Now And Then comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by the late John Lennon,which were taken by his former bandmates to construct the songsFree As a Bird andReal Love, released in the mid-1990s.
Paul McCartney,Ringo Starr and George Harrison worked onNow And Then in the same sessions,but technological limitations stood in the way.
With the help of artificial intelligence,director Peter Jackson cleared those problems up by “separating” Lennon’s original vocals from a piano used in the late 1970s. The much clearer vocals allowed McCartney and Starr to complete the track last year.
The survivors packed plenty into it. The new single contains guitar that Harrison had recorded nearly three decades ago,a new drum part by Starr,with McCartney’s bass,piano and a slide guitar solo he added as a tribute to Harrison,who died in 2001. McCartney and Starr sang backup.
McCartney also added a string arrangement written with the help of Giles Martin,son of the late Beatles producer George Martin.
As if that wasn’t enough,they weaved in backing vocals from the original Beatles recordings ofHere,There and Everywhere,Eleanor Rigby andBecause.