The Beatles releases last song sung by John Lennon
Their new single 'Now And Then' is the last Beatles song written and sung by John Lennon.
Together and apart, The Beatles have always had a talent for the unexpected. And now, 2023 brings one of the most anticipated releases of their long and endlessly eventful history.
'Now And Then' is the last Beatles song – written and sung by John Lennon, developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now finally finished by Paul and Ringo over four decades later.
Listen to the new song here:
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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