“I Believe In Yesterday…”
Authored by Dale Nickey:
The Beatles drop their final chart topper (Now and Then)
(Originally Published in The Hollywood Times Today) So, there we have it. The final Beatles track. Now and Then. A fitting title, a merger of the ‘here and now’ with the ghosts of Beatles past. Says so right in the title. However, even diehard Beatle acolytes will debate the wisdom of the surviving Fab’s decision to not ‘let it be’.
One of the enduring qualities of The Beatles is their lack of artifice; starting with John’s inartful (but totally accurate) assessment that they were “bigger than Jesus”. So, the introduction of Artificial Intelligence raises red flags that are hard to ignore when viewing the official music video for Now and Then. Despite it all, one is literally moved to tears at the sight of octogenarian Beatles in lighthearted congress with their younger selves. The Beatles continue to break new ground and stretch the boundaries of emerging technology. That has always been The Beatles mission. Which brings us back to the original debate point; because they can, should they?
As far as the song goes, it’s a good song. Not great by Beatle standards. Now and Then is one of Lennon’s middleweight compositions that spent decades cloistered on a cassette work tape for a reason. An attempt to resuscitate the track in 1994 was vetoed by George Harrison for probable cause. Two previous salvage missions (Free as a Bird, Real Love) for the Anthology project were heroic efforts kneecapped by substandard cassette recordings by Lennon. No amount of prevarication or studio secret-sauce could hide the fact that the audio quality of the extracted lead vocals sucked.
AI pretty much solved that issue on Now and Then. Lennon sounds like Lennon in full flower, and time has morphed the moon/June lyrics into something far more poignant than what was originally intended. All The Beatles are sonically represented on the track. George had his guitar flown in from the Anthology sessions as well as sampled backing vocals from various albums. Paul competently tributes George’s signature slide guitar style. Ringo’s sonic footprint is substantial both vocally and on drums and percussion.
Paul justifies the whole enterprise by maintaining Lennon’s spirit signed off on the project. I’m sure that’s true. However, Lennon had a lot of crappy ideas in life. His decision to dabble in Heroin, insisting on Allen Klein as The Beatles manager, and who can forget the album cover for Two Virgins?
The internet is already running wild with AI knockoffs of Beatles tracks that never were, and a reimagining of Now and Then by the Beatles circa 1964. None of which interest me nor should they anyone else. If The Beatles want to AI the Lennon vocals on Free as a Bird, and Real Love, I’m down with that. The tracks are out there for better or worse and should be tidied up.
So that is (apparently) that. We have now bookended the Beatles saga with a track that passes the audition. No mas please. Having said all that, The Beatles drama ends on one more cautionary note…
Tomorrow Never Knows.
THE MUSE PATROL 