The Beatles Anthology 3 - Disc One
Author: Marvin J Markus


I enjoy every era of The Beatles career but my very
favorite Beatles album is The White and that may be why my
favorite disc of The Beatles Anthology series is disc one
of Anthology 3. Many of the songs on disc one of Anthology
3 are from The White Album.

This article takes a track by track look at each of the 27
tracks on disc one.

1. "A Beginning" - This orchestral piece composed by The
Beatles producer George Martin was originally meant as an
intro for the Ringo sung (and Ringo written) "Don't Pass Me
By" on The White Album. I'm not a huge fan of this track
but it works reasonably well as an introduction to
Anthology 3.

2. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" - This is a very basic demo
version of one of my favorite songs on The White Album.
It's fascinating to me to hear such a stripped down basic
early version of this song. It's interesting to me as a way
of looking into John Lennon's creative process.

3. "Helter Skelter" - A very different version from the one
well known on The White Album. Very slow like a death
march. In some ways I think it's even more intense than the
final version. Although I do think they made the right
choice in going with the faster version.

4. "Mean Mr. Mustard" - A very cool home demo made by John
Lennon. As it's such a simple song anyway this is pretty
close to the final version. Note "sister Shelley."

5. "Polythene Pam" - Another home demo. I like hearing
these early simple versions of these songs.

6. "Glass Onion" - Includes some bizarre gibberish from
John Lennon.

7. "Junk" - This song wasn't ever released as a Beatles
song. It wasn't released until Paul McCartney put it on his
debut solo album in 1970. I like this version of this song
a lot. It has a simple beauty.

8. "Piggies" - Pork Chops!

9. "Honey Pie" - The Beatles take on music hall style music.

10. "Don't Pass Me By" - Definitely not one of The Beatles
best moments but it's enjoyable enough. Even on The Beatles
not so great songs there's usually some cool bits hidden in
there. I like the drumming on this one.

11. "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da" - This has a strange sort of sound
in comparison to the version people are most familiar with
from The White Album. It's hard to pinpoint what exactly
makes it sound strange. I always notice the missing "ring"
& "foot" backing vocals.

12. "Good Night" - Another not so great moment. Sorry
Ringo! Although I think this one is more John Lennon's
fault (he wrote it.) This is one of the few Beatles songs
that has never really grown on me.

13. "Cry Baby Cry" - Excellent. Not as good as the version
on The White Album but still very good and there's some
neat bass sounds on this one we don't hear on the final
version.

14. "Blackbird" - Great song of course.

15. "Sexy Sadie" - I like this version a lot. It may be on
par with The White Album version.

16. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - This is one of the
highlights of Anthology 3. While I definitely prefer the
heavier version on The White Album what I like about this
is getting to hear such a different vision of this song.

17. "Hey Jude" - Cool version. I kind of like that the
"nanana" doesn't go on forever like on the official version.

18. "Not Guilty" - This song wasn't released on a Beatles
album. In fact it wasn't released at all until George
Harrison put it on his self titled album in 1979. I dig the
guitar sounds on the outro a lot.

19. "Mother Nature's Son" - Nice.

20. "Glass Onion" - Cool version of a great song.

21. "Rocky Raccoon" - I've always enjoyed this alternate
version of this fun song. The flubbed lyrics make it all
that much more enjoyable.

22. "What's The New Mary Jane" - This song is absolutely
insane which is why I love it. It was never released
officially until Anthology 3.

23. "Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias" - "Step Inside Love"
is a song that McCartney wrote for another singer (Cilla
Black.) It's very groovy to hear McCartney sing this song
and I've always got a kick out of the silliness that is
"Los Paranoias."

24. "I'm So Tired" - Another one of my favorites on The
White Album (I have a lot of favorites.)

25. "I Will" - Yup, here's another one.

26. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" - I love hearing
McCartney go crazy with the vocals. This may be the best
example of him going all over the place vocally.

27. "Julia" - A beautiful song and a great way to close out
disc one just as it closes out disc one of The White Album.


About the Author:

Marvin J. Markus recommends reading more about The Beatles
at http://www.MusicByDay.com