''Anthology 1'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, released on 20 November 1995 by

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...

as part of ''

The Beatles Anthology ''The Beatles Anthology'' is a multimedia retrospective project consisting of a television documentary, a three-volume set of double albums, and a book describing the history of the Beatles. Beatles members Paul McCartney, George Harrison ...

'' series. It features rarities,

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

s and live performances from the period 1958–64, including songs with original bass player

Stuart Sutcliffe Stuart Fergusson Victor Sutcliffe (23 June 1940 – 10 April 1962) was a Scottish painter and musician best known as the original bass guitarist of the English rock band the Beatles. Sutcliffe left the band to pursue his career as a paint ...

and drummer

Pete Best Randolph Peter Best (né Scanland; born 24 November 1941) is an English musician known as the drummer of the English rock band the Beatles who was dismissed immediately prior to the band achieving worldwide fame. Fired from the group in 1962 ...

. It is the first in a trilogy of albums with ''

Anthology 2 ''Anthology 2'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for ''Help!'' to the sessi ...

'' and ''

Anthology 3 ''Anthology 3'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 29 October 1996 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. The album includes rarities and alternative tracks from the final three years of the band's c ...

'', all of which tie in with the televised special ''

''. It contains "

Free as a Bird "Free as a Bird" is a single released in December 1995 by the Beatles. The song was originally written and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon. In 1995, 25 years after their break-up and 15 years after Lennon's murder, his then ...

", the first new Beatles song in 25 years, which was released as a single two weeks after ''Anthology 1''. The album topped the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and was certified 8× Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. It reached number 2 on the UK albums chart. The ''Anthology'' albums were remastered and made available digitally on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on 14 June 2011, individually and as part of the ''Anthology Box Set''.

Content

The album includes material from the Beatles' days as

the Quarrymen The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/ rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Q ...

, through the Decca audition to sessions for the album ''

Beatles for Sale ''Beatles for Sale'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised ...

''. It is of historical interest as the only official release of performances with Best and Sutcliffe in the band - Sutcliffe, the band's original bass player during 1960, and sporadically during the group's second Hamburg season, appears on the disc-one tracks " Hallelujah, I Love Her So", " You'll Be Mine" and "

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's m ...

"; while Best, who was the official drummer from just prior to the group's first departure for

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in August 1960 until 15 August 1962 when he was replaced by

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

, is on Disc One, tracks 10–12, 15–19 and 21–22. Disc One, tracks 10–12, were recorded at a session in Hamburg where the Beatles served as the back-up band to the English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

musician

Tony Sheridan Anthony Esmond Sheridan McGinnity (21 May 1940 – 16 February 2013), known professionally as Tony Sheridan, was an English rock and roll guitarist who spent much of his adult life in Germany. He was best known as an early collaborator of th ...

. Some songs from this session were released on the 1962 album ''

My Bonnie My or MY may refer to: Arts and entertainment * My (radio station), a Malaysian radio station * Little My, a fictional character in the Moomins universe * ''My'' (album), by Edyta Górniak * ''My'' (EP), by Cho Mi-yeon Business * Marke ...

'', credited to Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers. The song "

" would be their introductory single in England, featuring Sheridan on lead vocal and guitar. Tracks 21–22 are the only surviving recordings of the Beatles' first EMI session. Track 22 is the original recording of " Love Me Do", which would be re-recorded by the group four months later for their first single. Track 24 features EMI session drummer Andy White, in place of Ringo. Disc Two contains performances from comedy duo

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, workin ...

's popular television programme, '' Two of a Kind'', as well as the opening song from their famed performance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', which introduced the band to most of the US in 1964. The flash-point for the album came with the song "Free as a Bird" – the three remaining Beatles

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and Ringo Starr re-working a

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

demo recording given to McCartney by Lennon's widow,

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

. Produced by Harrison's

Traveling Wilburys The Traveling Wilburys were a British-American supergroup consisting of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Originating from an idea discussed by Harrison and Lynne during the sessions for Harrison's 1987 album ' ...

bandmate

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

, the three added additional music and lyrics, instrumentation and backing vocals, with McCartney and Harrison both taking a turn at a lead vocal. The live

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

recording of " Lend Me Your Comb" was held back from ''

Live at the BBC {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC *Live at the BBC (The Beatles ...

'' for inclusion on this album, but it was later also included on '' On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2''.

Album cover

The cover of ''Anthology 1'' is the first third of the ''Anthology'' collage made by

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...

and Alfons Kiefer. Various photographs and album covers are torn and collected together. Pete Best's face was torn away from the ''Savage Young Beatles'' record jacket in the centre of the album cover, revealing the face of his successor, Ringo Starr, below. The bottom leftmost photograph on the ''Anthology 1'' cover does feature an unobscured Best. The missing portion of the photo was subsequently used on the cover of Best's 2008 album '' Haymans Green,'' an act described by one fan as "Pete Best's revenge".

Reception

The album was a large success throughout the world. It was the first Beatles album to enter the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart at number one. It sold 855,473 copies in its first week, the 27th largest one-week sales in the

Soundscan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

history, succeeding '' Fresh Horses'' by

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

. In its second week, ''Anthology 1'' sold 453,000 copies and maintained the top spot. This was repeated the following week, with 435,000 copies sold. In its fourth week, the same quantity was sold, but the album fell to number two, behind

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the w ...

's ''

Daydream Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...

''. In the following week, the album fell to number three but with 601,000 sales. ''Anthology 1'' was certified 3× Platinum by the

after six weeks in the US market. In all, the album spent 29 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching cumulative sales of 3,639,000 sales as of April 2001. In the UK, reaction was similar, but the album peaked at number two, behind

Robson & Jerome Robson & Jerome are an English pop duo who were active in the mid-1990s, consisting of actors Robson Green and Jerome Flynn. They rose to prominence via the English television series ''Soldier Soldier''. The duo's musical catalogue was compos ...

's eponymous album. In Australia, the album spent two weeks at number one in December 1995.

Track listing

Spoken word tracks in ''italic''.

CD release

All tracks in

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

, except spoken word tracks and where noted.

Vinyl release

;Side one #"Free as a Bird" #"''We were four guys ... that's all''" #"That'll Be the Day" #"In Spite of All the Danger" #"''Sometimes I'd borrow ... those still exist''" #"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" #"You'll Be Mine" #"Cayenne" #"''First of all ... it didn't do a thing here''" #"My Bonnie" #"Ain't She Sweet" #"Cry for a Shadow" ;Side two #"''Brian was a beautiful guy ... he presented us well''" #"''I secured them ... a Beatle drink even then''" #"Searchin #"Three Cool Cats" #"The Sheik of Araby" #"Like Dreamers Do" #"Hello Little Girl" #"''Well, the recording test ... by my artists''" #"Besame Mucho" #"Love Me Do" #"How Do You Do It" #"Please Please Me" ;Side three #"One After 909" (sequence) #"One After 909" (complete) #"Lend Me Your Comb" #"I'll Get You" #"''We were performers ... in Britain''" #"I Saw Her Standing There" #"From Me to You" #"Money (That's What I Want)" #"You Really Got a Hold on Me" #"Roll Over Beethoven" ;Side four #"She Loves You" #"Till There Was You" #"Twist and Shout" #"This Boy" #"I Want to Hold Your Hand" #"''Boys, what I was thinking...''" #"Moonlight Bay" #"Can't Buy Me Love" ;Side five #"All My Loving" #"You Can't Do That" #"And I Love Her" #"A Hard Day's Night" #"I Wanna Be Your Man" #"Long Tall Sally" #"Boys" #"Shout" #"I'll Be Back" (Take 2) #"I'll Be Back" (Take 3) ;Side six #"You Know What to Do" #"No Reply" (demo) #"Mr. Moonlight" #"Leave My Kitten Alone" #"No Reply" #"Eight Days a Week" (sequence) #"Eight Days a Week" (complete) #"Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!"

Cassette release

;Side one #"Free as a Bird" #"''We were four guys ... that's all''" #"That'll Be the Day" #"In Spite of All the Danger" #"''Sometimes I'd borrow ... those still exist''" #"Hallelujah, I Love Her So" #"You'll Be Mine" #"Cayenne" #"''First of all ... it didn't do a thing here''" #"My Bonnie" #"Ain't She Sweet" #"Cry for a Shadow" #"''Brian was a beautiful guy ... he presented us well''" #"''I secured them ... a Beatle drink even then''" #"Searchin #"Three Cool Cats" #"The Sheik of Araby" #"Like Dreamers Do" #"Hello Little Girl" ;Side two #"''Well, the recording test ... by my artists''" #"Besame Mucho" #"Love Me Do" #"How Do You Do It" #"Please Please Me" #"One After 909" (sequence) #"One After 909" (complete) #"Lend Me Your Comb" #"I'll Get You" #"''We were performers ... in Britain''" #"I Saw Her Standing There" #"From Me to You" #"Money (That's What I Want)" #"You Really Got a Hold on Me" #"Roll Over Beethoven" ;Side three #"She Loves You" #"Till There Was You" #"Twist and Shout" #"This Boy" #"I Want to Hold Your Hand" #"''Boys, what I was thinking...''" #"Moonlight Bay" #"Can't Buy Me Love" #"All My Loving" #"You Can't Do That" #"And I Love Her" #"A Hard Day's Night" ;Side four #"I Wanna Be Your Man" #"Long Tall Sally" #"Boys" #"Shout" #"I'll Be Back" (Take 2) #"I'll Be Back" (Take 3) #"You Know What to Do" #"No Reply" (demo) #"Mr. Moonlight" #"Leave My Kitten Alone" #"No Reply" #"Eight Days a Week" (sequence) #"Eight Days a Week" (complete) #"Kansas City / Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Personnel

;The Beatles *

– vocals, lead guitar *

– vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica *

– vocals, bass guitar, rhythm guitar *

– vocals, drums, percussion *

– drums on "My Bonnie", "Ain't She Sweet", "Cry for a Shadow", "Searchin'", "Three Cool Cats", "The Sheik of Araby", "Like Dreamers Do", "Hello Little Girl", "Bésame Mucho", "Love Me Do" *

– bass guitar on "Hallelujah, I Love Her So", "You'll Be Mine", "Cayenne" ;Additional musicians *

Colin Hanton Colin Leo Hanton (born 12 December 1938) is a British musician who was a drummer for The Quarrymen—the band which would later evolve into The Beatles. Biography and career Hanton was in an early line-up of the band from summer 1956 alon ...

– drums on "That'll Be the Day", "In Spite of All the Danger" *

John Lowe John Lowe may refer to: Sports * John Lowe (darts player) (born 1945), English darts player. * John Lowe (footballer) (1912–1995), Scottish football player * John Lowe (rugby league), English rugby league footballer * John Lowe (cricketer) (18 ...

– piano on "That'll Be the Day", "In Spite of All the Danger" *

– lead vocal and lead guitar (guitar solo) on "My Bonnie" * Andy White – drums on "Please Please Me"

References

{{Authority control 1995 compilation albums Albums produced by George Martin Albums produced by Jeff Lynne Albums recorded at IBC Studios Albums with cover art by Klaus Voormann Apple Records compilation albums Compilation albums published posthumously The Beatles Anthology The Beatles compilation albums Albums recorded in a home studio Albums produced by John Lennon Albums produced by Paul McCartney Albums produced by George Harrison Albums produced by Ringo Starr