Nov 11, 2023·edited Nov 11, 2023Liked by Alex Segura
To put the new single in perspective, and why Paul pursued making it for so long (from NYTs):
"She said those were "the last words that John Lennon said to Paul in the hallway of the Dakota building,” he told Goldmine magazine toward the end of his life. Mr. Lennon "patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Think about me every now and then, old friend.""
It seems the Lennon song was the last of the dueling songs between friends, and written with love. They met as motherless, and absurdly talented youths, their bond endured, despite everything. Not a great song, but it carries so much history and emotional heft that it's almost painful.
"This October is the sixtieth anniversary of a song that ignited an extraordinary — and at times hysterical — global pop phenomenon. I first heard the song, aged twelve, on Radio Luxembourg as it came crackling out of the raffia speaker panel on our walnut-veneered radiogram. “Love Me Do” — The Beatles’ first UK hit — is, in itself, nothing special. But it was that spark. By early 1964 the British Invasion of the USA was underway. “She Loves You” was topping the charts simultaneously right across the Western world. The following year “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was doing the same......."
I think this Dimpker Brothers acoustic cover of Now and Then actually showcases better than the Beatles version what a very good and nearly great song this is. Hauntingly beautiful. (I am an OG Beatlemaniac BTW. Loved your post.) https://youtu.be/SszHp8NoDm4?si=HeTn0IyL6fc6pt8k
Being a boomer, I was in my teens when the Beatles emerged on the music scene. I lived in a little town in the middle of England. When I was fifteen and the Beatles had not yet released their first single, they came to play at a "dance" as it was then called, in my little town. Then, when they had hit the big time with their first single reaching number 1, they came once more to the little town because they were contracted for a second gig. We were luck enough to see many big names at this tiny venue. The Beatles continued to be a part of my growing into adulthood and I loved their music. I really like the new song.
Interesting piece. My own sense is that now and then surpasses the other two unearthed Beatles tunes. A big part of that is Jeff Lynne not being involved. I’ve always loved ELO and Lynne’s own sound, but in his subsequent involvement with other artists, he’s tended to overdo his animatronic sound onto the tune- the too-much layers of strings and harmony vocals, the dehumanized- sounding production. He obviously was a huge Beatles fan growing up and it’s showing all over his ELO catalog, but he morphed his own “sound” into something more corporate sounding as he went along. The Beatles sort of went the other way, in terms of letting it all hang out in their final years in terms of missed notes, slight errors, etc.- confident in the result. Now and Then has just a little bit of that too-tightness, perhaps on the strings, but otherwise amazingly, sounds like they were all in the room. The YouTube music teacher Amy Nolte has a really lovely dissection of the chordal structure, which sounds kind of simple, but it’s actually deceptively complex in moving around scales- as I found out when I tried to tinker with the tune on my own on the piano. Mostly, I think this song sounds like a true coda- powerful and melancholy. Really moved me around this week like it has for you.
Thanks for sharing your Beatles insight and preferences! My personal favorite book about their music is “A Hard Day’s Write” by Steve Turner, which focuses on the writing of every single Beatles song ever written and recorded by the band—no covers of other artists’ work.
I was born in '69, so my parents, born in '45 and '46, both loved the Beatles and introduced me to them long before I have memories. The Beatles have always been in my life. After my parents divorced, I remember listening to my dad's copies of "The Beatles" and "Magical Mystery Tour," two of the albums he got in the settlement, a lot when I would see him in the summers before I started working.
My first Beatles purchases were the CD releases in the late '80s; I couldn't afford them new, so I hunted used record stores and snatched them up whenever they showed up on the shelves. I recommend "Revolution in the Head," which I hadn't even heard of until a couple years ago. I checked the first edition out of my local library; I've gone there much more since COVID. Reading it gave me both a deeper appreciation of the Beatles and a deeper understanding of music in general. I've also recently been bingeing the podcast "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs" over the last couple months, which is really, really good, introducing me to a lot of songs, artists, and history about which I basically knew nothing. I'm up to episode 92; the lads have made a couple brief cameos, but looking ahead, it appears episode 100 is when they will hit the main stage. It's like the anticipatory moments before the electric storm hits.
Nov 11, 2023·edited Nov 11, 2023Liked by Alex Segura
Here is my list of "The Beatles" albums that never happened based on the solo careers. Not a perfect list, but it sure shows the evolution and the artistry of the individual members.
The Beatles 1970
All Things Must Pass (Harrison)
Every Night (McCartney)
If Not for You (Harrison)
Instant Karma (Lennon) [3]
Junk (McCartney)
Maybe I’m Amazed (McCartney)
Mother (Lennon)[43]
My Sweet Lord (Harrison) [1]
That Would be Something (McCartney)
What is Life (Harrison) [10]
Working Class Hero (Lennon)
The Beatles 1971
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (McCartney) [1]
Too Many People (McCartney)
Power to the People (Lennon) [11]
It Don’t Come Easy (Starr) [24]
Imagine (Lennon) [3]
Heart of the Country (McCartney)
Happy Xmas (Lennon)
Deep Blue (Harrison)
Bangla-Desh (Harrison) [23]
Another Day (McCartney) [5]
The Beatles 1973
Band on the Run (McCartney) [1]
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (Harrison) [1]
Revolution in the Head plus the first volume of Marc Lewisohn's mammoth undertaking. Also - Michael Braun's Love Me Do, which covers early Beatlesmania and the first visit to the USA.
Mark Lewisohn and Ken Womack are the go-to men imo for Beatles writing, whereas Philip Norman has had a vendetta against PM for years and seems to be curiously self-obsessed
Fantastic read Alex, I am someone old enough to remember them from the sixties and have always been a fan from an early age. My aunt was old enough to go The Cavern then come home and dance to their records with her little nephew. I wore a beatles suit to her wedding. They wained in my affections during the seventies though I remained a Wings and McCartney fan. Not a huge fan of the other two "new releases" I thought Now & Then was an okay track and found John's voice haunting, sad. I have or have created a memory of waking during the early hours of December 1980 with a start not knowing why. My mother woke me again to tell me the news John had been murdered. I saw McCartney live in 2005 what a rush!
I absolutely loved diving deep on the new Beatles song "Now and Then" in your latest newsletter. As a fellow hardcore fan, it was amazing to get your thoughts and insights on this surprise "reunion" track.
The backstory you provided on the origins of the song and how they isolated John's vocals using new technology was fascinating to me. It must have been an incredible feeling for you to hear the remaining Beatles harmonizing together in what amounts to a "new" song all these years later. I totally understand you getting emotional in that moment - the Beatles' music means so much to me on a personal level as it does to millions of fans.
I appreciated your analysis on how "Now and Then" compares to the other Anthology releases like "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love." You made great points about how "Bird" feels more like a Frankenstein's monster of disparate parts, while "Real Love" hews closer to a complete Beatles song in my opinion. And I agree that "Now and Then" falls somewhere in between for me - not their greatest work, but a pleasant artifact for fans rather than just a novelty.
I loved your perspective on treasuring these kinds of musical time capsules despite their flaws. As you said, it's more about the listening experience and what it represents for longtime fans like me. The magic of hearing a new Beatles track outweighs nitpicking its merits for me. And it's a testament to their cultural impact that a song like this generates so much interest after all these decades.
It was also insightful for me to get your recommendations for Beatles books and see your rules for crafting the perfect "lost album" playlist. As someone who wants to dive deeper on the Beatles, this gives me some great starting points. I'm excited to explore those playlists and imagine a universe where the band stayed together a bit longer. You clearly have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Beatles' catalogue and history that I aspire to!
Thanks again for generously sharing your passion for the Beatles. This was such a fun and illuminating read for me as a fellow traveler down the long and winding road of Beatlemania. I look forward to your future reflections on one of the greatest bands of all time.
...the day after the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show, there was an actual electricity in the air. I was an 8th grader in junior high school, SF bay area The air seemed like it was crackling, girls were running down the corridors screaming. I'll admit to being naive but even I felt it. Those were incredibly evocative days, the whole" British invasion."
To put the new single in perspective, and why Paul pursued making it for so long (from NYTs):
"She said those were "the last words that John Lennon said to Paul in the hallway of the Dakota building,” he told Goldmine magazine toward the end of his life. Mr. Lennon "patted him on the shoulder and said, 'Think about me every now and then, old friend.""
It seems the Lennon song was the last of the dueling songs between friends, and written with love. They met as motherless, and absurdly talented youths, their bond endured, despite everything. Not a great song, but it carries so much history and emotional heft that it's almost painful.
"This October is the sixtieth anniversary of a song that ignited an extraordinary — and at times hysterical — global pop phenomenon. I first heard the song, aged twelve, on Radio Luxembourg as it came crackling out of the raffia speaker panel on our walnut-veneered radiogram. “Love Me Do” — The Beatles’ first UK hit — is, in itself, nothing special. But it was that spark. By early 1964 the British Invasion of the USA was underway. “She Loves You” was topping the charts simultaneously right across the Western world. The following year “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” was doing the same......."
https://thecritic.co.uk/top-of-the-pops/
I think this Dimpker Brothers acoustic cover of Now and Then actually showcases better than the Beatles version what a very good and nearly great song this is. Hauntingly beautiful. (I am an OG Beatlemaniac BTW. Loved your post.) https://youtu.be/SszHp8NoDm4?si=HeTn0IyL6fc6pt8k
Being a boomer, I was in my teens when the Beatles emerged on the music scene. I lived in a little town in the middle of England. When I was fifteen and the Beatles had not yet released their first single, they came to play at a "dance" as it was then called, in my little town. Then, when they had hit the big time with their first single reaching number 1, they came once more to the little town because they were contracted for a second gig. We were luck enough to see many big names at this tiny venue. The Beatles continued to be a part of my growing into adulthood and I loved their music. I really like the new song.
Interesting piece. My own sense is that now and then surpasses the other two unearthed Beatles tunes. A big part of that is Jeff Lynne not being involved. I’ve always loved ELO and Lynne’s own sound, but in his subsequent involvement with other artists, he’s tended to overdo his animatronic sound onto the tune- the too-much layers of strings and harmony vocals, the dehumanized- sounding production. He obviously was a huge Beatles fan growing up and it’s showing all over his ELO catalog, but he morphed his own “sound” into something more corporate sounding as he went along. The Beatles sort of went the other way, in terms of letting it all hang out in their final years in terms of missed notes, slight errors, etc.- confident in the result. Now and Then has just a little bit of that too-tightness, perhaps on the strings, but otherwise amazingly, sounds like they were all in the room. The YouTube music teacher Amy Nolte has a really lovely dissection of the chordal structure, which sounds kind of simple, but it’s actually deceptively complex in moving around scales- as I found out when I tried to tinker with the tune on my own on the piano. Mostly, I think this song sounds like a true coda- powerful and melancholy. Really moved me around this week like it has for you.
Thanks for sharing your Beatles insight and preferences! My personal favorite book about their music is “A Hard Day’s Write” by Steve Turner, which focuses on the writing of every single Beatles song ever written and recorded by the band—no covers of other artists’ work.
I was born in '69, so my parents, born in '45 and '46, both loved the Beatles and introduced me to them long before I have memories. The Beatles have always been in my life. After my parents divorced, I remember listening to my dad's copies of "The Beatles" and "Magical Mystery Tour," two of the albums he got in the settlement, a lot when I would see him in the summers before I started working.
My first Beatles purchases were the CD releases in the late '80s; I couldn't afford them new, so I hunted used record stores and snatched them up whenever they showed up on the shelves. I recommend "Revolution in the Head," which I hadn't even heard of until a couple years ago. I checked the first edition out of my local library; I've gone there much more since COVID. Reading it gave me both a deeper appreciation of the Beatles and a deeper understanding of music in general. I've also recently been bingeing the podcast "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs" over the last couple months, which is really, really good, introducing me to a lot of songs, artists, and history about which I basically knew nothing. I'm up to episode 92; the lads have made a couple brief cameos, but looking ahead, it appears episode 100 is when they will hit the main stage. It's like the anticipatory moments before the electric storm hits.
Here is my list of "The Beatles" albums that never happened based on the solo careers. Not a perfect list, but it sure shows the evolution and the artistry of the individual members.
The Beatles 1970
All Things Must Pass (Harrison)
Every Night (McCartney)
If Not for You (Harrison)
Instant Karma (Lennon) [3]
Junk (McCartney)
Maybe I’m Amazed (McCartney)
Mother (Lennon)[43]
My Sweet Lord (Harrison) [1]
That Would be Something (McCartney)
What is Life (Harrison) [10]
Working Class Hero (Lennon)
The Beatles 1971
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (McCartney) [1]
Too Many People (McCartney)
Power to the People (Lennon) [11]
It Don’t Come Easy (Starr) [24]
Imagine (Lennon) [3]
Heart of the Country (McCartney)
Happy Xmas (Lennon)
Deep Blue (Harrison)
Bangla-Desh (Harrison) [23]
Another Day (McCartney) [5]
The Beatles 1973
Band on the Run (McCartney) [1]
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) (Harrison) [1]
Jet (McCartney) [7]
Let Me Roll It (McCartney)
Live and Let Die (McCartney) [2]
Mamunia (McCartney)
Mind Games (Lennon) [18]
My Love (McCartney) [1]
Oh My My (Starr) [24]
Photograph (Starr) [3]
Woman is the Nigger of the World (Lennon) [57]
You’re Sixteen (Starr) [2]
The Beatles 1974/75
You Gave Me the Answer (McCartney)
You (Harrison) [20]
Whatever Get You Through the Night (Lennon) [1]
Standby Me (Lennon) [20]
Sally G (McCartney) (Sung by Ringo)
Only You (Starr) [6]
No No Song (Starr) [3]
Listen to What the Man Said (McCartney) [1]
Letting Go (McCartney)
Junior’s Farm (McCartney)
Dark Horse (Harrison) [15]
1985 (McCartney)
#9 Dream (Lennon) [9]
The Beatles 1976-79
Silly Love Songs
Let 'em In
Crackerbox Palace
Mull of Kintyre
With a Little Luck
Mull of Kintyre
With a Little Luck
Love Comes to Everyone
Not Guilty
Blow Away
Rockestra
Getting Closer
The Beatles 1980-87
All Those years Ago
Woman
Starting Over
Watching the Wheels
Coming Up
Temporary Secretary
Take it Away
Here Today
Say Say Say
Got My Mind Set on You
When We Was Fab
Ebony and Ivory
The Girl is Mine
No More Lonely Nights
Press
Revolution in the Head plus the first volume of Marc Lewisohn's mammoth undertaking. Also - Michael Braun's Love Me Do, which covers early Beatlesmania and the first visit to the USA.
Mark Lewisohn and Ken Womack are the go-to men imo for Beatles writing, whereas Philip Norman has had a vendetta against PM for years and seems to be curiously self-obsessed
Fantastic read Alex, I am someone old enough to remember them from the sixties and have always been a fan from an early age. My aunt was old enough to go The Cavern then come home and dance to their records with her little nephew. I wore a beatles suit to her wedding. They wained in my affections during the seventies though I remained a Wings and McCartney fan. Not a huge fan of the other two "new releases" I thought Now & Then was an okay track and found John's voice haunting, sad. I have or have created a memory of waking during the early hours of December 1980 with a start not knowing why. My mother woke me again to tell me the news John had been murdered. I saw McCartney live in 2005 what a rush!
I absolutely loved diving deep on the new Beatles song "Now and Then" in your latest newsletter. As a fellow hardcore fan, it was amazing to get your thoughts and insights on this surprise "reunion" track.
The backstory you provided on the origins of the song and how they isolated John's vocals using new technology was fascinating to me. It must have been an incredible feeling for you to hear the remaining Beatles harmonizing together in what amounts to a "new" song all these years later. I totally understand you getting emotional in that moment - the Beatles' music means so much to me on a personal level as it does to millions of fans.
I appreciated your analysis on how "Now and Then" compares to the other Anthology releases like "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love." You made great points about how "Bird" feels more like a Frankenstein's monster of disparate parts, while "Real Love" hews closer to a complete Beatles song in my opinion. And I agree that "Now and Then" falls somewhere in between for me - not their greatest work, but a pleasant artifact for fans rather than just a novelty.
I loved your perspective on treasuring these kinds of musical time capsules despite their flaws. As you said, it's more about the listening experience and what it represents for longtime fans like me. The magic of hearing a new Beatles track outweighs nitpicking its merits for me. And it's a testament to their cultural impact that a song like this generates so much interest after all these decades.
It was also insightful for me to get your recommendations for Beatles books and see your rules for crafting the perfect "lost album" playlist. As someone who wants to dive deeper on the Beatles, this gives me some great starting points. I'm excited to explore those playlists and imagine a universe where the band stayed together a bit longer. You clearly have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Beatles' catalogue and history that I aspire to!
Thanks again for generously sharing your passion for the Beatles. This was such a fun and illuminating read for me as a fellow traveler down the long and winding road of Beatlemania. I look forward to your future reflections on one of the greatest bands of all time.
There’s The Beatles and then there’s the rest. It was just wonderful to hear John sing something we had never heard before in “Now and Then.”
...the day after the Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan Show, there was an actual electricity in the air. I was an 8th grader in junior high school, SF bay area The air seemed like it was crackling, girls were running down the corridors screaming. I'll admit to being naive but even I felt it. Those were incredibly evocative days, the whole" British invasion."
The new song is sweet, but sorry, not epic.
Great work but nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
I’m very happy you liked the song 🎵