{"id":82882,"date":"2025-08-21T15:38:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T15:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/82882\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T15:38:07","slug":"the-beatles-announce-new-edition-of-classic-anthology-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/82882\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles Announce New Edition of Classic \u201cAnthology\u201d Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAll together now: the Beatles<\/a>\u2019 classic Anthology documentary is finally getting a long-awaited new edition. The new Anthology is restored, remastered, and expanded\u2014the full story of the Beatles, in the words of John Lennon<\/a>, Paul McCartney<\/a>, George Harrison<\/a>, and Ringo Starr<\/a> themselves. The original eight-episode series was a worldwide sensation when it premiered on TV in November 1995, as were all three companion albums. The lavish book arrived in 2000. The full Anthology phenomenon \u2014 on screen, on record, in print \u2014 is the most comprehensive version of the Beatles\u2019 tale ever told.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new nine-part Anthology will be streaming on Disney+, beginning November 26. It now has a brand-new Episode Nine, featuring unseen footage of the surviving three Beatles working on the original documentary in 1994 and 1995. The music has also been expanded with a new Anthology 4 album, out November 21. Pre-order Now<\/a> <\/p>\n

\n\tApple has restored the documentary with Peter Jackson\u2019s Wingnut Films & Park Road Post teams, along with Giles Martin<\/a>, who has done new mixes of the music. It\u2019s excellent news for fans, since they\u2019ve spent years clamoring for a restored edition. The original doc was a bestseller on home video, but hasn\u2019t been available for streaming. The Beatles Anthology book will get a new 25th Anniversary Edition, out October 14. Pre-order Now<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tGiles Martin has remastered the Anthology albums, but the bombshell is the new Anthology 4, with 36 tracks, including 13 previously unreleased outtakes and demos, on vinyl, CD, and digital audio. It includes never-heard versions of classics like \u201cIn My Life,\u201d \u201cNowhere Man,\u201d \u201cIf I Fell,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ve Just Seen a Face.\u201d There\u2019s also an unreleased rehearsal for the BBC broadcast of \u201cAll You Need Is Love.\u201d Pre-Save and pre-Order Now<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe Nineties Anthology albums had a classic introduction from Derek Taylor, the band\u2019s longtime friend, publicist, and confidant. He famously proclaimed the Beatles \u201cthe twentieth century\u2019s greatest romance.\u201d Beautiful words \u2014 but he had no way of knowing that thirty years later, the world\u2019s romance with the Beatles would be more passionate than ever. Anthology is a key part of how that happened. It became a global event that blew up their popularity to new levels, firing up a whole generation of young fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tAnthology was a radical approach to the story \u2014 no narrator, no talking heads, just the lads themselves, up close and personal, with loads of unseen footage that fans hadn\u2019t even imagined. It follows the whole epic Beatles saga, from their early days in Liverpool to their black-leather nights in Hamburg, through their years of innovation and experimentation, right up to the band\u2019s demise and John Lennon\u2019s death. The surviving Fabs speak their minds more candidly than ever before, as they recall living through the insane global explosion of Beatlemania and their U.S. invasion. As George says, \u201cThey used us as an excuse to go mad, the world did, and then blamed it on us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnthology was a turning point in the Beatles\u2019 afterlife. It proved once and for all that their ever-increasing popularity had nothing to do with nostalgia, but everything to do with how this music spoke to the current moment, as it does thirty years later. It\u2019s full of classic scenes that became a permanent part of Beatles lore, including the emotional moments where all three sit on the grass, strumming and singing together. In one much-loved scene, Paul responds to the long-running debate over whether the White Album was too long. He\u2019s really diplomatic about it. \u201cIt was great!\u201d Paul replies. \u201cIt sold! It\u2019s the bloody Beatles\u2019 White Album! Shut up!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut the albums were as crucial to the Anthology phenomenon as the film. Their legendary producer George Martin did the three double-CD packages, with his teenage son Giles as his apprentice. All three volumes were full of previously unreleased gems from the archives\u2014outtakes, demos, live clips, studio chatter. (\u201cPaul\u2019s broken a glass!\u201d) It was the first time they\u2019d ever opened up the vaults to share some of the treasures that had been sitting unheard all these years.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tCrazy as it seems now, nobody in 1995 was sure if the audience wanted to hear any of this. But the albums became blockbuster hits, shocking the music industry. It turned out people were hungry for more Beatles, far hungrier than the experts had realized \u2014 especially the young fans just discovering this band. The world was in the middle of the Nineties music revolution\u2014modern rock, Britpop, electronica, hip-hop \u2014 with the Beatles more influential than ever. These albums began the series of ace archival projects over the past decade, starting with the pivotal deluxe editions of Sgt. Pepper <\/a>and the White Album<\/a>, as well as films like Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years, Beatles \u201964,<\/a> and Peter Jackson\u2019s Get Back<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Nineties Anthology included a pair of new songs, \u201cFree as a Bird\u201d and \u201cReal Love,\u201d based on John Lennon\u2019s 1970s demos, recorded at home in the Dakota. Paul, George, and Ringo completed them in the studio for Anthology. Both became international hits, despite the major technical limitations of John\u2019s original tapes. But both have been redone by original producer Jeff Lynne, using the \u201cde-mixing\u201d technology pioneered in Jackson\u2019s Get Back<\/a> film and the final Beatles song, \u201cNow and Then.\u201d<\/a> The \u201cFree As a Bird\u201d music video has been restored both visually and sonically. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe complete albums will be available as 12-LP box set on 180-gram vinyl, and an 8-CD box set, from Apple Corps Ltd.\/Capitol\/UMG \u2014 191 tracks in all. They\u2019ll also be released digitally, for both purchase and streaming. The Beatles Store has exclusive editions of both sets, including four 12-inch band-photo art cards in numbered envelopes. The boxes include the original sleeve notes as well as new notes from band scholar Kevin Howlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Anthology book will be issued in a new softcover edition from Apple Corps Ltd.\/Chronicle Books. It has the massive size of a coffee-table book, but it\u2019s considerably more than that \u2014 it\u2019s a landmark of Fabs history in itself. It goes even deeper than the series, with in-depth commentary from all three that didn\u2019t fit into the screen version, as well as fresh interviews conducted specifically for the book. All three surviving Beatles granted access to their private archives, while the Lennon commentary and photos come from all over his public and private archives. The consulting editor was Derek Taylor, who worked on it until his death in 1997. He didn\u2019t live to see it, but he would have loved seeing how \u201cthe twentieth century\u2019s greatest romance\u201d was about to get even hotter in the next century.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the Anthology book, Lennon talks about the childhood dream life that helped inspire \u201cFree As a Bird.\u201d \u201cOne recurrent dream, all through my life, was the flying bit,\u201d he recalled in 1971. \u201cI\u2019d always fly in time of danger. I remember it as a child, flying around, like swimming in the air. I\u2019d be swimming round where I lived or somewhere I knew very well usually. The other times in dreams I remember are nightmarish, where there\u2019d be a giant horse or something and whenever it would get near to a danger point I would fly away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFlight was always a fantasy for him. \u201cSome of my most vivid dreams were about me being in a plane, flying over a certain part of Liverpool. It as when I was at school. The plane used to fly over time and time again, going higher and higher.\u201d What John Lennon and his bandmates did with those dreams transformed the world. That\u2019s the flight they took together \u2014 and that\u2019s the story all four Beatles are telling in Anthology.<\/p>\n

\n\tTrack List:<\/p>\n

\n\tAnthology, VOLUME 4<\/p>\n

\n\tLP ONE:
Side A:
1: \u201cI Saw Her Standing There\u201d (Take 2)
The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963\u00a0\u2013 limited digital release (2013)
2: \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want\u201d) (RM7 undubbed)
The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963\u00a0\u2013 limited digital release (2013)
3: \u201cThis Boy\u201d (Takes 12 and 13)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Free As A Bird\u00a0CD single (currently unavailable)
4: \u201cTell Her Why\u201d (Takes 4 and 5) \u2013 previously unreleased
5: \u201cIf I Fell\u201d (Take 11) \u2013 previously unreleased
6: \u201cMatchbox\u201d (Take 1) \u2013 previously unreleased
7: \u201cEvery Little Thing\u201d (Takes 6 and 7) \u2013 previously unreleased
8: \u201cI Need You\u201d (Take 1) \u2013 previously unreleased<\/p>\n

\n\tSide B:
1: \u201cI\u2019ve Just Seen a Face\u201d (Take 3) \u2013 previously unreleased
2: \u201cIn My Life\u201d (Take 1) \u2013 previously unreleased
3: \u201cNowhere Man\u201d (First Version \u2013 Take 2) \u2013 previously unreleased
4: \u201cGot to Get You Into My Life\u201d (Second Version \u2013\u00a0unnumbered mix)
Revolver\u00a0Special Edition (2022)
5: \u201cLove You Too\u201d (Take 7) Revolver\u00a0Special Edition (2022)
6: \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever\u201d (Take 26)
Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band\u00a0Special Edition (2017)
7: \u201cShe\u2019s Leaving Home\u201d (Take 1 \u2013 Instrumental)
Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band\u00a0Special Edition (2017)<\/p>\n

\n\tLP TWO:
Side A:
1: \u201cBaby, You\u2019re A Rich Man\u201d (Takes 11 and 12) \u2013 previously unreleased
2: \u201cAll You Need Is Love\u201d (Rehearsal for BBC broadcast) \u2013 previously unreleased
3: \u201cThe Fool On the Hill\u201d (Take 5 \u2013 Instrumental) \u2013 previously unreleased
4: \u201cI Am the Walrus\u201d (Take 19 \u2013\u00a0Strings, brass, clarinet overdub) \u2013 previously unreleased<\/p>\n

\n\tSide B:
1: \u201cHey Bulldog\u201d (Take 4 \u2013\u00a0Instrumental) \u2013 previously unreleased
2: \u201cGoodnight\u201d (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)\u00a0
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
3: While My Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d (Third Version \u2013\u00a0Take 27)\u00a0
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
4: \u201c(You\u2019re So Square) Baby I Don\u2019t Care\u201d (Studio Jam)
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
5: \u201cHelter Skelter\u201d (Second Version \u2013 Take 17
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
6: \u201cI Will\u201d (Take 29)
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
7: \u201cCan You Take Me Back\u201d (Take 1)
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)
8: \u201cJulia\u201d (Two Rehearsals)
The Beatles\u00a0(\u2018White Album\u2019) Special Edition (2018)<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tLP THREE:
Side A:
1: \u201cGet Back\u201d (Take 8) Let It Be\u00a0Special Edition (2021)
2: \u201cOctopus\u2019s Garden\u2019s\u201d (Rehearsal)
Let It Be\u00a0Special Edition (2021)
3: \u201cDon\u2019t Let Me Down\u201d (First Rooftop Performance)
Let It Be\u00a0Special Edition (2021)
4: \u201cYou Never Give Me Your Money\u201d (Take 36)
Abbey Road\u00a0Special Edition (2019)
5: \u201cHere Comes the Sun\u201d(Take 9)
Abbey Road\u00a0Special Edition (2019)
6: \u201cSomething\u201d (Take 39 \u2013\u00a0Instrumental \u2013 strings only)<\/p>\n

\n\tAbbey Road\u00a0Special Edition (2019)
Side B:
1: \u201cFree As A Bird\u201d (2025 Mix) \u2013\u00a0new mix
2: \u201cReal Love\u201d (2025 Mix) \u2013\u00a0new mix
3: \u201cNow and Then\u201d \u2013 2023 Single\u00a0+ The Beatles 1966-1970\u00a0(\u2018Blue Album\u2019) (2023)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All together now: the Beatles\u2019 classic Anthology documentary is finally getting a long-awaited new edition. The new Anthology…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[41927,96,26940,41928,25396,128,6470,24566,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-82882","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-beatles","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-george-harrison","11":"tag-giles-martin","12":"tag-john-lennon","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-paul-mccartney","15":"tag-ringo-starr","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}