* - taken from an audio tape that John Lennon made in the 70s, just him on his piano.

Much like "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love", the Beatles dug up another John song called "Now and Then" when they were putting together their Anthology back in the mid-90's. They were able to reconstruct the first two songs, which made it onto the double album; but "Now and Then" had too much interference with the piano so they couldn't splice the vocals out.

In 2022, through Peter Jackson's tech that he used for "Get Back", they were finally able to isolate the vocal track. Because the living members (Paul, .George, and Ringo) had been working on the song in 1995, technically all 4 are represented in the recreation of "Now and Then". However, George's part is a guitar solo that Paul tinkered with (roll around in the grave again, George), so the only "live" contributions are by Paul and Ringo.

The full, complete song, is pretty good if you are a Beatles fan. And it's nice to hear John's voice again, even though it's even more ghostly here than the other two songs they made with his unfinished tracks.

Now and Then

Sounds like the music over the closing credits of a movie.

"Ghostly" is right about Lennon's voice.

Kind has that wall of schmaltz sound to it, too.

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Awful.

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They will never stop finding ways to repackage the Beatles as long as people keep lapping it up. We need to stop. This band is not worth anywhere near the attention it receives.

You're wrong about the last part, but this demo was at the bottom of the barrel for a reason.

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it works well because it's so dang sad. Even though John doubtfully meant it about the Beatles.

I fail to see why it's bad to celebrate a band that is this far past their era. Nobody's talking about Benny Goodman or Glen Miller anymore.

Wish they were though.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I'm usually on board with your thoughts but that last one is eligible for a worst of the year nomination.

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Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.- JD Vance
If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.- JD Vance on the J-6 insurrectionists

It's depressing to see an 80 year old Paul. After all the musicians from the 60s die we're stuck with crap.

No band in the history of music deserves the worshipful reverence The Beatles receive. I consider them to be a very good band and I understand they blazed a lot of ground, but much of what they did has been improved upon in subsequent years and there's no need to go back and revisit or reinterpret their catalog every decade. I judge classic rock by its historical importance and by whether or not I actually want to spend time listening to it. I go back and listen to: The Rolling Stones, Dylan, Springsteen, The Who, and to a lesser extent The Velvet Underground regularly. However, I never have any desire to listen to The Beatles.

As I said above, they're a very good band, but they're not head and shoulders better than the bands/artists I listed above.

You said in terms of historical importance. From that point of view, The Beatles are top two or top three at worst. Absolutely head and shoulders above everybody you have listed there, aside from The Stones who still probably fall slightly behind the fab four.

Bob Dylan is no doubt a legend and an incredible songwriter but he's written a ton of clunkers that MANY have no desire to ever listen to. I think even TBone, who is probably the board's most ardent Bob Dylan, fan would agree with me there

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Why are you all so angry?

If Taylor Swift put out another video, would you give a shit? It is fucking harmless and I honestly don't get the angst. I think they (Paul and Ringo) are financially ok, so I don't get the sense it is a money grab from them. Whatever.

The fact that you include Springsteen explains a lot.

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Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.- JD Vance
If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn’t be pardoned.- JD Vance on the J-6 insurrectionists

I think The Beatles are ranked where they should be. The hardest thing for a musician is writing good songs and they wrote a lot of great songs and their influence can't be questioned. Its pretty crazy Sgt. Pepper is considered one of the best albums of all-time and that's with Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane being taken off because the label wanted a single. I was born 11 years after they broke up but there's a timeless quality to their music. I'll be in Vegas for the GP and I'll be going to see Love again when I'm there.

They're angry because, much like Swifties, Beatles fans get their panties in a bunch when someone says they don't like them, or think they're the greatest thing to ever walk the earth.

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I'm not angry. I don't have to be angry. I consider the matter of the Beatles' greatness to be pretty firmly settled. And besides, I've never been crazy about the Stones, so I get it.

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I feel the same way about the Beatles that a lot of people feel about Dylan: their music is bursting with genius and incredibly important. But it's still not very good. I appreciate them, but I don't enjoy listening to them.

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It's like when I get shit because, while I can acknowledge how important the Beatles are to music, I get shit on for essentially saying I never want to hear anything they wrote again...and Hey Jude is the 5th biggest piece of shit in music history.

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It's absolutely unlistenable.

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Now I'm going to wait for the McCartney worshippers to come with their pitchforks and torches.

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The Beatles were more about timing than them somehow doing something no one else could have. That's why everyone has to rely on how "influential" they were like music would somehow not exist without them inventing everything besides rap music in the past 70 years in regards to music.

It's like deciding that no coach can ever be better than Vince Lombardi because he was the first great coach in football history and therefore any coach who comes after him was influenced by him even the fancy boys who never played like Mike McDaniel.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Same. It's great that they're historically important, but if I live another 40 years and die without ever hearing another Beatles song again, I wouldn't even notice.

Fuck the Beatles!

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But you don't like music, though.

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I do. I probably have more varied tastes than you do. I do know a lot of it isn't great music but I don't really care.

If the Beatles came around 10 years later they'd be viewed as just another really good band.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Well that’s the point, Brick. The band you’re referring to is the Beatles clone that was spawned by the Beatles. Even before they were the Beatles they were doing the same kind of boundary pushing as the Quarrymen.

What is the point? The Beatles were heavily influenced by others. They were then heavy influences on others. That's how it has worked for the history of humanity.

They were a great band who came around at the perfect time. That's why I used the Vince Lombardi example. He was a great coach who came around at the perfect time. That doesn't mean that it was impossible for him ever to be supplanted as the greatest coach.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't think it's horrible, but it's nothing special. My life would be just fine had they not found a way to release it

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They started the British Invasion. It’s likely we don’t get the Kinks, the Who or The Rolling Stones without Beatlemania coming across the pond.

You can argue all you want about how you like or dislike the music. But their impact is historic. Timing is everything, but so is having that sound.

My gripe with the way they're rated, is that they're treated as existing in a class of their own. They're not in a class of their own. They're firmly within that upper tier of bands (Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc.).