The Beatles short film “Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song”, directed by Oliver Murray, was first released on Wednesday evening (November 1st) on “The One Show” on “BBC One” and can now be seen on YouTube.
Paul McCartney opened the film by saying: “Hello, I would like to introduce you to a short film that tells the story of how John, George and Ringo and I came together to record our final song. It’s a single called ‘Now And Then’. We hope you enjoy it.”
Watch short film here:
The single is released as a double A-side with the band’s first British single from 1962, “Love Me Do” – combining their first single with their last.
Peter Jackson’s music video
The music video for “Now And Then” will follow on Friday, November 3rd, directed by Peter Jackson.
Jackson previously directed the 2021 documentary/reconstruction “The Beatles: Get Back,” which documented the making of the band’s 1970 album “Let It Be.”
In his statement, Jackson describes the work as “poignant and humorous” and invites “viewers to celebrate the Beatles’ timeless and enduring love for one another with John, Paul, George and Ringo as they create the final Beatles song.” . The video will be published on the Fab Four YouTube channel.
More about the Beatles’ “last song.”
The genesis of “Now and Then” reportedly spanned five decades and is the result of conversations and collaborations between the Beatles that have continued to this day: The song was originally written by John Lennon in the late 1970s and then recorded as an incomplete demo. The Beatles had intended to release the song on their album “Anthology 3” 26 years ago. It was completed by surviving members McCartney and Starr more than 40 years after work began on it.
Peter Jackson’s technology made the song possible
It says on YouTube: “The long-mythologized John Lennon demo was first edited in February 1995 by Paul, George and Ringo as part of The Beatles Anthology project, but remained unfinished, in part because of the impossible technical challenges involved working with the voice John recorded on tape in the 1970s. For years it looked like the song would never be finished.”
But in 2022 a fortunate circumstance occurred: “A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, which was used in the production of the documentary series ‘Get Back’, finally paved the way for the decoupling of John’s singing from his piano part.” This enabled the original recording to be brought back to life and reworked with contributions from all four Beatles.