The Beatles simply launched “Now and Then,” the final track the 4 of them will ever have created collectively.
How the track took place is the topic of a brief movie: John wrote and recorded vocals within the Seventies, George contributed guitar in 1995, and Paul and Ringo now added their bass (and guitar and piano) and drums. The track was produced by Giles Martin, the son of George Martin, the Beatles’ authentic producer.
The track is now accessible for streaming (hyperlink to choices right here). CD, vinyl and cassette copies shall be accessible tomorrow. Right here it’s on YouTube:
It is a fully lovely track, and it appears to have been written for the very objective of being the final Beatles track, though that will need to have been the furthest factor from John’s thoughts when he sang it right into a tape recorder nearly half a century in the past. Simply because it appeared a miracle that we had been in a position to be a fly on the wall for the manufacturing of the Let It Be album, within the superb documentary “Get Again,” it is miraculous that we’re in a position to hear a real, and really nice, new Beatles track in 2023.
I feel the know-how used to place this collectively is so expertly and tastefully utilized, it actually amplifies the facility of the track. It feels such as you get to listen to these guys in the identical room once more, making unimaginable new music.
Rolling Stone agrees:
‘Now and Then’ is an actual Beatles track. Listening to John and Paul sing the primary refrain collectively, as they lock into the road “From time to time I miss you”—it is intensely highly effective, to say the least. Their voices be a part of for a soulful confession of grownup craving, over George’s guitar, whereas Ringo performs the drums. By no means maudlin, however deeply touching, just like the Get Again film. Depite the “A.I.” hysteria, there’s nothing faked, added, or modified in his vocal—simply the clear sound of what he sang that day, at his piano within the Dakota. As Ringo says, “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him again within the room.”
The track is launched as a double A-side single, together with their first hit “Love Me Do,” though I am unsure what meaning within the long-post 45 period. On November 10, the track may even be included as the ultimate observe in a brand new remastered and expanded version of the Beatles’ Crimson and Blue albums.
I’ve seen the video for the track, directed by Peter Jackson and to be launched tomorrow at 10am ET, and it is a fantastic visible illustration of what the track is: using know-how to succeed in throughout time and expertise the Beatles of various eras work together and play music collectively.
Boy, the track hits very laborious. The primary time I heard it, I used to be moved to tears. And I really feel that the emotional influence of the track has truly elevated as I develop into accustomed to it and take it into my coronary heart.