First released: 1996, March 19

Sheet music, guitar tabs, song books at Sheetmusicplus.com

Anthology 2 continues to tell the story of the Beatles chronologically. This set ranges from the beginning of 1965, through to February 1968 except for the first track "Real Love".

Unfortunately, this set is spoilt in some cases by the creation of "new" mixes from basic takes, rather than complete untouched takes ... but there are so many unavailable takes as to make this essential anyway !

The producer and project leader was George Martin.

From 22nd May 1995 George Martin with occasional assistance from Paul, George and Ringo began to re-listen, and mix tracks intended for The Beatles Anthology albums.
George Martin said, "I am trying to tell the story of the Beatles lives in music, from the moment they met to the moment they split up in 1970. I have listened to everything we ever recorded together. Every take of every song. every track of every song, virtually everything that was ever committed to tape and labelled "Beatles". I have heard about 600 items in all"

Additional research was by Mark Lewisohn, a local man from Essex who is responsible for the two most essential books about the Beatles ... "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions", and "The Complete Beatles Chronicle".

This release was a triple L.P. double-gatefold album set, or on a double C.D. set with the cover design by Klaus Voorman.

Comments:

Real Love have been recorded in New York, circa 1979, and Sussex, England, February 1995

Producers Jeff Lynne, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Engineers Geoff Emerick, Jon Jacobs
Audio Seqmencing Marc Mann
Thanks to Eddie Klein, John Hammel, Keith Smith, Mark Hamilton, Jamie Kirkham, Phil Hatton

That Means a Lot have been recorded at EMI Studios, London, 20 February 1965
Producer George Martin
Engineer Norman Srith

Within two days of recording If You've Got Trouble, the Beatles taped a further number for the Help! movie that would also remain unissued. Iadeed, they made two concerted attempts at r cording Paul's That Means a Lot, dedicating fivT hours to the task on 20 February and then autting a re-make on 30 March. But it was all to no avail. "We thought we'd give it to somebody who could sing it well," John Lennon told to the New Musncal Express soon after the Beatles decided to rnlinquish the song, indicating P J Proby, the era's most con roversial singer, whose exclusive version was irsued in September 1965 and reached 24 on tht same paper's singles chart.

Songs 9-12: recorded ABC Theatre, Blackpool, 1 August 1965

Four songs taken from the six performed by the Beatles on the British television show Blackpool Night Out, broadcast live to the nation on summer Sunday evenings from the northern seaside resort. It was the group's second and last appearance
on the programme.
The sequence comprises I Feel Fine, the A-side of the single that had held the number one spot at Christmas 1964, Ticket to Ride, number one at Easter 1965, the first stage performance of Yesterday, already beginning to attract attention beyond its
unheralded placement as the thirteenth track on the Beatles' latest tlbum, and the first stage performance of Heip! - the title of that new album, the Beatles' new film and newm45.

Taxman: recorded EMI Studios, London, 21 April 1966
Producer George Martin
Engineer Geoff Emerick

The opening title on Revolver, Taxman was George Harrison's acerbic and witty view of the inescapable realities of life. Take 12 was the master recording, this being a "reduction", or "bounce", of Take 11. Issued here for the first time is that Take 11,
not dissimilar to the master but with some notable differences, principally in the clean, full ending (instead of the repeated guitar solo) and the "anybody got a bit of money?" backing vocals (instead of the "Mister Wilson, Mister Health" reference).

Eleanor Rigby have been recorded at EMI Studios, London, 28 April 1966
Producer George Martin
Engineer Geoff Emerick

Eleanor Rigby presented in a manner never before heard, featuring only the double string quartet - four violinists, two viola players and two cellists - in isolation, performing the score written and conducted for Paul's song by George Martin.
This is Take 14 (later "reduced" into Take 15 and on to which lead and backing vocals were overdubbed to create the master) remixed anew in 1995 using the fine reverberative acoustics of Abbey Road's Studio One.

Songs 24 and 25: recorded in Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, 30 June 1966

As soon as the Beatles completed Revolver they headed out on tour - indeed, they chose the album's title while in Tokyo. Two of the five shows they performed there were taped by the Japanese television company NTV, and a pair of songs from
the first of these, the evening of 30 June, are featured here. Sixty days later they would abandon concerts for ever.
The two songs are Rock and Roll Music, first released in 1957 by its composer, Chuck Berry, and covered on Beatles for Sale, and the Paul McCartney composition She's a Woman, also taped by the group in October 1964 but for release - on the reverse of I Feel Fine - as that year's Christmas number one single.