The session musicians who played on The Beatles‘ new song ‘Now and Then’ were tricked into believing they were playing on a solo track by Paul McCartney.
In May 2022, the strings for ‘Now and Then’ were recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. However, at the time, those who were employed to contribute to the track were unaware that it was for a composition for The Beatles.
McCartney revealed in the documentary Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song: “We had to put the music out on the stands for the musicians, but we couldn’t tell them it was a new Beatles song. It was all a bit hush-hush. We pretended it was just something of mine.”
Additionally, on The One Show on November 1st, violinist Charlie Bisharat who contributed to the track, was told live on air that he’d played on the recording of ‘Now and Then’. During a video call, Bisharat said: “It’s absolutely epic to be part of this.”
He added: “We didn’t know at the time what it was. Many times we work on projects, they don’t come out or they come out years later or something. I had actually looked for this song many times online, and I thought, ‘Whatever happened to that? It was never released’ It was a year-and-a-half ago that we recorded the strings for it. Being part of this is more than epic – a lifelong dream.”
‘Now and Then’ was initially a demo which Lennon had made in 1977. His widow, Yoko Ono, later gave the recording to the surviving members of The Beatles, who first attempted to record the track in 1995 as a trio when they made ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’ for the Anthology project.
Due to technology issues, the surviving Beatles were unable to get ‘Now and Then’ up to an acceptable standard. However, thanks to advancements made by Peter Jackson, McCartney and Ringo Starr have now been able to bring all four members back together for one final effort.
In a five-star review of the track, Far Out wrote: “As ever with The Beatles, it is a piece of art created with unrivalled chemistry even via the conduit of AI. This is evidenced by the wondrous syncopation of McCartney’s bass that rumbles perfectly beneath his old pals stabbing piano jabs. And the extra lashings of care that have gone into crafting a perfectly pitched score rather than wheeling out something half-cooked for the cash-in.”
Listen to ‘Now and Then’ below.
