NEW YORK – Sixty years after the start of Beatlesv mania, and with two of the four members now deceased, artificial intelligence has permitted the publication of what is expected to be the final “new” Beatles song next week.
The song, titled “Now And Then,” will be released on Thursday, Nov. 2, as part of a single alongside “Love Me Do,” the very first Beatles single released in England in 1962.
“Now And Then” is from the same collection of unreleased tracks written by the late John Lennon that his former bandmates used to create the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” which were released in the mid-1990s.
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison worked on “Now And Then” in the same sessions, but technological restrictions prevented them from finishing it.
Director Peter Jackson solved such issues by “separating” Lennon’s original voice from a piano used in the late 1970s using artificial intelligence. The considerably clearer vocals enabled McCartney and Starr to finish the song last year.
The survivors crammed a lot into it. The new track features a guitar recorded over three decades ago by Harrison, a new drum part by Starr, McCartney’s bass, piano, and a slide guitar solo added as an homage to Harrison, who died in 2001. McCartney and Ringo Starr provided backing vocals.
McCartney also included a string arrangement written with the assistance of Giles Martin, the late Beatles producer George Martin’s son.
As if that wasn’t enough, they incorporated backup vocals from early Beatles recordings of “Here, There, and Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby,” and “Because.”
“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear,” McCartney announced. “It’s very emotional. And we all contribute to it; it’s a true Beatles recording. I think it’s extremely thrilling to still be working on Beatles music in 2023, and to be about to release a new song that the world hasn’t heard.”
Olivia Harrison, Harrison’s wife, stated that in the 1990s, he believed that technical difficulties made it impossible to release a song that satisfied the band’s standards. She claims that with the revisions, “he would have wholeheartedly” joined Paul and Ringo in finishing the song if he were still alive.
A 12-minute Beatles film about the new recording will be released next Wednesday, the day before the song’s release.
Later this month, enlarged editions of the Beatles’ “1962-1966” and “1967-1970” compilations will be issued. “Now And Then,” despite being released considerably later than 1970, will be included in the latter compilation.
The surviving Beatles have expertly released new projects, such as remixes of their old albums that feature studio outtakes and Jackson’s “Get Back” film, usually around the holiday season, to appeal to nostalgic fans.
It’s the grand finale of new music this year.
“This is the last time you’ll ever hear the four Beatles on the same track.” “John, Paul, George, and Ringo,” Starr told The Associated Press recently.
SOURCE – (AP)
