The Beatles have released an exciting new short film providing insight into the story behind their final song ‘Now And Then’. Directed by Oliver Murray and broadcasted on the BBC One’s The One Show and YouTube, the 12 minute film was shared as part of the celebration of the legendary band’s legacy.
The film was introduced by Paul McCartney, who said, “Hello, I’d like to introduce you to a short film which tells the story of how me, John, George and Ringo came together to record our last song. It’s a single called ‘Now And Then’. We hope you enjoy it.”
Murray, who shared his thoughts on the film, revealed that he had been searching for the song for a while, before it was eventually recorded with the help of AI. “It’s absolutely epic to be part of this. Many times we work on projects and they don’t come out or they come out years later and I had actually looked for this song many times online and I thought, ‘Whatever happened to that, it [was] never released’. Then it was a year and a half ago we recorded the strings for it.” He added, “It’s the cherry on the cake for sure. Being part of this is a life long dream.”
The ‘Now And Then’ single, which is set to be released on November 2, was created by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr with the help of AI, and includes past demo recordings of John Lennon. Lennon wrote and recorded the demo, featuring only his piano and vocals, in the late ’70s at his home in New York’s Dakota building. Following his death, his wife Yoko Ono gave the recording to the remaining Beatles members in 1994, along with demos for ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’.
The surviving members, along with producer Jeff Lynne, recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for ‘Now And Then’ but it wasn’t until 2021, with the help of WingNut Films’ MAL audio technology, that Lennon’s vocals and piano were able to be separated for a clear enough mix. McCartney said, “It took almost a quarter of a century for us to wait until the right moment to tackle ‘Now And Then’ again.”
The single will come as a double A-side with the band’s 1962 debut UK single, ‘Love Me Do’. A music video for ‘Now And Then’ will be released on November 3, and expanded editions of ‘1962-1966 (The Red Album)’ and ‘1967-1970 (The Blue Album)’, mixed in stereo and Dolby, will be released on November 10. These two releases will include 75 songs from ‘Love Me Do’ to ‘Now And Then’ and feature 21 newly-added tracks.
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