At a quaint The Beatles-themed cafe in Rishikesh that overlooks the Ganga, the constant gush of the river that usually accompanies music from the band’s 60s hits, played on loop, is interrupted by a new song.
As John Lennon’s crooning voice drowns out the sound of the river, it gives you goosebumps. The Beatles have “come together” again, with a little “help” from Artificial Intelligence (AI), to open a time capsule and complete their last song, ‘Now and Then’. A song that like so many of their beloved tracks gets listeners to sing along almost instantly, and gives fans in 2023 a chance to relive what it felt like to hear the ‘fab four’ for the first time. Released on November 2, ‘Now and Then’ is on its way to becoming a chart topper in the U.K.
With Lennon having been shot dead in 1980 and George Harrison succumbing to cancer in 2001, the question that comes to mind, however, is how authentic can the new track be, with only two band members surviving? Back in 1994, when Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono, handed over to the remaining Beatles a demo of the song that Lennon had recorded in the late 70s on a cassette recorder, with vocals accompanied by a piano at his home in New York, the limitations in technology prevented producers from extracting the vocals which were clouded by the sound of the piano.
While two other songs — ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ — found on the tape were completed and released by The Beatles in 1995 and 1996, respectively, as part of The Beatles Anthology project, ‘Now and Then’ was shelved. However, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Harrison did record their parts before abandoning the song. This allowed producer-director Peter Jackson and his sound team to take up the recordings, languishing in a cupboard, once technology was able to isolate Lennon’s clear voice from the piano music.
Bringing John Lennon back
Apart from Lennon’s vocals, the song includes electric and acoustic guitar recorded in 1995 by Harrison, Starr’s new drum part, and bass, guitar and piano from McCartney, which match Lennon’s original playing. McCartney also added a slide guitar solo inspired by Harrison; he and Starr contributed backing vocals to the chorus, too. A sting arrangement was added to complete it, like the band had used in their song ‘Strawberry Fields’, ‘Yesterday’ and ‘I am the Walrus’, among others.
Listening to the song, apprehensions that AI could be the fifth member of the band are put to rest as it acts only as a facilitator to bring Lennon back in the room. As McCartney says in a short film that accompanies the release of the song: “To be working on a Beatles song in 2023 that we have all played on – wow! We are actually messing around with state-of-the-art technology which is something that The Beatles would have been very interested in.”
An exclusive preview of the 12-minute short film and the song was screened by Universal Music in Rishikesh, where The Beatles had come in 1968 to learn Transcendental Meditation techniques from their “guru” Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Listening to The Beatles talk about what it means to them to complete the song, accompanied by home footage of Lennon in his New York apartment, evokes a sense of nostalgia. It also makes one wonder how different The Beatles would sound if they were to record using modern technology.
The Beatles Ashram, situated in the Rajaji National Park in Rishikesh, may be in ruins but the music has not faded, nearly 60 years after the peak of Beatlemania. It is here that The Beatles are said to have worked on several of the tracks that made it to The White Album, and the songs ‘Blackbird’, ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ and ‘Sexy Sadie’ are among those that were written or inspired in this period.
At the ashram today, a few visitors amble around with their phones playing Beatles songs on loudspeaker as passers-by join in and complete the chorus. The guides on hire who take you around the place rattle off a bit of the band’s history, and why they chose to come to the ashram. They regale visitors with stories of Harrison, who supposedly left in 10 days as he could not adapt to the sattvic food.
There are photos of the band at the ashram, and for those looking for a photo op, there is a large colourful mural of The Beatles with the Maharishi amidst the ruins. A gazebo that overlooks the Ganga is a peaceful place to sit back with earphones on and listen to The Beatles.
