BLOG: NOW AND THEN (2023) The “Last” Beatles Song.
For Beatles fans, there are a few stages you go through when there’s an announcement that “new” material by the band is coming. There’s of course excitement at the idea of listening to something by the Fab Four that you’ve never heard before. Then there’s the anticipation leading up to the release date as all sorts of articles and clips spring up offering details about the track. Finally there’s the actual playing of the music which at first, is less listening and more dissecting.
So now after having given this so called “last” song 3 or 4 dozen spins, is it any y’know… good?
I mean it’s The Beatles so yeah, of course it’s pretty good. “Now and Then” is definitely of a piece with the 2 songs released alongside those Anthology collections back in the 90’s (Free as a Bird, Real Love). And it was actually worked on at the time to be included with that series; however the technology wasn’t quite there to be able to isolate the different tracks from a pretty rough demo. This unfortunately made it impossible to provide a new recording with enough quality to satisfy the surviving members of the group.
Well, several decades later along comes self-anointed King of The Beatles Peter Jackson with his army of audio wizards carrying the goods to finally make a completed production of the song a reality. It really is an impressive accomplishment and one only made possible through sound advancements created during the making of Jackson’s utterly absorbing Get Back documentary series.
Yeah yeah, ok so how good is the song? For me, it’s very solid and I’d say would have been perfectly at home had it been included in Anthology Volume 3. While It certainly is impossible to overlook that this is very much a bare outline of a song that has been embellished after the fact, it still works. There are some very touching moments to enjoy with Paul singing “I miss you” being a heartstring puller for sure. It isn’t my favorite of the post breakup trio of demos to be completed (that title goes to Real Love), but it still provides a nice wave good bye into the rearview mirror.
Really though, I’d say the track is only part of a larger event here. Whenever something like this happens, and a group of people at the top of their field come together to work on Beatles music after so many years, it’s a reminder of just how much this band meant and still means to the world.
The story of Now and Then itself is yet another fun addition to an absolutely timeless legacy. It is also quite a clever gesture to have the B-Side of the release be a remastered version of the band’s debut single from 1962, Love Me Do.
As if to say, let’s take it from the top.
