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5.47pm
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20 August 2013
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I like how the added Beatles voices make the song sound full. Plumped up.
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1.29pm
17 July 2016
Offline What’s always interesting about this and “Real Love ” is how restrained Paul’s bass is. In the Beatles especially in the later years Paul’s melodic bass playing was always very noticeable. You barely hear it all in the Anthology songs except in “Free As A Bird ” at the end when it gets into the ukelele playing.
1.27am
14 June 2016
Offline William Shears Campbell said
@QuarryMan said
It’s just a great song. Not Real Love level great, but certainly of a high standard.I actually like this song a bit more than Real Love .
The Real Love demo from the John Lennon Anthology is one of my favourite songs of all time. I love that Plastic Ono type simplicity and his emotive vocals. But I also like the Beatles version. Sped up vocals aren’t exactly that radical. John played around with similar concepts in the past, eg. Backwards guitar, reversing vocals, etc. The Beatles flourishes give it a different type of poignancy that’s just as powerful. Free As A Bird is probably my pick of the two though. I love how it all clicks together with the added vocals. The lyrics affect me in a bigger way in light of John’s death. He’s now Free As A Bird , and that’s the next best thing to be. The music video is incredible too.
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6.31am
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1 May 2011
Offline Occurred to me a few days ago that it will be 25 years ago in November we got the first brand new Beatles track in 25 years. That is so insane to me as it was such a massive moment in my childhood. The build-up and coverage for this and the ‘Anthology’ series was incredible, they were everywhere. I remember the quickness of ‘LATBBC’ being announced and issued so it was all very different when ‘FAAB’ was going to get released. I kept a scrap book and have a lot of the articles and a good number of magazines from the time.
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6.40am
28 February 2020
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Zig said
if I remember correctly, it was the same here in the US – it was played after the last episode of Anthology. It’s the same on the Anthology DVD’s.
I may be wrong but I think it was after the first episode. I’m not really a fan of Jeff Lynne’s production style. I prefer Gile’s remix on the 1+ video. The changes aren’t as noticeable as they are on Real Love but both remove that ennui that Lynne seems to put on everything.
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1 May 2011
Offline Dingle Lad said
Zig said
if I remember correctly, it was the same here in the US – it was played after the last episode of Anthology. It’s the same on the Anthology DVD’s.
I may be wrong but I think it was after the first episode. I’m not really a fan of Jeff Lynne’s production style. I prefer Gile’s remix on the 1+ video. The changes aren’t as noticeable as they are on Real Love but both remove that ennui that Lynne seems to put on everything.
In comparison, Martin’s remixes are far superior to the originals. There is far more oomph to both songs with the easiest comparison being the very wimpery opening to Lynn’s ’Real Love ’ that now has a real bite to it. The ”turned out nice again” outro on ’FAAB’ is also pretty cool. I don’t listen to the originals or have them on my phone.
Would hope Apple give the two remixes more prominence than being buried on the bonus ’1+’ DVD.
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5.14pm
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1 May 2011
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Never in my life seen or heard of these before so no idea if actually genuine or not. Original concept artwork for ‘Free As A Bird .
Appears that there was going to be an official release of the promo but it was scrapped at the last minute and never saw the light.
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12.12pm
2 May 2013
Offline Of the two completed songs this is far the superior. I was on holiday in Cyprus in 1995 and had hired a car, listening to local radio on the car stereo the day after it got it’s debut on Radio 1 and just pulled over to the side of the road to listen intently at high volume. If you know driving standards in Cyprus not a very clever idea! Jeff Lynne’s production is stylistically so different from George Martin’s that it suffers a bit, more like a John Lennon track with guests rather than a Beatles one and not really of the same fabric as their 1960’s stuff, but then they’d all evolved into different beings anyway. George’s searing guitar lick makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time, and Ringo’s drumming is just so laconic.
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14 June 2016
Offline Old Soak said
Of the two completed songs this is far the superior. I was on holiday in Cyprus in 1995 and had hired a car, listening to local radio on the car stereo the day after it got it’s debut on Radio 1 and just pulled over to the side of the road to listen intently at high volume. If you know driving standards in Cyprus not a very clever idea! Jeff Lynne’s production is stylistically so different from George Martin’s that it suffers a bit, more like a John Lennon track with guests rather than a Beatles one and not really of the same fabric as their 1960’s stuff, but then they’d all evolved into different beings anyway. George’s searing guitar lick makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time, and Ringo’s drumming is just so laconic.
I mean it technically is a John Lennon track with guests
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7.08am
14 June 2016
Offline 2.53 to 3.12 is just wonderful. That harmonising with the melody is some of their best ever, even if it’s on a demo track after the band broke up.
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2.07am
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1 May 2011
Offline As with ‘Real Love ‘, the 2016 remix is an improvement on the 1995 one (tho not as much as the the ‘Real Love ‘ remix which turned it into a fantastic song). Agree with Ringo’s drumming being very staid (is that the right word?), and once you get passed ‘FAAB’ being the big reunion song, since it was the first, it’s simply a very decent song that I want to like more but always fail to.
On the other hand, the harmonies are incredible and the video is impossible to get bored with as there is so much going on that you are catching new bits and references.
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11.56am
24 March 2014
Offline I watched the videos again and , don’t know why, my eyes got a little wet… must be i’m getting older or something… anyway i like both songs ok. I think the “Whatever happened to…” part sounds a bit odd compared with John’s voice, probably because they used a lot of flanger on John’s , or due to the quality of the tape the used, while Paul and George’s voices are too dry so they sound a little out of the mix.
George slide in this one is superb, and the vocal harmonies during the solo are so Beatle.
I also miss a bit of Paul witiness on bass, his line sound a bit too much contained.
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5.39pm
7 November 2010
Offline I know what you mean about the difference in the mix between the John and Paul/George vocals, but I just love when George’s voice comes in on this. Thinking about how far he had come; from a young boy in the shadow of John and Paul, to an amazing artist and songwriter “in his own write” 
.
I’ve mentioned before on another thread how I feel like George is definitely the “alpha” during the Anthology sessions, not Paul, and for some reason his voice in this really epitomises that for me. Especially when immediately followed by his incredible slide guitar.
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12.37am
26 January 2017
Offline I feel the same way @kelicopter, but those verses do feel a little bit like putting Han and Chewey in the new Star Wars. Sure I got excited for a multitude of reasons, but it does feel but like fan service that departs from the authenticity of the music. Real Love feels more like a complete song, with the surviving Beatles adding their touches to complete it. It is similar to Sexy Sadie in my mind as a full collaborative force, which is the highest possible compliment coming from me.
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11.07pm
24 June 2019
Offline kelicopter said
I know what you mean about the difference in the mix between the John and Paul/George vocals, but I just love when George’s voice comes in on this. Thinking about how far he had come; from a young boy in the shadow of John and Paul, to an amazing artist and songwriter “in his own write”.
I’ve mentioned before on another thread how I feel like George is definitely the “alpha” during the Anthology sessions, not Paul, and for some reason his voice in this really epitomises that for me. Especially when immediately followed by his incredible slide guitar.
I find I hear George’s voice more on harmony work than Paul’s. Anthology George really looks like he doesn’t want to be there sometimes.
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7.39pm
14 June 2016
Offline JW OBoogie said
…Anthology George really looks like he doesn’t want to be there sometimes.
That’s proof that Paul is actually dead. George didn’t want to be in the studio with Faul again, but he had to in order to alleviate suspicions of the coverup of his(Paul’s) death…..JK
I still feel like this song is the inferior Anthology original, overshadowed by Real Love .
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11.20am
25 August 2021
Offline I’ve always thought this and “Real Love ” are perfectly good songs, and deserving of being called Beatles tracks. They represent a great, definitive finality to the legacy of the band, and summing up what they represented and what they achieved.
The part I’ve never fully understood is why the press were so hostile to these songs, and quick to dub them flops simply because they weren’t certified higher than gold and didn’t go the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 40, though both did chart there and both tracks got to the Top 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.
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30 December 2022
Offline If you have never heard the version with just John and his piano you are just missing out. I found it today and have listened to it 10+ times so far and I either cry or my eyes water, there’s just something magical about it. Just his voice– it sounds like an angel really. I’m just speechless when I listen to it. As I describe lots of songs… this one is hauntingly beautiful.
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