Made by one of the more important names in Beatle bootlegs since the new millennium, Misterclaudel, comes a dedicated bootleg compiling the expansive sessions of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", as well as tossing in a couple of miscellaneous versions of other songs spread through two discs.
Disc one is strictly "Strawberry", beginning with John's solo takes on the song. These take up tracks one through 16. These are fascinating, as you get to hear John come up with the lyrics through them. One of these solo John demos had already been released on Anthology 2 by this point, but the rest being shown are nice. Where it gets interesting is when the full band takes are recorded.
Take one with the band is a rough outline, but the instrumental take two lays out the basic instrumentation, including the mellotron. A couple of takes later, we get to what is one of the more well-known things about "Strawberry" - the differing takes stitched together to create the final version. There's a great video by the YouTube channel "You Can't Unhear This" that goes into more detail about it than I could here, but I'll give it my best shot. Take 7 of the song is what we hear for just under the first minute of the final version. At 59 seconds in, it smoothly switches into take 26, recorded later. Hearing both these takes in their entirety is sweet, and while take 7 was available through the previously mentioned Anthology 2, the full take 26 wasn't available publicly until the Sgt. Pepper Super Deluxe Edition in 2017. Personally, I like the mix of take 7 from Anthology just a little bit more than the released version, but it's not by much.
Disc two is where we get to "Penny Lane". Not many different takes here to comment on, but... I mean, it's "Penny Lane". What is there really to say that hasn't been said. The remaining space on the disc is filled by versions of "Hello Goodbye", "Baby You're a Rich Man", and "All You Need is Love". Nice additions.
Overall, I'd say this bootleg is worth seeking out if you're interested in both these songs' recording history. If not, maybe it might not be for you. I personally think it really allows you to see how these two songs that, in no small part, changed pop music as we know it were made. And for that, I give it a 4/5.
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