‘Anthology’ DVD provides 81 new minutes of the Beatles

The Beatles Anthology

Apple

Capitol Records, distributor of the new… The Beatles Anthology

Apple

Capitol Records, distributor of the new five-DVD edition of “The Beatles Anthology” (list price: $79.99; expect to pay $50 to $60) elected not to release advance copies to reviewers, fearing the 81 minutes of new material added to the out-of-print, 10-hour VHS version would be pirated on the Internet. So this original, middle-aged Beatle fan had to queue up at his local big box store Tuesday to procure a copy, along with at least 20 other buyers of all ages and sizes.

Though the release of the DVD box was accompanied by none of the promotional hoopla surrounding the original 1995 television broadcasts, the three double CDs that accompanied it, the expanded video release in 1996 and the “Anthology” book published in 2000, it still brought out the faithful to hear the first new “Beatles” music in seven years.

And it is highly unlikely any of them will be disappointed with the bonus disc, whose highlight is informal jamming by the “Threetles” – the late George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, recorded at Harrison’s studio in his Friar Park estate on June 23, 1994, and in his garden, of which only a snippet is seen on the original version.

In the garden, Harrison and McCartney sing “Ain’t She Sweet,” a standard they originally rocked up in 1962 during a recording session in which they mostly backed singer Tony Sheridan, and Jimmy Reed’s blues “Baby What You Want Me to Do,” accompanying themselves on ukuleles, while Ringo pounds beat with his hands on his legs. In the studio, with cameras trailing them, they attempt the Bill Justis instrumental “Raunchy;” one verse of the never-recorded, very early Lennon-McCartney composition, the Buddy Holly-inspired “Thinking of Linking;” and the Elvis Presley arrangement of the bluegrass song “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” before which Harrison pointedly asks to do “the short version.”

For fans, it’s a delightful dig into the roots, but if you’re a believer in body language, you could conclude it’s not as delightful for Harrison, who seems as wary of the ever-effervescent McCartney as he was in the “Let It Be” film (which is due for a remastered DVD release at the end of year).

In the next segment, taped in 1995 at Abbey Road studios, Harrison seems slightly more comfortable as producer George Martin attempts to provoke studio recollections by running outtakes of “Golden Slumbers” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Harrison may be joking when he asks what album “Slumbers” is from (“our Beatles historian,” jokes Paul) but honestly seems to have forgotten he’s the one playing bass on the track while McCartney handled piano.

The remainder of the bonus disc is mostly devoted to the recordings of the “new” Beatles songs included on the “Anthology” CDs, “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” John Lennon demos to which the others added new arrangements and harmonies. And it is here that the real revelation of the DVD makes itself known, in that both songs have been remixed into 5.1 Surround, a la the songs on the “Yellow Submarine” DVD. That should send most buyers scrambling back to the four DVDs containing the programs from the VHS set, which have been given new, improved video transfers – the Shea Stadium concert footage is greatly improved – with all the songs remixed for 5.1.

The early songs, recorded in mono and two-track stereo, are mostly enhanced by reverb in the rear channels, but when Martin and the band begin using multi-tracking for the songs from “Revolver” onward, the new mixes are astounding; hearing “Rain,” “Paperback Writer” and especially “Strawberry Fields Forever” in 5.1 Surround is like sitting in the studio surrounded by the group. (Purists can still opt to listen to stereo; the rest will use the option only to discover how much richer the songs now sound.) They will, one hopes, inspire Apple to re-release the catalog in editions containing both new Surround mixes and the originals.

There are plenty of nits to pick, most notably the exclusion of Friar Park run-throughs of “Love Me Do” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Roll Over Beethoven.” But then, a Beatles fan always needs something to look forward to.