Running Time: 593 minutes (approx.)

Release Date: November 19, 1995 (US)

Producers: Neil Aspinall and Chips Chipperfield

Directors: Bob Smeaton and Geoff Wonfor

Starring: The Beatles, Neil Aspinall, George Martin, Derek Taylor

Availability: Video Cassette, Laserdisc

With John Lennon's passing in 1980, few people imagined there could ever be a Beatle reunion. Yet, in 1995, The Beatles, including John (through extensive archival footage), came together with the remaining members of their inner circle to tell their story in The Beatles Anthology. This documentary covers the Beatles entire career, from their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg through the tragic break up in 1970. The project finally gave the Beatles the opportunity to tell their story in their words on their own terms.

The first soundtrack album, The Beatles Anthology 1 (pictured above, left) was released in the U.S. on November 19, 1995 on Capitol Records. This release consisted of two CD's and the following songs:

Disc 1: Free As A Bird, Speech: John Lennon, That'll Be The Day, In Spite Of All The Danger, Hallelujah, I Love her So, You'll Be Mine, Cayenne, Speech: Paul, My Bonnie, Ain't She Sweet, Cry For A Shadow, Speech: John, Speech: Brian Epstein, Searchin', Three Cool Cats, The Sheik Of Araby, Like Dreamers Do, Hello Little Girl, Speech: Brian Epstein, Besame Mucho, Love Me Do, How Do You Do It, Please Please Me, One After 909 (False Starts), One After 909, Lend Me Your Comb, I'll Get You, Speech: John, I Saw Her Standing There, From Me To You, Money (That's What I Want), You Really Got A Hold On Me, Roll Over Beethoven

Disc 2: She Loves You, Till There Was You, Twist And Shout , This Boy, I Want To Hold Your Hand, Speech: Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, Moonlight Bay, Can't Buy Me Love, All My Loving, You Can't Do That, And I Love Her, A Hard Day's Night, I Wanna Be Your Man, Long Tall Sally, Boys, Shout, I'll Be Back (Demo), I'll Be Back (Complete), You Know What To Do, No Reply (Demo), Mr. Moonlight, Leave My Kitten Alone, No Reply, Eight Days A Week (False Starts), Eight Days A Week, Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey

The second soundtrack album, The Beatles Anthology 2 (pictured above, center) was released in the U.S. by Capitol Records on March 19, 1996. The track listing is as follows:

Disc 1: Real Love, Yes It Is, I'm Down, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, If You've Got Trouble, That Means a Lot, Yesterday, It's Only Love, I Feel Fine, Ticket To Ride, Yesterday, Help!, Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), I'm Looking Through You, 12-Bar Original, Tomorrow Never Knows, Got To Get You Into My Life, And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman, Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only), I'm Only Sleeping (Rehearsal), I'm Only Sleeping (Take 1), Rock And Roll Music, She's A Woman

Disc 2: Strawberry Fields Forever (Demo Sequence), Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1), Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 & Edit Piece), Penny Lane, A Day In The Life, Good Morning Good Morning, Only A Northern Song, Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! (Takes 1 and 2), Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite! (Take 7), Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Within You Without You (Instrumental), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), You Know My Name (Look Up The Number), I Am The Walrus, The Fool On The Hill (Demo), Your Mother Should Know, The Fool On The Hill (Take 4), Hello Goodbye, Lady Madonna, Across The Universe

On October 29, 1996, Capitol Records (U.S.) released the final soundtrack album, The Beatles Anthology 3 (pictured above, right). The track listing for this 2 CD set follows:

Disc 1: A Beginning, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Helter Skelter, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, Glass Onion, Junk, Piggies, Honey Pie, Don't Pass Me By, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Good Night, Cry Baby Cry, Blackbird, Sexy Sadie, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Hey Jude, Not Guilty, Mother Nature's Son, Glass Onion, Rocky Raccoon, What's The New Mary Jane, Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias, I'm So Tired, I Will, Why Don't We Do It In The Road, Julia

Disc 2: I've Got A Feeling, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Dig A Pony, Two Of Us, For You Blue, Teddy Boy, Medley: Rip It Up/Shake Rattle And Roll/Blue Suede Shoes, The Long And Winding Road, Oh! Darling, All Things Must Pass, Mailman Bring Me No More Blues, Get Back, Old Brown Shoe, Octopus's Garden, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Something, Come Together, Come And Get It, Ain't She Sweet, Because, Let It Be, I Me Mine, The End

Ringo: "What makes this special is that George, Paul and I are interviewed over the past couple of years."

Paul: "Looking at your life in six hours is pretty scary. It just slips by you all the time. You get a feeling of 'Wow, that's what i did. Wow! That's what he did. These are the guys, these are my friends, this is it.'"

George: "Many things about the Beatles as individuals have been left out because there was so much about the Beatles as an entity. I feel I could make a documentary about myself which would have very little to do with the Beatles."

Paul: "It's not me I'm talking about, it's this beast - the Beatle beast - with four heads."

George: "I quite enjoyed telling the story. The upside of the Beatles was really always far bigger than the downside, and it was good to remember that."

Ringo: "The great thing about the three of us hanging out struck me like a bolt of lightning one day. They're the only people in the world who don't treat me like a Beatle....We were four guys who loved each other...We were stuck with each other, and that wasn't a bad thing. It was a lifesaver. There were four of us and there were four brothers. We were the four Musketeers, and everybody saved everybody else at some point."

George: "I want someone like U2 to watch this. Then they'd see a band that was really famous."

Paul: "I don't know if you ever understand anything. That's what happened at the end of the Anthology...I don't understand it all any better than I ever did. But it's all in one place now. That's the thing."

John: "We were just a band who made it very, very big....that's all....