A new documentary episode, a fourth music collection, and a book will be available this fall
First released three decades ago, The Beatles’ eight-part Anthology series reinvented the music documentary. Instead of a standard treatment centered on an outside narrator and talking heads, The Anthology featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr candidly telling their own story, with all its complexities and contradictions. It introduced The Beatles to new generations of viewers and listeners and marked the start of a creative and commercial afterlife that continues to this day.
The Beatles Anthology returns in its ultimate form for a comprehensive global release campaign, on screen, on record, and in print.
The Beatles’ landmark Anthology documentary series has been restored and remastered and expanded to include a ninth episode, which begins streaming on November 26th on Disney+.
The series’ original eight episodes trace the legendary journey that began in Liverpool and Hamburg and soon captivated the world. They bring to life the timeless stories of Beatlemania, the band’s groundbreaking arrival in the USA, their role at the forefront of the 1960s counterculture, their spiritual exploration in India, and their eventual breakup. And through it all, the constant thread: the music, always the music.
There is now a new episode, including unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Paul, George, and Ringo coming together between 1994 and 1995 to work on “The Anthology” and reflecting on their shared life as The Beatles.
Apple Corps’ production team has overseen the restoration, working with Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films and Park Road Post teams and Giles Martin, who has created new audio mixes for most of the featured music.
The Beatles Anthology music collections have been restored and expanded to four volumes on 12 LP, 8 CD, and digital formats on November 21st.
The musical side of The Anthology Collection, originally curated by George Martin, now remastered by Giles Martin, in the form of three double albums of rare material, is a shadow story to the one told in the documentaries. They are an enthralling insight into the early development of songs that became the recorded masterpieces that resonate just as loudly today as they did when they were first recorded.
It also has an important new element. Anthology 4, newly curated by Giles, includes 13 previously unreleased demos and session recordings, and other rare recordings. It also includes new mixes of The Beatles’ Anthology-associated hit singles of the Grammy-winning “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” given new life by their original producer, Jeff Lynne, using de-mixed John Lennon vocals.
The original “Free As A Bird” music video has also been beautifully restored.
Both new mixes are placed alongside the band’s most recent UK No. 1 hit single, 2023’s Grammy-winning “Now And Then,” the last Beatles song. All three singles were created from rudimentary home demos John recorded in the 1970s, later completed with vocal and instrumental parts recorded by Paul, George, and Ringo.
Across all the Anthology albums, there are 191 tracks which will be released on November 21st by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe for digital purchase and streaming, and in deluxe 12 LP 180-gram vinyl and 8 CD box sets. Both box sets include the original sleeve notes for Anthology 1, 2 and 3; the new Anthology 4 includes track notes written by Kevin Howlett and an introduction compiled from 1996 interviews recorded with The Beatles’ close friend and adviser Derek Taylor. The Beatles Store’s exclusive editions for both box sets add four 12-inch band photo art cards in a numbered envelope.
Finally, the 25th Anniversary Edition of The Beatles Anthology book will be released on October 14th by Apple Corps Ltd. and Chronicle Books. Throughout its pages, John, Paul, George and Ringo share their honest, intimate and revelatory recollections of the band’s journey. Their memories are accompanied by impressions from their closest colleagues, including Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Derek Taylor and others. The bestselling 368-page book is beautifully illustrated with more than 1,300 photos, documents, artwork, and other memorabilia from the band’s archives.
