By Grand Rapids Anonymous
friday, november 3, 2023 at 8:56:00 a.m. edt
“(guardian) the Beatles have released what is being described as their final new song together, entitled “Now and Then.”
“it completes a series of Lennon-penned songs handed in demo form to Paul McCartney in 1994 by Yoko Ono, with ‘For Paul’ written on the cassette. McCartney and the remaining Beatles created two new songs from the recordings, ‘Free as a Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ – each was a Top 5 hit in the UK, with ‘Free as a Bird’ reaching No 2 in December, 1995 and ‘Real Love’ at No 4 in March 1996.
“but the band struggled to complete a song from the demo of ‘Now and Then,’ and abandoned their attempt. now, enabled by ai technology that has better isolated John Lennon’s vocal from the demo, the song has finally been completed. McCartney and Ringo Starr recorded new parts for it, while the late George Harrison features via guitar parts kept from that shelved 1995 session.
“a making-of film was released on wednesday, which doesn’t feature the song itself. referring to Lennon, Starr says in the film: ‘It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room.’
“McCartney explained the difficulties the band faced in 1995: ‘On John’s demo tape, the piano was a little hard to hear. And in those days, of course, we didn’t have the technology to do the separation … we kind of ran out of steam a bit, and time. ‘Now and Then’ just languished in a cupboard.’
“the Beatles: ‘Now and Then’ review – ‘final’ song is a poignant act of closure
he said he had some doubts about making full songs out of Lennon’s demos, out of respect for the late songwriter’s unfinished work: ‘Is it something we shouldn’t do? every time I thought like that I thought, wait a minute, let’s say I had a chance to ask John: ‘Hey John, would you like us to finish this last song of yours?’ I’m telling you, I know the answer would have been: ‘Yeah!’”
GRA: Pretty good, actually. A 6 or 7 out of 10. That’s the difference between now and then. Now, it’s a 6 or 7, then would have been a 10.
--GRA
By Grand Rapids Anonymous
saturday, november 4, 2023 at 9:53:00 a.m. edt
Upon repeated listening, I’ll give it an 8 out of 10. Much better than you’d think. “Now and then, I’ll miss you,” is a great line of lyricism.
--GRA
Not bad at all. AI does work for the better. I guess. I am awaiting the arrival of Skynet however.
ReplyDeletejerry pdx
ReplyDeleteI liked the song also at first listen, but I heard the Lennon acoustic demo, not the polished product. I like those unplugged performances, you know it's a good song when it sounds good in it's raw form. I also liked Real Love, great song and John's demo is the best version. The other "last Lennon song", Free as a Bird was kind of dreary, even when it was polished up. Those were supposed to be his last songs yet here is another, wonder if there is something else that hasn't been unearthed.
Supposedly,this is the last song George Harrison contributed to in person.
Delete--GRA