One of the fresh discoveries from The Beatles’ Anthology 4 has arrived. I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3), an unreleased studio take of one of Paul McCartney’s most enduring acoustic gems, has surfaced as the first preview from Anthology 4, the long-awaited continuation of The Beatles’ Anthology series due 21 November 2025.
The newly unearthed recording, first tracked at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road) in mid-1965 during sessions for Help!, presents I’ve Just Seen A Face in its rawest form. Stripped of overdubs and polish, this early take captures McCartney’s rhythmic acoustic drive and vocal spontaneity before the final version that made it onto the album. For Beatles historians, it’s a remarkable window into the band’s mid-decade transformation, as they pivoted from pop’s clean-cut charm toward the artistic experimentation that defined Rubber Soul and Revolver.
The song, one of McCartney’s earliest fully acoustic compositions, has long stood apart from the electric exuberance of Help!. Its country-inspired tempo, bright melody, and skiffle roots hinted at McCartney’s growing fascination with folk and American roots music, a thread that would later weave through I’ve Just Seen A Face, Yesterday, and Blackbird.
“I always thought it was one of Paul’s most natural songs,” John Lennon once said in a 1971 interview. “That one and Yesterday came from the same place – just him and the guitar, very direct.”
On Take 3, McCartney’s vocal is looser, his phrasing more playful, and the band’s accompaniment – led by George Harrison’s brisk guitar runs and Ringo Starr’s brush-driven percussion – feels more like a live performance than a studio take. It’s the sound of four musicians still testing the boundaries of their simplicity before the studio became their laboratory.
The track forms part of Anthology 4, the centrepiece of The Beatles Anthology Collection, a deluxe 8CD and 12LP box set that brings together the remastered Anthology 1-3 albums alongside a brand-new volume of unreleased material. Giles Martin, continuing his father George Martin’s legacy, has remastered the full collection. Jeff Lynne, who co-produced the mid-’90s Beatles reunion tracks Free As A Bird and Real Love, returns to deliver new 2025 mixes of those songs, ensuring continuity with the project’s roots.
The original Anthology trilogy, released between 1995 and 1996, was more than an archival deep dive – it was a cultural event. It marked the first time surviving Beatles McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr had reunited since the 1970 breakup, bringing John Lennon’s demos back to life with the help of modern technology.
Now, three decades later, Apple Corps has enlisted Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post team to restore the Anthology documentary series for Disney+. The new edition will feature a ninth episode of unseen footage from 1995-96 showing McCartney, Harrison, and Starr collaborating on the project that helped reintroduce The Beatles to a new generation. The remastered series will stream from 26 November 2025, just days after the release of Anthology 4.
The Anthology 4 album also includes 13 previously unreleased tracks, among them rare takes of
While My Guitar Gently Weeps, In My Life, Nowhere Man and Love You To. For Beatles fans, the release of I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3) is both a teaser and a reminder – that even after six decades, there are still hidden corners of The Beatles’ world waiting to be explored.
The Anthology 4 Tracklisting
CD Disc One:
I Saw Her Standing There (Take 2)
Money (That’s What I Want) (RM7 undubbed)
This Boy (Takes 12 and 13)
Tell Me Why (Takes 4 and 5)
If I Fell (Take 11)
Matchbox (Take 1)
Every Little Thing (Takes 6 and 7)
I Need You (Take 1)
I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)
In My Life (Take 1)
Nowhere Man (First Version – Take 2)
Got To Get You Into My Life (Second Version – unnumbered mix)
Love You To (Take 7)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26)
She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 – instrumental)
Baby, You’re A Rich Man (Takes 11 and 12)
All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal for BBC broadcast)
The Fool On The Hill (Take 5 – instrumental)
I Am The Walrus (Take 19 – strings, brass, clarinet overdub)
CD Disc Two:
Hey Bulldog (Take 4 – instrumental)
Good Night (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version – Take 27)
(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care (Studio jam)
Helter Skelter (Second Version – Take 17)
I Will (Take 29)
Can You Take Me Back? (Take 1)
Julia (Two rehearsals)
Get Back (Take 8)
Octopus’s Garden (Rehearsal)
Don’t Let Me Down (First rooftop performance)
You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36)
Here Comes The Sun (Take 9)
Something (Take 39 – instrumental – strings only)
Free As A Bird (2025 mix)
Real Love (2025 mix)
Now And Then
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