January 12, 2026

Beatles – The Alternate Abbey Road

Demos and outtakes from recording sessions from The Beatles are, like with Bob Dylan, very easy to find. Officially released through the Anthology series and found elsewhere, on bootlegs like The Alternate Abbey Road, there is plenty to listen through from the Fab Four. Much of it is more for the fan who wants to know more about how the group dynamic worked, rather than for general enjoyment. The Alternate Abbey Road is a chance to hear out those alternatives in bootleg quality. There are moments from the studio which will never receive an official release. It’s not because of the tape quality, just listen to the first few tracks of Anthology 1, but because of what is deemed of interest to fans by the studio. Giles Martin and Jeff Lynne did a superb job with the Anthology package upgrade, but The Alternate Abbey Road has real depths to it.  





An early version of Something and an alternate take of Oh! Darling will be enough for some. Others will find themselves pulled in by the earlier versions of Octopus’s Garden and the medley section. Alternate takes are what-if scenarios which happened, and rare is it that one is better than the finished version. But there are some interesting moments here. For those interested in hearing how these all-time greats came together, you can hear seconds of brilliance. Something has George Harrison humming his way through the song, trying to work out the little nuances that would make the song one of The Beatles’ very best. It’s an interesting moment, to say the least. That’s what you can get from The Alternate Abbey Road. It’s not a full-blown listening experience, nor something to return to for general enjoyment like Abbey Road itself. But it does give some valuable insight into that brilliant Beatles dynamic. 

Most of these are just snippets with chatter in the background. But this is a great example of how The Beatles’ most dedicated fans would get to grips with studio nuance pre-Get Back and Peter Jackson. Unpacking the smaller moments which feature on Sun King, for instance, that’s what is highlighted so well here. Much of it will be of interest to those who want to hear how the songs were developed instrumentally, that’s the main focus here. Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight sound near enough completion, while the two versions of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, one with John Lennon on vocals, are great examples of what could have been. They’re in good enough quality here, too, to return to.  


Not all of it is, but that’s because these are not the versions which are meant for public consumption. Whether they’re thrown together on a compilation officially released by the band later down the line is unknowable, but it doesn’t look likely. A fascinating bootleg for those who want to hear even more from sessions which inspired one of the all-time great albums. You could say that about just any bootleg piece from The Beatles, to be fair. But The Alternate Abbey Road is a strong assembly of songs without a place to put elsewhere. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window with Lennon on lead vocals is a strong one, moments of fun and thrilling examples of what The Beatles were getting up to when pushing Abbey Road through. Some essential songs with wildly different versions and a few new instrumental inclusions. Well worth a listen for those wanting to know how these songs developed in such a short stretch of time. 





Several bootlegs titled The Alternate Abbey Road have been released by different labels and containing different tracks.

Track Listing- Walrus Records release (1987):

  1.     Come Together (take 1)
  2.     Something (take 37 reduction mix)
  3.     Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (take 21)
  4.     Oh! Darling (unknown take)
  5.     Octopus’s Garden (take 32)
  6.     I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (original release in fake mono)
  7.     Here Comes The Sun (original release in fake mono)
  8.     Because (take 16)
  9.     You Never Give Me Your Money (take 30 with extended jam)
  10.     Sun King (take 35)
  11.     Mean Mr. Mustard (take 35)
  12.     Polythene Pam (take 40)
  13.     She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (take 40)
  14.     Golden Slumbers (take 13)
  15.     Carry That Weight (take 13)
  16.     The End (take 7)
  17.     Her Majesty (take 3)
  18.     Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (take 5)
  19.     Octopus’s Garden (take 2)
  20.     Come And Get It (demo featured on Anthology 3)
  21.     Ain’t She Sweet (Let It Be jam featured on Anthology 3)
  22.     Something (demo)
  23.     Old Brown Shoe (demo)
  24.     All Things Must Pass (demo)
  25.     The End (take 7 featured on Anthology 3)

    Source: https://cultfollowing.co.uk/2026/01/10/the-beatles-the-alternate-abbey-road-review/

Detailed Description:
THE BEATLES "The Alternate Abbey Road"
Mini LP CD Japanese 2011

The inserts include:
· Glossy sleeve;
· CD;
· Inner envelopes with rounded corners;
· Bilingual album info sheet;
· OBI Strip.
The whole CD comes in factory sealed.

Detailed Tracklist:

  1. Come Together (3:44, One To One Rehearsal 1972, Lennon Solo Version) /
  2. Something (5:26, Take 37 - same version as released take before overdubbing took place, with two minute instrumental jam at the end) /
  3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer (3:37, Take 21, piano notes at the beginning, different vocals, no synthesizer and guitar overdubs) /
  4. Oh! Darling (3:20, Early Version, alternate lead vocal) /
  5. Octopus's Garden (2:45, Take 32, rough mix, no sound effects; different vocal from Ringo) /
  6. I Want You (She's So Heavy) (4:31, Experimental Take, Acetate, sung by Paul) /
  7. Here Comes The Sun (3:09, TV, November 18, 1976, George Harrison & Paul Simon on acoustic guitar live at the Saturday Night Live Show) /
  8. Because (2:12, Alternate Mix, isolated vocal for the first minute of the song; made for the 1983 Abbey Road Video Show) /
  9. You Never Give Me Your Money (5:42, Unreleased Alternate Take, with instrumental jam at the end, different vocals and instrumentation, extra guitar) /
  10. Sun King (2:28, Alternate Mix, starts with organ note, no sound effects) /
  11. Mean Mr. Mustard (1:07, Alternate Version, different ending) /
  12. Her Majesty (0:20) / Polythene Pam (1:19, Alternate Version, different beginning) /
  13. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (1:50) / Medley: Golden Slumbers (Early Take, very different vocals, no chorus, no strings, more piano) -
  14. Carry That Weight (Early Take, very different vocals, no chorus, no strings, more piano) (3:08) /
  15. The End (0:33, Alternate Mix, From the Anthology video) /
  16. Something (3:20, Alternate Version, Acetate, the same recording as used for Anthology, in an earlier stage. Lasts a few seconds longer) /
  17. Oh! Darling (2:10, Alternate Version, vocal booth) /
  18. Because (2:14, Alternate Version, just beautiful vocal harmony vocals of John, Paul and George. Recorded 3 times to get magnificent vocal harmonies. During the breaks you can hear a guide electric guitar coming in from the headphones. For Anthology this was cleaned up) /
  19. A Huge Melody (Part 1): You Never Give Me Your Money - Sun King - Mean Mr. Mustard - Her Majesty - Polythene Pam - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (10:56, Alternate Versions, different fades between the songs) /
  20. A Huge Melody (Part 2): Golden Slumbers - Carry That Weight - The End (5:03, Alternate Versions, rough medley, no strings and overdubs, different instrumentation. "The End" is completely instrumental) /
  21. Her Majesty (0:23, Alternate Version, complete, includes the final guitar chord) /
  22. Abbey Road Medley (1:58) / The End Of The Beatles (1:23, Includes an instrumental version of "Because", comments by John, Paul, George and Ringo)

    This version appeared on the Pear Label: below


There is a recent alternate version below from 2023.









More information is available at the Internet Archive at:
https://archive.org/details/that-magic-feeling-the-alternate-abbey-road-remix





Posted by at