Should "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" count as canon Beatles Songs? | Page 8 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

They are in my list of Beatles songs. They are not part of my core canon. 

Expert Textpert said
Look at it this way. If you are saying Real Love and Free As A Bird are not canon because John wasn’t there, what do you make of I Me Mine ? John had no input into that song and did not perform on it. He wasn’t even there. It was the same three people who finished Real Love and Free As A Bird , which he did have a lot of input into.

Or look at Yesterday . Only Paul McCartney performed it or had any input into it. And yet we think of it as canon when it is basically a Paul McCartney solo song.

So, by that logic, you could argue that Real Love and Free As A Bird are more canon than Yesterday .

Been over this before. 

John approved the release of ‘I Me Mine ‘ and ‘Yesterday ‘ and every other track that was issued under the Beatles name on Parlophone and Apple between 1962 and 1970. It has nothing to do with how many Beatles are on the track, it is to do with the four (John, Paul, George, Ringo) agreeing, or not blocking their release. John could not do that with ‘Free As A Bird ‘ or ‘Real Love ‘ hence it is not part of the core canon. 

Both are Beatles songs, neither are not part of the core canon.

Expert Textpert said
It seems a little unfair requiring John to sign off on things when he’s dead.

Do you think that every Beach Boys album after the death of Dennis Wilson is not really a Beach Boys album? Should The Smile Sessions not count as canon because they were only recently released?

Its the one rule the four had when it came to any project they did as a band. All four had to agree or not disagree. It was also one of the key arguments Paul made in his evidence in suing his band mates in court in 1971.

Would John have wanted the three to take unfinished demos of his and rework them into Beatles recordings? We will never know. Of course they wouldnt have done so if he had been alive.

Into the Sky with Diamonds said
I’m very big on semantics and have written articles about this. Generally speaking, if people attach different meanings to the same words, there can be some serious misunderstandings.

But here, it’s our little group of 40 or so voters.

UNLESS we wish to compare our poll(s) to that of others, we can establish any rule or any definition we want!

So far, I see we have songs that are in the core cannon, songs in the cannon but not the core cannon, and songs that are Beatle songs but not at all in any canon.

Instead of trying to fit the canon label on this or that song, how about just stating what we’re looking for (studio releases from ’62 through ’70, etc…), though as Wigwam has pointed out, would we have anything left to argue about?

My two cents about Lennon not being around to veto RL and FAAB: that argument would have more weight if we think he’d been unlikely to approve the final version. How many people think that he’d have vetoed it?

Me. I dont think John would have wanted a crappy sounding demo to be worked on by the other three and if he had of lived ‘Real Love ‘ would have been recorded for the follow-up to ‘Double Fantasy ‘ so that wouldn’t have been an option. 

Personally I think John would only have went with there being a reunion if all four were up for it, as was the reason nothing happened during the 70’s.

Something that came to my mind.

After the split did any of the four Beatles comment on whether or not it would be the Beatles if less than the four recorded together again outside of just working on a track for a solo album (ie ‘I’m The Greatest’ was specifically for the ‘Ringo’ LP) or if three did something together without the fourth? There were rumours about John, George, Ringo and Klaus doing something but i cant remember what was said about it being Klaus and not Paul.

Expert Textpert said
So since nothing has changed, the two songs are canon. The four had their vote.

The original four didnt have the vote as Yoko does not equal John, she controls his estate. Same as Olivia is not George, she controls his. There is a difference.

glazball said
@Expert Texpert – quit making so much sense!

I know the debate won’t end soon, but I agree with you.  It seems that some here just have a strong need to create and then carve into stone the 62-70 period as “Beatles canon.”  And understandably, the 62-70 catalog does make for a nicely packaged box set.  But the truth is we still won’t know the Beatles full canon until after all 4 Beatles are gone.  To my mind, I find it even a little insulting that FAAB and RL aren’t included (by the apparent majority of this site) as “canon.”

Or alternatively there is a strong need to have it all under the same heading as it makes it far simpler but life isnt like that. 

The issue is there is the canon and there is the core canon. It therefore depends on how the individual defines each of these terms.

Apple in 2009 didnt tamper with the discs and add ‘Free As A Bird ‘ and ‘Real Love ‘ to ‘Past Masters ‘ when they easily could have done, instead they remain as part of the ‘Anthology’ series.