“Now And Then” Beatles Thoughts
In which I reflect on some new Fab sounds, finish a chapter, and find a poster.
We’ve been anticipating its arrival for a while now, and this week it arrived, one thing I thought we’d never see, a completed version of “the last Beatles song,” Now & Then.
My first reaction was that I liked it as a piece of Beatles music but wasn’t blown away by it, and on (multiple) relistens it has continued to grow on me. Watching it along with the video that was released a day later, made the lyrics seem all the more poignant, and in many ways cemented it as an emotional sign-off for the Fab Four.
The track itself seems to have raised mixed reactions (no surprise there) between “it’s bland meh” to “it’s amazing.” I think I fell somewhere between these, although probably closer to the positive end of the opinion spectrum.
A few days to mull over things did raise a few additional thoughts.
The work, and perseverance that went into this track, from John’s home taped 1970s demo, to it being started and then shelved during the Anthology project, to today when the application of the latest technology meant it could be resurrected and finished. What an incredible fifty-year journey for a piece of art to make.
I appreciated that they didn’t try and roll the clock back and produce a Beatles in the later 60s type sound. This in some ways could be a taster for what the Beatles would have been in the 21st Century if fate hadn’t taken another path. Neither Paul nor Ringo tried to hide the fact that their voices have aged, and the result was a genuine, tasteful, and heartfelt tribute to their lost bandmates (something that the video hits all the emotional beats on).
From the beginning, this was a John song, and I like the fact that his voice remained the focus of it, yet it was completed as a true Beatles effort that elevated a simple solo song into something more in a way I think he would have appreciated. For he and the rest of the band were never afraid to test the capabilities of new recording technology - heck they invented many of the techniques that have now become standard.
I think to fully appreciate this track it helps to have the back story of how the project came together, and who better to explain it than the Beatles themselves? This short (12 minutes) video is a perfect way to understand both the genesis and the mechanics, of this project. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend giving it a watch.
From the information on that video, plus giving the track a close listen, this is how I believe the various components line up:
John Lennon: Lead vocals (recorded in the late 1970s)
Paul McCartney: Bass, piano, backing vocals, slide guitar solo, harpsichord (recorded in 2022)
George Harrison: Acoustic & electric guitar, backing vocals (recorded in 1995)
Ringo Starr: Drums, tambourine, backing vocals (recorded in 2022)
Strings composed by George Martin & Paul McCartney (recorded in 2022)
Additional vocals sampled from Because1 (remastered 2009)
I’ve seen some online comments that this isn’t a true Beatles song because they weren’t all in the studio at the same time working on it. This sort of comment shows a lack of knowledge of Beatles' history - hardly any of the tracks on their eponymous double album (aka The White Album) for instance were produced with them in the studio together, and several don’t even feature all four of them playing, and no one would argue that particular album isn’t a true Beatles production.
Is Now & Then an instant classic Beatles track illustrative of them at their height? - No, not even close. At best, I’d rate it as a middling Fab Four effort. It will never make a personal Top 10 list of Beatles tracks, BUT am I delighted that we have John’s last unfinished song out in the world and that it was produced as a Beatles song with all four of them involved in one way or another?
Absolutely. It’s a gift we never expected to be able to hear, and for that, I will treasure it probably more for what it represents than for the song itself.
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Brabazon Bits
It’s been a productive week on the Brabazon book front as I finished up the first draft of Chapter 7 - “Building the Brabazon,” and hopefully found the right balance between the narrative and the amount of technical information that I felt was needed.
I also made a pretty good start on the next chapter which will cover the test flight program. So need to keep the momentum going.
One nice find this week was the Qantas poster below. During my research for the upcoming chapter on how the Brabazon was marketed, I’d come across mentions of a Qantas poster that reportedly featured the Brabazon, and not too long ago found a black and white photo that showed it. But this week was the first time I’d come across a nice full-color version. It looks impressive and I’m thinking if I can find a hi-res version at some point it would look cool on the office wall.
The real thing of note with it is that it features a very early design study based on the “100-Ton Bomber” concept. (which I discussed here back in April ) rather than a representation of the final design. I need to do some further digging to see if I can find out why that was.
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2023 - “All The Madmen” by Clinton Heylin.
They often say that there’s a fine line between genius and insanity. By examining the lives and influences of several rock musicians who walked that thin line, “this book sets out to provide a context for a remarkable series of albums, and for something of a golden age in English rock.”
It’s a great concept for an examination of a short period of time between 1968 and 1975 when English rock produced a series of seminal iconic albums that still resonate today. Unfortunately it sort of fizzles out part way through and the later chapters are a bit of a slog lacking the insights presented early on to support the author’s thesis.
It will remain in the music section of our library however in part for those early chapters, and in part for the discography that I now need to hunt down on vinyl (as that’s the way these albums were made to be heard.)
Before They Were Beatles Updates
The Before They Were Beatles podcast - Despite the lack of new episodes over the last couple of months, the podcast audience continues to grow, we recently passed the 70,000 downloads mark. Thanks again to everyone who has given the shows a listen.
Some unforeseen family events have slowed down the research for our new upcoming series, The Forgotten Beatles - but it is on the way, it may take a little longer than I originally anticipated.
I’ve now started the research for the next issue of the Before They Were Beatles newsletter if you don’t want to miss out on the expanded story of the early Beatles history, you can sign up for a subscription below.
As an aside, I am planning on doing a review of the remixed and reissued Red and Blue albums as well as probably going a bit deeper on my thoughts around Now & Then on the Before They Were Beatles podcast once they arrive.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - As we are back from our travels, the Forest Comics & Books online store on eBay is once more restocked and active with 36 items currently listed including, Batman collectibles, Doctor Who novels, Starbucks Collectors mugs, Star Trek trading cards, and more. You can check it all out right HERE.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues this week as we continue a look at Batman comics from around the world published in July 1968 with issues from Australia, Brazil, and Denmark, all of which were reprints of existing US covers.
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Alan J. Porter
I’ve seen a few people mention they thought there were also some vocals pulled from Here, There, and Everywhere, but I can’t hear that.