The Threetles (partially found unreleased recordings from Beatles reunion sessions; 1990s)
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The Threetles was a name given by the press when the three surviving members of The Beatles reunited for The Beatles Anthology. The Anthology was a multimedia project that consisted of a documentary series, a book and three albums containing unreleased recording spanning the group's career and three planned new recordings from the surviving members of the group.
History
In 1989, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr announced plans to produce an extensive Anthology formally accounting for their 10-year careers in The Beatles. Rumours began circulating of the remaining Beatles reuniting to make new music; the rumour was denied by the members and any associates. It wasn't until 1994 that the three began discussing new material; they felt uncomfortable working without Lennon (who was murdered in 1980).
Paul McCartney soon approached Yoko Ono, Lennon's widow, believing she would have some of his unused recordings. Ono gave McCartney three cassette tapes, one of which was found in Lennon's New York apartment with the words For Paul written in Lennon's handwriting. The tapes contained songs titled "Free As A Bird", "Real Love", "Grow Old With Me" and "Now and Then," featuring Lennon on piano and vocals. The three remaining Beatles soon began work on all demos with Jeff Lynne producing.
The Threetles Recording Sessions
The recording sessions began in February 1994 at Paul's recording studio The Mill Studio in Sussex England and George's at his Friar Park mansion and would continue sporadically until May 1995. During these sessions, The Beatles worked on the Lennon cassette songs, live-in-studio renditions of previously unrecorded Beatles songs, rock n roll standards and a new McCartney/Harrison composition "All For Love".
Released
"Free As A Bird" and "Real Love"
The first songs to publicly debut from these sessions was "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love" during the November 1995 screening of the Anthology series. Both songs were released officially as singles and on the Anthology 1 & 2 albums. For the Beatles 1 DVD collection in 2015, the songs were remixed by Giles Martin.
Friar Park session
Recording moved to George Harrison's Friar Park Studio on 23rd June, 1994. The original plan was for the Beatles to record a version of "Let It Be" for the closing of the series. John's absence was apparently so overwhelming that, after a long private discussion between the three out in the garden (unconfirmed rumours suggest George was particularly unhappy with the plan and that the 'discussion' lasted three hours), the idea was abandoned and the Fab Three turned their hands instead to re-working rock and roll classics much favoured from their Quarry Men and pre-Beatlemania days.
Song recorded during these sessions included: 'Thinking Of Linking' (an early McCartney song written when he was 16), 'Raunchy', 'Love Me Do', 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'Roll Over Beethoven', 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky' (take numbers unknown) plus other unknown numbers. They also performed with a ukulele during an interview segment in the garden: 'Ain't She Sweet', 'Baby What You Want Me To Do', 'I Will', 'Dehra Dune' (a song George wrote in India). Snippets of most of these songs featured either in the documentary or as bonus features on the DVD.
Unreleased/Lost
Friar Park session
The re-recordings of "Love Me Do", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Roll Over Beethoven" are still unreleased. Some short footage of Ringo playing the ending of "Love Me Do" over The Beatles 1962 recording is featured on the documentary.
Grow Old With Me
It is believed that no recording took place on the demo of the John's "Grow Old With Me". The cassette demo recording had already been officially released on Lennon's posthumous album Milk and Honey. In 2019, Paul and Ringo would record a new version for Ringo's album What's My Name.
Now And Then
The most likely contender for the third Beatles singles, attempts at "Now And Then" occurred all throughout the Threetles sessions. One major issue with the cassette recording was a 60 cycle hum, that was embedded in the mono cassette recording. Since this was pre-DAW recording, it would have required an extensive amount of work to remove the loud hum. The song was largely shelved because Harrison disliked it. He reportedly calling the song "fucking rubbish." In 1997, the song was shelved, incomplete and an unreleased instrumental opening to Ringo's "Don't Pass Me My" title "A Beginning" opened Anthology 3 instead.
Since 1997, the song has leaked in demo with the hum. In the late 2000s a version without the hum was released on the bootleg At Home. It is believed this copy was originally stolen from Lennon's home after his death. The Beatles version is still unreleased. Paul McCartney has stated in interviews that he would like to finish the song one day.
All For Love
It was reported in the press, during recording sessions that a McCartney/Harrison original titled "All For Love" was a consideration for the next Beatles single. However there are no further reports about this song or if it was ever recorded.