Beatles Christmas Messages Recordings

As a special treat for Christmas, I've posted the Beatles Christmas Messages recordings. 

Below are details on each of the recordings and their audio to enjoy. These bring back fond memories.




Each year from 1963 through 1969, the Beatles recorded a special Christmas greeting for their fans. The Official Beatles Fan Club in England sent flexi-discs containing the Christmas messages to its members each holiday season.The American fan club, Beatles (U.S.A.) Ltd., was established in 1964, and for their first Christmas, the American fan club sent fans the 1963 Christmas message on a soundcard, which is like a flexi-disc, but is "printed" on the post card that is mailed. No message was sent to the American fans in 1965 because the tape was not received on time.[Read more →] The Beatles Christmas flexis are very rare, and sell, in excellent condition, anywhere from $200 to $500.


These recordings offer a unique time-capsule glimpse into the personalities and evolution of the Beatles from 1963 through 1969. In the early years, like their appearances in A Hard Day’s Night, even though these messages were scripted by “somebody’s bad hand-wroter” (their Press Agent Tony Barrow), the Beatle’s geniune wit and humor shines through, for example, in 1963, when as John mentions taking part in the Royal Variety show, the boys extemporaneously launch into a whistling version of God Save The Queen, or in 1964, when Paul mentions that they don’t really know where they’d be without the fans, John says, off-handedly, “In the Army, perhaps…”


For older Beatles fans who remember hearing these messages over the years, “these little bits of plastic” are a fond holiday tradition, while for younger Beatles fans they offer a whole new insight into a pop music phenomenon which might never be repeated.


We present the Beatles Christmas Records here as a Christmas present to you from the Internet Beatles Album. Happy Crimble!

 





1963
The Beatles Christmas Record
Released December 6, 1963
Recorded October 17, 1963
EMI Abbey Road Studio 2
Engineer: Norman Smith
Recorded after a session for I Want To Hold Your Hand and This Boy.
About 30,000 total copies were manufactured.
This recording was sent to US Fan Club members in 1964.









 

1964
Another Beatles Christmas Record
Released December 18, 1964
Recorded October 26, 1964
EMI Abbey Road Studio 2
Engineer: Norman Smith
The only Beatles Fan Club Christmas record that played at 45 RPM instead of 33 1/3 RPM.
Recorded on the same day that they recorded Honey Don’t for Beatles For Sale.
US Fan Club members received the 1963 Christmas message this year.







 


1965
The Beatles Third Christmas Record
Released December 17, 1965
Recorded November 8, 1965
EMI Abbey Road Studio 2
Engineer: Norman Smith
Recorded during the Rubber Soul sessions, on the same day they recorded Think For Yourself. Cover photo taken on November 1 during the taping of Granada-TV’s ‘The Music of Lennon and McCartney’.

 


1966
Pantomime (Everywhere It’s Christmas)
Released December 16, 1966
Recorded November 25, 1966
Recorded in the basement studio of Dick James Music in London
Mixed at Abbey Road, December 2, 1966. Produced by George Martin.
Cover designed by Paul.

Some of the historical info on this page is from the books The Beatles: A Day In The Life by Tom Schultheiss, The Beatles Day By Day by Mark Lewisohn and The Price Guide for the Beatles American Records by Perry Cox and Frank Daniels As the 60’s evolve, so do the Beatles, and so do their Christmas records.


The previous year, the Christmas message changed from scripted messages talking directly to the fans, to sketch comedy, mostly Paul’s idea, but enthusiastically joined in by the other three. 1967 brings a similar production, but as the members of the group start desiring to go their separate ways, this is also reflected in the Christmas records, as the final two years bring messages recorded in bits and pieces recorded separately by each Beatle and assembled together later.







1967
Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
Released December 15, 1967
Recorded November 28, 1967
EMI Abbey Road Studio 2
Produced by George Martin
Special guest: Victor Spinetti

The script was written earlier in the day by the band. Last Christmas record the Beatles recorded together as a group. Cover designed on November 29 by John and Ringo.

The song Christmas Time (Is Here Again) was later released on the Real Love single in 1995.

1968
Happy Christmas
Released December 20, 1968
Recorded in November, 1968 at John’s home in London, Paul’s home in London, in the back of Ringo’s van in Surrey, with George in America and at George’s house in Esher during rehearsals for the White Album.
Special guest: Tiny Tim.

Created by Radio 1 disc jockey Kenny Everett who edited together separately-recorded messages from John, Paul, George and Ringo, and inter-cut random fragments from the White Album.

1969
Happy Christmas 1969
Released December 19, 1969
Recorded in fall of 1969 at John and Yoko’s home in Ascot, Ringo’s home in Weybridge, Paul’s home in London, and the London offices of Apple.
Edited by Maurice Cole (Kenny Everett’s original name)
Cover designed by Ringo

Because the Beatles officially broke up in 1970, no Christmas message was prepared for that holiday season.


In early 1971, fan club members were sent an album on the Apple label containing all seven of the Christmas messages.
Pictured is the American version of the LP. The British LP entitled From Then To You included a reproduction of the cover of the 1963 Christmas record.




Along with Let It Be and Introducing The Beatles, this is one of the notoriously most heavily counterfeited of Beatles albums. Counterfeits can be identified by blurry cover photos and an indentation ring much larger than 1 1/2″.

Some of the historical info on this page is from the books The Beatles: A Day In The Life by Tom Schultheiss, The Beatles Day By Day by Mark Lewisohn and The Price Guide for the Beatles American Records by Perry Cox and Frank Daniels.


You can listen to all Christmas Messages here:
https://brunchradio.com/beatles-christmas-messages-all-7/

Below is my previous post of scans of the covers:
http://jfnmusicmemories.blogspot.com/2009/07/christmas-messages-covers.html

You can get the recordings here:
http://teenagedogsintrouble.blogspot.com/2009/12/very-merry-beatles-christmas.html




Source : http://www.ringofstars.ru/across/?p=2767

Listen to the Beatles Christmas Messages: 7 Vintage Recordings for Their Fans: 1963-1969

1963: 

Every year from 1963 to 1969, the Beatles recorded a special Christmas greeting to their fans. It started when “Beatlemania” took off and the band found itself unable to answer all the fan mail.  “I’d love to reply personally to everyone,” says Lennon in the 1963 message, “but I just haven’t enough pens.” The first message was intended to make their most loyal fans feel appreciated. Like those that followed, the 1963 message was mailed as a paper-thin vinyl “flexi disc” to members of the Beatles fan club. The recording features the Beatles’ trademark wit and whimsy, with a chorus of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ringo” and a version of “Good King Wenceslas” that refers to Betty Grable. It was made on October 17, 1963 at Abbey Road Studios, just after the band recorded “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”





1964:

The band recorded their next holiday greeting, Another Beatles Christmas Record, on October 26, 1964, the same day they recorded the song “Honey Don’t.” Lennon’s rebellious nature begins to show, as he pokes fun at the prepared script: “It’s somebody’s bad hand wroter.”





1965:

Recorded on November 8, 1965 during the Rubber Soul sessions at Abbey Road, the 1965 message features a re-working of “Yesterday,” with the refrain “Oh I believe on Christmas Day.” The band’s gift for free-associational role playing is becoming more apparent. One piece of dialogue near the end was eventually re-used by producer George Martin and his son Giles at the end of the re-mixed version of “All You Need is Love” on the 2006 album Love: “All right put the lights off. This is Johnny Rhythm saying good night to you all and God Blesses.”






1966:

You can sense the band’s creative powers growing in the 1966 message, Pantomime: Everywhere It’s Christmas. The recording was made at Abbey Road on November 25, 1966, during a break from working on “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The Beatles were just beginning work on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. Instead of simply thanking their fans and recounting the events of the year, the Beatles use sound effects and dialogue to create a vaudeville play based around a song that goes, “Everywhere it’s Christmas, at the end of every year.” Paul McCartney designed the cover.

1967:

This was the last Christmas message recorded by the Beatles all together in one place. Titled Christmas Time (Is Here Again), it reveals the group’s continuing experimentation with sound effects and storytelling. The scenario, written by the band earlier on the day it was recorded (November 28, 1967), is about a group of people auditioning for a BBC radio play. Lennon and Ringo Starr designed the cover.
 

You can listen to the entire Christmas Message for 1967 here:

https://oildale.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/22103423/Beatles-Christmas-Time-Is-Here-Again-1967.mp3





1968:

By the Christmas season of 1968, relations within the Beatles were becoming strained. The holiday message was produced around the time the “White Album” was released, in November of 1968. The four members’ voices were recorded separately, in various locations. There’s plenty of self-mockery. Perhaps the most striking moment comes when the American singer Tiny Tim (invited by George Harrison) strums a ukulele and sings “Nowhere Man” in a high falsetto.





1969:

The Beatles were in the process of breaking up when they recorded (separately) their final Christmas message in November and December of 1969. A couple of months earlier, just before the release of Abbey Road, Lennon had announced to the others that he was leaving the group. Yoko Ono appears prominently on the recording, singing and talking with Lennon about peace. Fittingly, the 1969 message incorporates a snippet from the Abbey Road recording of “The End.”



This post was written by Open Culture contributor Mike Springer.

Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 - iTunes release and other sources

The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 is a compilation album of 59 previously unreleased recordings by English rock band the Beatles, released on 17 December 2013, exclusively through the iTunes Store.[1] While it was initially only available for a few hours,[2] it is currently available again for purchase.[3] The release was timed to extend the copyright of the 1963 recordings under EU law by 20 years – the EU protects recordings for 70 years only if they are formally released.[1][4] Officially unreleased recordings from the band's earlier recording sessions previously entered public domain in 2012.vailable again for purchase.[3] The release was timed to extend the copyright of the 1963 recordings under EU law by 20 years – the EU protects recordings for 70 years only if they are formally released.[1][4] Officially unreleased recordings from the band's earlier recording sessions previously entered public domain in 2012.  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_Bootleg_Recordings_1963

The album includes 15 studio outtakes and 42 live BBC Radio tracks, adding to those released previously on the albums Live at the BBC (1994) and On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 (2013).[5] The album also includes John Lennon's demo recordings of "Bad to Me" and "I'm in Love", later released as singles by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and the Fourmost, respectively.[1]

After something of a false start, Apple Corps/Universal have today issued 59 previously unreleased recordings by The Beatles consisting of studio outtakes and live material from 1963. We should clarify straight off the bat, that this is not a deluxe box set; indeed, it’s not being released physically on any format. Bootleg Recordings 1963 (as this collection is dubbed) is a digital-only affair and can only be bought via iTunes. But hey, it is The Beatles, so coverage here is justified!
The Beatles’ Anthology albums (themselves nearly 20 years old) were the one and only time in the last 50 years that Fab Four studio outtakes have been officially released, so to see something akin to The Holy Grail almost casually uploaded onto (the other) Apple’s iTunes servers takes a while to get your head around.

But that is what has happened. Tracks made available include work-in-progress from Please Please Me and With The Beatles, and early takes of the group’s first (official) UK number one From Me To You and its B-side Thank You Girl. The 1963 version of The One After 909 (which famously went unreleased until Paul and John dusted it down for Let It Be six years later) is another notable inclusion (takes 1&2) in this Beatles Bootleg bundle.

Into total, 15 studio tracks are issued followed by an enormous amount of what you might call Live at the BBC ‘the leftovers’ – tracks recorded at the BBC radio studios that haven’t appeared on the official releases (1994 and 2013) probably to avoid duplication and in some cases because the sound quality is not up to par. So we get three Love Me Dos, four A Taste Of Honeys and a couple of Do You Want To Know A Secrets amongst the 42 Beeb tracks. A special treat at the end of the Bootleg Recordings are demo versions of Bad To Me and I’m In Love, two Lennon-McCartney songs given to other groups (Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas and The Fourmost, respectively).

As a fan of physical media the first reaction is ‘why couldn’t they have released this is a proper box set’, but in truth, the digital domain is somehow a more forgiving environment for this Merseybeat memory dump; running orders don’t need to be fretted over (or are rendered irrelevant by the medium), and no one is going to complain about multiple versions of the same track because you just can just download the ones you want. In short, Apple don’t need to think  about it too much, because the truth of the matter seems to be that they would probably rather not do this at all. The current thinking is that this Bootleg Recordings 1963 release is all about retaining copyright of the material once it’s over 50 years old. Previously released material is now protected for 70 years (in Europe), but unreleased material is not afforded the same protection and becomes public domain. The solution? Release it.

And that is what Apple/Universal have done today. The Anthology projects of the 1990s were studies in planning, hype, marketing, coordination and global brand enhancement. Three multi-formatted double albums spread over a year with the small matter of a six-part companion TV documentary (and later a hardback book). By comparison Bootleg Recordings 1963 is the polar opposite. No hype, no build-up, no advertising, no ‘tie-ins’ – just a bucketful of Beatles’ rarities falling onto the unsuspecting Mop Top fan as they go about their daily business.

If there are no changes in the copyright law, then surely we can look forward to similar Beatles Bootleg recordings in our Christmas stockings over the next seven years. Bootleg Recordings 1963 is released globally via iTunes today and is available to download in many territories already.

Source: http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/beatles-bootleg-recordings-1963/



Track listing
Tracks 1–14 are stereo; the rest are mono.
All tracks written by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.

Tracklist

1-1	There's A Place (Studio Outtake / Takes 5 & 6)	2:19
1-2	There's A Place (Studio Outtake / Take 8)	1:58
1-3	There's A Place (Studio Outtake / Take 9)	2:04
1-4	Do You Want To Know A Secret (Studio Outtake / Take 7)	2:17
1-5	A Taste Of Honey (Studio Outtake / Take 6)	2:12
1-6	I Saw Her Standing There (Studio Outtake / Take 2)	3:07
1-7	Misery (Studio Outtake / Take 1)	1:54
1-8	Misery (Studio Outtake / Take 7)	1:56
1-9	From Me To You (Studio Outtake / Takes 1 & 2)	3:24
1-10	From Me To You (Studio Outtake / Take 5)	2:17
1-11	Thank You Girl (Studio Outtake / Take 1)	2:09
1-12	Thank You Girl (Studio Outtake / Take 5)	2:04
1-13	One After 909 (Studio Outtake / Takes 1 & 2)	4:29
1-14	Hold Me Tight (Studio Outtake / Take 21)	2:42
1-15	Money (That's What I Want) (Studio Outtake)	2:48
1-16	Some Other Guy (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 26th January, 1963)	2:02
1-17	Love Me Do (Live At The BBC For "Saturday Club" 26th January, 1963)	2:31
1-18	Too Much Monkey Business (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 26th January, 1963)	1:50
1-19	I Saw Her Standing There (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 16th March, 1963)	2:38
1-20	Do You Want To Know A Secret (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 26th January, 1963)	1:50
1-21	From Me To You (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 26th January, 1963)	1:54
1-22	I Got To Find My Baby (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 26th January, 1963)	1:59
1-23	Roll Over Beethoven (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 29th June, 1963)	2:29
1-24	A Taste Of Honey (Live At BBC For "Easy Beat" / 23rd June, 1963)	2:01
1-25	Love Me Do (Live At BBC For "Easy Beat" / 20th October, 1963)	2:29
1-26	Please Please Me (Live At BBC For "Easy Beat" / 20th October, 1963)	2:08
1-27	She Loves You (Live At BBC For "Easy Beat" / 20th October, 1963)	2:29
1-28	I Want To Hold Your Hand (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 21st December, 1963)	2:19
1-29	Till There Was You (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 21st December, 1963)	2:16
2-1	Roll Over Beethoven (Live At BBC For "Saturday Club" / 21st December, 1963)	2:16
2-2	You Really Got A Hold On Me (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 4th June, 1963)	2:54
2-3	The Hippy Hippy Shake (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 4th June, 1963)	1:43
2-4	Till There Was You (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" /11th June, 1963)	2:14
2-5	A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 18th June, 1963)	2:06
2-6	A Taste Of Honey (Live At The BBC for "Pop Go The Beatles" 18th June, 1963)	1:56
2-7	Money (That's What I Want) (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 18th June, 1963)	2:41
2-8	Anna (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 25th June, 1963)	3:02
2-9	Love Me Do (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 10th September, 1963)	2:29
2-10	She Loves You (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 24th September, 1963)	2:16
2-11	I'll Get You (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 10th September, 1963)	2:05
2-12	A Taste Of Honey (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 10th September, 1963)	2:00
2-13	Boys (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 17th September, 1963)	2:12
2-14	Chains (Live At BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" / 17th September, 1963)	2:22
2-15	You Really Got A Hold On Me (Live At The BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" 17th September, 1963)	2:57
2-16	I Saw Her Standing There (Live At The BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" 24th September, 1963)	2:41
2-17	She Loves You (Live At The BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" 10th September, 1963)	2:15
2-18	Twist And Shout (Live At the BBC For "Pop Go The Beatles" 24th September, 1963)	2:36
2-19	Do You Want To Know A Secret (Live At The BBC For "Here We Go" 12th March, 1963)	1:55
2-20	Please Please Me (Live At The BBC For "Here We Go" 12th March, 1963)	1:57
2-21	Long Tall Sally (Live At The BBC For "Side By Side" 13th May, 1963)	1:49
2-22	Chains (Live At The BBC For "Side By Side" 13th May, 1963)	2:23
2-23	Boys (Live At The BBC For "Side By Side" 13th May, 1963)	1:53
2-24	A Taste Of Honey (Live At The BBC For "Side By Side" 13th May, 1963)	2:04
2-25	Roll Over Beethoven (Live At The BBC For "From Us To You" 26th December, 1963)	2:17
2-26	All My Loving (Live At The BBC For "From Us To You" 26th December, 1963)	2:06
2-27	She Loves You (Live At The BBC For "From Us To You" 26th December, 1963)	2:21
2-28	Till There Was You (Live At The BBC For "From Us To You" 26th December, 1963)	2:12
2-29	Bad To Me (Demo)	1:29
2-30	I'm In Love (Demo)	1:32

There also is an unofficial bootleg 2-CD version of these recordings. (below)

More info is available here:
https://www.judemacforever.com/blog/bootleg-recordings-1963-2013-the-beatles
P/W=arse



Below is a review of the Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963:





You can listen to the entire set below:

Review: The Beatles Anthology: the flammed together ‘new episode’ feels totally pointless

There’s no doubt that the arrival of The Beatles Anthology in 1995 was a big deal. The TV series was broadcast at prime time on both sides of the Atlantic, and ABC in the US even changed its name to ABeatlesC in its honour. The three accompanying albums (the first time the Beatles had allowed outtakes from their recording sessions to be officially released) sold in their millions. Its success helped kickstart the latterday Beatles industry, a steady stream of officially sanctioned documentaries, reissues, remixes, compilations and expanded editions, predicated on two ideas: that the Beatles’ archive contains fathomless bounty; and that the band’s story is so rich there’s no limit to the number of times it can fruitfully be retold in fresh light.

For a while, those ideas seemed to hold true, but recently, it’s been hard not to think the Beatles’ Apple Corps might be trying to feed an insatiable appetite for content from an increasingly bare cupboard. You can marvel at the highlights of Peter Jackson’s TV series Get Back and still wonder whether the director wasn’t stretching his material a little thin; whether nearly eight hours of it – plus a separate Imax film of the Beatles’ final live performance on the roof of Apple’s London HQ, and a reissue of the original 1970 Let It Be documentary – might have been rather too much of a good thing.

Last year’s Martin Scorsese-produced Beatles ’64, meanwhile, just re-edited familiar footage – much of it from the Maysles Brothers’ 1964 documentary, What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA, reissued in 1991 as The First US Visit, then again by Apple in 2004 – and spliced it with new interviews that suggested everything that needed to be said about the events of 1964 had already been said, and the two surviving Beatles had run out of new angles on a subject they had been answering questions about for 60 years.

A similar sense of pointlessness attends the new version of Anthology. It arrives with a fourth album of outtakes, but 23 of its 36 tracks have been previously released, which means vinyl buyers are being asked to cough up nearly 70 quid for 50 minutes of “new” music, most of which is pretty inconsequential to all but the most banzai Fabs devotee. There’s no sign of Carnival of Light, the near-mythic Stockhausen-influenced experiment the band recorded during the Sgt Pepper sessions, nor the fabled 27-minute version of Helter Skelter. Instead, you have to make do with a wobbly first take of their cover of Carl Perkins’ Matchbox.

George Martin, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison in The Beatles Anthology.

Rock aristocracy … George Martin, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison in The Beatles Anthology. Photograph: PR

There’s also an “all-new” episode of the TV series, concentrating on the making of the original Anthology documentary and Free as a Bird and Real Love, the two John Lennon demos the surviving members worked up into songs in the mid-90s. These events are now as far in the past as Beatlemania was when the Anthology series was produced: bizarrely, the footage from 30 years ago – a riot of ponytails, mullets, leather waistcoats and stonewashed denim – looks more dated than that from the 60s, the clothes sported by 90s rock aristocrats having yet to pass into the realm of classic style.

The problem is, the new episode isn’t all-new at all. It’s essentially the bonus material from the 2003 DVD edition of Anthology padded out to 50 minutes: the three surviving Beatles being interviewed together at George Harrison’s home and at Abbey Road, loosely jamming old rock’n’roll songs – and an early McCartney effort, Thinking of Linking – on acoustic guitars and ukuleles; working on the new tracks at Paul McCartney’s home studio with producer Jeff Lynne; and sitting at a mixing desk while George Martin plays them multitrack recordings from the 60s.

Some of the footage is sweet – there’s a lovely moment where Ringo addresses his bandmates with a plaintive “I like hanging out with you guys” – and some of it is oddly telling: you could divine a lot from George Harrison’s visible exasperation as the sessions for Free as a Bird and Real Love drag on. (Off camera, he famously refused to work on a third Lennon demo, Now and Then, deeming it “fucking rubbish”. McCartney and Starr eventually finished the track in 2023, 22 years after Harrison’s death.)

McCartney has a funny story about getting Abbey Road’s recalcitrant engineers to keep working on Beatles sessions past their allotted hours by covertly dosing the studio’s tea urn with amphetamines. It’s nice to see them together and more or less happy, although you can’t miss a certain tension between Harrison and McCartney. When Martin plays the multitrack of the latter’s You Never Give Me Your Money, Harrison suggests it sounds “a bit cheesy”. McCartney is noticeably unamused.

None of it is essential or particularly insightful. Like the Anthology 4 album, it’s been flammed together to suggest added value, that there’s something new to say about a subject that may well have been exhausted.

The Beatles Anthology is on Disney+ now. The album Anthology 4 is out now on Apple Records

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/26/the-beatles-anthology-new-tv-episode-feels-pointless

Beatles Anthology Collection - updated 8 CDs & vinyl albums released 11-21-25

 

4 x 2CD albums in gatefold digisleeves with booklets in slipcase

Release date: 21 November, 2025

The Anthology Collection 8CD set includes the three groundbreaking Anthology albums from the mid-1990s, remastered in 2025 by Giles Martin, plus a new compilation, Anthology 4. Containing 191 tracks, the collection’s studio outtakes, live performances, broadcasts and demos reveal the musical development of The Beatles from 1958 to the final single ‘Now And Then’ released in 2023.

Anthology 4 features 13 previously unreleased tracks and 17 songs selected from Super Deluxe versions of five classic albums. In addition to fascinating outtakes dating from 1963 to 1969, the album includes new 2025 mixes by Jeff Lynne of ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’. Furthermore, Anthology 4 presents 17 tracks that were previously unavailable on CD.

Each 2CD album in the set is housed in a gatefold digisleeve, with a 40+ page booklet featuring the original art, sleevenotes by Mark Lewisohn, and restored photos for Anthology 1-3; Anthology 4 has brand new sleevenotes written by Kevin Howlett alongside photos. The outer slipcase features the original Klaus Voorman triptych art, and a 3/4 O-Card image of the band with track listing.

8CD Tracklist

Anthology 1-3 track listing remains as per original releases.

Anthology 1

CD Disc One:

Free As A Bird (1995 mix)

John Lennon Speech 1

That’ll Be The Day

In Spite Of All The Danger

Paul McCartney Speech 1

Hallelujah, I Love Her So (Home demo)

You’ll Be Mine (Home demo)

Cayenne (Home demo)

Paul McCartney Speech 2

My Bonnie

Ain’t She Sweet

Cry For A Shadow

John Lennon Speech 2

Brian Epstein Speech 1

Searchin’ (Decca audition)

Three Cool Cats (Decca audition)

The Sheik Of Araby (Decca audition)

Like Dreamers Do (Decca audition)

Hello Little Girl (Decca audition)

Brian Epstein Speech 2

Besame Mucho (June 1962 version)

Love Me Do (First version)

How Do You Do It

Please Please Me (First version)

One After 909 (Takes 3, 4 and 5)

One After 909 (Edit of Takes 4 and 5)

Lend Me Your Comb (BBC recording)

I’ll Get You (Sunday Night at the London Palladium)

John Lennon Speech 3

I Saw Her Standing There (Live in Stockholm)

From Me To You (Live in Stockholm)

Money (That’s What I Want) (Live in Stockholm)

You Really Got A Hold On Me (Live in Stockholm)

Roll Over Beethoven (Live in Stockholm)

CD Disc Two:

She Loves You (Royal Variety Performance)

Till There Was You (Royal Variety Performance)

Twist And Shout (Royal Variety Performance)

This Boy (The Morecambe And Wise Show)

I Want To Hold Your Hand (The Morecambe And Wise Show)

Speech From The Morecambe And Wise Show

Moonlight Bay (The Morecambe And Wise Show)

Can’t Buy Me Love (Take 2 with solo from Take 1)

All My Loving (The Ed Sullivan Show)

You Can’t Do That (Take 6)

And I Love Her (Take 2)

A Hard Day’s Night (Take 1)

I Wanna Be Your Man (Around The Beatles)

Long Tall Sally (Around The Beatles)

Boys (Around The Beatles session)

Shout (Around The Beatles)

I’ll Be Back (Take 2)

I’ll Be Back (Take 3)

You Know What To Do (Demo)

No Reply (Demo)

Mr Moonlight (Takes 1 and 4)

Leave My Kitten Alone (Take 5)

No Reply (Take 2)

Eight Days A Week (Takes 1, 2 and 4)

Eight Days A Week (Take 5)

Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey! (Take 2)

Anthology 2

CD Disc One:

Real Love (1996 mix)

Yes It Is (Takes 2 and 14)

I’m Down (Take 1)

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Take 5)

If You’ve Got Trouble (Take 1)

That Means A Lot (Take 1)

Yesterday (Take 1)

It’s Only Love (Takes 3 and 2)

I Feel Fine (Blackpool Night Out)

Ticket To Ride (Blackpool Night Out)

Yesterday (Blackpool Night Out)

Help! (Blackpool Night Out)

Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (Live at Shea Stadium, New York)

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 1)

I’m Looking Through You (Take 1)

12-Bar Original (Take 2 edited)

Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)

Got To Get You Into My Life (Take 5)

And Your Bird Can Sing (Take 2)

Taxman (Take 11)

Eleanor Rigby (Take 14 – Strings only)

I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal)

I’m Only Sleeping (Take 1)

Rock And Roll Music (Live in Tokyo)

She’s A Woman (Live in Tokyo)

CD Disc Two:

Strawberry Fields Forever (Home demo sequence)

Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1)

Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 and edit piece)

Penny Lane (Remix)

A Day In The Life (Takes 1, 2, 6 and orchestra)

Good Morning Good Morning (Take 8)

Only A Northern Song (Takes 3 and 12)

Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (Takes 1 and 2)

Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! (Take 7)

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (Takes 6, 7 and 8)

Within You Without You (Instrumental)

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (Take 5)

You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (Stereo remix)

I Am The Walrus (Take 16)

The Fool On The Hill (Demo)

Your Mother Should Know (Take 27)

The Fool On The Hill (Take 4)

Hello, Goodbye (Take 16)

Lady Madonna (Takes 3 and 4)

Across The Universe (Take 2)

Anthology 3

CD Disc One:

A Beginning

Happiness Is A Warm Gun (Esher demo with false start)

Helter Skelter (Take 2 edited)

Mean Mr Mustard (Esher demo)

Polythene Pam (Esher demo)

Glass Onion (Esher demo)

Junk (Esher demo)

Piggies (Esher demo)

Honey Pie (Esher demo edited)

Don’t Pass Me By (Take 3 with Take 5 vocal)

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (First version - Take 5)

Good Night (Rehearsal and Take 34)

Cry Baby Cry (Take 1)

Blackbird (Take 4)

Sexy Sadie (Take 6)

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Acoustic version - Take 1)

Hey Jude (Take 2)

Not Guilty (Take 102 edited)

Mother Nature’s Son (Take 2)

Glass Onion (Original mono mix)

Rocky Raccoon (Take 8)

What’s The New Mary Jane (Take 4)

Step Inside Love / Los Paranoias (Studio jam)

I’m So Tired (Edit of Takes 3, 6 and 9)

I Will (Take 1)

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road (Take 4)

Julia (Take 2)

CD Disc Two:

I’ve Got A Feeling (Apple Studio)

She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (Apple Studio)

Dig A Pony (Apple Studio)

Two Of Us (Apple Studio)

For You Blue (Apple Studio)

Teddy Boy (Apple Studio)

Medley: Rip It Up / Shake, Rattle And Roll / Blue Suede Shoes (Apple Studio jam)

The Long And Winding Road (Apple Studio)

Oh! Darling (Apple Studio)

All Things Must Pass (Demo)

Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (Apple Studio jam)

Get Back (Third rooftop performance)

Old Brown Shoe (Demo)

Octopus’s Garden (Take 2)

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (Take 5)

Something (Demo)

Come Together (Take 1)

Come and Get It (Demo – 1996 remix)

Ain’t She Sweet (Studio jam)

Because (Vocals only)

Let It Be (Apple Studio)

I Me Mine (Take 16)

The End (Remix with the final chord of A Day In The Life)

Anthology 4

CD Disc One:

I Saw Her Standing There (Take 2)

Money (That’s What I Want) (RM7 undubbed)

This Boy (Takes 12 and 13)

Tell Me Why (Takes 4 and 5)

If I Fell (Take 11)

Matchbox (Take 1)

Every Little Thing (Takes 6 and 7)

I Need You (Take 1)

I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)

In My Life (Take 1)

Nowhere Man (First version – Take 2)

Got To Get You Into My Life (Second version – unnumbered mix)

Love You To (Take 7)

Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26)

She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 – instrumental)

Baby, You’re A Rich Man (Takes 11 and 12)

All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal for BBC broadcast)

The Fool On The Hill (Take 5 – Instrumental)

I Am The Walrus (Take 19 – strings, brass, clarinet overdub)

CD Disc Two:

Hey Bulldog (Take 4 – instrumental)

Good Night (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version – Take 27)

(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Studio jam)

Helter Skelter (Second version – Take 17)

I Will (Take 29)

Can You Take Me Back? (Take 1)

Julia (Two rehearsals)

Get Back (Take 8)

Octopus's Garden (Rehearsal)

Don't Let Me Down (First rooftop performance)

You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36)

Here Comes The Sun (Take 9)

Something (Take 39 – instrumental – strings only)

Free As A Bird (2025 mix)

Real Love (2025 mix)

Now And Then

Source: https://www.thebeatles.com/anthology-music-2025

Beatles A Hard Day's Night - can now watch in color

The Records The Beatles Never Wanted You To Hear

The Beatles on Lazy Tortoise

Companions to the Purple Chick Series, the Lazy Tortoise compilations pick up the non-studio items, such as live, interviews, and home demos. They are very high quality recordings. The albums are sorted by year in the menu. Each album has a BootlegZone link (now no longer active) to contents and artwork when available. Lazy Tortoise discs are fan created and NEVER FOR SALE. More information is available from the Lazy Tortoise website: https://www.webgrafikk.com/beatles1/lt/index.html

LAZY TORTOISE - DISCOGRAPHY:

April to August 1963

October 1963

November 1963

December 1963

From London To Paris 1964

February to April 1964

16 April 1964 to 23 April 1964

25 April 1964 to 26 April 1964

27 April 1964 to 30 May 1964

3 June to 6 June 1964 - Denmark & The Netherlands

7 June to 10 June 1964 Hong Kong

Australia and New Zealand tour diary (4 Discs)

July 1964

France 1965

From Rome to Blackpool

North American Tour Diary August 1965 (8 Discs)

September 1965 to March 1966

March 1966 to June 1966

Germany 1966 (2 Discs)

From Tokyo to London 1966 (2 Discs)

North American Tour Diary 1966 (6 Discs)

September 1966 to February 1967

Interviews 1967 (4 Discs)

October 1967 to March 1968

Interviews 1968 (5 Discs)

The Ballad Of John And Yoko (2 Discs)

12-18 September 1969

More information is available here:

https://archive.org/details/the-beatles-lazy-tortoise-bootlegs

https://ia801406.us.archive.org/6/items/the-beatles-lazy-tortoise-bootlegs/Lazy%20Tortoise%20catalogue/