After months of waiting and speculating, The Beatles have finally announced the release of a "new" song, "Now and Then," and the re-release of their 1973 greatest hits albums -- 1962-1966, also known as The Red Album, and 1967-1970, The Blue Album.
"Now and Then" will be released next Thursday, November 2nd, at 10 a.m. ET as a double-A side single along with their 1962 debut U.K. single, “Love Me Do.” It will be available on seven- and 12-inch vinyl, on cassette and digitally.
It is the third and final John Lennon demo that Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr first attempted to finish, along with "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love," when they released their Anthology collection in the 1995 and '96.
Using new software developed by Peter Jackson's team -- director of their Get Back
documentary -- they were able to finally isolate John's vocal from his piano and the television playing in the background. They used George's electric and acoustic guitar tracks from the Anthology sessions, and Paul and Ringo were finally able to finish it. They also added a string arrangement, written by Giles Martin, Paul McCartney and Ben Foster, along with backing vocals from the original recordings of “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “Because.”
Paul says, “There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it. It’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023, to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.”
Ringo says, “It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.”
Olivia Harrison says: “Back in 1995, after several days in the studio working on the track, George felt the technical issues with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track to a high enough standard."
And John's youngest son, Sean Ono Lennon, adds, “It was incredibly touching to hear them working together after all the years that Dad had been gone. It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo got to make together. It’s like a time capsule and all feels very meant to be.”
The music video for “Now and Then” will debut on Friday, November 3rd. A 12-minute documentary film, Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song, will debut on November 1st on The Beatles’ YouTube channel at 3:30 p.m. ET. It contains exclusive footage and commentary from Paul, Ringo, George, Sean Ono Lennon and Peter Jackson.
This will all be followed on November 10th by the re-release of 1973's The Beatles’ 1962-1966 (‘The Red Album’) and 1967-1970 (‘The Blue Album’), which have both been expanded and mixed in stereo and Dolby Atmos.
"Red" contains 12 additional tracks, with nine added to "Blue," including "Now and Then." All the additional tracks have been remixed, as are the ones that were on the originals. They will be available in multiple configurations, including a four-CD, and six 180-gram vinyl sets.