsal)
11. Don’t Let Me Down (First rooftop performance)
12. You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36)
13. Here Comes The Sun (Take 9)
14. Something (Take 39 – instrumental – strings only)
15. Free As A Bird (2025 mix)
16. Real Love (2025 mix)
17. Now And Then