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The Beatles broke up 53 years ago, John Lennon’s been dead 43 years and George Harrison left us 22 years ago.
Yet Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr are gearing up to release the Fab Four’s final song.
Now and Then, written and sung by Lennon, was worked on by Harrison before his death and now the two surviving Beatles have finished the work over four decades later.
The long-awaited track, which can be pre-saved here, is set to release worldwide on Thursday November 2 at 2pm GMT.
The double A-side single will pair Now and Then with The Beatles’ 1962 debut single Love Me Do, which will be followed by a music video for the new final song on Friday November 3. But that’s not all.
A 12 minute documentary on Now and Then will premiere on Wednesday November 1 on The Beatles’ official YouTube channel at 7:30pm GMT. The short film will feature exclusive footage and commentary from McCartney, Starr, Sean Ono Lennon, Peter Jackson and archive from the late Harrison.
McCartney said of Now and Then: “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.”
Starr shared: “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”
Olivia Harrison said: “Back in 1995, after several days in the studio working on the track, George felt the technical issues with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track to a high enough standard. If he were here today, Dhani and I know he would have whole-heartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of ‘Now And Then’.”
Sean Ono Lennon added: “It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after all the years that Dad had been gone. It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to make together. It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be.”
An accompanying statement reads: “The story of Now And Then begins in the late 1970s, when John recorded a demo with vocals and piano at his home in New York’s Dakota Building. In 1994, his wife, Yoko Ono Lennon, gave the recording to Paul, George and Ringo, along with John’s demos for Free As A Bird and Real Love, which were both completed as new Beatles songs and respectively released as singles in 1995 and 1996, as part of The Beatles Anthology project. A
“At the same time, Paul, George and Ringo also recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for Now And Then with producer Jeff Lynne. At that point, technological limitations prevented John’s vocals and piano from being separated to achieve the clear, unclouded mix needed to finish the song. Now And Then was shelved, with a hope that one day it would be revisited.
“Cut to 2021, and the release of The Beatles: Get Back docuseries, directed by Peter Jackson, which astonished viewers with its award-winning film and audio restoration. Using WingNut Films’ MAL audio technology, Jackson’s team had de-mixed the film’s mono soundtrack, managing to isolate instruments and vocals, and all the individual voices within The Beatles conversations.
“This achievement opened the way to 2022’s new mix of Revolver, sourced directly from the four-track master tapes. This led on to a question: what could now be done with the Now And Then demo? Peter Jackson and his sound team, led by Emile de la Rey, applied the same technique to John’s original home recording, preserving the clarity and integrity of his original vocal performance by separating it from the piano.”
The statement continued: “In 2022, Paul and Ringo set about completing the song. Besides John’s vocal, Now And Then includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by George, Ringo’s new drum part, and bass, guitar and piano from Paul, which matches John’s original playing. Paul added a slide guitar solo inspired by George; he and Ringo also contributed backing vocals to the chorus.
“In Los Angeles, Paul oversaw a Capitol Studios recording session for the song’s wistful, quintessentially Beatles string arrangement, written by Giles Martin, Paul and Ben Foster. Paul and Giles also added one last, wonderfully subtle touch: backing vocals from the original recordings of Here, There And Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby and Because, woven into the new song using the techniques perfected during the making of the LOVE show and album. The finished track was produced by Paul and Giles, and mixed by Spike Stent.”
Additionally, on November 10, The Beatles’ ‘1962-1966’ (The Red Album) and ‘1967-1970’ (The Blue Album) collections will be released in 2023 Edition packages with expanded tracklists. All the songs are mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos, and new 4CD and 180g 6LP vinyl collections pair Red and Blue in slipcased sets. Digital, CD, and vinyl are available to pre-order now here.