Ringo Starr

REVIEW: The Beatles – “Now and Then” (2023 single)

THE BEATLES – “Now and Then” (2023 single)

I get chills listening to this song.  Knowing now the story, about how John’s voice on this old tape was just too buried behind piano to work with, and how technology made it usable again…it is incredible.  John Lennon sounds fresh, front and center, as if the vocals were recorded yesterday, even though they were taped in 1977.

It’s also incredible that Yoko Ono handed these tapes off to the surviving Beatles for them to finish.  She didn’t have to do that.  She could have kept them, and put them out as unfinished solo songs.

George’s slide guitar parts were written in 1995 when the Beatles last tried to tackle this song.  Paul and Ringo finished it with drums, bass, acoustic guitars, and strings.  Paul felt the strings were very “Beatles”.

The string players had no idea what they were working on.  Secrecy was a priority.  They were just told they were playing on something for Paul McCartney, but not the Beatles.  Can you imagine how the players would have reacted to that?

To me, this sounds like an old Beatles song from the Abbey Road or Let It Be era, that I had somehow forgotten about.  It sounds somber – sad, and mournful.  It also reminds us of “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” from the Anthology albums, which underwent similar reworking all those years ago.  It is the last Beatles song, and so it should be.

To me it is just incredible that we have one more Beatles song to enjoy.

“Now and Then” will be out on an expanded edition of the Blue album.  A necessary purchase for fans who want to relive the days when we was fab.  I just wish the artwork for the single wasn’t so drab!

4/5 stars

GUEST REVIEW: The Beatles – Stereo Box Set LP version


THE BEATLES – Stereo Box Set (2009 LP version, Apple/EMI)

By: Lemon Kurri Klopek

I’m a sucker for a good boxed-set. I own several. A couple from The Beach Boys, and The Who, one from David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, heck, even The Monkees. When we’re talking The Beatles though, I have a number of them. The original bread box set of CDs, the Singles Collection, the E.P. Collection, the Anthologies, The Capitol sets, the Mono box and the Stereo box. Then of course the individual solo sets. The Lennon box, Onceuponatime, the Darkhorse Years, the list goes on. I have the special editions from each member’s solo catalogue. All Things Must Pass, Band On The Run, etcetera.  So when I saw the giant LP collection sitting there staring at me in the record store, it was no surprise when I found myself lugging it, double bagged out to the trunk of my car.

I must say it is an impressive set. All original UK releases plus Past Masters, all stereo versions, and all on 180 gram vinyl. These sets of vinyl are on the retail shelves for close to $350. I bought mine from a local establishment that was running a sale that weekend. I walked out having parted with 276 of my dollars. That’s tax included too. Not a bad deal considering there are 14 records (two of which are doubles.) That is less than $20 per record if you’re keeping track.

BEATLES

One small added bonus is, there is a foam cushion in the box that when removed makes room for the Yellow Submarine Songtrack and the #1s double record released years ago. Now I’m sure you could put other releases in there like, I don’t know, Love, or Yesterday and Today but I put in #1s and Yellow Sub. You put in whatever you like, it’s a free country… Anyway…

I figured the thing to do was to start at the beginning. So after unsheathing the box from its’ cellophane wrapping, (one of the best parts of buying a record and sadly something a generation will miss out on entirely) out came the beefy 180 gram stereo version of Please Please Me. I placed it on my Rega turntable and dropped the needle. In an instant it was the 11th of February 1963 and I was standing in EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London. Listening to what for all intents and purposes is a recording of The Beatles live set at the time. George Martin’s stereo mix of “I Saw Her Standing There” which was released a month after the original Mono mix, was filling my living room. The second release With The Beatles followed and then of course, A Hard Day’s Night. Stellar the lot.

5/5 stars

Contents:

Please Please Me (1963)
With The Beatles (1963)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Beatles for Sale (1964)
Help! (1965)
Rubber Soul (1965)
Revolver (1966)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
The Beatles (1968)
Yellow Submarine (1969)
Abbey Road (1969)
Let It Be (1970)
Past Masters (1962–1970)

Further reading:
THE BEATLES – In Mono (2009)