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Saturday, November 04, 2023

THE BEATLES : NEW SINGLE [The Last!] ‘Now & Then'


Beatles' 'Now and Then': The story behind their last song - Los Angeles Times

The untold story behind the last Beatles song

John Lennon's late-’70s song 'Now and Then,' now featuring all four Beatles, serves as a fitting conclusion, conveying what the band both ac

LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Robbed of the opportunity to participate in a true final collaboration with his greatest muse, McCartney instead elevates this suggestion of a song into a realized record, one where its elegant, softly psychedelic flow lets Lennon’s longing linger in the subconscious. That regret is articulated clearly in a chorus of “Now and then, I miss you / Now and then, I want you to be there for me / Always to return to me,” words that sharpen John’s original intention with its second newly written clause. It’s a passage where Lennon’s yearning for McCartney intertwines with Paul’s mourning for John, a shared grieving for the partnership that defined both their lives. In that sense, “Now and Then” does provide something of a fitting conclusion to the Beatles’ recorded career — not so much a summation but as a coda that conveys a sense of what the band both achieved and lost."

Now and Then's eventful journey to fruition took place over five decades and is the product of conversations and collaborations between the four Beatles that go on to this day. The long mythologised John Lennon demo was first worked on in February 1995 by Paul, George and Ringo as part of The Beatles Anthology project but it remained unfinished, partly because of the impossible technological challenges involved in working with the vocal John had recorded on tape in the 1970s. For years it looked like the song could never be completed. But in 2022 there was a stroke of serendipity. A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, used throughout the production of the documentary series Get Back, finally opened the way for the uncoupling of John’s vocal from his piano part. As a result, the original recording could be brought to life and worked on anew with contributions from all four Beatles. This remarkable story of musical archaeology reflects The Beatles’ endless creative curiosity and shared fascination with technology. It marks the completion of the last recording that John, Paul and George and Ringo will get to make together and celebrates the legacy of the foremost and most influential band in popular music history.
Order/Listen to "Now And Then":
https://TheBeatles.lnk.to/NowAndThenYT Pre-order 'Red' and 'Blue': https://TheBeatles.lnk.to/RedAndBlue2... Watch more videos from The Beatles: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/YTPlaylists Subscribe to The Beatles’ YouTube channel & ring the bell to never miss a new video: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/YTSignup Sign up for The Beatles’ Official Email List: https://www.thebeatles.com/newsletter Stream The Beatles: 🎙️ Apple Music: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Appl... 🎙️ Spotify: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Spotify 🎙️ Amazon Music: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Amaz... 🎙️ Pandora: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Pandora 🎙️ Tidal: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Tidal 🎙️ Deezer: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/Deezer 🎙️ YouTube Music: https://thebeatles.lnk.to/stream/YouT... Follow The Beatles: ⭐ https://www.thebeatles.com  / thebeatles    / thebeatles    / thebeatles    / thebeatles  

EXTENDED VERSION - 'NOW & THEN' 5’42” version! 
Thanks to Jobe for the heads up on this . . . . . . . . by far the better version!

4 comments:

Jobe said...

Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE THE BEATLES, but maybe I was expecting more. To me this song sounds like something that could have been on a Paul solo album with John dropping by the studio to be a special guest vocalist. Maybe something off of the "Memory Almost Full" or "New" album. I don't really here George in here at all. If Paul was trying to pay hommage to George's slide playing I think he missed the mark. It's not a bad song but I don't think it captures The Beatles essence the way "Free As A Bird" does. No really...listen to the two songs back to back and tell me which one sounds more like a "Beatles" song. Maybe it was Jeff Lynne's production technique. Well I'll probably get slammed for my above comments, but that's just my opinion.

Andy Swapp said...

No, I agree . . . . the pre-release 'making of' news item ‘film’ was exciting and heart wrenching to a point. The single? Meh!
It still sounds like a throw away track that wouldn’t have made the final cut on any album. Which final album would it have made it onto? Abbey Road? Nope! Let It Be? . . . maybe but probably not unless there was a double including outtakes!
It is a nice project. But who wants ’nice’?
It remains a kind of vanity project really. Because they can! The technology is here now “we can rebuild him” but the song? It remains a cassette doodle that John wouldn’t have allowed to see the light IMO!
I LOVE the Beatles too!

Jobe said...

Wow now if it sounded like this I think my review would have been much more positive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1g46aGYtjI

Andy Swapp said...

Oh wow! Thanks Jobe - SO much better!
This is worth having and no mistake
THIS is what I wanted!
Thanks brother . . . . . . . .