By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor
Song: A Day in the Life [Anthology Version]/
Artist: The Beatles/
Writer: Lennon-McCartney/
Album: Anthology 2/
Release: 18 March, 1996/
Recorded: 19-20 January & 10 February, 1967/
Label: Apple
Anthology 2 is the second of three compilation albums dedicated to Beatles outtakes. They mainly hosted a large set of studio outtakes, home demos, and even live performances that were either bootlegged in large numbers before, or making their debut here.
`Overall, I felt that the compilations helped tell the story of the band’s rise to the top, and their descent towards their last few days. However, my main problem with this set is its gratuitous need to combine certain outtakes in order to form a “complete” product, especially when this uses otherwise unavailable outtakes.
“A Day in the Life”, an already great song that would really benefit from a progressive look at outtake-wise (one outtake at a time), it is instead represented by a smörgåsbord of Takes, numbered 1, 2, 6 & an orchestra outtake, all compiled to form a “complete” version. However, I can’t really complain too much, because both Take 2 and the orchestra piece is available, consumer-wise, for the first time.
The song begins with Take 1, where the band was testing their instruments to see if they’re in-tune, with John Lennon giving instructions as to where his microphone should be placed. This part ends with John’s count-in to start the song: “Sugarplum fairy, sugarplum fairy.”
For reference, a few fragments of Take 1 had previously appeared on a TV Special called “The Making of Sgt. Pepper.”
Then Take 2 begins. The absolute positive thing about this is that almost everything seems to be intact: the lyrics seem finalized and the composition is somewhat established; it feels like a more stripped-down version of the official version. Only problem is that there doesn’t seem to be a middle-eight present for this take.
However, Take 2’s ultimate strength is the lead-up to the 24-bar bridge. The orchestra was filled in much later, so to compensate, the lead-up was instead a sole piano piece going through almost every note and chord, accompanied by assistant Mal Evans.
The counting went from 5 to 24, with more echo applied to each succeeding number, especially after 13. This gives this version a similar air of thrill that the finalized song would also have.
Next, we move on to Take 6. Here, it is only represented by the middle-eight, from the moment the alarm clock rang all the way to the segue back to Take 2 for the last lyric.
Take 6 is actually really close to the finalized version, except for the fact that here, Paul McCartney would have to do another vocal take, as it’s represented here as a guide-vocal. It’s actually pretty interesting, except for the brief instrumental interlude back to Take 2.
For reference, Take 6, in its entirety as a rough mono-mix, was already a semi-commonly bootlegged version of this song prior to its inclusion here.
Take 2’s final lyric is more or less the same as the final version, sans overdubs. And then, we move onto the final part of this Frankenstein mix: the orchestra piece. Recorded on 10 February, 1967, this is the uncut piece that would be used for further overdubbing later on, and I’m actually pretty happy that the raw source is preserved here.
Thing is, I feel like a lot of holes were actually made when this mix was created. While I admire the producers’ intent in telling a complete story here, I feel that at least two tracks should have been devoted towards the evolution of one of the most celebrated songs ever made, just like what they did with “Eight Days a Week” from Anthology 1, and “Strawberry Fields Forever” and, less deservedly, “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” from this volume. It’s not like we ran out of disc space to warrant this mix in the first place.
Overall, I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I really dislike this massively altered version for messing with what could potentially be called history. But at the same time, both Takes 2 and the raw orchestra take make their debut here.
It is part of Anthology 2, a compilation that I heartily recommend without hesitation, which means that even with its problems, I would still recommend this track.
Anthology 2 is available on Amazon.com for $19.99 [2CD]. [5/10]
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