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Musical interlude: ‘Now and Then’

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The release of a new Beatles record, a band that officially split in 1970, is rare as hen’s teeth, and a legitimate cause for celebration.

That time has almost come, with “Now And Then” set to drop Thursday (Nov. 2) at 10am ET, followed 24-hours later by the release of an official music video, directed by Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson, marking the Oscar-winner’s first foray into the short format.

Described as the “last Beatles song,” “Now And Then” began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now finally finished by Paul and Ringo, the surviving members of The Beatles, more than 40 years after the group began work on it.

No Beatles project is complete without a deep-dive, multi-channel exploration, which is what the band provides with a new 12-minute documentary, a companion piece to the song and video.

* I watched the short film last night and was impressed…

* Rolling Stone…

The Beatles have released their new single, the long-awaited “Now and Then.” It’s an emotionally powerful song written by John Lennon as a home demo in the 1970s. But it’s also a true Beatles collaboration, with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr playing and singing together. Nothing like “Now and Then” has ever happened before. It’s a totally unique music story: John Lennon leaves a song unfinished, but years later, his friends come together to complete it for him, simply out of love and musical brotherhood. It’s the final masterpiece that the Beatles—and their fans—deserve.

This song is a dream that Paul McCartney spent years bringing into the world, a John demo he was determined to preserve even when nobody else could tell what he heard in it. He produced “Now and Then” with Giles Martin, with John’s original 1977 piano and vocal, George’s guitar from the 1995 Anthology sessions, and Ringo singing and drumming in 2022.

“Now and Then” could have been cheap or cloying or overblown, but instead, it’s a pained, intimate adult confession. You can hear why Paul never forgot this song over the years, and why he couldn’t let it go. You can also hear why he knew this needed to be a Beatles song, and how right he was to pursue his mad quest to the end. In other words, it’s a real Beatles song, adding one more classic to the world’s greatest musical love story.

The original demo is here.

* The song…

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 12:53 pm

Comments

Great way to “go out” …

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 1:18 pm
Nice song, but it’s horrifically mastered. Open up the audio file in any linear waveform editor and it’s a brick. No peaks and valleys beyond roughly the :50 mark. Painful to listen to for anyone with any musical training, IMO.

Comment by Yikes Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 1:28 pm
Pretty amazing. A “tip of the hat” to Janda on WDRV-FM for her introduction to the song.

I remember where I was when I got the news about John in 1980.

If you’ve not seen the piece on ESPN on how ABC got the story it’s something else.

Comment by Jerry Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 1:39 pm
I think it’s brilliant! A beautiful song.

Comment by Stones Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 3:12 pm
It sounds very much like it could have been a piece left out of the “Double Fantasy” album; very much in that style, and I think Paul and Giles tried to be true to that sound. It’s pretty compressed but that too was the style for radio airplay back then. I’ll need to listen under better conditions than off a phone before I make too many judgements.
It was nice and just a little ironic, to see a new Beatles song charting alongside a new Stones song, in 2023. Nobody would have believed that.

Strange days indeed; most peculiar, momma.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 4:36 pm
Okay, I’ve given it a deeper listen on headphones. I would say the levels for the strings and choral vocals are overly prominent and that the mix could be thinned down a bit. Ringo is right on as always. The slide guitar for George is a little… I don’t quite know, a little ponderous, maybe. I would have kept the mix more intimate and skipped the strings and backing and kept it simply the four lads, piano, drums, guitars. But that’s just me. I like it, but I think I like the “idea” of it more than the actual execution.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 5:01 pm
fyi I think the links for the original and new one are the same.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 5:52 pm
While I enjoyed the song and the backstory of its production being aided by technological advances, it feels a touch overdone. I think that a sparer recording without so much overdubbing and the added strings would have been even better.

It is still a treat to hear John Lennon once again

Comment by Gravitas Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 6:32 pm
WOW. thanks. heard it hear first, just now. It may be a John song, but this recording is very Paul. it’s getting colder and we approach the anniversary of George’s death Nov. 29 and John’s Dec. 8. I can see what I saw when I heard they died, day for George, night for John. For John there was a big WXRT gathering on Cricket Hill in the park on the lake at Montrose. I’ve been listening to the Beatles channel on S/XM obsessively lately so this is just perfect. thanks, Rich.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Nov 2, 23 @ 11:54 pm