Paul McCartney teased it on his Instagram, and today Apple Corps made it official: There is new Beatles product coming!
The Beatles 1995 Anthology series will get a reboot this fall from Apple Corps Ltd, with a new, ninth episode in its documentary series, a new fourth volume in its music collection and a 25th Anniversary Edition of the Beatles Anthology book featuring the group's story told by all four Beatles and their associates.
The now nine-part Anthology documentary will stream exclusively on Disney+ beginning November 26. The new episode includes unseen behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr reuniting between 1994 and 1995 to work on Anthology and reflecting on their shared life as the Beatles.
In addition, the entire series as been restored by Apple Corps’ production team, working with Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films & Park Road Post teams and Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin, who has created new audio mixes for the majority of the featured music.
The Anthology 4 music collection, curated by Giles Martin, includes 13 previously unreleased demos and session recordings and other rare recordings. It also includes new mixes of the Beatles’ Anthology-associated hit singles “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” which have been given new mixes by their original producer Jeff Lynne, who has used modern tech to give new life to John Lennon's original vocals. The remixed single and restored music video, shown below, are out today.
The new mixes of both songs are placed alongside the band’s most recent single, 2023’s “Now and Then,” the last Beatles song. All three singles were created from rudimentary home demos John recorded in the 1970s, later completed with vocal and instrumental parts recorded by Paul, George and Ringo.
The entire Anthology series will now comprise 191 tracks which will be released on November 21 by Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe as digital collection, and in deluxe 12LP 180-gram vinyl and 8CD box sets. Both box sets include the original sleeve notes for Anthology 1, 2 and 3; the new Anthology 4 includes track notes written by Kevin Howlett and an introduction compiled from 1996 interviews recorded with the Beatles’ close friend and adviser Derek Taylor. The Beatles Store’s exclusive editions for both box sets add four 12-inch band photo art cards in a numbered envelope. The collection is available for pre-order.
As for the Beatles Anthology book, it comes out October 14 from Apple Corps Ltd. and Chronicle Books. Throughout its pages, John, Paul, George and Ringo share their honest, intimate and revelatory recollections of the band’s journey. Their memories are accompanied by impressions from their closest colleagues, including Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Derek Taylor and others. The bestselling 368-page book is beautifully illustrated with more than 1,300 photos, documents, artwork, and other memorabilia from the band’s archives. The book is available for pre-order.
The news will is sure to be welcomed by fans. From their global rise in 1963 to their final days in the early 1970s, the Beatles reshaped music. By the time they dominated the charts in 1964, they had swept away the acoustic-guitar driven folk movement, reshaped rock and roll and turned on millions of young people to pick up electric guitars and form bands of their own.
Despite the group's fractious breakup brought about by John Lennon's departure in September 1969, the group had a chance to continue on when Lennon offered up a plan that would have created a more equitable arrangement for its three main songwriters. Unfortunately, the band was too far gone by then.
Despite the Beatles' demise, they have continued to be one of the most influential groups in the 50-plus years since they broke up. No doubt millions of fans throughout the world are thrilled by the news that more Beatles music is on the way.
