Beatles/Outtakes Greatest Hits

This time it’s a studio compilation, and even enthusiasts will find some parts that seem fresh, so I think it’s a very enjoyable one. “Cellophane Flowers” is the anthology I wished had been released publicly, a greatest hits of outtakes, so to speak. It blends tracks from official releases, studio reels used for collector’s items, and tracks specially produced by enterprising sound engineers (always from real session tapes). This set is an audio diary of the most complex and innovative studio sessions of the recording era. It’s mostly raw session tapes, not all the songs are finished. Many of these songs are from when the band was at its hardest rock, wildest and most experimental, some might say “aesthetic,” but this is what I live for. I hope you like my selection. There are no covers, all the songs are written by John, Paul, and George, and George Martin also gets a writing credit for one song. An unknown early George solo song is added to the first disc to give the Quiet One some presence. All the songs were either unreleased at the time or are strong alternate versions of already known classics, often with their original titles. To hear Paul travel from “Helter Skelter” to “Step Inside Love” in the same session…you’ll have to hear it for yourself. I know the Beatles world better than anyone and have listened to hundreds of hours of tapes for this project. The sound quality of the collector’s reels is the best you can find outside the vaults of Abbey Road Studios, most of which are first generation transfers directly from the original master reels. On some tracks I have avoided the flat sounding and noise reduced official versions in favor of recordings with more tape hiss and peak distortion but with a good raw rock and roll sound. Most tracks are in stereo, but sometimes I don’t include mono takes. The tracks are basically in chronological order, but I have tried to order them so that each disc has the right sonic flow and the right ending, like a “real” Beatles double album. True to the actual band practice from 1967 onwards, the gaps between songs were kept as short as possible while still retaining the individuality of each song. Notes on Sour Milk Sea: Written by George, this song was created by combining George’s Esher demos with a studio track by Jackie Lomax. The studio track, produced by George, features Paul on bass, Ringo on drums, Eric Clapton (who plays on While My Guitar Gently Weeps) on lead guitar and Nicky Hopkins (who plays on Revolution 1) on piano. They have expertly crafted what is as close to a true Beatles version of this great song as you can get. There are some surprises in this set and compiling it has been a constant surprise, even for a die-hard fan like me. Phase and level corrections have been made where necessary. Spectral recovery and EQ has also been done on several tracks (CD 1 – 09,23,24,25 & CD 2 – 19). DISC 1 01 The One After 909 (edit of takes 4 & 5) 02 Can’t Buy Me Love (first version, take 2) 03 Eight Days a Week (first version, take 5) 04 That Means a Lot (take 2, reduction copy of take 1 with SIs) 05 This Bird Has Flown (take 1, wide mix) 06 I’m Looking Through You (take 1) 07 Tomorrow Never Knows ( take 1) 08 Got to Get You Into My Life (first version, take 5) 09 And Your Bird Can Sing (first version, take 2) 10 Taxman (re-make, take 11) 11 I’m Only Sleeping (take 1) 12 Yellow Submarine (unused intro piece) 13 Yellow Submarine (take 5 with Sis) 14 She Said She Said (home demo) 15 Strawberry Fields Forever (take 1 with SIs) 16 Strawberry Fields Forever (percussion take 15) 17 Strawberry Fields Forever (percussion take 24) 18 Strawberry Fields Forever (take 26 with SIs, Remix Stereo 5) 19 Penny Lane (edit of takes 6, 7 & 9) 20 In the Life Of… (take 1) 21 Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite! calliope SI) 22 Good Morning Good Morning (animal SI) 23 Magical Mystery Tour (stereo film mix) 24 Aerial Tour Instrumental (Remix Mono 4) 25 Aerial Tour Instrumental (Remix Mono 8) 26 Red Lady Too (mono LP mix) 27 Goodbye (studio demo) DISC 2 01 Across the Universe (Hums Wild) (Remix Stereo 4) 02 Lady Madonna (edit of takes 2, 3 & 4) 03 Child of Nature (Esher demo for the White Album) 04 Circles (Esher demo for the White Album) 05 Junk (Esher demo for the White Album) 06 Revolution (take 20, reduction copy of take 2 with Sis) 07 A Beginning (unused intro piece to Don’t Pass Me By) 08 Sour Milk Sea (created from George ‘s Esher demo) 09 Good Night (unused intro piece) 10 Good Night (edit of takes 10 & 5) 11 Cry Baby Cry (unnumbered take) 12 Helter Skelter (vocal SI) 13 Helter Skelter (re-make, take 17) 14 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (studio demo, take 1) 15 Not Guilty (take 102, ‘Sessions’ mix) 16 Step Inside Love (recorded during sessions for I Will) 17 Glass Onion (Remix Mono 2) 18 She Came In Through the Bathroom Window (from the Get Back sessions) 19 Isn’t It a Pity (studio demo) 20 She’s So Heavy (edit of Trident session & reduction mix) 21 All Things Must Pass (studio demo, take 2) 22 Come and Get It (studio demo all instruments played by Paul) What’s the New Mary Jane (stereo 7″ mix) 24 Magical Mystery Tour Reprise (stereo film mix)