The third instalment in the Anthology series captured the final chapter of the band’s studio years with alternate takes, demos and previously unheard performances from the White Album through Abbey Road and Let It Be.
Thirty years ago this week, on 28 October 1996, The Beatles released Anthology 3, the final double album in the original Anthology trilogy. Drawn from the last two years of the band’s recording career, the set gathered alternate takes, home demos and session material that had remained largely unheard by the public, spanning the early White Album sessions through to the final work on Let It Be and Abbey Road.
Anthology 3 completed a commercial sequence that had already seen its two predecessors reach the top of the American charts. It became the group’s third consecutive double album to hit number one on the Billboard 200, matching a record previously set by Donna Summer in the 1970s. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the album triple platinum. In Australia it peaked at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart and earned a gold certification.
The album’s content focused tightly on the period from May 1968 to early 1970. Disc one concentrated on the White Album era, opening with George Martin’s brief orchestral instrumental “A Beginning,” originally intended as an introduction to Ringo Starr’s “Don’t Pass Me By.” What followed was a sequence of Esher demos recorded at George Harrison’s Kinfauns home in May 1968, including early versions of “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “Glass Onion,” “Piggies” and “Honey Pie.” Studio outtakes such as the acoustic first take of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” an early “Hey Jude,” the long-unreleased “Not Guilty” and the extended “What’s the New Mary Jane” gave listeners a clearer view of how those songs developed inside EMI Studios.
Disc two moved into the Get Back/Let It Be sessions at Apple’s Savile Row basement and the subsequent Abbey Road recordings. It included rooftop concert material, stripped-back takes of “The Long and Winding Road” without the later Phil Spector overdubs, Harrison demos of “All Things Must Pass,” “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something,” and the a cappella version of “Because.” The set closed with a remix of “The End” that incorporated the final orchestral chord from “A Day in the Life.
“One track that did not appear was the third John Lennon demo originally considered for the series. After “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” the surviving Beatles had examined “Now and Then.” George Harrison disliked the quality of the cassette recording and the project was shelved. Paul McCartney later recalled that Harrison described the demo as “fucking rubbish” and that the democratic decision of the band meant the song was left unfinished at the time. The track would eventually be completed and released in 2023. In its place, Anthology 3 opened with Martin’s “A Beginning.
“The album’s artwork continued the visual thread established by Klaus Voormann for the first two volumes. The cover presented a collage of peeling posters and record sleeves. An updated image of Voormann himself appeared in Harrison’s hair within a fragment of the Revolver sleeve.
Anthology 3 was remastered and issued digitally on 14 June 2011, both individually and as part of the Anthology Collection box set. Its commercial performance in 1996 reflected the continued appetite for previously unreleased Beatles material. In addition to the American number-one placement and triple-platinum certification, the album reached the top five in Japan, Sweden and Australia, and the top ten in several other territories. UK sales earned a platinum award from the BPI.
The release remains a key document of the band’s final creative phase. It preserved the informal Esher demos that revealed the shape of White Album songs before they reached Abbey Road, the rough energy of the Savile Row sessions, and the meticulous multi-tracking that characterised Abbey Road. For many listeners it provided the first opportunity to hear material that had circulated only on bootlegs or remained locked in the vaults.
Three decades on, Anthology 3 stands as the concluding chapter of the original Anthology project that began with the television series and the first two volumes earlier in 1996. Its combination of alternate takes, unfinished ideas and finished performances continues to illuminate the working methods of the group during the years that produced some of their most ambitious and diverse music.
Tracklisting
Disc 1
A Beginning (instrumental) – George Martin
Happiness Is a Warm Gun (home demo; mono)
Helter Skelter (Take 2 edited; mono)
Mean Mr. Mustard (home demo)
Polythene Pam (home demo)
Glass Onion (home demo)
Junk (home demo) – Paul McCartney
Piggies (home demo; mono) – George Harrison
Honey Pie (home demo)
Don’t Pass Me By (Takes 3 & 5) – Richard Starkey
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Take 5)
Good Night (Takes 22 & 34)
Cry Baby Cry (Take 1)
Blackbird (Take 4)
Sexy Sadie (Take 6)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Acoustic Version: Take 1) – George Harrison
Hey Jude (Take 2)
Not Guilty (Take 102) – George Harrison
Mother Nature’s Son (Take 2)
Glass Onion (original mono mix)
Rocky Raccoon (Take 8)
What’s the New Mary Jane (Take 4)
Step Inside Love / Los Paranoias (jam)
I’m So Tired (Takes 3, 6 & 9)
I Will (Take 1)
Why Don’t We Do It in the Road? (Take 4; mono)
Julia (Take 2)
Disc 2
I’ve Got a Feeling (Savile Row sessions)
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window (Savile Row sessions)
Dig a Pony (Savile Row sessions)
Two of Us (Savile Row sessions)
For You Blue (Take 1) – George Harrison
Teddy Boy (Savile Row sessions) – Paul McCartney
Medley: Rip It Up / Shake, Rattle and Roll / Blue Suede Shoes (Savile Row sessions)
The Long and Winding Road (Savile Row sessions; master track with Phil Spector alterations removed)
Oh! Darling (Savile Row sessions)
All Things Must Pass (demo) – George Harrison
Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues (Savile Row sessions)
Get Back (Live at the Beatles’ rooftop concert)
Old Brown Shoe (demo) – George Harrison
Octopus’s Garden (Takes 2 & 8) – Richard Starkey
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (Take 5)
Something (demo; mono) – George Harrison
Come Together (Take 1)
Come and Get It (demo by McCartney) – Paul McCartney
Ain’t She Sweet (jam)
Because (a cappella)
Let It Be (Savile Row sessions)
I Me Mine (Take 16) – George Harrison
The End (remix featuring final chord of “A Day in the Life”)
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