Demos and outtakes from recording sessions from The Beatles are, like with Bob Dylan, very easy to find. Officially released through the Anthology series and found elsewhere, on bootlegs like The Alternate Abbey Road, there is plenty to listen through from the Fab Four. Much of it is more for the fan who wants to know more about how the group dynamic worked, rather than for general enjoyment. The Alternate Abbey Road is a chance to hear out those alternatives in bootleg quality. There are moments from the studio which will never receive an official release. It’s not because of the tape quality, just listen to the first few tracks of Anthology 1, but because of what is deemed of interest to fans by the studio. Giles Martin and Jeff Lynne did a superb job with the Anthology package upgrade, but The Alternate Abbey Road has real depths to it. Â
An early version of Something and an alternate take of Oh! Darling will be enough for some. Others will find themselves pulled in by the earlier versions of Octopus’s Garden and the medley section. Alternate takes are what-if scenarios which happened, and rare is it that one is better than the finished version. But there are some interesting moments here. For those interested in hearing how these all-time greats came together, you can hear seconds of brilliance. Something has George Harrison humming his way through the song, trying to work out the little nuances that would make the song one of The Beatles’ very best. It’s an interesting moment, to say the least. That’s what you can get from The Alternate Abbey Road. It’s not a full-blown listening experience, nor something to return to for general enjoyment like Abbey Road itself. But it does give some valuable insight into that brilliant Beatles dynamic.Â
Most of these are just snippets with chatter in the background. But this is a great example of how The Beatles’ most dedicated fans would get to grips with studio nuance pre-Get Back and Peter Jackson. Unpacking the smaller moments which feature on Sun King, for instance, that’s what is highlighted so well here. Much of it will be of interest to those who want to hear how the songs were developed instrumentally, that’s the main focus here. Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight sound near enough completion, while the two versions of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, one with John Lennon on vocals, are great examples of what could have been. They’re in good enough quality here, too, to return to.
Not all of it is, but that’s because these are not the versions which are meant for public consumption. Whether they’re thrown together on a compilation officially released by the band later down the line is unknowable, but it doesn’t look likely. A fascinating bootleg for those who want to hear even more from sessions which inspired one of the all-time great albums. You could say that about just any bootleg piece from The Beatles, to be fair. But The Alternate Abbey Road is a strong assembly of songs without a place to put elsewhere. She Came in Through the Bathroom Window with Lennon on lead vocals is a strong one, moments of fun and thrilling examples of what The Beatles were getting up to when pushing Abbey Road through. Some essential songs with wildly different versions and a few new instrumental inclusions. Well worth a listen for those wanting to know how these songs developed in such a short stretch of time.
