The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”

The last surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr use recordings of John Lennon and George Harrison to create the final Beatles record, “Now and Then.”

The Beatles have released what will be their final song, “Now and Then.” The surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr finalized the track using old recording of John Lennon and George Harrison.

McCartney and Starr explain the origins of the song in the short documentary below. The track originated after John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono gave the surviving Beatles three recordings of songs written by Lennon before he was killed. McCartney, Starr, and Harrison used two of the three songs earlier. They had created new Beatles songs in the 1990s to along along with the Anthology documentary about the Beatles. Those two songs were “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.”

The third Lennon song that McCartney, Starr, and Harrison tried to turn into a Beatles song in the 1990s was “Now and Then.” But this Beatles track was not completed at that time, perhaps partly or mainly due to George Harrison’s disdain for the song. Or, according to McCartney’s more recent version of events, the song was not finished due to technical and time constraints. One of the challenges was that Lennon’s demo recording did not have a clear enough separation between his voice and the piano.

But a jump in time has made the new track possible. Director Peter Jackson, in creating the Beatles documentary about the making of the Let It Be (1970) album, The Beatles: Get Back (2021), used a new technology. It allowed him to separate out the voices of the Fab Four in the original film footage from that session. This technology would also allow the Beatles to separate out John Lennon’s voice from the piano on “Now and Then.”

Then, producer Giles Martin, son of Beatles producer George Martin, added in guitar parts that George Harrison had created when the three Beatles worked on the song in the 1990s. Ringo Starr recorded a new drum track, while McCartney added bass and other instruments, including a slide guitar track as a tribute to Harrison. McCartney’s voice joins Lennon’s voice in the background during the song, and McCartney also added the line “always to return to me” in the lyrics.

Now and then,
I miss you;
Oh, now and then,
I want you to be there for me,
Always to return to me
.

And so, we have what is likely the last Beatles song we will ever have created by the four actual Beatles. While it may not be a match for some of their masterpieces, it is great to hear John singing with the other lads again. Check out the official video for “Now and Then.” The video mixes old footage of the four Beatles with today’s Paul and Ringo, leading the viewer to imagine them all together again. It might even bring a few tears to your eyes.

What do you think of the new song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
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    Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)

    On Ringo Starr’s new album What’s My Name, he includes a recording of one of the last songs written by John Lennon, “Grow Old With Me.” The touching track also features another Beatle, Paul McCartney, playing bass and singing backing vocals.

    Ringo Starr recently explained to Billboard how Jack Douglas, who produced Lennon’s Double Fantasy, approached him about a tape of demos Lennon had made in Bermuda in 1980. Starr said that listening to the tape was “very emotional” for him. And it was on that tape he found one song that Lennon had never released, “Grow Old With Me.”

    So Starr called McCartney, who agreed to help out. One final additional touch was that Douglas added a string section to the song. And unknown to Starr, Douglas added a brief musical riff from George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” (listen closely at around the 1:40 mark). Thus was created a bit of a Beatles reunion of sorts.

    The lyric video below for Starr’s recording of “Grow Old With Me” includes Lennon’s handwriting to help display the lyrics. Check it out.

    The recording touched Starr. As he explained to Billboard, “It moved me. I did my best and it’s very me, but you know, [Lennon] wrote those words and he’d written songs for me before, so I thought, ‘No, I’m gonna do it.'”

    If you listen closely, in addition to the Harrison reference in the music, you may hear Starr’s message to Lennon. At around the 3:02 mark, you can hear in the background, Starr saying, “God bless you, John.”

    John Lennon and Yoko Ono originally planned to include “Grow Old With Me” on Double Fantasy (1980). But the song was not ready when they wanted to release the album, so they saved it for what they hoped would be their next album.

    Lennon’s demo of “Grow Old With Me” with Ono was released after his death. Lennon’s version appears on the 2010 posthumous album, Milk and Honey. You may hear Lennon’s version below.

    Ringo Starr‘s album What’s My Name was released on October 25, 2019.

    What do you think of Ringo Starr’s take on “Grow Old With Me”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • New Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ Video
  • The Beatles’ “Black Album” from “Boyhood”
  • All I’ve Got Is a Photograph
  • Hear the Beatles Sing Without Music on “Abbey Road” Medley
  • Behind the Scenes With the Beatles on the Set of “Help!”
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    The Beatles’ 1969 Rooftop Concert

    Beatles Rooftop Concert

    On January 30, 1969, the Beatles went to the rooftop of Apple headquarters for their first live performance in more than two years. The impromptu show continued for 42 minutes until the band was shut down by the police.

    The Rooftop Performance

    The rooftop concert was part of The Beatles’ work on a project that was entitled Get Back at the time. The album would ultimately be entitled Let It Be, as would the film that included 21 minutes of the performance.

    The performance was in some ways a last gasp of a group that was coming apart. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were trying to get back to their roots with some help from keyboardist Billy Preston.

    Of course, the performance did not save the band.  But it gave the world one more glimpse at the genius that was The Beatles. And they rocked.

    On the roof that day, they performed several songs:  “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “One After 909,” and “Dig a Pony.”  Currently, the full performance is not available for embedding, but below is the Beatles performing “Don’t Let Me Down” on the roof.

    Release of Let It Be

    The Beatles released the album from the sessions, Let It Be, in May 1970.  The release came soon after the band had broken up.

    Let It Be was the final studio album released by The Beatles. But it was not the last album they recorded.

    They recorded their album Abbey Road after Let It Be.  Yet, Abbey Road was released in September (U.K.) and October (U.S.) 1969, several months before the release of Let It Be.

    For more on the rooftop concert, check out Rolling Stone’s 15 Things You Didn’t Know about the performance.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Hear the Beatles Sing Without Music on “Abbey Road” Medley
  • The Beatles: “Blackpool Night Out” Live Performance
  • New Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ Video
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • The Beatles’ “Black Album” from “Boyhood”
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    The Beatles: “Blackpool Night Out” Live Performance

    Beatles Help On August 3, 1965, the Beatles released the album Help! in the United Kingdom, releasing it ten days later in the United States on August 13.  During this time in their careers, the Fab Four were reducing their promotional appearances. So they only appeared on only one U.K. television show to promote the new album, Blackpool Night Out.

    ABC TV made Blackpool Night Out, filming the show at the ABC Theatre in Blackpool, a summer seaside resort city with other connections to John Lennon.  The live broadcast with the Beatles ran from 9.10 pm to 10.05 pm.

    The Beatles performed several songs on the Sunday, August 1, 1965 show.  They started with “I Feel Fine,” “I’m Down,” “Act Naturally,” and “Ticket To Ride.”

    Next, Paul McCartney sang “Yesterday” by himself in the song’s first performance on British television.  The band returned, with Lennon carrying flowers and joking, “Thank you Ringo, that was wonderful.”  The band closed with “Help!” Below you may hear the audio of part of the 1965 show.

    Although some thought the video of the show was lost, a video of the show popped up on YouTube recently. Unfortunately, they had to take it down for copyright issues.

    The album Anthology 2 (1996) included fours songs from this performance, “I Feel Fine,” “Ticket To Ride,” “Yesterday,” and “Help!”

    What is your favorite Beatles TV appearance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Beatles’ 1969 Rooftop Concert
  • New Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ Video
  • Hear the Beatles Sing Without Music on “Abbey Road” Medley
  • Behind the Scenes With the Beatles on the Set of “Help!”
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.

    )

    New Beatles ‘A Day in the Life’ Video

    Day in a Life Video

    The 2000 release of number one songs by the Beatles, The Beatles’ 1, is getting a new updated release in a couple of different forms with music videos and the group’s short films. Among the video content, the new Beatles 1+ package includes the Beatles’ original video for “A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).

    The video for “A Day in the Life” shows the playful side of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The video footage of them hanging out with friends like the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards also includes shots of an orchestra during the 1967 recording sessions. Check out the video for “A Day in the Life.”

    The 1+ package hits stores on November 6.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Hear the Beatles Sing Without Music on “Abbey Road” Medley
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • The Beatles’ 1969 Rooftop Concert
  • The Beatles: “Blackpool Night Out” Live Performance
  • The Beatles’ “Black Album” from “Boyhood”
  • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)