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Rating: I am aware of the countless reviews on this site regarding the famous Liverpool quartet, but being a huge fan myself, I have also decided to pay my tribute to one of the greatest rock bands in history. However, this time I did not want to review the usual "Pepper," "Revolver," or "Rubber Soul"; I considered something different: it is one of those few bootlegs which, among all the titles of the Beatles' unofficial discography, I find truly interesting for its cohesiveness.
Through alternate takes, unreleased tracks, and various rarities, one can revisit much of the Fab Four's production from a perspective different from that offered by the official catalog. "The One After 909," officially released in "Let It Be" (1970), is both the first track on the compact disc and one of the quartet's showstoppers during the days at the Cavern, the historic venue in Liverpool. Alongside this, there are other old recordings, such as "I'll Be On My Way", "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (by Buddy Holly), "Shout" (played at a 1964 TV special called "Around The Beatles"), and "To Know Her Is To Love Her" (by Phil Spector).
As for the unreleased tracks, we find two songs excluded from the "Help!" soundtrack (a film that was originally going to be titled "Eight Arms To Hold You"): one is "If You've Got A Trouble", sung by Ringo Starr, and the other is "That Means A Lot", which the Lennon/McCartney duo at the time decided to leave aside due to technical issues (neither John nor Paul were able to sing such a piece). Unfortunately, there is not much material from the psychedelic period, although this shortfall is offset by a splendid "alternate version" of "Strawberry Fields Forever", recorded on November 29, 1966. Also interesting is the acoustic medley "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/ Christmas Time (Is Here Again)". There are many songs recorded between 1968 and 1969: we find much of the tracks excluded from the final edition of "Let It Be" such as "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Can You Dig It?" (a prototype of the quirky "Dig It") and "Every One Had A Hard Year" (later reused as a musical interlude in "I've Got A Feeling"). There are also the original versions of "I Me Mine", "Across The Universe", "The Long And Winding Road", and some fragments of "Get Back" sung in French and German.
Noteworthy are also the tracks recorded during the sessions of "Let It Be" and the "White Album" which later became famous thanks to the solo careers of the four: "Come And Get It" would be proposed by McCartney for "Badfinger", "All Things Must Pass" would be both one of the most famous songs and one of the best-selling albums by solo Harrison, and "Child Of Nature" would be recorded by Lennon in "Imagine" with the title "Jealous Guy". I recommend all Beatles enthusiasts to immediately get this album because even though it doesn't add anything particularly new, it offers quite interesting material and doesn't contain the classic B-sides or the usual studio outtakes that the world of bootlegs tends to continuously propose.
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