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Well, the next CD’s from my collection were the Real Love and Free As A Bird Singles. Since it’s only 4 songs each, I combined the two CD’s into one review, each disc will get a separate score, I guess.
Free As A Bird Single
1) Free As A Bird
The First Beatles single in 25 years. They took a Lennon demo (in this case being Free As A Bird) and added their own voices, instrumentation and all to make a new song. This is the better of the two as it is truly a group effort and the added pre-chorus’ were added by the three surviving Beatles. It’s really a great song and has some sick guitar playing by George (he never used a slide with the Beatles and here he’s perfected it). Really a great song and must be heard.
2) I Saw Her Standing There
This is the full Take 9 by the Beatles. The 1-2-3-4 lead in that was on the record was from this take but it was tacked onto Take 1. It’s pretty much the same song, just slight difference.
3) This Boy
This is a pair of outtakes of their song, This Boy. The first try, Lennon messes up the words, but the second time they nail it pretty good.
4) Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
This was recorded for their 1967 Christmas Album with little bits interspersed throughout. For the first time ever, is the complete recorded version, with Beatle Christmas Greetings at the end and some Lennon fun after that. This is a really rare song and most of the Beatles Christmas singles are very hard to find.
The Final Review
Great “new” song from the Beatles, and a rare Christmas single makes this an easy recommendation as a single. The This Boy session was interesting and I Saw Her Standing There is always a great upbeat rocker. Buy it for the single, but stay for the other three songs.
Final Rating:
9.0
Real Love
1) Real Love
The other “new” Beatles song. This one isn’t as good as Free As A Bird. The previous single was more a team effort, this one seems to be just there. It’s just a Lennon demo that the three surviving members spruced it up. Still, more great playing by George shows what a great guitarist he became.
2) Baby’s In Black
This is recorded live from their Hollywood Bowl performances in 1965. The opening monologue was from the first night, and the song from the second. It’s a good performance considering the Beatles couldn’t hear themselves over the screaming fans.
3) Yellow Submarine
This is a newly mastered and mixed version, combining various sound effects that were used way back in the day and a new Ringo spoken opening over a marching sound. It’s an interesting listen, though the sound effects get annoying after a while.
4) Here, There and Everywhere
This is Take 7, with Paul’s vocal and guitar and not much else. Superimposed near the end are some remastered background vocals that were on the original album. Really beautiful song and the remastered backing vocals sound niiice and rich.
The Final Review
Not as good as the Free As A Bird single as all 4 songs on the first album I prefer over these four. The standout (besides the single) would probably be the Here, There and Everywhere song, but the other two aren’t bad either.
Final Rating:
7.0
The Liner Notes
Both CD’s have no liner notes, it’s just a sheet of paper with the cover and the back is blank. The song information is all included on the back of the CD Case.
The Sound
The sound varies from song to song (on both albums) with the first song obviously being the best quality. The outtakes and such aren’t really that bad as they were clearly remastered from the original tapes.
The Final Final Review
It’s the Beatles. I don’t know how easy it is to find the singles, but it’s worth having just to have 6 more Beatles outtakes not issued on the Anthology, and the rare Christmas single is a must have.
Final Final Rating:
8.5
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