Remastered, shmastered: Here are 5 Beatles milestones you haven’t heard, but should

Now that the debate, dialogue and drama surrounding The Beatles’ remastered canon is in full swing, I thought it might be fun to talk about the Big Blue Meanie in the room that some Fab fans have fingered. If you’re one of those pointing, I’m right there with you: There aren’t any new tracks in these revamped collections.

Casual Beatlenuts might assume that when the three “Anthology” double CDs came out, the vaults were cleared … The End. But they’re not, and I know because I’ve heard quite a bit of wonderful unreleased material. And much of it I haven’t, though one can always hope a careful sweep would turn it up. Think it can’t happen? Just this week, the Chicago Reader writer Jake Austen documented the amazing discovery of what may likely be Michael Jackson’s earliest-known master tape–”I’m A Big Boy”–recorded in 1967 with the Jackson Five when Michael was nine. (You can see that article here.)

Here are just a few Beatle gems I’d love to see released, discovered or otherwise ferreted from the archives at Abbey Road and elsewhere. Got any suggestons for additions? Add them in a comment!

1) “And Your Bird Can Sing”: The version on “Anthology 2″ features Byrds-like 12-string guitar runs and lots of really … annoying … laughter. But a version untainted by that giggling snuck out of Abbey Road, and it rocks. “Revolver” has always been my favorite Beatles album , but dare I say this driving, unreleased version blows away what wound up on “Revolver.” The official version has a much choppier beat and more restraint in Paul McCartney’s bass playing.

2) “Strawberry Fields Forever” full demo sequence: What you heard on the “Anthology” discs was edited down. To appreciate the full, goosebump impact of the song taking shape, you have to hear the whole demo-studio progression of tapes. It comes as close as anything I’ve heard to truly unveiling Beatlesque alchemy in time-lapse fashion.

3) “Revolution No. 1″: An 11-minute version of this song exists that goes well beyond the “White Album” fade out. A pre-primal scream John Lennon starts babbling “mama, papa” over and over, and we hear sound snippets of what will become the backing tracks of “Revolution No. 9.” John interrupts the session engineer’s “take” announcement by saying “Take your knickers off and let’s go!”

4) “Helter Skelter,” Take 3: No one knows if this “White Album” outtake exists, but no one has proven that it doesn’t. It supposedly clocks in at the marathon length of 27 minutes, 11 seconds. If that’s accurate, then it would mark the longest Beatles song committed to tape. Rumor has it that McCartney has a copy in his private collection. (Then again, rumor has it that Paul is dead.)

5) John and Paul and …Stevie?: A new book claims a 1974 almost-Beatles reunion between John and Paul took place in Malibu, while Lennon was estranged from Yoko Ono. The two reportedly jammed in a studio with Stevie Wonder, and it went so well that John and Paul talked about reunion, according to Peter Ames Carlin, author of “Paul McCartney: A Life.” Was any of this supposed session recorded? Don’t know–but a Fab (and very reliable) source claims to have heard a tape of John and Paul, with Wonder, from this period, jamming at a party. “It’s fun,” the source told me. “John sounds really drunk.”