Free As A Bird [Single] - Beatles (The) (Cassette 1995)

Many years ago, long before the ANTHOLOGY project brought the three surviving Beatles together again in the studio, Ringo Starr said that he hoped they would never reunite; "People would be expecting God," he glumly remarked, "and they would be disappointed."

Lacking Divine participation, the "Threetles" did the next best thing, and invoked the spirit of John Lennon. In this instance, they not only recorded an unreleased Lennon original composition, but they actually used John's old demo tape for the lead vocal.

This sort of studio wizardry is entirely in keeping with the experimentation which the Beatles pioneered, but it struck more than a few people as crass to the point of gruesome. It would have been far better, some critics contended, for McCartney, Harrison and Starr to simply record "Free As A Bird" without any electronic contribution from the late Lennon.

Whether that's true or not, there's no denying that the version of "Free..." that was recorded and released is a very good record. Intentionally, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the band's sound circa 1967, with it's lush sound collage. And the group's musical accompaniment is solid, if lacking the fiery exuberance of their heyday hits.

There are, nevertheless, a few drawbacks to this song. First of all, there is the issue of the quality of Lennon's vocal. Recording his demo on a portable tape recorder back in the 70s, the surviving tape was hardly pristine. In spite of extensive studio tinkering and "sweetening," John's voice still sounds as if it's being phoned in from an echo chamber.

And then there are the additional lyrics, provided by McCartney. They're quite good, actually, but one can't help but wonder why George Harrison wasn't able to contribute a stanza of his own, instead of just repeating some of Macca's lines before veering off into a guitar solo. Intentionally of not, this serves to make Paul look petty, as if he were too jealous of protecting the prospect of reviving the Lennon/McCartney songwriting credit to allow Hari to add a few words of his own. This is probably not the case...George most likely would not have stood for it if Paul made this point...but appearances are damning nonetheless.

As far as the production goes, it's good...but why Jeff Lynne? Granted, he's a friend and occasional musical collaborator with all three surviving Beatles, but how did he get the nod over Sir George Martin to sit in the studio control booth?

And finally, it's important to note that this song can only be fully appreciated by also viewing the spectacular music video done to accompany it. If nothing else, the Beatles are still adept at employing various media to promote themselves.

Given the scope of ANTHOLOGY, it was inevitable that at least one new song emerge from the project. Given such a daunting task, the remaining Beatles pulled it off rather admirably. And if "Free As A Bird" doesn't rank with "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Hey Jude" or "She Loves You," it still stands well alongside the likes of "Hello Goodbye," "Lady Madonna" and "I Feel Fine," and that's not too bad at all.