THE BEATLES - NOW AND THEN

Released: November 2, 2023

Charted: ?

"Now and Then" is a single by the Beatles, released as a double A-side single, paired with a new mix of the band's first single, "Love Me Do" (1962). Dubbed "the last Beatles song", it is also to be included on the expanded re-issue of the 1973 compilation 1967–1970, to be released on 10 November 2023.

The story of “Now and Then”, which can be heard from today, confronts too many shots to be left with only 4 minutes and 8 seconds that this “Jealous Guy” type ballad lasts (without wanting to compare: it is only indicative). There is no older school in pop music than that of the Beatles, the most transcendental group in history; and there is no greater ghost for the defenders of rock classicism than high technology embodied by that demon that is upon us called artificial intelligence (AI). Sparks are flying to such an extent that for a few days now the abundant press releases about the Liverpool quartet's new song have erased the mention of AI, something that Paul McCartney did mention last June when he broke the news on BBC Radio 4. “Paul McCartney says artificial intelligence has enabled a final Beatles song,” the BBC headlined.

The official statement insists that the technology has not been used to artificially build on Lennon's voice, but "to preserve the clarity and integrity of the original vocal performance, separating it from the piano." AI, therefore, to file and clean sounds and not to create. Once this clarity has been achieved, the 2023 grafts arrive: McCartney (Liverpool, 81 years old) has contributed bass and piano and Starr (Liverpool, 83 years old) drums; A guitar belonging to Harrison (who died in 2001) has been recovered and backing vocals have been added. In addition, McCartney has recorded some “George-style” slide guitar drawings and Giles Martin, son of producer and fifth Beatle George Martin (who died in 2016), has written a string arrangement.

“Now and Then” is a piece from the late seventies, recorded on piano and voice by a thirty-something Lennon in a room in the Dakota building in New York, where the Beatle lived with his partner, Yoko Ono, and where he was murdered (in the door) on December 8, 1980 aged 40 by Mark David Chapman. We are, therefore, facing a theme, in its origin, of Lennon. In the mid-nineties, Paul, Ringo and George asked Yoko Ono if she kept Lennon material in a drawer. Ono offered them three songs on a homemade cassette that his partner was working on: “Free As a Bird”, “Real Love” and “Now and Then”. 

The three Beatles worked on them, but they were only able to save the first two, which they included in the compilations “Anthology 1” (“Free As a Bird”, 1995) and “Anthology 2” (“Real Love”, 1996). The technology of the time could not obtain optimal quality from the tape on which “Now and Then” was found. Thanks to tools like artificial intelligence, a new quartet theme has now been sculpted. Paul and Ringo have worked with the same machinery that filmmaker Peter Jackson used in the acclaimed documentary “Get Back” (2021). “There was John's voice, clear as crystal. It was exciting. And we all play. "It is a genuine recording by the Beatles in 2023", McCartney said in a 12-minute mini-documentary where the origin of the song is told. Ringo Starr emphasizes: “It was like John was there, in the studio.” “Now and Then” will be included, starting November 10, in the reissue of the Red and Blue compilation albums, the musical and sentimental guides of many generations. The reality is that in 2023, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones have released new songs. Although many people under 25 years old are not going to find out...