COLESPOT

The Beatles broke a UK chart record by returning to number 1 with their “last” song together, Now and Then – their 18th overall chart-topper. Their 17th number 1 was The Ballad of John and Yoko in 1969, meaning they are now the artists with the longest gap between number one singles: 54 years, breaking the record set by Kate Bush in last time she peaked with Running Up That Hill, 44 years after her No
1 hit with Wuthering Heights. None of the new songs released by the surviving members of The Beatles in 1995 and 1996, Free as a Bird and Real Love, topped the charts.

Now and Then, a mid-tempo ballad written by John Lennon in the late 1970s, uses his original demo recording combined with guitar parts recorded by the late George Harrison in 1994 , as well as new takes recorded by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, remastered by technology created by Peter Jackson for the Get Back film. McCartney said of the song’s success: “It’s unbelievable, It blows my mind, It was also a very emotional moment for me, I love it”.

While the song has been a huge success, as a Beatles fan myself I cannot get behind it. The technology used is no doubt impressive and it is nice to see Paul and Ringo doing well, however, I feel the song is not a true Beatles song by any means and while it doesn’t tarnish their reputation, it certainly wasn’t necessary. I would suggest anyone go and listen to the original demo by John and still claim that the new released version is an improvement. There are whole sections removed which I. believed to be some of the strongest parts.

The new Beatles song sounds like something from one of Pauls solo albums, so while the technology demonstrated is great, I think they should have simply remastered Johns masterpiece and left it at that.