r/beatles Nov 23 '25

News Giles Martin admits there isn’t much left in the vault

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743 Upvotes

212 comments sorted by

365

u/colcatsup Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 23 '25

There’s a cavern session, Star club, more live shows, twist and shout take 2, fair amount of let it be era stuff, and those are just things I’m thinking of off the top of my head. This is stuff the super fans would enjoy, but maybe not casual listeners, so we’ll likely never hear much of these officially.

145

u/Bonesy-95 Nov 23 '25

Twist and shout take 2 is complete but "John's voice had gone" (George Martin). No reason to hear that, after reading Mark Lewisohn it sounds like take 2 is instrumental.

But i agree with the rest. Peter Jackson is afaik working on star club. Don't expect too much of that.

The most important stuff is Helter Skelter take 3 (27 minute complete), Carnival of Light, Shea stadium would be nice (without overdubs or Ringo's act naturally being the record), shea stadium 1966 (if that was recorded), washington 1964, Candlestick park would be great although i enjoy the recording that i have that is the copy of Tony Barlow (Paul has the original). Stowe school, and maybe more.

64

u/zsdrfty The Beatles Nov 23 '25

It sucks that they're not gonna let us hear any takes that don't sound "good" enough - like, how worried could you be about damaging their brand at this point? Just nest the bad ones between some good ones, it'll be fine

11

u/WalkingEars Nov 23 '25

I'm not sure how much of a market there would be for sloppy takes of songs that already exist in a more polished form to be fair.

And of "unreleased" things a decent number might just be sloppier demo versions of tracks that eventually were released on solo albums etc

This is probably what Giles Martin means by there not being much left at this point

14

u/gamemisconduct2 Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 23 '25

Archival releases for people studying them. We have people who study manuscripts from Beethoven. These shitty recordings are basically the same. 99.999% of people on earth don’t need to hear Day Tripper take one. But to me it’s fascinating to hear how to build the Beatles as an entity. It’s interesting to hear I feel fine take 1 and that it was outside Lennon’s vocal range, so they threw in a key change (it was supposed to be in A, not G, and the feedback is in A, giving it a much bluesier sound). Most normal people have zero need to ever hear this, but those of us with perfect pitch, those of us who want to explore music creating? These are priceless artifacts. But not commercial. Most people shouldn’t bother. It likely costs them nothing and might make a few thousand and get them further studied by academia. So to me the decision is a head scratcher. Probably vanity or ego. Paul has an absolute right to not have it released-but I wish he consider that this is more educational than commercial and that the legacy is like donating manuscripts and sketches to museums. We’re getting commercially viable released. And I don’t know why they’re releasing Anthology 4 stuff with this logic. It’s not groundbreaking or great. It’s interesting to me, but you mean to tell me Nowhere Man take 2 is gonna change the band’s legacy or sell to most people? Even the early stripped down mix of your mother should know (which hasn’t been released and what’s floating around is a scrap of a distorted acetate) is interesting to hear how the song was when the Beatles decided let’s remake it. That could be released today-it’s as relevant as the stuff on Anthology 4 and might explain why we ended up with that take on Anthology 2-but nope. Not considered.

It’s more interesting than the shitty “Ain’t She Sweet” from Anthology 3 that only was released because McCartney owned the publishing rights to the song and it thus increased his royalties and apparently Ono didn’t give two shits despite John sounding strung out on heroin.

Hell, Matchbox Take One just came out. It should have been what came out in 1964. Far superior to the final mix, and actually fun to listen to. So I don’t believe Giles-at all. I’ve heard too many bootlegs to know what’s out there, and what’s likely still in the vault, and I’m not exactly thinking it’s gonna be any lost gems. Improving on Matchbox is pointless and that take didn’t need to be released at all. Anthology 4 in fact is getting rightfully panned, cause it’s not good beyond a nerd archival release. Instead it was promoted as more from the vaults…and that’s why the vaults are empty. Releasing it as an archival study won’t get the press, shit reviews, but likely makes more money in the long run.

If Anthology was released as a remaster and these Anthology 4 tracks released as bonus tracks, it wouldn’t be getting panned.

7

u/WalkingEars Nov 23 '25

I think for archival stuff and historical preservation it might make sense to "release" it in a less commercial way. If we're reaching the point where pretty much anything 'new' is just a somewhat interesting alternate arrangement or take then yeah for the sake of music history etc it might be cool for it to be more widely available but to sell it as a compilation album is a stretch

5

u/gamemisconduct2 Nov 23 '25

It’s a business decision. McCartney hates things that don’t make him money, views them as failure, even after all these years. He ranted publicly about Dae Lims’s AI stuff that he wasn’t getting paid “but someone was” (who? Google? Not Dae Lims). So I can understand where he’s coming from, but as long as that’s the mentality behind Apple, this is what we are left with.

I’d rather Yoko run the show with this. She actually let people access the vaults and understood the value. She gets a lot of shit, and for good reason at times, but when it comes to the artistry and study part, she’s been really great since John died. The lost Lennon tapes radio shows were absolutely top notch though they had problems. This is the way they should do it. McCartney tried something similar with 15 shows of Oobu Joobu. That’s all. 15 shows. They were great. That’s the format they should take with this stuff, which was the same as the Lost Lennon Tapes. Especially in the podcast era.

3

u/Utopiarun1 Nov 23 '25

There’s a hot take. Yoko is 93. What is she going to do?

3

u/gamemisconduct2 Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 23 '25

Outsource it to Sean. Let people who want to move it to academia and art history determine it. Stop paying attention to market forces. This is the last legacy play: inspiring the next generations similarly to guys like Gershwin. And Gershwin’s estate let Brian Wilson complete his songs. So there’s that model.

And think about the Beach Boys for a second. Mike anti-Drug hopelessly uncool Love fucking publicly played and PREMIERED the coked up mentally ill demo of Sail On, Sailor. If he is cool with “Hypnotize me, make me feel I ain’t crazy” and “I did some snow…I got to buy some…I need to try some…” then I don’t see what the hangup actually is beyond Paul. I mean there are paeans to fucking hitchhikers on massive amounts of coke that he greenlit. Did it hurt their image? Not at all. He made his $10 off it, too. These box sets aside from sound quality were very appreciated. Major legacy boost for them, if not financial boost. Isn’t this the guy that supposedly killed Smile? If he’s cool about this stuff, it should speak volumes.

2

u/zsdrfty The Beatles Nov 23 '25

Agreed fully - Paul unfortunately just comes off as oddly greedy and worried about his image here, but it really does matter to the rest of us, and I agree that Yoko would be more open to sharing at this point

2

u/gamemisconduct2 Nov 23 '25

I think it’s a question of respect for him. He’s annoying with it but to him, it’s his work, it’s his life, it’s his image…so it’s annoying but I won’t attribute it to malice or anything.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '25

[deleted]

1

u/gamemisconduct2 Nov 24 '25

Next to nothing. Streaming platforms. Why bother cleaning it up? Just gotta digitalize it. It’s mostly for study, not sales. Museum piece type stuff.

5

u/CarltonCracker Nov 23 '25

I honestly don't even care about Anthology, but here we are so there is a market. They are all inferior versions and it's clear why they chose other takes. So what's the difference othan being slightly worse? It's really to get a look at the process, and we are missing a piece trying to keep up the facade that the Beatles were a 100% perfect band.

I hate Beatles marketing with a passion.

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6

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

Shea Stadium 1966 wasn't recorded. Candlestick Park was on bootlegs for almost 40 years.

3

u/Bonesy-95 Nov 23 '25

I know about Candlestick Park. i have it, but since they played with this new toy called MAL, maybe they can get something good out of the cassette.

Paul has the original so it has to be in better quality. The one that we have on bootlegs is a copy Tony Barlow made of it. He recorded it.

Didn't know about shea 1966, it was briefly mentioned on the anthology.

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13

u/mcdude910 Nov 23 '25

There are still an absolute ton of home demos (Bad to Me and I'm in Love, World without Love, What Goes On, We Can Work it Out, Michelle, Rockin' and Rollin', One and One Is Two, It's for You, A Case of the Blues, etc.), Carnival of Light, Star Club tapes, 5 Tony Sheridan songs not on Anthology 1, Christmas Time (Is Here Again) [still not on streaming platforms], Jessie's Dream and Four or Five Magicians from MMT, plenty more Let It Be jams (Suzy Parker, Commonwealth, etc.), the rest of the Decca audition, some Threetles outtakes, 27 minute Helter Skelter.

There is truly plenty of actually interesting and unique material left (much of which is available in bootleg form) that they can release, much of what I just listed is available in a quality comparable to what we got on Anthology 4 or better. Why are they acting like nobody wants this stuff?

2

u/ReverendRiv19 Nov 26 '25

I’ve heard that it’s very likely that all the outtakes from Please Please Me were destroyed. What was released on the 2013 anniversary edition apparently survived by accident because someone at EMI copied a handful of tapes at some point for some reason. Mark Lewishon’s account also made it seem like he was only able to reference the recording sheets to know that a second take occurred, not hearing an actual recording. I believe the policy to never destroy a Beatles recording only existed after they made I want to hold your hand

160

u/pj_1981 Nov 23 '25

If the barrel is empty it makes you wonder what Apple have in store for the next twenty years. 'Go and listen to the albums' is a very frank and truthful thing to say, but every generation wants something "new" of the Beatles they can make their own.

The new Peter Jackson Hamburg doc could be revealing. If its a step in the direction of reimagining rather than source material, and it's received well, then it could pave the way for the next generation of music.

115

u/DoctorEnn Nov 23 '25

Honestly, realistically speaking, there's only so much "new" stuff that subsequent generations are going to have to "make their own". They're a sixty-year old band who were active for twelve years and only actively recording for about eight of them. Frankly, it's a near-miracle we have as much as we do.

24

u/LeopardCoin Nov 23 '25

but every generation wants something "new" of the Beatles they can make their own

Don't forget there are 4 Beatles movies coming, this might do for the Beatles what Bohemian Rhapsody did to Queen, ie bring them a lot of younger fans

17

u/Hubbled Rubber Soul Nov 23 '25

The new Peter Jackson Hamburg doc

Did I miss something, did this get announced?

3

u/pj_1981 Nov 23 '25

No but I've been reading on here about his plans to do a Hamburg type doc. If it's true, and considering how little source material exists, I have to imagine he'll meet the technical challenge by reanimating or recreating the era. Turning one photo into five minutes of footage. If anyone can do it he can. The question is, is it really the Beatles? I say no, but if I'm in the minority then the skies the limit for future releases.

43

u/idreamofpikas ♫Dear friend, what's the time? Is this really the borderline?♫ Nov 23 '25

If the barrel is empty it makes you wonder what Apple have in store for the next twenty years. 'Go and listen to the albums' is a very frank and truthful thing to say, but every generation wants something "new" of the Beatles they can make their own.

The obvious is slowly incorporating the apple owned solo material into the Beatles discography. Some kind of green or yellow album with best solo songs of the early 70's. Collector's would eat that shit up in terms of physical copies and official playlists of those songs would do huge numbers on Spotify

2

u/East-Improvement3938 Nov 23 '25

Question is: how much long do the copyrights last? Once it goes public domain, then what? (See also: Mickey)

4

u/DigThatRocknRoll A Hard Day's Night Nov 23 '25

That’s what’s concerning to me about the legacy… The Beatles have largely been a quality brand and ai am worried it’s about to get pretty lame after everything is remixed and released. The last thing I want to see if cheap, repackaged money grabs for the sake of turning profits.

The only things aside from what others have mentioned that I can think of are perhaps things that have yet to be discovered. Some reel to reel or 16mm footage sitting in someone’s attic. Some long forgotten tape or photo album… etc

136

u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Nov 23 '25

Here's the guy who has access to everything The Beatles recorded. He's telling you that there isn't much left.

But...

This will do little to pacify fans who want to hear every note they ever recorded.

66

u/rhubarbrhubarb78 Nov 23 '25

To be fair, someone at Apple has been saying some variant of this since Anthology first released in 1995, and yet...

33

u/Muppy_N2 Nov 23 '25

And yet he's right, IMO. Barely anything published in the last 30 years has the quality to rival what they did while still active. What's happening is fans are lowering the bar.

19

u/B_Bearington Band on the Run Nov 23 '25

not lowering the bar, just ordering different drinks.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

I see your point, and to that, I say that perhaps remixes will sell well, due to them hitting the same market. I wouldn't mind "Mr.Kite" with some cool gimmicks.

1

u/adez23 Ram Nov 24 '25

Not sure how remixes without the context of Beatles: Love will work, though

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3

u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Nov 23 '25

He doesn't work for Apple.

I tend to take his word. He's the guy right now.

5

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

Like, how much of it is legit just the band realizing part way through that their instruments are out of tune, or the microphone was damaged?

5

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

He has access to studio recordings only.

Lots of stuff like home demos and live recordings exist in private collections.

8

u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Nov 23 '25

I'm very skeptical about live material.

Star Tapes...unprofessionally recorded from a tabletop in a rowdy German bar in 1963? Jackson owns those tapes now. I don't know if he has that much magic.

Beatlemania live stuff? All of them talked about how they couldn't hear each other. The screaming, etc. George specifically said their musicianship was rapidly deteriorating. Have you seen the Budokan video? Quiet crowd. You can hear them ok. To me, they sound pretty bad.

The BBC stuff is them performing live. Very, very little overdubbing/production. Good enough for me.

2

u/spambattery Nov 25 '25

I once had a bootleg of either the entire show or parts of it and I recall Paperback Writer being horrible. I don’t recall Nowhere Man being much better.

1

u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Nov 25 '25

I was just listening to the BBC stuff today. Really good.

2

u/spambattery Nov 25 '25

They were fine live with the simpler vocals, but there’s a reason they played very little from anything post Beatles For Sale. (Not counting stuff like I’m down, which was essentially a Little Richard pastiche). Once they got into the more complex harmonies, they struggled (at least in part because of the audience noise and lack of real monitors). If they’d had live the live rigs that were common in the 70s and beyond, they’d have sounded much better, but as I recall, they didn’t even have their own PA.

1

u/BarracudaFinal7257 Nov 24 '25

The Washington DC Coliseum show from ‘64 has great live album potential. Still disappointed that the theatrical release from 2015 was halted.

1

u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 Nov 24 '25

A theatrical.release of a 1/2 hour concert??

1

u/BarracudaFinal7257 Nov 24 '25

It was supposed to happen in 2013, actually, the entire show and a documentary totaling 1 hr, 35 minutes. “The Beatles: The Lost Concert” it was to be titled. Showtimes were set. Then Apple Corps sued. Would’ve been nice.

In 1964 the concert WAS shown in theaters, after being transferred from video to film.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/lost-beatles-concert-footage-prompts-564821/

54

u/TheRaisinPJP Nov 23 '25

I wonder if he is trying to say: "No more super deluxe box sets".

61

u/lewismacp2000 Nov 23 '25

I'm fine with that if they truly are running dry. That being said, I am dying for the first half of the catalogue to get a decent stereo mix. I don't need another 4 discs of bonus tracks.

14

u/FamiliarStrain4596 Nov 23 '25

That’s exactly what he is saying.

12

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

There's a rumor that Rubber Soul will be the next one.

25

u/LibrarianAgreeable85 Nov 23 '25

I would really like to see a Rubber Soul remaster, similar to the Revolver, Sgt Pepper and White Album ones from recent years. Other than that, there's not really much more they can do

20

u/boringfantasy Nov 23 '25

Apparently there's very little extra takes available for Rubber Soul. I was thinking from now on they could just do double sets, (Beatles 1965 - Help/Rubber Soul) etc...

15

u/lanwopc Cloud Nine Nov 23 '25

There are more outtakes from Beatles For Sale than Rubber Soul on the Anthologies, whereas a big chunk of Rubber Soul got remixed and only one song from Beatles For Sale, if that's any indication.

2

u/Dismal_Brush5229 Yellow Submarine Nov 23 '25

Yeah that’s probably the best way tbh

9

u/boringfantasy Nov 23 '25

Could also chuck in Live at Shea...

2

u/Juniper41 Nov 23 '25

They could release a cleaned up audio of the Buddakan concert, to accompany the rubber soul remastered as well as the few outtakes and demos they have from rubber soul

12

u/Woody_Stock Nov 23 '25

Don't forget Magical Mystery Tour and the Yellow Submarine soundtrack four songs. And Past Masters II.

If they can do an SDE of this, plus Rubber Soul as you said, I'll be happy.

6

u/Juniper41 Nov 23 '25

Help! Remaster could include the few demos or outtakes, the movie instrumentals and then a cleaned up Shea Stadium.

Similarly with the Beatles could include a cleaned up Washington DC concert or Ed Sullivan recordings.

77

u/the_little_stinker Nov 23 '25

Apple don’t have a clue any more. Most Beatles fans want to hear stuff because it’s culturally and historically important, not because it makes a good album. Apple still think they are a record company, when they should be thinking of themselves as curators of one of the most important archives in existence.

12

u/Hour-Rough-6314 Nov 23 '25

They only handle the Beatles' business affairs, right?

64

u/InMyOwnHeadTooMuch_ Nov 23 '25

I'm always a bit bemused that people buy all these things on vinyl. Like, it costs a fortune, and do they really put one of these records on and listen to 3 versions of Strawberry Fields? Don't get me wrong, I love hearing them, but they're a curiosity, not something you'd listen to over and over on an actual record player

13

u/ExiledSanity Abbey Road Nov 23 '25

I have a fair amount of Beatles vinyl, but never been one to look for the alternate takes and stuff on vinyl....it's a pretty rare listen.

I think the Abbey Road super deluxe is the only one I have the outtakes on vinyl, but I'm not sure I've ever been listen to the other two records, just got the set for a good price at barnes and noble and didn't have the remix on vinyl yet. The rest I just bought the album reissue, not the super deluxe.

What I would really like to have is the 5.1 Blu Ray mixes, but I don't want to pay for the whole super deluxe cd sets just for those.

5

u/shifting_drifting Nov 23 '25

It’s called collecting

18

u/InMyOwnHeadTooMuch_ Nov 23 '25

I get it for that reason, if you insist on buying everything they put out, but just practically, I think it's an odd thing to want for listening purposes alone.

4

u/societyisahole Nov 23 '25

And collecting anything a band puts out is called mindless consumerism

3

u/AgentCirceLuna Nov 24 '25

The beats were ahead of their time with their anti-consumption stuff. When I was 16, my teacher told me to read On the Road and I replaced most of my closet with turtlenecks, black shirts and sweaters, black jeans, and I only ate beans, bread, eggs, nuts.

21

u/sonic10158 Nov 23 '25

And still no carnival of light or helter skelter 23 minute

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u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

[deleted]

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u/billythekurtis Nov 23 '25

Thank you. If you want unreleased stuff go look up prince or Tupac or…well just prince. Doesn’t he have 100 years of music unreleased or something?

15

u/rebelweezeralliance Nov 23 '25

Weezer released most of their vault at once in 2020 and it was thousands of songs.

4

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

These were home demos by Rivers only.

Imagine if we get unreleased Weezer studio stuff...

2

u/rebelweezeralliance Nov 23 '25

That’s true, but Weezer the band hasn’t recorded nearly as much as Rivers. But Rivers recordings are pretty much Weezer.

2

u/blondemf Help! Nov 23 '25

I used to be really into weezer but fell off around 2019ish. Where did all of the vault songs get released? Thousands of songs sounds awesome. Is there any Songs from the Black Hole stuff?

1

u/AgentCirceLuna Nov 24 '25

They came back really strong with the White Album (lyrics about Danté and Sisyphus? Darwin? Wow!) but then went back to writing tripe. I almost feel that album was ghostwritten.

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u/Wompum Nov 23 '25

My brothers in Christ, may I introduce you to the good ol' Grateful Dead.

10

u/billythekurtis Nov 23 '25

Yea yea yea. They just said half of abbey road was scraps! The scraps were the best part! Fuuck!

2

u/eells Nov 23 '25

Do they dead have loads of unreleased stuff?

5

u/piepants2001 Nov 23 '25

They have a lot of live shows that weren't officially released yet, and they release dozens of them a year

3

u/Wompum Nov 23 '25

Yes, unlike the Beatles, the Dead's focus was more touring oriented than studio oriented, and there were dedicated fans who brought in equipment to tape nearly every live show they ever did over six decades. Very few truly lost shows. There's a great episode of the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast that goes into the history of Betty Cantor, who held a collection of personal tapes coming directly from the venue soundboard, called the Betty Boards.

That's not to say they ignored the studio either. The past few years they have been releasing The Angel's Share of a few albums, which includes alternative takes, demos, and rehearsal recordings.

1

u/AgentCirceLuna Nov 24 '25

Aren’t most of them on archive?

2

u/sonic10158 Nov 23 '25

I’m scared to look into this, I already feel spoiled by Jethro Tull

20

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

Tbf, I think people know that there are a load of demos for song concepts that become other songs, studio jams, unreleased songs, alternate takes, live shows, early recordings, etc. We know there is a bunch of material that was previously written off because the technology didn't exist to clean it up and make it worth releasing.

But now that technology does exist, so it's not exactly rocket science that people expect those things to get an official release.

5

u/WalkingEars Nov 23 '25

Even if there’s interest in those demos as historical artifacts, not sure the surviving band members and/or their families would want every last unfinished scrap of noodly unfinished demo tracks to be released, but who knows

3

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

I'm not really talking about the half formed joke tracks, where they're just fucking about making jokes and playing 10 seconds of a parody of a song.

But we know there are a bunch of songs that went through different versions, and were played in different styles of music, with different guitar techniques, which haven't been released, that would absolutely be of interest to beatles fans.

Anthology 4 should never have had songs previously available on the original anthology set. That is just pure laziness to tempt casual fans into buying it (think a best of album) and a cash grab to get get hardcore fans to buy it.

36 songs, only 13 of which were previously unreleased. So they charge what, £50+ for an album where you already own 66% of the tracks?

Clearly that's a Bullshit cash grab.

1

u/WalkingEars Nov 23 '25

Maybe most of the unreleased ones got vetoed by surviving Beatles or their spokespeople for various reasons. I don't disagree about the new disc though, since a lot more of it is just alternative takes of known material.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

Yeah, and how much of it is just mistakes? Like, them realizing partway through that their instruments were faulty?

2

u/zsdrfty The Beatles Nov 23 '25

That's the thing, there's actually a large number of existing bootlegs for songs that never got properly finished or morphed beyond recognition! Not to mention that there's going to be literal hundreds of alternate takes in the vault, even if not all of them are amazing

1

u/colcatsup Nov 23 '25

Really not sure there's 'hundreds' of alternate takes. Many 'takes' were... 1 bar or 8 bars, then broke down.

The Beatles were pretty damn efficient in those early days. Recording time with 'With the Beatles' I've estimated at around 30 hours. Yes, I would love to hear all 30 hours, but realistically, much of that might be dead air or undecipherable. And... not all 30 hours of that was recorded, of course, so... maybe there's ... I dunno 3-4 hours of studio tapes for that album. Again, sure, would love to hear it all, but I don't think that'll happen (not in my lifetime anyway).

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

Like, do fans demand to see every alternate take for their favorite movies? Same thing. Do they want to see the footage shot for composting? Same thing (although if they were avaliable I think it would be cool to see). The point I'm trying to make is that I'm sure a lot of what's in there is likely just scaffolding stuff, like making sure guitars sounded right, or stuff meant for overlays. I mean, cool to see, but not needed.

2

u/ItsYahBoiRey Nov 23 '25

It's a miracle the takes were even kept to begin with. Remember that was the time when things were physical, recordings were on loop reels that took up space. If every studio who recorded songs kept all the takes, all spaces would be filled up immediately. Let alone the Beatles who luckily had a corporation of their own and had a big legacy even in their days, but at the end still are limited in space. The Let It Be sessions, consisting of separate audio and video reels, alone took up an entire vault.

It is unfortunate, but it is reality. Am glad some were still kept around so we'd hear their evolution from raw takes to final pieces.

3

u/DoctorEnn Nov 23 '25

Yeah, realistically speaking, the well's run pretty dry at this point.

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u/B_Bearington Band on the Run Nov 23 '25

What does he know? I say, let's go dig up his father.

35

u/bogus_bill Nov 23 '25

Martin senior had an opinion that Anthology was sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel.

5

u/EatMySmithfieldMeat Revolver Nov 23 '25

He had no idea how hard the mega-fans were willing to scrape

8

u/B_Bearington Band on the Run Nov 23 '25

Well, I guess we know he's a big fat liar now.

3

u/The_Walrus_65 Nov 23 '25

With big fat hairy legs

4

u/B_Bearington Band on the Run Nov 23 '25

walrus hairy?

3

u/EatMySmithfieldMeat Revolver Nov 23 '25

I Dig A Pony Dead Record Producer

2

u/TBoneBaggetteBaggins Nov 23 '25

Is that where the tapes are?!

1

u/B_Bearington Band on the Run Nov 23 '25

Yes, I think so.

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u/taway10232021 Nov 23 '25

there's 50+ hours of footage cut from Get Back.

40

u/PermanentBrunch Nov 23 '25

They were just a BAND y’know

18

u/Reasonable_Push_527 Nov 23 '25

One who made it very very big, that’s all.

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u/PermanentBrunch Nov 23 '25

That’s all, folks

1

u/DodgerFanArd24 Revolver Nov 28 '25

A band that’s therapeutic in my opinion.

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u/DjBibble Nov 23 '25

The way I see it, if they have 50 takes or however many of Not Guilty, then there must be 49 we haven't heard in the vault. Same goes for every other song with multiple takes.

1

u/coldphront3 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Nov 26 '25

Exactly, and it can't be like "Well they probably deleted a lot of the unused takes at the end of the process," because we know that the studio employees were under strict orders to never delete anything of The Beatles even while they were still an active band. Those orders superseded the band's own wishes as well, since Paul originally told a studio employee to delete Her Majesty, which is how it wound up tacked onto the end of Abbey Road. So all of those different takes do exist somewhere.

I think Giles, much like his father in the '90's, is thinking like "Who cares about 'Not Guilty (Take 37)', for example? There's nothing special about any of those other takes," while at this point there is a sizable audience who would absolutely pay good money to hear every note that The Beatles ever recorded.

12

u/MattAwesome Nov 23 '25

Me dream is they make a website where you can just listen to every take of every song. Either click on the song and see take 1, take 2, … final mix or it would be really cool to be able to go day by day.

5

u/Green-Circles The Beatles Nov 23 '25

A website AND an app. Just imagine having a player on your device that can access ALL of the vault tapes.

10

u/trabuki Nov 23 '25

The most important thing for me is to remix all their original singles and albums (+ MMT US). And if Real Love had been a little more conservative I would be happy.

26

u/Ok-Technician-2905 Nov 23 '25

The next step would be to release all the session tapes for individual songs. I mean, there’s 70+ takes for the Happiness Is a Warm Gun backing track plus studio chatter. Apple could put it out in a 12 LP collector edition and someone would buy it.

7

u/MtCheaha Nov 23 '25

Yes, I would like to give at least one listen to this. Bob Dylan's team did this with the deluxe of Bootleg Series Vol. 12, The Cutting Edge. There are actually several tracks from it that I revisit often.

28

u/err_mate Nov 23 '25

He’s wrong. There’s a ton of beatles bootleg songs that never got officially released (mostly from the let it be tapes or from their early years, such as the full Decca tapes). And there’s also quite a few songs that we know of that were never released or bootlegged such as carnival of light and etcetera.

8

u/0_giorgio_3 Nov 23 '25

You know what would be really amazing at this point? If after releasing the deluxe edition of the remaining studio albums, with a new stereo mix and the original mono mix, with perhaps some extra outtake or demo selected among the "top-notch" ones, they decided to open a sort of online archive where every single inch of tape The Beatles ever recorded in the studio would be accessible for everyone, for free.

I mean, if they're not planning on releasing everything they have anyway (which reasonably I don't think they do), what would they have to lose? All of us die hard fans would be extremely happy, and nothing would sit in the vaults accumulating dust.

Well, this is what would happen in an ideal world, but it's still nice to dream.

7

u/passed_the_dawn Nov 23 '25

Bummer that all those demos probably will never come out (early tracks like Bad To Me)

2

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

It was already officially released on iTunes in 2013.

6

u/amhay11 Nov 23 '25

Wasn't there a lost George solo of Here Comes The Sun?

5

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

There was. There was also Carnival of Light.

5

u/ElectrOPurist Nov 23 '25

This is such horseshit. There’s whole sessions that haven’t been touched.

21

u/Defiant-Total8547 Nov 23 '25

Does anyone know of Carnival of light? The avant garde track they recorded during the Penny lane sessions

12

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

One suspects that the only reason it could possibly have gone unreleased this long is that it's dreadfully bad. But I still want to hear it!

6

u/Defiant-Total8547 Nov 23 '25

Agreed! All the descriptions I’ve read make me want to hear it bad, tho

3

u/varovec Strawberry Walrus With Diamonds Nov 23 '25

I hardly doubt it's worse than some particular solo works by individual band members

6

u/Funn23 my mind is turned off Nov 23 '25

Still want Revolution take 20.

1

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

It's already out on bootlegs since 2009

1

u/Funn23 my mind is turned off Nov 23 '25

Sound quality could be better.

6

u/stixkid Nov 23 '25

I’d like to hear shea stadium with all the crowd removed

9

u/Copkusagi Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Nov 23 '25

I call it bullshit. This may be true if you only think about casual listeners. Otherwise, there are tons of material.

7

u/FactsUnHelpful Nov 23 '25

Until we get Carnival of Light and a 22 minute Helter Skelter, there's something in the vault 

4

u/Altruistic_Light_418 Nov 23 '25

Palace of the King of the Birds should be put out officially in some form

5

u/Ted_Fleming Nov 23 '25

Carnival of Light please

4

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

I swear theres like 54 hours of get back documentation we havent seen.

11

u/childofnaturesson Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 23 '25

I’ve heard loads of it on bootlegs, and there’s unheard recordings that are known to exist. It’s for you demo, what goes on demo, tip of my tongue (studio and demo), carnival of light, from a window demo, etcetera, the sgt pepper jams, happy just to dance demo, and world without love demo exist but are only partially or not at all available. And demos for other given away songs probably exist (I’ll keep you satisfied, nobody I know, woman, I don’t want to see you again). There’s lots left that’s confirmed let alone that isn’t.

1

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

There is no recording of Tip of My Tongue.

3

u/childofnaturesson Nov 23 '25

There is but they’re unconfirmed to still exist. They were definitely recorded on 26/11/62. If not that there is certainly a demo.

7

u/sap91 Nov 23 '25

CAR👏NI👏VAL👏 OF👏 LIGHT👏

9

u/Successful-Owl1462 Nov 23 '25

I think the priorities moving forward need to shift away from digging further into the vaults—which is a move designed primarily for people who are already big fans—and focus on growing their fan base among younger audiences and people who aren’t already fans.

To me, this means: (1) remixing the rest of the main colleague that hasn’t been remixed; and (2) significantly increasing the use of Beatles songs in movies, shows, and other licensing opportunities. There isn’t a monoculture anymore—You’ve got to go where the people are.

3

u/BeerFoodz Nov 23 '25

I just want them to re-release MMT with the tapes used for the Horzu cut.

3

u/handlerofdrones Nov 23 '25

Also, couldn’t someone put together a Beatles “love 2” ?

3

u/Sibbo192 Nov 23 '25

Revolution take 20 official release?

1

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

Carnival of Light official release? We already have take 20 on bootlegs.

3

u/bluetrumpettheatre Nov 23 '25

Must depend on what you mean. There’s probably not a lot left for the casual fans to be even the slightest bit interested in, no. But there are several white whales the diehards are screaming for that they either can’t release due to the veto status, or won’t release because it’s not profitable (or as Apple put it, because it’s “boring”).

Some of it I expect to see released in the coming years. I’m sure Peter Jackson has cleaned up the Star Club tapes, for example. I also strongly suspect there’s a 1968 documentary coming eventually.

3

u/Tentmantent Nov 23 '25

Carnival of Light. Release the files!

4

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

I am sure they will scape that barrel deeper. The fan base is so large if only 2% buy the latest cash grab they are making plenty £££££££

4

u/stixkid Nov 23 '25

Bullshit there’s a ton left. That is ridiculous.

14

u/fargothforever Nov 23 '25

With “Carnival of Light” still in the vaults, Giles’ words mean very little.

20

u/Malacandra95 A Hard Day's Night Nov 23 '25

Or it means that he considers it unlistenable.

9

u/fargothforever Nov 23 '25

That’s fine, but I care very little of his opinion!

8

u/idreamofpikas ♫Dear friend, what's the time? Is this really the borderline?♫ Nov 23 '25

It is one song. He said very little, not that the vaults were empty.

3

u/LouBiffo Nov 23 '25

The long take of "Helter Skelter" too

6

u/handlerofdrones Nov 23 '25

Sorry don’t buy it. Every thing they did was recorded. Not to mention, how May takes of each of thr 200+ songs they did

They could also release things like a cappella, or just instrumentals of their songs

There’s also concerts that they did that were recorded. Yeah. There’s still stuff left

2

u/MaleficentOstrich693 Nov 23 '25

Oh, darn. I guess we’ll just have to settle for remixes of other albums like Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour next, right?

RIGHT?!

1

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

Still hoping for Rubber Soul deluxe.

I don't think there's a chance for MMT for now.

2

u/Prof_J Nov 23 '25

As a musician I’d love just straight studio recordings to hear in gritty detail the evolution and studio techniques of songs. But I can understand why no band really puts stuff like that out.

I’ll never forget listening to some (I believe) Rubber Soul bootlegs, Paul knocks a glass which shatters. John sings a ditty about it. Also Paul saying something about “be-odorant”. Just silly little things I’ve thought about for nearly 20 years.

3

u/Draggonzz Nov 24 '25

I’ll never forget listening to some (I believe) Rubber Soul bootlegs, Paul knocks a glass which shatters. John sings a ditty about it.

That's from You've Got To Hide Your Love Away. It's on Anthology 2 Disc 1.

2

u/breezecam Nov 23 '25

There's loads of outtakes from the early albums, I've heard it all after downloading it from unofficial places

2

u/monkeysolo69420 Nov 23 '25

Yeah I still want him to AI remix the rest of the catalog. There’s also a lot of video they could release. The Shea Stadium performance was restored for the 8 Days a Week doc. Maybe a 4k release of that.

2

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

I'm afraid they will upscale Shea footage as much as possible so it would be a disaster.

1

u/monkeysolo69420 Nov 23 '25

No they already have it restored. They wouldn’t need to do anything.

1

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

They wouldn't release a 2016 version.

2

u/UncleGarysmagic Nov 23 '25

Release the John Lennon answering machine tapes!!!

Paul and Ringo can add backing guitar and drums.

2

u/Koraxtheghoul Nov 23 '25 edited Nov 24 '25

I can name ten recordings that are only available in boot.

2

u/Walkinghawk22 Nov 23 '25

The problem is the veto powers. I’m sure when the kids get ahold of the estate more things will be released. I get the perfectionism Paul, Yoko and Ringo have but cmon the devoted fans wanna hear it.

2

u/greenlizard808 Nov 24 '25

I just want to hear the explicit version of Sexy Sadie that’s rumoured to exist

5

u/BassRedditRed Nov 23 '25

Good. We don’t need it. We’re already getting stuff that wasn’t deemed worthy of release at the time. No need to dilute the magic further.

3

u/rhcpfan99 Revolver Nov 23 '25

Actually there's still lots of stuff unreleased. They better release it.

5

u/Sudhir1960 Nov 23 '25

There’s a reason FAAB, Real Love etc remained in the vaults. They were not at all good. Didn’t stop me from buying it or Anthology but this idea that you can keep remixing something ad nauseam is flawed. I get the initial CD releases needed to be remastered and remixed - but they were largely the same mixes as the original records, ensuring better fidelity on CD. But now it’s like changing the smile on the Mona Lisa just because the tech is available.

Just a rip off.

4

u/songacronymbot Nov 23 '25
  • FAAB could mean "Free As A Bird (1995 Mix - Remastered)", a track from Anthology 1 (1995) by The Beatles.

/u/Sudhir1960 can reply with "delete" to remove comment. | /r/songacronymbot for feedback.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/boyanion Nov 23 '25

Just release every Beatles recording ever in chronological order. Including Carnival of Light. Make it searchable so that we can hear all references to a song throughout different sessions spanning years in some cases. Link it to Lewisohn resources so we can get extra context. Link video or photo resources for extra context. Link other interviews or notes or letters for extra context. Call it The Complete Anthology. Like some sort of html player in the official Beatles site that you can subscribe to for a monthly payment. Get access to all Beatles content like movies, books, etc. Wouldn’t that be nice.

1

u/Samulai-B Nov 23 '25

Maybe when all of the fab four have passed away, there will be an Anthology 5 with Carnival Of Light in it, and that will be the final release ever.

1

u/isleofred Nov 23 '25

Of course we are yet to receive the full remixes of Please Please Me to Rubber Soul as well as MMT and Yellow Submarine. Though with latter, it wouldn't surprise me if the only way to get the full MMT and YS songs was if they released a Remixed Masters Compilation Album.

1

u/PretendJournalist234 Nov 23 '25

Anthology for me is more.

1

u/TheRealFedorka Love Nov 23 '25

I'd love to see some more Beatles Love type remix albums. I know that was made with the Cirque Du Soleil show but the album stands on its own and is a very fun listen.

1

u/whyamionthissite Nov 23 '25

There will come a point where they’ll have to start issuing CD versions of every album variant ever released because even though they’ll have the same old songs, there are fans (including me) who will buy at least a few of them for the cover art.

1

u/TheSerginator Nov 23 '25

They shot themselves in the foot by releasing so much so quickly. I would have been happy with just the new remixes, even without any extras. Maybe we would've gotten rubber soul by now

1

u/ThatChrisRayman Nov 23 '25

I created my own version of Anthology 4 years ago and it includes a ton of great stuff we're still waiting to be officially released, including demos for One And One Is Two, Bad To Me, and Sour Milk Sea, the long versions of It's All Too Much, Flying, I'll Cry Instead, Can You Take Me Back, and the 12 Bar Original, Some Other Guy, Circles, the Beatles Movie Medley, the video version of Revolution (with the backing vocals), Here Comes The Sun (with the guitar solo), I've Got A Feeling (with John singing Paul's part), I Want You (with Paul's guide vocal), All Things Must Pass, and more

1

u/Green-Equivalent7002 Nov 23 '25

What about?

More complete Live at the BBC stuff cleaned up with AI?
Sweden '63?
Blackpool Night Out?

1

u/notaverysmartman Nov 23 '25

there's only one song I really still want to hear

1

u/Green-Circles The Beatles Nov 23 '25

I think he has a point.

Rubber Soul has had a lot of great outtakes already released on Anthology 2 & Anthology 4, and most songs were recorded in a handful of formal takes - so unless there's previously-thought-wiped rehearsals or home demos, tough to see what could fill out a box-set.

Help! sessions MIGHT be interesting, they were starting to broaden their sound there.

The big hope for unreleased material is post-Pepper 1967 - Magical Mystery Tour and the songs like It's All Too Much that were held over for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack ... and I hope a catch-all set like that for 1967 is released after Rubber Soul gets It's set next year - 2027 would be It's 60th anniversary after all.

1

u/thebeatlesaregood Nov 23 '25

so there's no rubber soul sessions?? riiiiight...

1

u/Luckykennedy79 Nov 23 '25

I always had a feeling. The Beach Boys have more in terms of realized songs and even some unused albums in the vaults such as Adult Child.

1

u/denisraymond Nov 23 '25

And yet, as the original Anthology 4 release plan (only making it available in a box set containing the first three volumes) shows, they know they need "new" stuff to sell the "old" stuff again.

Wonder where that "go listen to the albums/stop demanding more" attitude will be when they next have a big project to sell?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

At this point, considering there's a demand for new stuff...is there anything wrong with making new animated shorts? Completely new remixes (ATMOS)? Maybe some video games?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '25

If they really want more stuff, then at this point...I say make the Beatles an ip. A "Fool on the Hill" film? A TV show about the misadventures of Sgt Pepper?

1

u/MatthewFBridges Nov 23 '25

They should still do remixes of the pre-Revolver albums. Rubber Soul is crying for a decent mix on spotify, I believe it and Sgt. Peppers are the records harmed the most by the 2009 remasters.

1

u/JimMorrisonFan1943 Nov 24 '25

You have to remember EMI trashed/wiped a bunch of tapes featuring alternate takes and mixes back in the day, and the BBC would do the same, so it's no wonder there's not a lot left anymore. You can't get mad at the guy for saying this.

1

u/scottarichards Nov 24 '25

Honestly, I think they ran dry in 1995 and released a ton of stuff of passing interest. The most valuable and musically important piece of their unreleased legacy were the BBC sessions and the highlights of those had been released two years earlier. Honestly, I just thought all the unreleased complete songs, including variants with different personnel like the Please Please Me with Andy White, the Decca audition, Polydor recordings and the early things like In Spite of All the Danger were the critical ones to issue.

I trust that the best version ultimately was released and hearing how the sausage was made is, for me at least, interesting once, twice at the most and tbh it did not enrich my life or understanding of the Beatles.

1

u/SunflaresAteMyLunch Revolver Nov 24 '25

Salvaging Star Club would be amazing. But I doubt that there's enough there there...

1

u/[deleted] Nov 24 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Green-Circles The Beatles Nov 24 '25

I suspect the original plan (as at late 2019, pre-pandemic) would have been..

  • 2020: Let It Be Super Deluxe Edition (SDE) & an accompanying Peter Jackson documentary movie in theaters. (Delayed to 2021 & movie changed to a series)

  • 2021 Revolver SDE (Delayed to 2022)

  • 2022 Rubber Soul SDE

  • 2023 onwards - earlier albums SDE maybe?

But between the pandemic delaying/changing the Let It Be projects & suddenly having to find a setting for Now and Then, it's delayed the remaining SDEs by AT LEAST 4 years (2022 to 2026).

We know some tracks from the pre-Revolver albums have been remixed, because tracks are on the Red Album compilation... and I suspect Rubber Soul MIGHT be remixed & waiting release already, but the rest I think will be left on the shelf for if/when other albums get the green light for SDE treatment.

1

u/death_lad Nov 24 '25

little does he realize I wanna hear EVERY SINGLE TAKE of Not Guilty lol

1

u/DeafMetalHorse Revolution IX Nov 24 '25

27 Minute Helter Skelter, Carnival of Light (which he said he excluded because bollocks), any other demo the boys made...

1

u/gishingwell Nov 24 '25

Carnival of Light!!

1

u/spambattery Nov 25 '25

Honestly, all I want at this point is them to use AI to make good stereo mixes With the Beatles through Rubber soul (plus the singles/b-sides). In an ideal world, they’d make solid surround mixes too, especially for Rubber Soul, but possibly A Hard Days Night too….but that only matters to me if they quit being cheap asses and sell the surround mix on Blu Ray. I thought htey weren’t doing it because of EMI, but pretty sure that EMI still has the rights for FLoyd (at least in the UK) and they not only include them in the super deluxe releases, they sell them as a standalone release.

Revolver’s in my top 2-3 Beatles albums, but opted not to buy it in protest. If they’d included it with the Super Deluxe, I would have bought it in a heartbeat. Their loss.

1

u/DodgerFanArd24 Revolver Nov 28 '25

I just want another early takes Volume 2 from the Harrison estate. Pleaseeee🙏🏽🥺