The Beatles: Let It Be, Already!

Hearing the third and last installment of The Beatles Anthology (Apple/Capitol) makes me undeniably nostalgic. Not for 1968-'70, when the songs were recorded, but for last year at this time, when the Anthology project first hit television and CD racks. It was the first (and probably last) real wave of Beatlemania since John Lennon's death. Suddenly everyone you knew was rediscovering favorite songs, getting together to watch the shows, and arguing over whether "Free As a Bird" was a proper Beatles song or not. Maybe it wasn't really a reunion, but for the first time in decades, the Fab Four were a going concern.

Now that the wave has subsided, this final two-CD set (covering The Beatles, better known as "The White Album," through Let It Be) puts the cap on the Anthology project. But it's the first of the three sets not to include a wealth of material that hasn't already been bootlegged. True, the pickings were slimmer at this point, since the Beatles were less likely to record two releasable versions of a tune or leave finished songs on the shelf (they'd stopped touring, so there are of course no live recordings). Rough demos, mostly performed by solo Beatles, and spliced-together outtakes make up much of this set. The only newly issued song is John's "What's the New Mary Jane," easily the second-weirdest Beatles number after "Revolution 9." It sounds like the kind of demented nursery rhyme that Syd Barrett got kicked out of Pink Floyd for writing.

Still, the late period of Beatledom is the one that's been most covered by bootleggers, and if you've heard the boots you'll know what's missing. There are, for instance, many hours of Let It Be sessions where the Beatles played rock oldies, made up songs on the spot (including John's fairly offensive but probably parodic "No Pakistanis"), and argued with one another (hence their influence on Oasis). Also missing are a couple of notable psychedelic artifacts: "Indian Rope Trick" (the improvised song that they recorded for the Maharishi in India) and a handful of duets that Paul recorded in his garden with Donovan. And why include a solo George demo of "All Things Must Pass" (later the title track of his solo debut) rather than the superb and oft-bootlegged Beatles version?

If you don't have a good bootleg collection, you'll still find a few handfuls of treasures here. There are earlier, rougher, and largely better versions of a half-dozen songs from Let It Be, and it's a revelation to hear the familiar studio version of "The Long and Winding Road" without the strings, horns, and choir that Phil Spector later dubbed on; yes, there was a good song under all that glop. George gets his due with a lovely acoustic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," plus a group take of "Not Guilty" that blows away his later solo version. And the handful of "White Album" demos that open the album form a kind of strung-out Beatles suite. Paul's demo of "Helter Skelter" (which then had a chorus of "Hell for Leather") is less proto-metal than the familiar version but more desperate-sounding. John's demo of "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" (with only the "I need a fix" bridge) suggests he'd seen the same street corners that the Velvet Underground were starting to celebrate. And who would have guessed that Paul's "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" began life as an acoustic blues -- or that his original justification for dalliance in public wasn't "No one will be watching us," but "Everyone will be watching us"?

Still, the release of Anthology 3 marks a milestone of sorts: barring acts of God or sudden inspiration on McCartney's part, it's likely that the Beatles have now given us all the worthwhile music they ever will, either apart or together. Thanks, guys, it's been fun.

-- Brett Milano