Now And Then, the Beatles’ “last recorded” song is on track to top the singles chart.
This comes after outselling the rest of the top five combined in its opening weekend.
The song originally written and sung by John Lennon and later developed by his fellow band members – including the late George Harrison – was finished by Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr decades after the initial recording was made.
With an accompanying music video, released on November 2, the single is set to become their 18th number one single, according the Official Chart Company’s first look.
It would also be their first chart-topper in 54 years, with the last being The Ballad Of John And Yoko in 1969.
The music video released on YouTube describe the making of the song; "The long mythologised John Lennon demo was first worked on in February 1995 by Paul, George and Ringo as part of The Beatles Anthology project but it remained unfinished, partly because of the impossible technological challenges involved in working with the vocal John had recorded on tape in the 1970s. For years it looked like the song could never be completed. But in 2022 there was a stroke of serendipity. A software system developed by Peter Jackson and his team, used throughout the production of the documentary series Get Back, finally opened the way for the uncoupling of John’s vocal from his piano part".
According to breaking News.ie, the remastered track was sourced from a Lennon demo which was recorded in the late 1970s at his home in New York’s Dakota Building.
In the music video, recording sessions from the mid-1990s when the project was originally abandoned are depicted, plus previously unseen footage of The Beatles.
After his death in 1980 aged 40, Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono gave the recording to the remaining Beatles in 1994.
During this period, Harrison, Sir Paul and Sir Ringo recorded new parts and completed a rough mix for Now And Then with producer and musician Jeff Lynne.
However, the band did not release the song and cited issues to do with extracting Lennon’s vocals and piano due to limited technology at the time.
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