LONDON, November 2. /TASS/. The Beatles’ last song was officially released today, November 2. 2023.
The composition titled "Now and Then," a song 45 years in the making, became the final piece in the history of the legendary band, the last work in which all members of the Fab Four were involved one way or another: John Lennon (1940-1980), George Harrison (1943-2001), Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
At 2:00 p.m. London time (05:00 a.m. Moscow time), the four-minute-eight-second song was played on BBC radio and simultaneously released on all the world's leading streaming platforms.
On November 3, copies of the song will go on sale on CD, vinyl and cassette. Although the composition was not new for true fans of The Beatles - for many years an unauthorized copy in low quality circulated around the world - this is the first time it is performed with the clear voice of John Lennon, cleared of extraneous noise and interference using artificial intelligence. The track was supplemented by Harrison's rhythm guitar part, recorded in 1995, and in 2022 it was completed by bass guitarist McCartney and drummer Starr. Finally, the guitar arrangement was added by Giles Martin, son of George Martin (1926-2016), producer of almost all The Beatles’ albums.
About the song
Lennon recorded a demo of the song in his New York apartment in 1978. During the session, he sings and accompanies himself on the piano.
Almost 15 years after Lennon was killed in New York in December 1980, McCartney received a demo from Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono. It was one of several songs on a cassette labeled "For Paul." Among the songs on the tape were "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," which were released as singles in 1995 and ended up on the first and second parts of the Anthology album, released in 1995 and 1996.
Lennon's vocals from the cassette were mixed with a musical theme put together by McCartney, Starr and Harrison using their voices.
The band members attempted to record a studio version of "Now and Then" as well, but ran into a slew of problems. Harrison called the song very weak and did not want to work on the unfinished piece. In addition, the quality of the recording made by Lennon on the tape recorder was poor, and the musician's voice was very difficult to separate from the background noise. According to McCartney, he returned to the abandoned project after filming the documentary "The Beatles: Get Back" by New Zealand-born director Peter Jackson.
The film company of the director, best known for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, developed a computer application that made it possible to remove unnecessary sounds, leaving only Lennon's vocals and the piano part.
Presence of Lennon
Ahead of the song's official release, a 15-minute documentary came out in which the surviving members of the band, McCartney (81) and Starr (83), spoke about the circumstances surrounding the creation of the last Beatles song.
As Starr admitted, never since Lennon's murder had he felt his presence so strongly, and it is unlikely that this will happen in the future. As the drummer said, it "was the closest we’ll ever come to having him (Lennon) back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us." In the documentary McCartney recalled that when he and Sir Ringo returned to work on Now And Then, "all of those memories come flooding back."
"How lucky was I to have those men in my life and to work with those men so intimately and to come up with such a body of music? To still be working on Beatles music in 2023 - wow," he said.
Video coming
On November 3, at 12:00 p.m. London time (3:00 p.m. Moscow time), a video clip for the song, filmed by Jackson, will be released. It will include six seconds of never-before-seen footage of The Beatles, filmed in February 1962 in a church in Birkenhead near Liverpool, eight months before the release of the band’s first single "Love Me Do." The video was provided by the band's original drummer Pete Best and his brother Roag. Pete Best was fired from the band and replaced by Starr in August, just two months before the first single was released and the Fab Four's worldwide fame began.
The song "Love Me Do "is the second track in the new release, as if showing the entire creative journey of the group - from the first song to the last.
The Beatles run lasted from 1960 to 1970, after which they disbanded, and each of the four musicians embarked on their solo careers.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles number one on its list of the greatest performers of all time. The Fab Four are the best-selling musical group in history: the number of copies of their albums sold worldwide has exceeded 600 million. In terms of number one hits, The Beatles have the most in history both the UK and the USA. The band also won 10 Grammy awards, and Time magazine included its members among the most influential people of the 20th century.