Anthology 3 | 
| Artist: The Beatles
Label: Capitol
Category: Music
List Price: $34.98
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Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 3312
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 1
MPN: 34451
UPC: 724383445127
EAN: 0724383445127
ASIN: B000002TZ2
Publication Date: 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Beginning | | • | Happiness Is a Warm Gun | | • | Helter Skelter | | • | Mean Mr. Mustard [Take] | | • | Polythene Pam | | • | Glass Onion [Version] | | • | Junk [Take] | | • | Piggies | | • | Honey Pie | | • | Don't Pass Me By | | • | Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da | | • | Good Night [Version] | | • | Cry Baby Cry [Version] | | • | Blackbird | | • | Sexy Sadie | | • | While My Guitar Gently Weeps | | • | Hey Jude | | • | Not Guilty | | • | Mother Nature's Son [Take] | | • | Glass Onion [Version] | | • | Rocky Raccoon [Take] | | • | What's the New Mary Jane? | | • | Step Inside Love | | • | I'm So Tired | | • | I Will | | • | Why Don't We Do It in the Road? [Version] | | • | Julia [Take] |
Disc 2
| • | I've Got a Feeling [Version] | | • | She Came in Through the Bathroom Window | | • | Dig a Pony [Version] | | • | Two of Us [Take] | | • | For You Blue | | • | Teddy Boy | | • | Medley: Rip it up/Shake, Rattle and Roll/Blue Suede Shoes | | • | Long and Winding Road | | • | Oh! Darling [Take] | | • | All Things Must Pass | | • | Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues | | • | Get Back | | • | Old Brown Shoe | | • | Octopus's Garden | | • | Maxwell's Silver Hammer [Take] | | • | Something | | • | Come Together [Version] | | • | Come and Get It | | • | Ain't She Sweet | | • | Because [Version] | | • | Let It Be | | • | I Me Mine | | • | End |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
From the White Album to the end, the last days of the Beatles weren't smooth, which made the fact that they still produced some astonishing music all the more remarkable. In abbreviated form, "What's the New Mary Jane" is finally issued here, and proves underwhelming. For the rest of the set, it's largely down to outtakes and demos, but this time there isn't the same insight of the previous two volumes. Anthology 3 comes dangerously close to the sound of barrels being scraped. That said, it's the Beatles, and in whatever form, the music still shines brilliantly. --Chris Nickson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 102 more reviews...
 A Great Coda on the Legacy of the Beatles October 19, 2001
the dirty mac (Nutopian Global Institute)
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
Far from "scraping the bottom of the barrel," as some would have it, this third and final installment of the ANTHOLOGY CDs is clearly the most essential. Anthology 3 fills in the more gaping holes in Beatle lore. Not only should it be required listening for Beatle fans, there is plenty that will appeal to casual listeners too -- in contrast to the first two Anthologies.
There appears to be some confusion regarding this album's purpose. This is NOT a greatest hits collection. Rather, these are two CDs of outtakes from the WHITE ALBUM, GET BACK/LET IT BE and ABBEY ROAD sessions. Most of these recordings were much discussed but seldom heard over the years. A few had been unofficially released in the late 1980s and early '90s as part of the ULTRA RARE TRAX bootleg series. In 1995 and 1996 Capitol finally got around to officially releasing them to coincide with a prime time TV documentary about the Beatles.
Everyone is referring to Disc 1 as the Unplugged White Album and there is truth in that description. Seven songs are homemade recordings from May 1968; it's great fun to hear "Glass Onion," "Honey Pie," "Piggies," and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" in such intimate acoustic form. Later, in the summer and early autumn of '68, the Beatles went into the studio to make the WHITE ALBUM. In those sessions they recorded fascinating alternate takes of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" and a calypso version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (with acoustic guitars and conga drums) which sound nothing like the White Album versions. Other highlights include a slower, bluesier rehearsal of "Helter Skelter." There is a terrific demo of "Hey Jude," in which McCartney delivers an even more impassioned lead vocal than he does on the "official" version of the song. "Not Guilty" is a previously unreleased George Harrison tune that was left off of the White Album; in my unbiased opinion, it is better than "Savoy Truffle," which did make it onto the White Album. John Lennon's previously unreleased "What's the New Mary Jane" might be described as "Imagine" meets "Revolution 9." It's a strangely surreal piece that improves with repeated listening.
Moving on to Disc 2, its versions of "I've Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony" are considerably better than the ragged performances of those songs that appear on the forlorn Let It Be album. "The Long and Winding Road," presented here without Phil Spector's controversial overdubs, is another high point. [Update: The other non-Spector take of "The Long and Winding Road," released on LET IT BE: NAKED in 2003, is even better.]
Lennon had one foot out the door during the Let It Be sessions and it shows. Indeed, George Harrison is a more conspicuous presence on Disc 2 than Lennon is. The demo that George made of "Something," alone with his electric guitar, is beautiful. His demo of "Old Brown Shoe" is more compelling than the more elaborate version that was released as a B-side in 1969. The more keyboard-based version of "For You Blue" is charming. Most poignant of all is the demo of "All Things Must Pass," which became the title song of his epic debut solo album in 1970.
ANTHOLOGY 3 also offers a retrospective sneak peak at McCartney's solo career. "Junk" and "Teddy Boy" both went on to grace his first solo album. Even better is "Come and Get It," a song that McCartney gave to Badfinger (it was Badfinger's first hit).
This is not to say that everything on this album is a masterpiece. The rehearsals of "Octopus Garden," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and "Let It Be" are dispensable and add little; the same may be said of some of the White Album outtakes. Also, with a combined running time of almost two and one-half hours, there may be too much music here for casual listeners to digest all at once. Still, Anthology 3 has plenty of great music to behold and every Beatle fan owes it to him or herself to hear it.
 The Genesis of Many Great Beatles Songs.. August 9, 2004
Mark (Toronto, Ontario)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful
Sometimes when you listen to a great song - whether it be the Beatles or some other great recording artist - you forget that the version you're listening to is the end result of alot of different takes and revisions and changes.
That's what this and the other 2 Anthology CD's are all about. They give you a snap shot into the thinking of John, Paul George and Ringo and at times you feel as though you were actually in the recording room with them.
Listen to the early take of John's beautiful ballad / tribute to his mother Julia. The song just presents John alone with an acoustic guitar fingerpicking this tune. He gets quite far into the song before a mistake brings the take to a screeching halt and you are able to listen in on the conversation between John in the studio and Paul in the control room.
I find it interesting because it was only months earlier in Rishikesh, India at the Maharishi's retreat that folk singer Donovan taught John how to finger pick. And like any great artist, John Lennon takes this new technique, writes an incredibly beautiful ballard around it and the listener is presented with Julia.
Many of the songs on this CD were from the White Album, a disk that was probably the beginning of the end for this incredible band. If Sgt Pepper, for example, was the result of what these guys working collectively could acheive, the White Album clearly shows four guys working relatively independantly of each other. Many of the White Album songs had their beginnings in India and clearly there was very little, if any collaberation, going on.
Does anybody think that John Lennon had ANYTHING to do with Ob La Di Ob La Da despite the fact that it was attributed to Lennon / McCartney.
Some might say this is the weakest of the three Anthology CDs. Maybe it is. Certainly it's the "hardest" to listen to because you know that these guys are playing out the string now.
At the time these songs / demos/ takes were being made, the listener knows that John, for example, has met Yoko and the Beatles now seem to be very secondary now.
Or Paul has recently met Linda Eastman. And the business / personal problems that will soon engulf these four guys is not too far away from the time of these recordings.
I'll conclude with the same comment I made re Anthology 1 and 2. If you're a new or relatively young Beatles fan, these are not the CDs I would recommend that you start with. When you've come to love their music as much as I do, then you'll want to listen to these and savour the humble origins of some memorable songs.
From "The Beatles" until "The End" April 10, 2003
Jack Fitzgerald (Seattle, WA United States)
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
Anthology 3 covers the period from 1968-1970 that includes the releases "The Beatles," "Abbey Road" and "Let it Be." As with the previous Anthology issues, it contains mostly outtakes, demos and early versions of well-known songs, plus several unreleased songs. It's best to be familiar with the thre disks mentioned above before delving into this material. The package is loaded with material, the liner notes are informative, and again, it's like being a fly on the wall of the studio listening to the development of some great songs. That said, some of these takes are far from great.Disk 1 is mostly material from "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" and reflects that disjointed period in the quality of many of these versions. A lot of these songs were written while the Beatles were in India, so there is an organic feel to the acoustic presentations. John Lennon entered a renewed period of prolific songwriting, and George Harrison was putting out a lot of material as well. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" shows Lennon starting to put together this song, which was composed of three parts. Here we get the "I Need a Fix" and "Mother Superior" parts. "Helter Skelter" is a heavy dirge that lacks the intensity of the released version. "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" are presented in early acoustic form, but would not reappear until Abbey Road. I kind of enjoyed the slightly altered "ObLaDi, ObLaDa" with a ... reggae feel. The real treats on this disk are the warm, intimate version of George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" with added verse that was left out on the electric version, and the heavy "Not Guilty" which George did as a lighter piece later in his solo career. "What's the New Mary Jane" has no real structure and seems to be endless.
Disk 2
This side kicks off with "I've Got a Feeling" and includes 12 selections that the Beatles recorded and filmed for the aborted "Get Back" project. George Harrison finally gets his due with versions of "For You Blue," "All Things Must Pass (not released until George's solo debut)," "Old Brown Shoe," a spare "Something," and "I Me Mine."
"Two of Us" lacks the spirit of the "Let it Be" version, a song about friendship during a period of disintegration. There's a version of "Get Back" here, similar to the regular release, but I wanted the rarely heard German language version. "Come and Get It" sound eerily like the version by Badfinger. "Because" without instruments showcases the beautiful three-part harmonies that John, Paul and George could produce. "The End" offers an extended guitar solo portion and one gets a feel of the style of the three string players. Anthology 3 is a set worth owning, but if one is not yet familiar with the regular issued work, it might be disappointing. Use this as a supplement to study the music.
And In the End May 13, 2000
W. Langan (the end of the world to your town!)
20 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is the most no-frills Anthology since there were no "new reunion" songs to promote.The 1st CD offers a generous helping of White Album demos. You have a reggae version of "Ob-La-Di..." with guitars and congas which I like even better than the original. "Glass Onion" features some bizarre but quirky sound effects ("It's a goal!"). Songs being released for the 1st time are George's "Not Guilty" (1 of the best ones), John's "What's the New Mary Jane" (1 of the worst), George Martin's "A Beginning" (reminiscent of the background music in Yellow Submarine) and Paul's "Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias" (a fun jam). With the exception of the raucous blues jam "Helter Skelter", most of the songs on CD1 are acoustic. Paul improvises on "Rocky Racoon" (on this take, Rocky is from Minnesota!), "Mother Nature's Son", "Honey Pie", "Hey Jude" ("..when I was a robber in Boston Place.."), and "Why Don't We Do It,,". George features some pretty acoustic blueprints for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Piggies". Ringo gets help from his friends on "Good Night". John shows his wit on the acoustic "Glass Onion" (double tracking and joking with himself!), intorduces "Mean Mr. Mustard", "Polothene Pam", improvises on "Happiness is a Warm Gun" ("Mother superior... oh s___!"), and showcases his solo debut on "Julia" (with Paul giving him some advice in the control panel!). CD2 features Let It Be sessions. Most interesting are "Oh! Darling" (with John's news, singing "Free at last!"), the Beatles final performance ever on "I Me Mine" (George comically excuses John's absence), the rock medley with "Blue Suede Shoes" (great organ from Billy Preston!), and Paul's acoustic "Teddy Boy" (with wisecracks galore from John!). Then there's the Abbey Road sessions. George has some great sounding demos of "Something" and "All Things Must Pass". Paul does his own version of "Come & Get It" (which he later gave to Badfinger). Ringo warbles through "Octopus' Garden before sarcastically remarking "That was superb!" John warms up on "Come Together" and slows down on "Ain't She Sweet". A beautiful acapella version of "Because" is included. And the closer is an alternate version of "The End" (with a little more jamming and the final chord on....).
ANOTHER FASCINATING COLLECTION February 2, 1999
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Anthology Three shows the Beatles at the end of their career together and increases the awe at the quality of their music, even at a period when they were falling apart. Again, we get alternative versions of songs mixed with outtakes and experimentation. Most endearing, is the final performance of Get Back from the Apple rooftop, which, while rather disjointed (owing to the presence of police) shows the band at a brief moment of togetherness and unity. Ever wondered what some of the tracks on Let It Be sounded like before Phil Spector performed surgery on them? If you have, you will no doubt have been most curious about The Long and Winding Road which was undeniably over produced on the album. Here, we finally get to hear it on disc without the overdubs and the result is a beautiful ballad which is more moving in its sparse rendition than it was laden with epic strings and choirs. The same goes for I Me Mine. Witness Glass Onion without the George Martin string arrangement, but with interesting sound effects put there by John Lennon. Hear a Paul McCartney solo song, Teddy Boy, with John Lennon making comical remarks and noises in the background, much to the amusement of Paul. This album is a must have, again!! It will provide years of amusement and interest. GET IT NOW!!!!
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