2023-11-05 13:05:59
Who would have thought that… Beatles and the Stones would release new material at the same time? Where: “New” is the single Now and Then Of course not.
After all, John Lennon’s number on piano was only recorded to demo status at the Dakota in 1977 – and the plan was to use it by those still living Beatles following John’s death (along with Free As a Bird and Real Love) the third single of the Anthology-The idea of having the series made came to nothing: Now and Then was quickly shelved by Ringo, Paul and George in the mid-90s because technical errors in the recording or Harrison’s general dislike of the song were too serious for the ex-Beatles, who wanted to remain democratic (while Now and Then appeared on a bootleg in the late 00s).
Now, almost three decades following this first attempt at completion, is Now and Then Through the use of AI technology, new drum and bass tracks, additional arrangements and additional archive material by Harrison from the 1995 session, it is still “finished”, at least according to the artistic standards of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney for the market been released.
Given this brief summary of a background that stimulates discourse on many levels, one can probably agree that it is Now and Then It is a label fraud that is understandable for monetary reasons alone and in fact (neither according to purist standards of value, looking at the history of its origins nor “felt“) by no means regarding “the last Beatles song“.
But what ultimately counts, in addition to the fundamental discussions, is the answer to the question of what the song itself can do – which, however, can only be ambivalent and hardly objective (especially if you consider the four minutes of music in… Beatlescontext).
Right from the start it’s noticeable that the production seems subjectively too modern and clean, even though you can definitely live with the sound, while the piano-assisted ballad never quite grows out of the impression of being an all-round great (even if not very spectacular, no goosebumps or – if you do no Gallagher – can generate overwhelming enthusiasm) to hear Lennon number. The fabulously melancholic verses (surpassing the solid, but now smoothly functioning chorus as a whole) immediately nestle familiarly in the nostalgia-filled ear canals, the rest of the instruments gently enter, the subtle symphonic embellishments later blossom into the (by the way, from Here, There and Everywhere, Eleanor Rigby as well as Because compiled) harmony background vocals.
Meanwhile, the catchy melody makes for an instant catchy tune that normal musicians would probably kill for – judging by that Beatles-Canon or the highlights of the four solo discographies is the romantic one Now and Then but “just” a good footnote in the best possible way, which, despite the lack of any magic (although Real Love would have been the “more worthy” final Beatles song from the archives), can in no way be accused of being like an unrounded Frankenstein clusterfuck or even seem heartlessly calculated.
(Another story is that the 7″ single was subtly overpriced and its B-side was remastered by Love Me Do turns out to be quite a mess because the reworking moves the instruments apart and creates a sluggish space that takes all the drive and a lot of the originally dense chemistry out of the number.)
Whether the existence of Now and Then is really essential, especially when Beatles-Work distributed, plays a subordinate role for the time being: It’s simply nice to be able to hear this music.
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