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Today The Beatles’ final song Now and Then was released, resurrecting the vocals of John Lennon prior to his death in 1980 and George Harrison’s guitar from the abandoned 1995 sessions, before he too died in 2001.
A remarkable feat of modern technology, the track follows two other singles released in 1995 and 1996.
Over 25 years ago Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono gifted the late star’s demos from their New York City apartment building to the then-three surviving Beatles.
Reuniting at Paul McCartney’s studio, they recorded and mixed what would become two brand new Beatles songs, with Now and Then only being completed and released this year.
George Martin declined to produce the tracks since his hearing was failing but Free as a Bird and Real Love worked out nevertheless becoming the first tracks on The Beatles Anthology’s 1 and 2.
Free as Bird, which peaked at No 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1995, received mixed reviews and had a similar vibe to the moody and dreary sounds of Now and Then.
It was the first Beatles single since 1970’s The Long and Winding Road and due to being incomplete required McCartney’s additional lyrics.
Meanwhile, 1996’s Real Love was more complete but the Beatles trio struggled with Lennon’s timing on his demo.
Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne, who produced the recording remembered: “It took a lot of work to get it all in time so that the others could play to it.”
He also shared how the Fab Three wanted the song to sound very “Beatlesy”, which it certainly does compared to the very solo Lennon sound of Free as a Bird and Now and Then.
The producer added: “What we were trying to do was create a record that was timeless, so we steered away from using state-of the-art gear. We didn’t want to make it fashionable.”
