Now And Then / Love Me Do

“Now and Then” (also known as “I Don’t Want to Lose You” or “Miss You“) is an unfinished song by John Lennon, recorded as a solo piano/vocal demo in 1977 at his home in the Dakota Building, New York City.

The Beatles considered the song as a potential third reunion single for their 1995 autobiographical documentary project “The Beatles Anthology“, following “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love“, but it was shelved until 2022 when Paul McCartney decided to complete it with the help of Ringo Starr and producer Giles Martin.

Using the demixing technology used by director Peter Jackson for his 2021 documentary “The Beatles: Get Back“, it was possible to extract John’s voice from the original demo. With new overdubs by Paul and Ringo, guitar tracks by George Harrison from the abandoned 1995 sessions, and some string overdubs, the track was finally released in November 2023.

There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it, it’s a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven’t heard, I think it’s an exciting thing.

Paul McCartney – From TheBeatles.com, October 26, 2023

It was the closest we’ll ever come to having him back in the room, so it was very emotional for all of us. It was like John was there, you know. It’s far out.

Ringo Starr – From TheBeatles.com, October 26, 2023

I did love “Now and Then,” and we did hear it in 1995 and we’d done (the other two vault songs) already, and then it came to a halt. And then I got a call from Paul (in 2022) and he asked, “Do you want to drum on it?” It’s great for me to have John’s (Lennon) voice coming at me. Thanks to Peter Jackson with the machine that can pull out anything from anything. Paul went in with a string section; he worked really hard on it and I just sang on some of it.

Ringo Starr – Interview with USA Today, May 10, 2024

I can’t imagine what this next week of “Now and Then” promotion will be like. There’s an incredible weight to this. You must be feeling that.

Well, I mean, there’s some perspective. My mom’s just died. So, it’s like [dark laugh] what’s important in life?

It’s a funny time. We just talked about her funeral arrangements, and she’s getting buried the day, I think, the record comes out. So, there are personal things for me in this.

I’ve been doing interviews this week, and people have asked me, “How do you feel about what your motivation was?” Somebody was saying I’m talking about the Beatles as a resource, or whatever. I go, “You do these things and hope people get touched by stuff.”

When you say you enjoy “Now and Then,” that’s really nice, because that’s why we do it. We do it so people can listen to stuff and not just hear it. “Now and Then” sounds like a love song. It sounds like a song that John wrote for Paul, and the other Beatles: “I miss you/ Now and then.”

It sounds like Paul has gone there, which I think he did. You know, no one told Paul to go and do it, and Paul didn’t go, This would be a great exercise for the Red and Blue Album.

He was at home in the studio. He dug on the record and started working on it, because it’s his mate. And he really misses John. I mean, that’s the truth. They broke up, and John died nine years later. It really isn’t very long.

So, I hope that people listen to the record and they think about loved ones. Or they think about things. That’s what I hope. I don’t really care about anything else — do you know what I mean? What I’m excited by is people being touched by it.

Giles Martin – From GRAMMY.com, October 26, 2023

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