Beatles "Last" Song - Now And Then

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 2:15pm

I just finished listening to the "last" Beatle song (Now And Then) a couple of minutes ago and really enjoyed it. It was wonderful hearing John Lennon's voice again (from 1978 demo) which was "isolated" by producer Giles Martin. George Harrison guitar playing was from 1995 recordings when the three living Beatles were trying to put together this song many years ago.

Recently, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr added backing vocals in addition to adding guitar and drum parts to the song. Kudos to Giles Martin for his work on this song. (his father Sir George Martin would be proud) My final thought after listening to this was how sad it was that the four of them never got back in the studio one last time to make some music together.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 5:12pm

I think if all four were still alive today, they would have gotten back together. Probably a long time ago.

I read AI was involved in this new song, which kinda ruins it for me. It is a nice song, though. The Rolling Stones just released a full brand new album, it is very sad that The Beatles could have done the same if things had been different.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 6:34pm

See below from Giles Martin, clears up what was done. Basically, just isolating John Lennon's voice.

"As producer Giles Martin explains, a big part of why "Now And Then" has been in production limbo for so long is due to the poor quality of the cassette tape.

"The very original recording is just John playing the piano with TV in the background," Martin tells World Cafe. "That's part of this technology — we could now extract John from the piano and from the television."

Martin, who co-produced "Now And Then" with McCartney and Electric Light Orchestra frontman Jeff Lynne, says machine learning technology allowed them to isolate Lennon's vocals in a way that previously wasn't possible.

"Essentially, what the machine learning does is it recognizes someone's voice. So if you and I have a conversation and we're in a crowded room and there's a piano playing in the background, we can teach the AI what the sound of your voice, the sound of my voice, and it can extract those voices," Martin said."

"The Rolling Stones just released a full brand new album, it is very sad that The Beatles could have done the same if things had been different."

We will never know but I think they may have done a song or two together but doubt they would have ever done a complete album. BTW - Paul McCartney plays bass on a couple of the songs on the new Rolling Stone album which got excellent reviews. Loved that Charlie Watts drumming is on a couple of songs also.

Updated On: 11/2/23 at 06:34 PM

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 11/2/23 at 8:43pm

Thanks. It's good to know that is actually John's voice we hear. With recent developments in AI, I wasn't sure.

[darquegk]

Posted: 11/3/23 at 8:13am

Talking about AI is like talking about “the media:” it’s a generalization that doesn’t exist. The insidious uses of AI are different and separate from the practical uses of AI.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/3/23 at 7:07pm

Really like the song and the video is really cool.

[Zeppie2022]

Posted: 11/4/23 at 9:16am

If you are a Beatle fan, the official video of the song "Now and Then" may bring a tear to your eye and put smile on your face. Great job by Peter Jackson on this video. See link below.

The Beatles - Now And Then (Official Music Video) - YouTube