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The Beatles' final song Now And Then: When is it out and what will it sound like?

posted 7 months ago by Satan2016 (23792)
8 replies | jump to latest

Thursday 7:00 pacific or 10:00 eastern on Radio 2. Radio 6 says 20 minutes earlier?

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67285117

Called Now And Then, it's been 45 years in the making - with the first bars written by John Lennon in 1978 and the song finally completed last year.

All four Beatles feature on the track, which will be the last credited to Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.

And in a full-circle moment, it's being issued as a double A-side single with their 1962 debut Love Me Do.

Simultaneously, the song will arrive on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music.

The original demo has circulated as a bootleg for years. An apologetic love song, it's fairly typical of John Lennon's solo output of the 1970s - in a similar vein to Jealous Guy.

It was finished in the studio last year by Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. George Harrison will appear via rhythm guitar parts he recorded in 1995, and producer Giles Martin has added a new string arrangement.

Those who have heard the finished track say it's a poignant and moving reflection on the band's friendship.

"Hearing John and Paul sing the first chorus together, as they lock into the line 'Now and then I miss you' - it's intensely powerful, to say the least," said Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine.

"I cried like a baby when I heard it," added BBC 6 Music's Lauren Laverne. "Just gorgeous."

[–] Satan2016 (23792) 7 months ago

A 15-minute documentary broadcast on Wednesday's The One Show, offered a startling illustration of what that means: The thin, ghostly voice of the 1970s suddenly sounds like it was recorded in Abbey Road itself.

"It was the closest we'll ever come to having him back in the room," said Starr. "Far out."

"All those memories came flooding back," added McCartney. "My God, how lucky was I to have those men in my life?

"To still be working on Beatles music in 2023? Wow."
_

Yes, Jackson has created a new video, which will be unveiled at 14:00 GMT on Friday.

It will contain previously-unseen footage, including "a few precious seconds" of the earliest known film of The Beatles, provided by original drummer Pete Best and his brother Roag.

Roag said he bought the silent footage from a man who used a cine camera to film the band performing St Paul's Presbyterian Church Hall in Birkenhead in February 1962, eight months before their debut single came out.

Jackson's team have improved the quality and "it looks absolutely fantastic", Roag told BBC News.

It is also the only known footage of the band performing in the leather suits they sported before they became famous.

"The lads are rocking backwards and forwards with guitars, mouths to the microphones, singing," Roag said.

[–] Satan2016 (23792) 7 months ago

Documentary released this morning by The Beatles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APJAQoSCwuA

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.

[–] BKB (6793) 7 months ago

I love the Beatles and they will always and forever remain the Best, however, as good as it may sound, in the end, it's still manipulated through the use of A.I and John is still gone, but around in Spirit

[–] AndyKing1967 (34714) 7 months ago

"A 15-minute documentary broadcast on Wednesday's The One Show"

I stumbled on this last night by accident - absolutely fascinating!

[–] moviechatterer (13834) 7 months ago

Ringo's brothers on the radio saying its out in about 30 mins

its 13:30 2/11

[–] bozo_500 (12463) 7 months ago

https://twitter.com/thebeatles/status/1720078469516914692

[–] FootOfDavros (7119) 7 months ago

Heard it a while ago and can officially dismiss it as pretty lame. Actually no, no pretty about it. Just lame full stop.

The AI Beatles version of McCartney's New was a hundred times better and at least sounded like a rediscovered track by a more youthful Beatles. This just sounds like a substandard rehash of the Free As A Bird project.

[–] Dogiswhite (1148) 7 months ago

As a huge Beatles fan, I was slightly disappointed. Not that it's a bad song, the music is better than the lyrics, it just feels unfinished (even though Paul added a lot to the original track). Kind of like Free as a Bird, in that the original tune was something that John Lennon hadn't finished either and a lot was added by Paul, George and Ringo. The other track on that cassette of unfinished songs by John, was Real Love but it was actually finished. There are 2 versions of the song, piano and acoustic guitar. The piano one is optimistic, while the guitar one is pessimistic. Anyway glad to hear it but not anything that special to me.