Ringo talks Now and Then
Ringo was interviewed recently by AP.
In a relatively recent interview with the Associated Press, Ringo was asked about the elusive final Beatles track, which still hasn’t been identified by title by any of the involved parties, but which everyone assume is “Now and Then”. He and Paul FaceTime each other about twice a month, Ringo reveals. When asked when it will be released, he says that he cannot say, “because it should really have been out already”. So it seems something has happened to delay the release. In the Steve Hoffman forum “Music Corner” it’s implied that people from (The Beatles’) Apple are actually paying attention to the ongoing discussions there about the release, and have delayed the release date in order to implement suggestions by forum members.
Ringo says the song was on the same tape as “Free As A Bird” and that he was asked by Paul last year if the two of them should finish it. Ringo agreed, and he explained how Peter Jackson’s software MAL was the technology used when they lifted John Lennon’s voice out of the recording.
George Harrison had already recorded a rhythm guitar track that was used, while Paul has now recorded a guitar solo for the song. Ringo re-recorded his drums, as he had only kept the time when they worked on this song in the nineties.
Earlier, Ringo also revealed that Paul and Giles Martin had been in Los Angeles to add orchestration. It turns out that work on the last Beatles song has been going on for quite some time. Here we have Paul McCartney and Giles Martin in Capitol Studios in Los Angeles May 1, 2022 while working on adding strings to the song.
“Now and Then” string session at Capitol Studios, May 1, 2022 putting the final touches to the last Beatles track.
Ringo’s interview was taped on September 6, but published only yesterday, 28 September. He also talks about his upcoming EP releases and other interesting stuff.
Since when were Apple dictated to by forum goers? Can’t see that myself. Surely nobody is arrogant and self important enought that they think they can delay a Beatles project? Imagine if there was an internet in 1968? With Mr Martin saying ‘Let’s delay the release of the White Album to see if forum users like Helter Skelter’. It’s just absurd.
If anything,it’s more likely to do with UMG and chart positions. The Taylor Swift ‘clashing’ thing for a start.
I ‘ate you, Butler!
They seem to listen to suggestions. When we first published the colourised cover photo of the then unreleased “On Air – The Beatles Live at the BBC Volume 2” and pointed out that they had lengthened George’s tie to keep it in touch with the other guys ties, this caused quite an uproar from Beatles fans. And they were vocal about it. When the album finally was released, George’s tie was back to it’s natural size. Did they listen to the fans? We can’t say for sure, but it certainly is some kind of an indication.
They are probably just releasing it closer to Christmas
Something about the initial report never sounded on the up and up to begin with. The speculation about clashing with other artist releases, doesn’t seem quite right either. Even the Beatles know they can’t compete with her. They’ll wait to compete with Hackney Diamonds. ha. Besides that, it’s not a competition anyhow, at this point. I suspect we’ll here news of the true goings on soon. John’s birthday is coming soon. If the past is any indicator, I suspect it could be possible we’ll hear something then. I don’t personally like the idea of the Red/ Blue rumored release. The last FAB song deserves a proper release. If you want to start rumors, there a ton of Threetle footage from the Anthology Jam. Also, a lot of footage from the Real Love recording sessions. The ukelele jam at Friar Park. Seems like a better fit in my mind. FWIW. It wouldn’t be Xmas without a new Beatle product under the tree.
The Real Love footage was done by Kevin Godley from 10cc and I’ve read an interview with him where he talks about the experience of filming them and not being allowed to tell anyone what he was doing.
The last fact is in fact not true. The tidbit is because of the secrecy of the track, Kevin wasn’t given a complete mix of the song and had to overdub his own vocals to help with the flow of the video. Oops.
Hi everybody. The discussion/demand on the Steve Hoffmann thread is about remixing Real Love and Free as a Bird with the so called MAL-software in order to clean up John’s voice and to release this together as a stand alone EP (or something similar) with Now and Then. I‘m curious if this will really happen, as a change of plan from Apple/EMI. If so, people over at SHF will have a ball for sure (including me). Let‘s wait and see.😀
The delay must be quite annoying not only to fans, but also to the media who had been promised a date to get their schedules in synch – tonight’s Sky Arts [in the UK] Beatles Evening for instance. The powers-that-be-atle might want to forum on the danger of ‘wait fatigue’ settling in, they may as well retitle it ‘Now, Or When?’ at this rate.
I’m not really sure that the oft-quoted ‘competition’ aspect means too much in this era. The demographic for physical releases is so tight now it is one-artist-ten-formats [not least Paul with his multi-vinyl programme last year], and for tactile buyers it is sometimes not ‘what should I buy this week?’, it is ‘what CAN I buy this week.’ Neil Young seems to thrive on this, with what seems like a new release every fortnight! And streaming is so cheap that its impact is dispersed after day one. Given that Amazon have a large sale weekend coming in 14 days, that might be a read for Apple to take note of, before the physical product buyers have a wallet-empty on discounted ‘Who’s Next’ box sets. Speaking of Amazon, this is the 11th straight week that the ‘Let It Be’ Super Deluxe Box has been below £40 in the UK. Someone really overestimated the production run on that (or underestimated the anger that half-full CDs and a 4-track EP would engender),
On a complete sidebar, wasn’t that a wonderful sign-off line from Ringo [paraphrasing just slightly] – “I’m an only child who had 3 brothers.”
Really? I’ve just checked and it’s currently £154.01….(and £150 for vinyl) – a long way off the £40 you quoted!
Yes, really. Well, as I type [12.42/01.10.23], it has gone up to £42, £103 for vinyl. Both cheaper than that if one goes 3rd-party.
This is a great Ringo interview. He seems relaxed and he is making a ton of music right now. I did not know he had 2 other EPs including a country one in the works. New music from a Beatle is always a gift!!
It was also good to hear about other topics. The Thomas stuff came out of nowhere. What an incredible life he has had.
As for Now & Then, I support the suggestion above about a possible EP with all of the Anthology tracks on it. The Red/Blue idea did not seem right (but of course, I would be excited with anything).
Given how close the expected announcement date was to the expected release date, I can’t believe they didn’t already have at least some physical product already produced, or certainly in the works. Regardless, assuming there’s a box with a book of some kind coming, imagine having to update everything that would need to be updated at this late stage. Plus: vinyl lead times. They might conceivably have made use of the delay to tweak something, but I don’t believe they created the delay just to do that.
The most peculiar lead up/rumor to a Beatles release in my lifetime. This excitement has turned into an indifference at this point. I can skip out The Red/Blue comps and just stream Now and Then until they make that it a physical EP with FAAB/RL (2015 or 2023 remix). I’ve got other band releases that have been grabbing my attention.
It’s coming! Patience is a two week virtue.
10.26.23
Unfortunately Now and then is postponed (I guess)to a date in the near future (2024). Due to The Rolling Stones releases.
Nope…still on for this year
Like the rumour we mentioned at the end of the blog post.
Beatles.com counting down to new release
The Beatles announce the new release October 26…