Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr have shared their "emotional" experience of completing "the last Beatles song".
Written and sung by the late John Lennon, Now and Then was developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. More than four decades on from the songs beginning in the 1970s, it has been finished by Paul and Ringo and is set to be released on Thursday, November 2 at 2pm.
The Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - changed music and changed the world. The Fab Four formed following a chance meeting between John and Paul at the Woolton Village Fete and the group went on to have 17 number ones in the UK, as well as dominating the US charts.
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In the late seventies, John recorded a demo with vocals and piano at his home in New York’s Dakota Building. In 1994 - 14 years after his death - his wife, Yoko Ono Lennon, gave the recording to Paul, George and Ringo, along with John’s demos for "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love," which were both completed as new Beatles songs and respectively released as singles in 1995 and 1996, as part of The Beatles Anthology project.
At the same time, Paul, George and Ringo also recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for “Now And Then” with producer Jeff Lynne. At that point, technological limitations prevented John’s vocals and piano from being separated to achieve the clear, unclouded mix needed to finish the song. Now and Then was shelved with a hope that one day it would be revisited - and now it has.
Sir Paul McCartney said: "There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing."
Ringo says: "It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out."
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George Harrison's wife, American author and film producer Olivia Harrison and John Lennon's youngest son, Sean Ono Lennon also shared their verdict on the release of The Beatles last song. Olivia said: "Back in 1995, after several days in the studio working on the track, George felt the technical issues with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track to a high enough standard.
"If he were here today, Dhani and I know he would have whole-heartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of Now And Then." And Sean said: "It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after all the years that Dad had been gone. It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to make together. It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be."
Earlier today, the ECHO reported how mysterious projections of a cassette tape were beamed onto buildings, synonymous with The Beatles, last night across the city. And it has now been revealed that they were part of a teaser for one of the Fab Four's most anticipated releases of their long and endlessly eventful history.
In 2021, the release of “The Beatles: Get Back” docuseries, directed by Peter Jackson, astonished viewers with its award-winning film and audio restoration. Using WingNut Films’ MAL audio technology, Jackson’s team had de-mixed the film’s mono soundtrack, managing to isolate instruments and vocals, and all the individual voices within The Beatles conversations. This achievement opened the way to 2022’s new mix of Revolver, sourced directly from the four-track master tapes - and potential for work to be done on the Now and Then demo.
Peter Jackson and his sound team, led by Emile de la Rey, applied the same technique to John’s original home recording, preserving the clarity and integrity of his original vocal performance by separating it from the piano. And in 2022, Paul and Ringo set about completing the song.
Besides John’s vocal, the song includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by the George, Ringo’s new drum part, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing. Paul also added a slide guitar solo inspired by the late George and he and Ringo also contributed backing vocals to the chorus.
In Los Angeles, Paul oversaw a Capitol Studios recording session for the song’s wistful, quintessentially Beatles string arrangement, written by Giles Martin, Paul and Ben Foster. Paul and Giles also added one last, wonderfully subtle touch: backing vocals from the original recordings of "Here, There And Everywhere," "Eleanor Rigby" and "Because," woven into the new song using the techniques perfected during the making of the LOVE show and album. The finished track was produced by Paul and Giles, and mixed by Spike Stent.
Excitement and anticipation for Now And Then has been building since June, when Paul first teased "a new Beatles song" in a previous media interview. Finally, on Thursday, November 2, at 2pm, Now And Then will be shared with the world.
The double A-side single pairs the last Beatles song with the first - the band’s 1962 debut UK single, "Love Me Do." The new music video for Now And Then will debut on Friday, November 3.
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A 12-minute “Now And Then - The Last Beatles Song” documentary film will also premiere on 1st November 1, with the film’s global online premiere hosted on The Beatles’ YouTube channel at 7:30pm. The trailer is available to watch now.
On November 10,, The Beatles’ 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’) collections will be released in 2023 Edition packages. Both collections’ tracklists have been expanded.
This last instalment of The Beatles’ recorded history will be followed by new editions of the two compilation albums always seen as the definitive introduction to their work. Expanded for their new 2023 Edition releases (out November 10), the collections together span The Beatles’ entire recorded canon with 75 standout tracks, from their first single, Love Me Do, to their last, Now And Then. The collections’ 21 newly-added tracks (twelve on ‘Red’ , and nine on ‘Blue’) showcase even more of The Beatles’ very best songs.
You can preorder and pre-save “Now And Then”/ “Love Me Do” double A-side single here. To find out more, visit the official Beatles website here.
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