Artifacts: The Definitive Collection Of Beatles Rarities 1958-1970
Its release predated the officially produced Anthology by more than two years, and its hard to believe Anthology didn’t take some cues from this beautifully produced set. Collecting some of the most significant bootlegs of the last 25-odd years in chronological order, Artifacts tells the complete Beatles story through 122 outtakes, live concert tracks, demos, overdub sessions, and rehearsals spread out across five discs with complete linear notes and full color photos.
Music critic Bruce Eder writes in the All Music Guide, “One strongly suspects that the existence of this five-CD box, in tandem with a handful of other packages of this type, was largely responsible for getting Paul McCartney (and others) to take a serious look at what was in EMI’s vaults, resulting in the release of the Beatles’ Anthology series.
“In 1993, however, this was the only game in town: 124 choice outtakes, live concert tracks, demos, overdub sessions, and rehearsals covering the group’s known recordings from 1958 through 1970 – it’s essentially a best-of the Beatles’ unauthorized output, from what were then the best-known sources of every track represented.
The motto of Big Music, whoever they were, was ‘Ain’t No Limits,’ and they proved it on most of this set, which generally showed excellent selections and superb tape research, a true rarity for bootleg releases, especially on this scale – up to this time, the usual assumption by almost any producer had been that, with a box like this, people would accept quantity in lieu of quality, but on Artifacts there was no compromise of that type.”
The Early Years (1958-63)
The first disc in the comprehensive Artifacts I series, The Early Years showcases several tracks recorded by the band before they even had a recording contract, as well as some gems from their Hamburg days. The disc covers the years 1958-63.
- That’ll Be The Day (Liverpool 1958)
- One After 909 (Hamburg 1960)
- I’ll Follow The Sun (Hamburg 1960)
- Matchbox (Hamburg 1960)
- Thinking Of Linking (Hamburg 1960)
- The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise (Hamburg 1960)
- Catswalk (Liverpool 1962)
- One After 909 (Liverpool 1962)
- I Saw Her Standing There (Liverpool 1962)
- Like Dreamers Do (London 1962)
- Hello Little Girl (London 1962)
- Some Other Guy (Liverpool 1962)
- How Do You Do It?
- A Taste Of Honey (live)
- I Saw Her Standing There (alternate take)
- There’s A Place (alternate take)
- Misery (alternate take)
- From Me To You (alternate take)
- Please Please Me (BBC version)
- Long Tall Sally (BBC version)
- Money (BBC version)
- I’ll Be On My Way (BBC version)
- I’m In Love (demo)
- Bad To Me (demo)
- Hold Me Tight (alternate take)
- Don’t Bother Me (alternate take)
- Roll Over Beethoven (live)
- Twist And Shout (live)
- On Moonlight Bay (The Morecambe & Wise Show)
Beatlemania (1964-65)
The second volume from the Artifacts I set, Beatlemania focuses on live performances and alternate takes (as well as some unreleased tracks) from the years 1964-65, when the band was at the height of their popularity. Includes several live BBC performances and songs from the bands appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
- If I Fell (demo)
- One And One Is Two (demo)
- Can’t Buy Me Love (alternate take)
- All My Loving (from The Ed Sullivan Show)
- I Want To Hold Your Hand (from The Ed Sullivan Show)
- Please Please Me (from The Ed Sullivan Show)
- A Hard Day’s Night (alternate take)
- From Us To You (BBC version)
- You Can’t Do That (BBC version)
- Shout (BBC version)
- Leave My Kitten Alone
- I’m A Loser (alternate take)
- She’s A Woman (alternate take)
- I Feel Fine (alternate take)
- If You’ve Got Trouble
- You’re Going To Lose That Girl (alternate mix)
- That Means A Lot
- Help! (alternate take)
- Yesterday (from The Ed Sullivan Show)
- I’m Down (from the Hollywood Bowl)
- Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (alternate take)
- Day Tripper (alternate take)
- We Can Work It Out (demo)
- I’m Looking Through You (alternate take)
- 12-Bar Original
- Girl (alternate take)
The Psychedelic Years (1966-67)
Featuring songs from the Beatles highly experimental stage of their career, The Psychedelic Years features tracks laid down from the Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour sessions, including some demos that later surfaced on the White Album.
- He Said He Said/She Said, She Said (demos)
- Tomorrow Never Knows (alternate mix)
- Paperback Writer (alternate takes)
- Nowhere Man/Paperback Writer (live at Candlestick Park)
- Strawberry Fields Forever (demos/alternate takes)
- Penny Lane (alternate mix)
- A Day In The Life (alternate take)
- Good Morning, Good Morning (demo)
- It’s All Too Much (alternate take)
- All You Need Is Love (tv broadcast)
- Your Mother Should Know (alternate mix)
- I Am The Walrus (alternate mix)
- The Fool On The Hill (demo)
- Aerial Tour Instrumental (mono mix)
- Jessie’s Dream (alternate take)
- Hello Hello (alternate take)
- Blue Jay Way (alternate mix)
- Cry Baby Cry (demo)
- Daddy’s Little Sunshine Boy (demo)
Inner Revolution (1968)
The fourth disc in the comprehensive Artifacts I series, Inner Revolution features tracks taken from various 1968 demos and recordings, as well as a few songs recorded in India while on study with the Maharishi.
- The Inner Light (alternate take)
- Lady Madonna
- She Can Talk To Me (demo)
- Across The Universe (mono mix)
- Instrumental / Blowing In The Wind / Hare Krishna Mantra (recorded in India)
- Thank You Guru Dev (recorded in India)
- Happy Birthday Mike Love (recorded in India)
- Happy Rishikesh Song (demo)
- Dear Prudence (Esher demo)
- Back In The U.S.S.R. (Esher demo)
- Piggies (Esher demo)
- Jubilee (Esher demo)
- Child Of Nature (Esher demo)
- Sour Milk Sea (Esher demo)
- Circles (Esher demo)
- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (alternate take)
- Revolution (alternate mix)
- Brian Epstein Blues (alternate take)
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- Hey Jude / Las Vegas Tune / St. Louis Blues (rehearsal)
- Not Guilty (mono mix)
- What’s The New Mary Jane
- Everyone Had A Hard Year (demo)
- Heather
- Don’t Let Me Down (demo)
- Goodbye (demo)
Get Back To Abbey Road (1969-70)
This, volume 5 of the Artifacts I series, provides studio rehearsals and alternate takes from sessions for the Beatles final two studio albums. Includes several unreleased tracks and songs recorded during the band’s famous rooftop concert.
- Another Day/studio chat (Twickenham Studios take)
- Commentary/Suicide (Twickenham Studios take)
- Act Naturally/Two Of Us (Twickenham Studios take)
- Piano theme/Strawberry Fields Forever (Twickenham Studios take)
- Madman A Comin’ (Twickenham Studios take)
- Watching Rainbows (Twickenham Studios take)
- Commonwealth (Twickenham Studios take)
- Get Back (German) (Twickenham Studios take)
- Old Brown Shoe (Twickenham Studios take)
- For You Blue (Twickenham Studios take)
- I Lost My Little Girl (Twickenham Studios take)
- Maggie Mae/Fancy Me Chances (Twickenham Studios take)
- Dig It (Apple Studios take)
- Get Back (rooftop concert)
- Dig A Pony (rooftop concert)
- Let It Be (Apple Studios take)
- Something (demo)
- Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (alternate take)
- Her Majesty (alternate take)
- Oh! Darling (alternate take)
- Come And Get It (demo)
- Because (alternate take)
- I Me Mine (alternate take)
Release history
- Big Music Co. BIGBX106, released 1993
I tend to compare this set with Anthology because they basically fill the same niche. Although the sound quality on Artifacts is, for the most part, inferior, the fact that it uses unedited takes versus Anthologies senseless Emerick edits all over the place makes this much more preferable than Anthology. I really hate how they included all of those fake edits on Anthology. It wasn’t necessary.
I was lucky enough to find this box set at a record store in Charlotte, NC when it first came out. There was this one and another set, ‘Artifacts 2’, and I just had to have them both. At 33 years old, I felt that I had bought the ‘Holy Grail’ of all Beatles’ recordings, and for the most part I was right. These sets were jam-packed with rarities and historical songs and studio talk that I listened to for hours at a time. I was so impressed with the material that had been collected, and I could brag about “having it all” prior to the Anthology series, which is indeed inferior to these two box sets that I still treasure 30 years later. They each sold for $99, and it was the only two they had in the entire state! I’ll never forget the weekend that I discovered these (quite by accident) and the glorious feeling I had in owning them, well over ten hours of rarities together. The ULTIMATE bootleg, even to this day!