Length 127:54 Artist The Beatles Label Apple Records | Anthology 2
(1996) Anthology 3
(1996) Release date 18 March 1996 Genres Rock music, Pop music | |
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Released 18 March 1996 (1996-03-18) Recorded 16 February 1965 – 30 April 1969; c. 1979 & February 1995 Producer George Martin, Jeff Lynne, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr ("Real Love") Similar The Beatles albums, Rock music albums | ||
Anthology 2 is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of The Beatles Anthology series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for Help! to the sessions just prior to their trip to India in February 1968. It is the second in a trilogy of albums with Anthology 1 and Anthology 3, all of which tie in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that reunited the Beatles for the first time since the band's break-up. Like its predecessor, the album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA.
Contents
The Anthology albums were remastered and made available digitally on the iTunes Store on 14 June 2011, individually and as part of the Anthology Box Set.
Content
"Real Love", as with "Free as a Bird", is based on a demo made by John Lennon and given to Paul McCartney by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. The three surviving Beatles (McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) added guitars, bass, drums, percussion and backing vocals, but unlike with the previous song, did not re-work the lyrics or music. "Real Love" remained solely credited to Lennon, becoming the only Beatles song to have Lennon by himself in the writing credit.
Disc one contains three unreleased compositions, one being an instrumental entitled "12-Bar Original", recorded for Rubber Soul but subsequently unused. Two other songs recorded for Help!, "If You've Got Trouble" and "That Means a Lot", were abandoned and never returned to again by the band. The former was originally slated to be the usual vocal spot for Ringo Starr on Help!, and the latter was eventually given to singer P.J. Proby. The version of "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" from the group's famed August 1965 show at Shea Stadium but left out of the documentary about the show appears for the first time.
Disc two contains work-in-progress versions of tracks from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour. The take of "Strawberry Fields Forever" that made up the first minute of the released record appears in its entirety on track three. Also included are three songs that were started during this period – "Only a Northern Song", "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" and "Across the Universe" – but would not see release until years later, in 1969 and 1970.
One track that remains officially unreleased from this time, "Carnival of Light", was vetoed off this set by Harrison.
Reception
Like its predecessor, Anthology 2 sold well. In the United States, it debuted at number one, selling 442,000 copies its first week. The next week, it fell to number two, selling 201,000 copies, being replaced by Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill. The album spent two more weeks on the top 10, at number four then number eight, remaining on the Billboard 200 for 22 consecutive weeks and then re-entering the charts twice, marking a number 96 reach during the Christmas season of 1996. In all, the album spent 37 weeks on the charts (eight more than Anthology 1) and sold 1,707,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, the success was similar. The first Anthology album had debuted at number two when it was released in November 1995, but its successor reached number one, where it remained for one week. The album spent a total of 13 weeks on the UK Album Chart.
CD release
All tracks in stereo, except where noted.
All tracks written by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.
Songs
Real Love
Yes It Is1:50
I’m Down2:53