The Beatles Anthology included music recorded by the Quarrymen, the famous Decca Records audition tapes, and various out-takes and demos from the band's first four albums. It also included the song "Lend Me Your Comb", omitted from the collection "Live at the BBC", released the previous year (1994). The song "Free as a Bird" was included at the very start. 450,000 copies of "Anthology 1" were sold in its first day of release, the most sales for an album in a single day ever. The band's first drummer Pete Best, replaced by Ringo Starr in 1962 before the Beatles recorded professionally for EMI,
The Beatles: Rock Band history of the Beatles, the game does not attempt to replicate periods of turmoil between the band members. Rather, it presents a "fantasy version" of the Beatles to better serve the entertainment purposes of the video game. For example, Starr was estranged from the rest of the band during periods of recording for "The Beatles" (commonly referred to as the White Album). Thus, he did not perform on certain songs, such as "Back in the U.S.S.R." or "Dear Prudence" In the game, however, the Ringo Starr character plays drums during the animated performance of the song. Preparing the Beatles' songs