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“Now and Then”
Some of you may (or may not) have heard that we are expecting a new Beatles song this year.
This was the unfinished Lennon song “Now and Then,” which he recorded a demo of in 1978, and was one of the songs given to Paul by Yoko, allegedly on a cassette with “For Paul” written on it in John’s handwriting. It was supposed to have been the “Threetles” song for Anthology 3, after “Free as a Bird” on Anthology 1 and “Real Love” on Anthology 2. In March of 1995, Paul, George, and Ringo recorded a rough backing track, but abandoned work on it after only two days, as George wasn’t particularly keen on it as a song, and the technology of 1995 wasn’t up to the task of fixing several significant audio issues.
With the help of the de-mixing technology Peter Jackson’s team created for Get Back, it seems this song will finally be finished and released as the final Beatles song. I thought I’d post a couple of things I’ve gathered from around the internet.
- Ringo has recorded a new drum track for it.
- George’s guitar work from 1995 will feature on the track.
- Some of the three-part harmony vocals from an outtake of “Because” on Abbey Road were extracted and re-pitched, and will feature in the song.
- Possible September release date.
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5 Replies
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Then I read that right, Dan. I recently saw a note mentioning that a final Beatles song will be reconstructed. I thought this information was outdated and related to “Free as a bird”. I’m curious how this „new“ old song will sound like. I like Free as a bird, but it sounds a lot like John Lennon and not a lot like the Beatles.
The Beatles fan community was probably already very active and couldn’t wait until the finished, official song will finally be released and simply covered the song themselves. Sounds good so far.
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Hi Dan
That sounds quite intriguing, a new Beatles song some 5 decades later, looking forward to it in September. With Georges guitar work from 1995, Ringo’s new drum track, and 3 part harmonies from the past, it will be the Fab 4 together again, almost like how artists today collaborate across the internet and piece together a song, but in this case it is stretched across the decades. It will be very special!
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I agree Jung really looking forward to it but wonder when it should stop and we should just let it be. ‘Now and Then’ by the Applejacks sounds a bit like Julian to me. ‘Free as a Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ were great but George thought this wasn’t very good? It’s the Beatles, everything will be ok so don’t want to be disappointed. We love them so much I really want this to work
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Hi Steve
It looks like with this one, both Paul and Ringo endorse it, and in fact I think Paul initiated it getting Ringo to work on it. It is good to leave well enough alone sometimes, but hopefully this will be well received.
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I don’t know how good it will be, but it will be nice to hear something new from them one last time. Nothing is officially released in the Beatle world without the approval of Paul, Ringo, Sean Lennon, and Olivia/Dhani Harrison, so at the very least, they seem to think it’s worth releasing.
I will note that George, in 1994/5, was likely the least enthusiastic about Anthology and “Free as a Bird”/”Real Love,” both in terms of working with Paul again and dredging up the past in general. It’s at least possible Anthology would not have happened if he not been in some financial difficulties. This may have soured his outlook a bit.
Of the three Lennon demos, “Now and Then” was probably the least fleshed out. The piano demo that used to float around YouTube was very, very rough, with unfinished verses and mumbling placeholders. I’m curious to see what the finished product will be. In some ways, I’m glad this waited until now, as the technology is much better than the mid-90s hardware and software that brought us the Alvin and the Chipmunks/Jeff Lynne produced version of “Real Love.”
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