Oliver Murray’s “Now and Then” is not only a testament to the continued unending popularity of the Beatles, but to the genius that technology is capable of. In a year where AI has officially stirred up a humongous debate among artists, “Now and Then” is a great exploration of how Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr implemented groundbreaking technology to produce one last outing with their dearly departed friend John Lennon.
“Now and Then” explores the timeline of the surviving Beatles to produce music from Lennon’s catalogue after his sad death in 1980. It was later developed and worked on as a potential third Beatles reunion single for their 1995–1996 retrospective project The Beatles Anthology, following their completed “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” Both were based on Lennon’s demos. Due to technology limitations, it was shelved for nearly three decades, until it was completed thanks to new machines created by director Peter Jackson who was able to isolate John’s vocals from his piano playing.
It was then completed by surviving band mates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, using overdubs and guitar tracks by the now passed on George Harrison from the abandoned 1995 sessions. While “Now and Then” could have been an exploitative mess, it’s instead a very conscious and sweet attempt at four artists to find a way to re-connect despite being split up by life and death. Although the documentary essentially runs at barely fifteen minutes it does spotlight the interesting process well, and explores how much music has managed to evolve and will continue doing so long after Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have passed on.
It doesn’t just help cement and complete the legacy of the Beatles, but works as a sweet way for Starr and McCartney to make their peace with their comrades once and for all. This is a surefire must watch for any Beatles fanatic; it’s a real argument for embracing technology that compliments artists rather than replace them.