Anthology 1 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in November 1995. It was released as the first part of the Anthology 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", billed as the first new Beatles song in 25 years. The album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and was certified 8x Platinum by the RIAA. The Anthology albums were made available on the iTunes Store on 14 June 2011.

Content[link]

Anthology 1 features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the period 1958–1964, including their days as "The Quarrymen", through the Decca audition to sessions for the album Beatles for Sale. It is of historical interest for the only official release of performances with Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best during the time they were in the band. Sutcliffe, the band's original bass player during 1960 and sporadically during their second Hamburg season, is featured on the disc one tracks "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", "You'll Be Mine" and "Cayenne". Best, who was the band's drummer from just prior to their first departure for Hamburg in August 1960 until 15 August 1962, is featured 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 LP 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. Disc one 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, after Ringo Starr replaced Best, would be re-recorded by the group four months later for their first single. Disc one track 23 features EMI session drummer Andy White in place of Starr.

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 flashpoint 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 Lennon. Produced by Harrison's Traveling Wilburys band-mate 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.

Album cover[link]

The cover of Anthology 1 is the first third of the Anthology collage made by Klaus Voormann. 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 missing piece was subsequently used on the cover of Best's Haymans Green album in 2008.

Reception[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The album was a large success throughout the world. It was the first Beatles album to officially enter the Billboard 200 album chart straight at number 1 with 855,473 copies sold, making 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 #2 behind Mariah Carey's Daydream. In the following week, the album fell to #3 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 inside the Billboard 200, reached cumulative sales of 3,639,000 scans as of April 2001. In the UK, reaction was similar, but the album only reached #2, behind Robson & Jerome's eponymous album. In Australia, the album spent two weeks at #1 in December 1995.

Track listing[link]

All tracks in stereo and written by Lennon–McCartney except where noted.

Disc one

1. "Free as a Bird" (Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey) – 4:25
   • Lennon demo recorded at The Dakota, New York City, 1977; The Beatles version recorded at The Mill Studio, Sussex, England, February–March 1994^{[citation needed]}
2. "We were four guys ... that's all" (Lennon speaking to Jann Wenner) – 0:12
3. "That'll Be the Day" [Mono] (Allison-Holly-Petty) – 2:08
4. "In Spite of All the Danger" [Mono] (McCartney-Harrison) – 2:45
   • Tracks 3–4 recorded by The Quarrymen at Phillips' Sound Recording Services, Liverpool, England, 12 July 1958
5. "Sometimes I'd borrow ... those still exist" (McCartney speaking to Mark Lewisohn) – 0:18
6. "Hallelujah, I Love Her So" [Mono] (Charles) – 1:13
7. "You'll Be Mine" [Mono] – 1:39
8. "Cayenne" [Mono] (McCartney) – 1:14
   • Tracks 6–8 recorded at McCartney's house in Liverpool, late summer or spring 1960
9. "First of all ... it didn't do a thing here" (McCartney speaking to Malcom Threadgill) – 0:07
10. "My Bonnie" (traditional, arranged by Tony Sheridan) – 2:42
11. "Ain't She Sweet" (Ager-Yellen) – 2:13
12. "Cry for a Shadow" (Lennon-Harrison) – 2:22
    • Tracks 10–12 recorded at Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Hamburg, Germany, 22 June 1961
13. "Brian was a beautiful guy ... he presented us well" (Lennon speaking to David Wigg) – 0:10
14. "I secured them ... a Beatle drink even then" (Brian Epstein from A Cellarful of Noise) – 0:18
15. "Searchin'" [Mono] (Leiber-Stoller) – 3:00
16. "Three Cool Cats" [Mono] (Leiber-Stoller) – 2:25
17. "The Sheik of Araby" [Mono] (Smith-Wheeler-Snyder) – 1:43
18. "Like Dreamers Do" [Mono] – 2:36
19. "Hello Little Girl" [Mono] – 1:40
    • Tracks 15–19 recorded at Decca Studios, London, England, 1 January 1962, in audition for Decca Records
20. "Well, the recording test ... by my artists" (Epstein from A Cellarful of Noise) – 0:32
21. "Bésame Mucho" [Mono] (Velázquez-Skylar) – 2:37
22. "Love Me Do" [Mono] – 2:32
    • Tracks 21–22 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 6 June 1962
23. "How Do You Do It" [Mono] (Murray) – 1:57
    • Recorded at EMI Studios, London, 4 September 1962
24. "Please Please Me" [Mono] – 1:59
    • Recorded at EMI Studios, London, 11 September 1962
25. "One After 909" (Sequence) [Mono] – 2:23
26. "One After 909" (Complete) [Mono] – 2:56
    • Tracks 25–26 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 5 March 1963
27. "Lend Me Your Comb" [Mono] (Twomey-Wise-Weisman) – 1:50
    • Recorded live at BBC Maida Vale Studios, London, 2 July 1963, for the Pop Go The Beatles radio broadcast
28. "I'll Get You" [Mono] – 2:08
    • Recorded live on Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium, London, 13 October 1963
29. "We were performers ... in Britain" (Lennon speaking to Jann Wenner) – 0:12
30. "I Saw Her Standing There" [Mono] – 2:49
31. "From Me to You" [Mono] – 2:05
32. "Money (That's What I Want)" [Mono] (Gordy-Bradford) – 2:52
33. "You Really Got a Hold on Me" [Mono] (Robinson) – 2:58
34. "Roll Over Beethoven" [Mono] (Berry) – 2:22
    • Tracks 30–34 recorded live at the Karlaplansstudion, Stockholm, Sweden, 24 October 1963, for the Popgrupp från Liverpool på besök i Stockholm (English: Pop Group from Liverpool Visiting Stockholm) radio broadcast

Disc two

1. "She Loves You" [Mono] – 2:50
2. "Till There Was You" [Mono] (Willson) – 2:54
3. "Twist and Shout" [Mono] (Russell-Medley) – 3:05
   • Tracks 1–3 recorded live at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 4 November 1963, for the Royal Variety Performance
4. "This Boy" [Mono] – 2:22
5. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" [Mono] – 2:37
6. "Boys, what I was thinking..." (Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise speaking to The Beatles) – 2:06
7. "Moonlight Bay" [Mono] (Madden-Wenrich) – 0:50
   • Tracks 4–7 recorded live at ATV Studios, London, 2 December 1963, for The Morecambe and Wise Show
8. "Can't Buy Me Love" (Takes 1 & 2) – 2:10
   • Recorded at Pathé Marconi Studio, Paris, France, 29 January 1964
9. "All My Loving" [Mono] – 2:19
   • Recorded live at CBS Television Studio, New York City, United States, 9 February 1964, for The Ed Sullivan Show (includes Sullivan's introduction)
10. "You Can't Do That" (Take 6) – 2:42
11. "And I Love Her" (Take 2) – 1:52
    • Tracks 10–11 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 25 February 1964
12. "A Hard Day's Night" (Take 1) – 2:44
    • Recorded at EMI Studios, London, 16 April 1964
13. "I Wanna Be Your Man" – 1:48
14. "Long Tall Sally" (Johnson-Penniman-Blackwell) – 1:45
15. "Boys" (Dixon-Farrell) – 1:50
16. "Shout" (Isley-Isley-Isley) – 1:31
    • Tracks 13–16 recorded live at IBC Studios, London, 19 April 1964, for the Around The Beatles television broadcast
17. "I'll Be Back" (Take 2) – 1:13
18. "I'll Be Back" (Take 3) – 1:58
    • Tracks 17–18 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 1 June 1964
19. "You Know What to Do" (Demo) (Harrison) – 1:59
20. "No Reply" (Demo) – 1:46
    • Tracks 19–20 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 3 June 1964
21. "Mr. Moonlight" (Takes 1 & 4) (Johnson) – 2:47
22. "Leave My Kitten Alone" (Take 5) (John-Turner-McDougal) – 2:57
    • Tracks 21–22 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 14 August 1964
23. "No Reply" (Take 2) – 2:29
    • Recorded at EMI Studios, London, 30 September 1964
24. "Eight Days a Week" (Sequence) – 1:25
25. "Eight Days a Week" (Complete) – 2:48
    • Tracks 24–25 recorded at EMI Studios, London, 6 October 1964
26. "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" (Take 2) (Leiber-Stoller/Penniman) – 2:44
    • Recorded at EMI Studios, London, 18 October 1964

Chart positions and certifications[link]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Anthology 1 at Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages