When technology, history and music come together, a gem is born that is destined to excite millions of people. This is the scenario that leads straight towards "Now And Then”, the Beatles' last song which will be revealed on November 2nd, in a worldwide release that marks the return of the Fab Four after over forty years. It is an unreleased song, recorded by John Lennon before his death, which finally sees the light thanks to the work of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison which began in the nineties and to software that managed to separate the voice and the piano by John to obtain a “clean” mix to use as a base. No artificial intelligence was used to "recreate" Lennon's voice, as many incorrectly say, but "only" a sophisticated technology which, put at the service of music, will give the world the last pearl of the Beatles.
Beatles: Now And Then comes out November 2nd
The single Now And Then will be released on November 2nd, followed the next day, Friday 3 November by a video released on every platform. The double A-side of the single associates the last Beatles song with the first: Love Me Do, the band's 1962 debut song, which will complete the circle.
But it will only be a first step: on November 10th, in fact, the new editions of the collections “1962-1966” (“The Red Album”) and 1967-1970 (“The Blue Album”).
And if Fab Four fans still haven't had enough, a 12-minute documentary film titled Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song, written and directed by Oliver Murray. Premiere November 1st.
The Beatles and the genesis of Now And Then
In the late 70s John Lennon records a demo of Now And Then with voice and piano in his home in New York, that famous Dakota Building in whose entrance he was killed by .38 caliber shots on November 8, 1980.
Years pass and in 1994, the wivesand Yoko Ono delivers the recording to Paul along with two other demos: that of Free As A Bird and that of Real Love. The latter two were released as singles, respectively, in 1995 and 1996 as part of The Beatles Anthology project.
Now And Then however remains unreleased. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr begin working on it, recording new parts of the song and completing a first mix with producer Jeff Lynne. The brnao, however, never sees the light. It's too difficult with the technology of the time to produce a clean, quality version from Lennon's demo.
The docu-series The Beatles: Get Back
Another leap forward twenty-seven years. It's 2021 and it's out the docu-series The Beatles: Get Back, directed by director Peter Jackson. The latter, using WingNut Films' MAL audio technology, "de-mixed" the film's mono soundtrack, managing to isolate the instruments, vocals and all the individual voices within the Beatles' conversations.
An achievement that was unthinkable until a few years earlier, thanks to which a new mix of Revolver (2022) was created, taken directly from the original master tapes.
And it is precisely at this moment that the Idea was born: Jackson and his technicians applied the same technology to the original recording of John and in 2022 Paul and Ringo began completing the song. No artificial intelligence therefore, no voice recreated by technology, but Lennon's original voice and piano "cleaned" and mixed thanks to technological innovation.
George Harrison is also in Now And Then
In addition to John Lennon's voice, Now And Then is also there George Harrison's electric and acoustic guitar, who died in 2001. The “quiet Beatle”, as he was nicknamed, recorded them in 1995, in the years in which the idea of working on the song was born.
Paul and Ringo returned to the studio again in 2022. The former added a slide guitar solo inspired by Harrison. Then Lui and Ringo did the backing vocals for the chorus. The final touch were the backing vocals (also contributed by record producer Giles Martin) from the original recordings of Here, There And Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby and Because.
The finished track is produced by Paul and Giles and mixed by Spike Stent.
Paul McCartney: “And there it is, John's voice”
"And there it was, John's voice, clear and limpid. She is very emotional,” says Paul McCartney. “And we all play, it is an authentic Beatles recording. I think – he adds – it's an exciting thing to still be working on Beatles music in 2023 and to be about to release a new song that the public hasn't heard."
Ringo Starr remarks: “It was the closest we got to having him in the room with us again, it was really exciting for everyone. It was as if John was there, you understand. Is fantastic".
“In 1995, after several days spent in the studio working on the track – he explains Olivia harrison – George felt that the technical difficulties with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to complete the track to a high enough standard.”
Per Sean Ono Lennon, “It was incredibly touching to listen to them work together after all the years since my father died. It's the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to do together. It's like a time capsule and it's as if everything was predestined to be this way."
