A while back I wrote a column about artificial intelligence and how it sort of scares me. However, I guess there are some things that it may be good for.
I am a huge music fan and as a youngster grew up listening to the Beatles in the 1960s, thanks to my sister Karen. As I got older, I continued to enjoy their music in the 1970s and their solo careers after they broke up.
Most fans would hope that one day they would get the band back together. But an assassin killed John Lennon back in 1980 and then George Harrison died of cancer in 2001.
That only leaves two surviving members of the band, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
Last week the song “Now and Then” was released. You can hear it on streaming sites and watch the video using archival and new footage on YouTube.
“Now and Then” comes from the same batch of unreleased demos written by Lennon in the 1970s, which were given to his former band-mates by Yoko Ono back in 1994. Ono is Lennon’s widow. They used the tape to construct the songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love,” released in the mid-1990s. But there were technical limitations to finishing “Now and Then,” according to an Associated Press article.
McCartney and Starr built the track from Lennon’s demo, adding guitar parts George Harrison wrote in the 1995 sessions and a slide guitar solo in his signature style. McCartney and Starr tracked their bass and drum contributions.
The enchanting video uses previously unseen home movie footage provided by Lennon’s son Sean and Olivia Harrison, George’s wife.
In an Associated Press article, McCartney described artificial intelligence technology as “kind of scary but exciting,” adding: “We will just have to see where that leads.”
Those are the same feelings I have about the new computer technology.
“To still be working on Beatles’ music in 2023 — wow,” he said in “The Beatles — Now And Then — The Last Beatles Song.” “We’re actually messing around with state-of-the-art technology, which is something the Beatles would’ve been very interested in.”
After all these years, even though two of the four members of the Beatles are gone, the band released one last song.
Much of this was because of their talent, but also due to modern technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
The original recording by John was done in his New York apartment while he played piano and sang on an old cassette player. It was scratchy and the vocals were not the best, but the AI helped divide the music from John’s voice, clean up his vocals, and make it crystal clear.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr began the project to finish the song of their two friends and deceased band-mates with the full approval of Lennon and Harrison’s families.
Hearing John and Paul sing the first chorus together, as they lock into the line “Now and then I miss you” — it’s intensely powerful, to say the least, said Rolling Stone magazine.
Listening to these old friends harmonize and sing together is amazing. It’s something that couldn’t have been done years ago.
There is also a short 12-minute documentary on YouTube talking about the recording of the song and the making of the new video.
So this song is the final farewell from the “Fab Four,” who changed music for generations.
The new song will be the only original Beatles recording of the 21st century. It’s hard to believe, but it has been done for fans to enjoy and reminisce.
We should enjoy it regardless of how we feel about this new technology. Maybe it can be helpful in many ways as we head toward the future, but we can also hold on to our past.
(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)