The Beatles Final Song

[Birdie Num Nums]

"Now and Then" is being proclaimed by The Beatles' official website as the "final" Beatles' song to be recorded and officially released. This morning, the related "official video" dropped. I just luv, luv, luv it!

 

[PatrickA5]

Fantastic! Thanks for posting!

 

[f35phixer]

I guess this was a cassette recorded song, which sounded terrible. So they got AI John to sing it. I personally think AI John doesn't sound very good. I..E FAKE... But the video is fantastic with way back clips of them in their younger years !!!!

 

[Winemaker]

It's hard to believe that all of their "Beatles" work was done before they were 28 years old. Their early work takes me back to my innocent years of just holding hands, not that I was a bad boy and was constantly trying to get to 3rd base.

 

[Aerides]

Interesting story about the song in quartz today:

https://qz.com/new-beatles-song-now...=Quartz_Daily_Brief_US&utm_content=1850987691

Sounds like they lifted John's voice and cleaned it up better, not so much an AI recreation but enhancement. Harrison was alive when it was originally uncovered, and did not care for it...

Then AI came along. The technology was used to help separate Lennon’s original vocals from the piano music that backed it. (It is not clear whether any software was used to replicate Lennon’s voice at any parts in the song.) Then McCartney and Ringo Starr recorded the backing instruments, with existing recordings of the late Harrison woven in.

 

[sengsational]

I guess this was a cassette recorded song, which sounded terrible. So they got AI John to sing it. I personally think AI John doesn't sound very good. I..E FAKE... But the video is fantastic with way back clips of them in their younger years !!!!

The original source material was from a cassette tape with just John and a piano. Then after John's passing, Paul, George and Ringo did some work together (the Threetles), but this song didn't make it out of the studio because the piano muddled the John vocals too much. Signal processing has come a long way now, so they were able to isolate John's vocal better. That was combined with the work done by the Threetles, plus some current studio work by Paul, Ringo, and the string orchestra to arrive at this result. I think it's great fun.

 

[marko]

Wow......

Video gave me goosebumps.

 

[Jerry1]

The story of the song is cool but the song itself isn’t much imo.

 

[sengsational]

^Especially because the subject is probably Yoko

 

[Aerides]

The story of the song is cool but the song itself isn’t much imo.

Yeah, George was right about the song itself.

 

[steelyman]

It’s always fun and interesting for me to hear/see “new” Beatles music but in the end I always go back to the original catalog. A great, great band, timeless music.

 

[Dawg52]

I thought it sounded pretty good. I doubt it would have been a big hit if released during the Beatles era but sounds like something they would have done towards the end of their time together.

 

[audreyh1]

Yeah, we miss them too.

 

[tulak]

Wow. Well done.

 

[W2R]

The story of the song is cool but the song itself isn’t much imo.

+1

Here's the Beatles that I remember and will always love, especially John Lennon's performance on the first song:

 

[Trooper]

I think it's cool that the song was made, and how it was made. But as far as whether I like "Now and Then" or not, the test for me is would I listen to this over any of the hundreds of Beatles songs that I like. That answer is no.

 

[Romer]

I liked it

 

[scfr]

Disney+ has a 12-minute mini "making of" documentary that I thought was very interesting. It's called "The Beatles Now and Then: The Last Beatles Song." (Disney+ also has the music video.)

 

[marko]

Here's my take: this song was written almost a half century ago. Music, like language evolves over time.

For the most part good songs remain good songs over the years. I was never a Beatles fan but over time I came to appreciate their genuis and, yes most of their songs are still worth listening to today 60 years later...well written top to bottom.

Just one man's opinion, but this sounds like a classic tail end of the Beatles career song.

 

[JoeWras]

Production is better than "Real Love" and "Free as a Bird." Technology is better, Giles Martin has a better feel for the Beatles than Jeff Lynne. I really like Jeff Lynne in his early work with ELO, and even with George Harrison, but I think it is better he stay out of the Beatles stuff. (He is still credited as a producer since he contributed to this project in 1995.)

I did more digging and found that Sean Lennon produced an earlier generation copy than the one Oko gave Paul in the early 90s. That also helped production. Sean might have gotten it from a bootleg or been a source of the bootleg. Ha ha. Beatles and bootlegging are an entire industry.

As for the song? Not a fan of John's melancholy. Same with the other two.

However, this is a good ending. I hope it is the ending.

 

[donheff]

These guys are getting rave reviews for Hackney Diamonds and they are cranking it out in their 80s:

 

[Midpack]

IMO The Beatles are still the greatest rock band of all time. That said, Now & Then isn’t that memorable to me, it’s just a novelty tech piece. As Rick Beato noted, it’s a strange mix of 70’s (John), 90’s (George) with 2023 production quality (Paul & Ringo) - the parts don’t go together that well. Technically interesting, musically meh.

I wasn’t impressed with Real Love or Free As A Bird either in 1996-1996. YMMV

 

[Rianne]

+1

Here's the Beatles that I remember and will always love, especially John Lennon's performance on the first song:

I got my first Beatles single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" when I was 8 years old. Played it on my toy like singles record player. I can sing along with every song on this video verbatim. My BFF older sister went to see them at Shea Stadium and bought a little plastic bag with a small handful of grains of sand they stood on Paid money for that. We were in awe. These are grains of sand the Beatles stood on. It was like gold.

 

[aaronc879]

I'm not even from that generation(born in 1979) but I still believe The Beatles are the best group of all time. There may be a few songs out there I like more than any Beatles song but the Beatles were more consistently great than any other group IMO. I can listen to any Beatles album all the way thru without ever skipping a song which almost never happens with any other groups albums. This particular song was not among their best but it was good and I really liked the video.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Disney+ has a 12-minute mini "making of" documentary that I thought was very interesting. It's called "The Beatles Now and Then: The Last Beatles Song." (Disney+ also has the music video.)

Here it is: