The title of the song is apropos of the song’s place in Beatles history.
5 thoughts on “Then and Now”
Paul was frustrated by George’s trouble with the famous guitar riff for his song ‘Tax Man’, that he kept flubbing in take after take. So Paul secretly recorded the solo himself, nailing it in one take, with engineer Geoff Emerick. Geoff mixed it into the track and Paul had him repeat the same piece of tape at the end.
When George heard it the next day — with Paul taking over his song! — he was understandably furious. As George put it, Paul was always good at raising his “Beatle Hackles.” As John once answered, when asked if Ringo was the world’s best drummer, “He isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles,” referring to Paul.
Not a big fan. It drones on a bit, but it is amazing how they brought John’s voice front and center.
The documentary bugged me because Paul was clearly doing things HIS way with not much regard to George and John’s wishes, which Paul should have known.
Too bad George Martin wasn’t there. He would have talked for hours (and hours!) about making “Then and Now” sound like a real Beatles record.
McCartney redid one of George’s riffs because of the sound quality and personal preference. If they could work AI magic on John’s original voice recording, why not Harrison’s guitar? To me, it sounded like some of Paul’s more recent solo work, like “Chaos and Creation … ” Still, John wrote the song and he was the star.
Speaking of Starr, he came out the true winner with his strong drum work. He most likely didn’t agree with much of control freak Paulie’s “suggestions.”
No Beatles expert here, but I will say that it feels pretty consistent with some of their other work, it’s a nice enough tune, with a sentiment that feels genuine to me. I’m glad it exists, and from the earlier story, it sounds like good decisions were made about setting the work aside earlier, and that now was the time to put it all together. Well done, Paul and Ringo (+ team!)
Thanks for making it easy for me to listen. In many ways it sounds like the other frankensong they did. Definitely not a Beatles record. The Martin kid is not his father, his arrangement sounds like his dad, except that dad didn’t sound like dad, because he was always fresh, new, and original record after record. Big thumbs down ?.
Paul was frustrated by George’s trouble with the famous guitar riff for his song ‘Tax Man’, that he kept flubbing in take after take. So Paul secretly recorded the solo himself, nailing it in one take, with engineer Geoff Emerick. Geoff mixed it into the track and Paul had him repeat the same piece of tape at the end.
When George heard it the next day — with Paul taking over his song! — he was understandably furious. As George put it, Paul was always good at raising his “Beatle Hackles.” As John once answered, when asked if Ringo was the world’s best drummer, “He isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles,” referring to Paul.
Not a big fan. It drones on a bit, but it is amazing how they brought John’s voice front and center.
The documentary bugged me because Paul was clearly doing things HIS way with not much regard to George and John’s wishes, which Paul should have known.
Too bad George Martin wasn’t there. He would have talked for hours (and hours!) about making “Then and Now” sound like a real Beatles record.
McCartney redid one of George’s riffs because of the sound quality and personal preference. If they could work AI magic on John’s original voice recording, why not Harrison’s guitar? To me, it sounded like some of Paul’s more recent solo work, like “Chaos and Creation … ” Still, John wrote the song and he was the star.
Speaking of Starr, he came out the true winner with his strong drum work. He most likely didn’t agree with much of control freak Paulie’s “suggestions.”
No Beatles expert here, but I will say that it feels pretty consistent with some of their other work, it’s a nice enough tune, with a sentiment that feels genuine to me. I’m glad it exists, and from the earlier story, it sounds like good decisions were made about setting the work aside earlier, and that now was the time to put it all together. Well done, Paul and Ringo (+ team!)
NPR calls it, “a wistful curiosity.” That sounds right to me. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/02/1210202273/the-beatles-now-and-then NOTE: Stephen Thompson is Don and Maggie’s son. Don bought my cartoon submissions to CBG.
Thanks for making it easy for me to listen. In many ways it sounds like the other frankensong they did. Definitely not a Beatles record. The Martin kid is not his father, his arrangement sounds like his dad, except that dad didn’t sound like dad, because he was always fresh, new, and original record after record. Big thumbs down ?.