Sixty years following the release of the first Beatles album and a week of anticipation and preparations, we can now delight in the band’s final song. The last single by the quartet from Liverpool (England) is titled “Now and Then“. This track was unveiled for the first time on 02/11/2023, precisely six decades after their debut album, “Please Please Me”.
The song will be included in the reissued “Blue” album (The Beatles 1967-1970 (2023 Edition)) planned for Nov 10, 2023.
The origins of the song trace back to 1978 when John Lennon initiated its composition. However, it took 45 years to complete the track. The Beatles finished “Now and Then” in the previous year. Remarkably, all four members of the band, namely Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, collaborated on the song’s finalization.
The Rumors About The Song
The buzz surrounding the song “Now and Then” and its release had been circulating for a considerable period. Director Peter Jackson, known for the eight-hour documentary “Get Back” about the band, made the song possible. Jackson employed artificial intelligence to enhance the audio quality of the archived recordings. Through the use of artificial intelligence, he successfully isolated John Lennon’s vocals for the song “Now and Then.”
Paul McCartney has clarified that they did not utilize voice synthesis to create the song.
“We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI, so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do. It gives you some sort of leeway”.
McCartney said.
The band’s guitarist, George Harrison, passed away in 2001. However, he played the guitar heard on the song in 1995.
The Beatles’ “Now and Then” Release
The Beatles released the song “Now and Then” on BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. Simultaneously, it became available on all major music streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Prime Music.
The band launched the single “Now and Then” as a double A-side, pairing it with their first 1962 single, “Love Me Do.”
As of 03/11, CDs, and vinyl records are available for purchase. Additionally, the BBC reported that the remastered version of the Red and Blue Albums will include the song on 10/11.
The Story Behind The Beatles’ “Now and Then”
John Lennon wrote The Beatles’ “Now and Then” in 1978. The demo version has piano and vocals, and he recorded it at his home in New York.
Following his death, Yoko Ono provided the tape to the surviving band members. The recording also included demos of “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love,” both of which they later finalized and released in 1995 and 1996. They attempted to record and release “Now and Then” during the same time frame but quickly abandoned the effort. Before discontinuing the project, the band managed to finish the song, add lyrics, and record backing vocals. Unfortunately, the poor quality of the original recording forced them to shelve the completion. Nevertheless, McCartney persisted in the idea, in part because he believed that Lennon would have wanted to see the song through to completion.
Twenty years later, thanks to the application of artificial intelligence, the endeavour to isolate the vocals from the background noise proved to be successful. This breakthrough allowed us to finally hear the Beatles’ “Now and Then“.
“When we were in the studio, we had John’s voice in our ears so you could imagine he was just in the next room in a vocal booth or something and we were just working with him again so it was joyful,” he told Radio1’s Clara Amfo.
“We hadn’t experienced that for a long time obviously and then suddenly here we were working with ol’ Johnny”.
McCartney said for Radio1.
To discover more about the Beatles’ “Now and Then”, you can watch the short documentary.
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