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,
Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962 Paul Murphy and subjected to extensive audio processing to improve the sound, leading to the 1977 album. Although the poor sound quality limits its commercial appeal, the album provides historic insight into the group's club act in the period after Ringo Starr joined but before the emergence of Beatlemania. The Beatles were unsuccessful in legally blocking the initial release of the album; the recordings were reissued in many forms until 1998, when the group were awarded full rights to the performances. The Beatles' five residencies in Hamburg during 1960 to 1962 allowed the Liverpool band to develop their performance skills