"Whatever happened to the life that we once knew?"

As others has pointed out, the 3 volumed Beatles Anthology sets didn't include all they could have (particularly the 1st 2 volumes). Since there are 3 tracks not on any of the Anthology CD's, this is worth collecting (it's too bad this and the Real Love CD were discontinued in the USA).

The "new" Beatles song actually evolved from a 1977 John Lennon demo and the other 3 added their musical contributions onto it. There is a demo of "I Saw Her Standing There" (the entire 9th take). There are 2 takes of "This Boy," which feature John and Paul giggling during vocal snafu's! Finally, there is the complete musical version of the Beatles' "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)," taken from their 1967 Christmas record (with individual Christmas greetings from Paul, John, George and Ringo from the previous year). George Martin plays "Auld Lang Syne" on the organ as John recites a Christmas poem.

Included on the cover is John Lennon's unique artwork.

Excellent CD single

In 1995 and 1996, The Beatles Anthology set was released. This was a six disc set (three volumes of two discs), and it featured a plethora of rare tracks. Among the tracks on the sets were two old John Lennon demos which the remaining members of the band got together to finish - Free as a Bird and Real Love. Read on for my review of the former single.

The title track here is John Lennon as you knew and loved him. It's just a shame this little rarity didn't surface earlier! But, the surviving band members' new touches to the song make it nothing short of excellent. Furthermore, the single includes some rare B-Sides! First and foremost, you get early demos of the classics I Saw Her Standing There and This Boy. But the biggest rarity of all is the final track - Christmas Time (Is Here Again.) It's simply insulting that these tracks weren't included in the actual Anthology, because they are great!

The Free as a Bird and Real Love singles have been discontinued in America, but if you're a Beatle maniac, I recommend hunting them down, as the rare tracks make them a worthwhile purchase.

The "new" Beatles song and three more unreleased tracks

So, you thought that the remaining Beatles and producer George Martin cleaned out the vaults when they put together the alternative tracks for the three volume mulit-disc "Anthology" retrospective. Of course not. "Anthology" was filled with alternative tracks and false starts, which is why the chief attraction of this CD-Single is not the "new" Beatles single, "Free as a Bird," which opened up volume 1 of the "Anthology," but the three additional unreleased tracks. "Free as a Bird" was put together by taking a demo track recorded by John Lennon in 1977 and adding additional vocals and instrumentation by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. It is basically an okay song; Paul McCartney gave away better songs to Peter & Gordon during the Sixties. The other tracks are Take 9 of "I Saw Her Standing There," two incomplete takes of "This Boy," and a newly edited version of the fan club-only seasonal song "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)." I am much more interested in the alternate takes, mainly because they put me in a better position to appreciate Martin's skills as a producer in picking tracks and putting hit together. Worthwhile for the Beatles fan who still has their John, Paul, George, and Ringo dolls and who knows what else from the period of Beatlemania.