Watch a Short Documentary Film About the Beatles’ ‘Now and Then’

A short documentary about the final Beatles song, ‘Now and Then’, is out now.

The 12-minute film, written and directed by Oliver Murray, chronicles the making of the track, which will be released on November 2. The film features new commentary from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Ono Lennon and Peter Jackson, plus archive footage. by George Harrison.

READ MORE: Top 25 Partial Beatles Reunion Songs

You can watch the film below.

The history behind ‘now and then’

“Now and Then” stems from a demo Lennon recorded before his death in 1980, a tape subsequently given to the surviving Beatles by Yoko Ono. In the mid-1990s, McCartney, Starr and Harrison teamed up with producer Jeff Lynne to work on “Now and Then” and other lost Lennon tapes. These sessions produced two complete songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, which appeared on Anthology 1 And Anthology 2respectively.

“Now and Then” remained unfinished until now, largely due to complications with the tape’s audio quality.

“In 1995, after several days of working on the track in the studio, George felt that the technical problems with the demo were insurmountable and concluded that it was not possible to finish the track at a sufficiently high level,” said Harrison’s widow, Olivia. in an earlier press release. “Had he been here today, (son) Dhani and I know he would have wholeheartedly joined Paul and Ringo in completing the recording of ‘Now and Then.'”

In 2021, Jackson’s film team used a new kind of demixing technology for the three-part film. The Beatles: Go Back, a process subsequently applied to Lennon’s original demo tape. Finally the vocals could be separated from the piano part, making it easier to construct a new song. As McCartney and Starr recorded new songs, Harrison’s previously recorded acoustic guitar parts were added.

“It was incredibly moving to hear them work together after all the years of Dad being gone,” added Sean Ono Lennon. “It’s the last song my dad, Paul, George and Ringo made together. It’s like a time capsule and it all feels very predestined.”