The Beatles’ Long-Awaited Song ”Now And Then” Finally Released
Fans of 60s rock music, whether they are Beatles or Rolling Stones enthusiasts, are in for a treat or a dilemma in 2023. It is truly unbelievable. This June, the critically acclaimed album “Hackney Diamonds,” the Rolling Stones’ first regular release in eighteen years, was released, and in November, a new song by the Beatles was unveiled.
The genesis of the long-awaited Beatles’ song “Now And Then,” which is set to be released on Thursday, November 2nd, can be traced back to 1979. At that time, John Lennon recorded a demo version of the song on a cassette tape at the piano in his New York Dakota Building. However, the song, along with other unfinished material, was left untouched. It was clear that Lennon would never return to it after his tragic death on December 8th, 1980.
In January 1994, Yoko Ono presented “Now And Then” and three other unfinished Lennon songs to the remaining members of the Beatles. This was during the preparation of the grand multimedia project, the Beatles Anthology, which documented the history of the Liverpool quartet through a television documentary, a book, and a trilogy of double albums.
One of the previously recorded songs, “Grow Old With Me,” was officially released on Lennon’s posthumous album “Milk and Honey” in 1984. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr decided to leave it as it was and focused on completing the remaining three songs to complement the planned double albums.
They successfully completed “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” which became the first new Beatles songs in a quarter of a century. Those who watched the mentioned documentary series will surely remember the magical moment in the “Real Love” music video, where the band members emerge from the water in reverse playback along with the melody. Or the sound of birds flapping their wings in the water in the music video for the ballad “Free As a Bird.” These songs perfectly complemented the overall nostalgic tone of the project.
Each of the mentioned songs was released as a lead track on the first and second double albums titled “Anthology 1” and “Anthology 2.” While the first album showcased rarities and live performances from 1958 to 1964, the second focused on the period between 1965 and 1968. The third double album, “Anthology 3,” summarized the highlights of the band’s final three years. Instead of the anticipated songs “Now And Then” and a potential third single, the album opened with the rarity “A Beginning,” an instrumental piece by George Martin originally intended as an intro to the song “Don’t Pass Me By” on the self-titled “White Album” from 1968.
What happened to “Now And Then” back then? Its completion in the late 1990s was halted by George Harrison. As McCartney later recalled, Harrison was primarily dissatisfied with the quality of the original Lennon recording, which included street noise. He famously called it “fucking rubbish.” The band reportedly spent only one afternoon on the song and then decided to abandon the recording (which only contained the chorus and hints of verses) for good.
However, the definitive version finally emerged after almost thirty years in June of this year. McCartney, who had previously hinted that “Now And Then” haunted him, announced that he was working on the final Beatles recording with the help of artificial intelligence. He was inspired by the team’s ability to separate vocals from instruments using modern technology during the making of the documentary “The Beatles: Get Back,” which even led to a new mix of the album “Revolver.” The so-called MAL audio technology was expected to improve the unsatisfactory Lennon recording of “Now And Then.”
Suddenly, there it was, John’s voice, crystal clear, McCartney said. Together with Ringo Starr, they were able to complete the song in 2022. McCartney provided additional vocals and, of course, played the bass, while Starr played the drums. The guitars (including one of McCartney’s guitar solos) were recorded during the Anthology era, so they were played by Harrison. The entire quartet was thus involved in the song.
The new single will be officially released on November 2nd at 3:00 PM local time, followed by a music video directed by Peter Jackson the next day. The highly anticipated release will be symbolically accompanied by a new mix of the Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do,” from 1962. “Now And Then” will also appear on the expanded reissues of the famous compilation albums ”Red Album” and “Blue Album.” Interestingly, more time has passed between the release of “Now And Then” (2023) and ”Real Love” (1996) than between the release of “Free As a Bird” (1995) and “The Long And Winding Road” (1970), the last single from the album “Let It Be.”
The new song has received massive promotion as the Beatles’ definitive final work and the ultimate conclusion of their grand and lengthy saga. However, fans cannot help but ponder the thought expressed by the American Los Angeles Times website. Does such an event and its significance overshadow the forgotten Lennon melancholic and wistful ballad?
Lennon wrote it during his stay in the iconic Dakota building. Then he forgot about it and let it fade away among hundreds of hours of demo recordings, the website reflects, adding that many of these songs were broadcasted as part of the radio show “The Lost Lennon Tapes.” However, “Now And Then” was left unfinished due to its imperfections.The Beatles’ Unreleased Lennon Ballad to be Released as Final Song
Fans of 60s rock music, whether they are fans of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, will likely have a significant year in 2023. This is quite unbelievable. This June, the critically acclaimed album Hackney Diamonds, the first regular release by the Rolling Stones in eighteen years, was released, and in November, a new song by the Beatles was released.
The genesis of the long-awaited Beatles’ new song, Now And Then, which is set to be released on Thursday, November 2nd, can be traced back to 1979. At that time, John Lennon recorded a demo version of the song on a cassette tape at the piano in his New York Dakota Building. However, the song, along with other unfinished material, was left untouched. It was clear that it would never be revisited after Lennon’s tragic death on December 8, 1980.
However, Now And Then was handed over to the remaining members of the Beatles by Yoko Ono in January 1994. This was during the time when the band was preparing for the grand multimedia project, Beatles Anthology, which documented the history of the Liverpool quartet through a television documentary, a book, and a trilogy of double albums.
One of the previously unreleased songs, specifically Grow Old With Me, was officially released in 1984 on Lennon’s posthumous album, Milk and Honey. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr decided to leave it as it was and focused on completing the remaining three songs to complement the planned double albums.
They successfully completed Free As a Bird and Real Love, which became the first new Beatles songs in a quarter of a century in December 1995 and March 1996, respectively. Anyone who watched the aforementioned documentary series will surely remember the magical moment in the video for Real Love, where the concert stage emerges from the water in reverse playback along with the melody. Or the sound of birds flapping their wings in the water in the video for the ballad Free As a Bird. These songs perfectly complemented the overall nostalgic tone of the project.
Each of these songs was released as a lead track on the first and second double albums titled Anthology 1 and Anthology 2. While the first album showcased rarities and live performances from 1958 to 1964, the second focused on the period between 1965 and 1968. The third double album, Anthology 3, summarized interesting moments from the band’s final three years. Instead of the anticipated songs Now And Then and a potential third single, the album opened with the rarity
What was the reason for leaving Lennon’s “Now And Then” unfinished after his tragic death in 1980?
Finished material, was left untouched after Lennon’s tragic death in 1980.
In 1994, Yoko Ono presented “Now And Then” and three other unfinished Lennon songs to the remaining members of the Beatles during the preparation of the Beatles Anthology project. While one of the songs, ”Grow Old With Me,” was released on Lennon’s posthumous album in 1984, the Beatles decided to complete the remaining three songs to complement the Anthology project.
They successfully completed “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” which became the first new Beatles songs in 25 years. These songs were released as lead tracks on the first and second double albums of the Anthology series. However, “Now And Then” was not released at that time and was left unfinished.
In 2022, Paul McCartney announced that he was working on the final Beatles recording of ”Now And Then” with the help of artificial intelligence to improve the original Lennon recording. The definitive version of the song was finally completed, featuring McCartney and Ringo Starr on vocals, with McCartney also playing bass and Starr on drums. The guitars were recorded during the Anthology era and played by George Harrison.
The new single “Now And Then” will be released on November 2nd, followed by a music video directed by Peter Jackson. It will also appear on the reissues of the “Red Album” and “Blue Album” compilation albums. The release of “Now And Then” marks the ultimate conclusion of the Beatles’ grand and lengthy saga.
However, some fans question whether the significance of this release overshadows the forgotten Lennon ballad. Lennon wrote “Now And Then” during his time at the Dakota building but abandoned it due to its imperfections. Many of Lennon’s demo recordings were eventually shared on “The Lost Lennon Tapes” radio show, but “Now And Then
I can’t wait to see who comes out on top this time! #BeatlesvsStones