The song 'Free as a Bird' was included in the two-CD collection. The first collection included music recorded by the Quarry Men, the famous Decca Records audition tapes, and various out-takes and demos from the band's first four albums. Two days after the first Beatles Anthology television special had aired, The Beatles Anthology 1 was released to stores. Three Anthology collections were released, each containing 2 CDs of never before released Beatles material. 'Free as a Bird' won two: one for best short-form music video, and one for best pop performances by a duo or group. The Beatles Anthology video release won a Grammy for best long-form music video. The entire set was released worldwide on DVD on April 1, 2003. The entire documentary was released sometime after on video as an eight-tape set with additional material not seen in the television specials, clocking in at 10 hours total. The first episode ended with a promotional video of the brand new Beatles track, 'Free as a Bird,' created from a recording supplied by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.

ITV's version of Anthology runs 25-30 minutes longer than the one screened on US television, with most of that time spent on more complete song sequences.Īll of the surviving Beatles members filmed new interviews to add to older interviews with John Lennon, who died in 1980. It appeared in America on ABC as a five-hour miniseries over three nights ( November 19- 21, 1995).

Literally thousands of hours of footage were viewed in consideration for inclusion in the documentary, which originally aired in Britain on ITV, beginning November 19, for an hour a week until Christmas Eve. The television specials and video collection

The beatles anthology 4