And so this is Christmas, and for those of us who’ve spent decades hunting down every scratchy demo, rehearsal, studio outtake, telecast, or concert the Beatles and solo Beatles ever laid down, it’s a special one. The season heralds the release of Anthology 4, a new album and documentary of Beatles rarities and oddities.

Nobody is immune to the cultural effect of the Beatles, but to a certain segment of their fans, a new Anthology release is nothing less than a seismic event. We are the true believers who prowled the second-story walkups in Greenwich Village in the 1990s, the golden era when unauthorized recordings, previously the preoccupation of a few stoners with sticky fingers and mimeograph machines, exploded onto the market, sheathed in gorgeous, full-color packaging, complete with booklets and liner notes. It was unreal: complete sessions, in sequence and pristine sound, for “I Saw Her Standing There” or “Strawberry Fields Forever.”