30 OF THE MOST INTERESTING UNRELEASED
BEATLES RECORDINGS
Here's a list, in
roughly chronological order, of 30 of the most
interesting tracks covered in the book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film,
selected with an eye to representing all eras of the group, and also
all of the kinds of recordings (studio outtakes, rehearsals, BBC
sessions, home tapes, concerts, demos) documented in the volume:
1. Love of the Loved: From
their January 1, 1962 audition for Decca Records. Paul takes lead
vocals on a Lennon-McCartney song that the Beatles never released,
though it was covered by their friend Cilla Black on her debut single
in 1963.
2. I Saw Her Standing There:
From a private rehearsal in the Cavern Club in Liverpool, late 1962.
Paul and John still aren't certain of all the words, and John's playing
harmonica, an idea that was dropped from the final arrangement.
3. Beautiful Dreamer: From BBC
session, January 22, 1963. Paul takes lead vocals on this heavily
rocked-up reinvention of the Stephen Foster standard, one of five
covers the Beatles did on the BBC that have still not been officially
released in any form by the group.
4. Bad to Me: Demo acetate
from mid-1963. Drum-less demo of a Lennon-McCartney song the Beatles
never released, though it was covered for a hit single by their friend
Billy J. Kramer.
5. Roll Over Beethoven: From
BBC session, June 24, 1963. A much hotter version than the one chosen
for official release on Live at the
BBC, with a guitar solo twice as long as the one on the Beatles'
studio recording of the song, and bass that's better recorded than it
often was on their official EMI tracks. An illustration of how even
songs the Beatles did numerous times live on the BBC and in concert
could vary in different performances.
6. Lucille: From BBC session,
September 3, 1963. A different version of this Little Richard classic
than the one chosen for Live at the
BBC, with a better, tremolo-laden George Harrison guitar solo.
7. Sure to Fall (In Love With You):
From BBC session, March 31, 1964. Another take superior to the one
chosen for Live at the BBC,
this arrangement of a Carl Perkins song unexpectedly goes into
double-time for the bridge, unlike the one available on official
release.
8. If I Fell: A John Lennon
composing tape from early 1964, with only his voice and acoustic
guitar. He's singing the song too high for his range, but puts in a
wavering vocal line very close to the one linking some of the verses of
"Imagine" seven years later.
9. A Hard Day's Night: Take 4
from their April 16, 1964 EMI session, introduced by an oceanic crash
of a reverbed guitar chord, and with some of the most abominable George
Harrison guitar soloing ever caught on tape.
10. I'm Happy Just to Dance with You:
From BBC session, July 17, 1964. The only non-EMI version of this song
to have circulated, with a most amusing lyric slip-up where George
sings "if somebody tries to take your place, let's pretend we
just can't see his face."
11. If I Fell: Live at
Convention Hall, Philadelphia, September 2, 1964. A good example both
of how the Beatles had trouble hearing themselves on stage at the
height of Beatlemania, and how they didn't get ruffled by it, having
fun with their goofs and making the energy work for rather than against
them.
12. What You're Doing: Take
11, September 30, 1964. Considerably different from the official
version, with noticeably more electric 12-string guitar and a jump to a
higher key for the instrumental break.
13. I'm a Loser: From BBC
session, May 26, 1965. Their final BBC session, with John twisting a
key lyric into "beneath this wig, I am wearing a tie."
14. That Means a Lot: Take 24
and "test" take, March 30, 1965. Entirely different from the take
chosen for Anthology 2 of this Help!
outtake, with a much faster pop-rock arrangement, comically breaking
down as the Beatles give up on trying to get a releasable version.
15. Norwegian Wood: Take 2,
October 21, 1965. Different than the alternate take chosen for Anthology 2; much closer to the
final version, but still with a far heavier waltzing beat and different
sitar licks.
16. We Can Work It Out: Paul
McCartney composing tape, just his voice and acoustic guitar, from
circa fall 1965, unfortunately cutting off after 45 seconds.
17. She Said, She Said: John
Lennon composing tape, early 1966, just his voice and acoustic guitar.
Different lyrics at this point, including "I said, who put all that
crap in your head...and you're making me feel like my trousers are
torn!"
18. Long Tall Sally: The very
last song the Beatles played at their final official concert,
Candlestick Park, San Francisco, August 29, 1966. Unfortunately it cuts
off after less than a minute as the cassette being used by Beatles
publicist Tony Barrow to record the show as a private souvenir for Paul
McCartney ran out.
19. Strawberry Fields Forever:
One of several acoustic-guitar-and-voice home demo versions John did of
this classic in fall 1966, before entering the studio to record it with
the Beatles.
20. Flying: An alternate mix
of this Magical Mystery Tour
instrumental, from September 8, 1967, that not only has high-pitched
slide whistles not heard on the official release, but glides into an
entirely different cabaret-ish Dixieland jazz ending.
21. Back in the U.S.S.R.: From
the demos recorded shortly before The
White Album at George's house, late May 1968. Like all of those
tracks, this has a much more informal, acoustic feel than the studio
version, with some small differences in the lyrics.
22. I'm Just a Child of Nature:
From the demos recorded shortly before The White Album at George's house,
late May 1968. The Beatles never released a version of this song,
though John reworked the lyrics and used it as the basis for "Jealous
Guy" on his 1971 Imagine album.
23. Revolution: From the demos
recorded shortly before The White
Album at George's house, late May 1968. This has a much more
acoustic, happier singalong feel than either of the studio versions the
Beatles recorded of this song.
24. I'm So Tired: From the Get
Back/Let It Be sessions, January 3, 1969. Recorded after the official White Album version, this features
Paul as the lead singer instead of John.
25. Get Back: From the Get
Back/Let It Be sessions, January 10, 1969. One of several early
versions that features John as the lead singer instead of Paul.
26. Besame Mucho: From the Get
Back/Let It Be sessions, January 29, 1969. The Beatles clowning around
on a song that they'd played at both their Decca and EMI auditions in
1962, with exaggerated Ricky Ricardo-like lead vocals from Paul.
27. Let It Be: From the Get Back/Let It Be sessions,
January 26, 1969. An alternate version with a more pronounced
gospel-like organ than the famous hit single, included on the first
acetate of Get Back mixes,
which in turn formed the basis of the first widely bootlegged Beatles
album in late 1969.
28. Something: Take 37, July
11, 1969. No violins on this version, which has a strange ominous
two-and-a-half-minute instrumental coda—described in the book as "the
soundtrack for [the Beatles'] slow, inevitable march to their own
funeral"—that got lopped off the Abbey
Road arrangement.
29. Oh Yoko: Recorded in John
and Yoko's hotel room between May 26 and June 2, 1969, during their
Bed-In for Peace in Montreal. John's on lead vocal, Yoko on background
harmonies, and there's no instrumentation but acoustic guitar on this
early, spirited version of one of the highlights of Lennon's 1971 Imagine album.
30. Nowhere to Go: From George
Harrison's demos for All Things Must
Pass, circa late May 1970. George accompanies himself with
nothing but his own voice and electric guitar on this melancholy song,
never released on an official album in any form.
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