Paul McCartney regrets not finishing third Beatles reunion song
Paul McCartney recently shed some light on one of the unfinished mid-'90s Beatles reunion tracks that was left unreleased.
Macca spoke to Britain's Q magazine about the unreleased John Lennon song, titled "Now And Then," explaining that, "There was one more that we didn't do (for The Beatles Anthology), which was a pity. It didn't have a very good title, it needed a bit of reworking, but it had a beautiful verse and it had John singing it. But George (Harrison) didn't wanna do it. The best thing about it all was to work with John again. Hearing him in the headphones, it was like he was in the next room -- 'Fuck, I'm singing harmony with John.' It's like an impossible dream."
We asked Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison how she feels about any unfinished Beatles Anthology reunion songs being released: "Well, I don't know that much about it. But I know that if they thought something wasn't good enough then that's probably the reason no one's heard it. You know, if they never got around to it -- sometimes that's it, time runs out."
The then-surviving Beatles, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, dubbed "The Threetles" by the British press, spent four sessions between February 1994 and March 1995 attempting to flesh out "Now And Then" along with the eventually released reunion songs "Free As A Bird," and "Real Love." The songs were recorded at Macca's home studio, The Mill, in Sussex, England with producer and ELO co-founder Jeff Lynne.
The trio eventually abandoned the track, due in large part to a persistent buzz found on the demo tape that couldn't be erased. Lennon's demo for "Now And Then" -- also known as "I Don't Want To Lose You" -- has been available on the underground circuit for years.
In May 1995, the group allegedly started work an all-new McCartney-Harrison collaboration called "All For Love," which also remains unreleased.
In October 2005, Lennon's widow Yoko Ono talked about a further "electronic" Beatles reunion using the unfinished Lennon track. She explained to The Washington Post that, "I sent those songs to them when the situation was quite different. Now that George is gone, I don't know if the same would apply."
The Beatles' reunion single "Free As A Bird" peaked at Number Six in 1995, with the group's second reunion single "Real Love" topping out at Number 11 in 1996.
In other Beatles-related news:
Yoko Ono's former chauffer, Koral Karsan, was freed on bail Friday (December 15th). The Associated Press reported that Karsan was arrested and charged with grand larceny last week after threatening to kill Ono in an ill-fated extortion plot.
Karsan is accused of handing Ono a letter on December 8th, the anniversary of John Lennon's murder, which threatened her life and demanded $2 million in exchange for keeping her and son Sean Lennon's personal secrets under wraps.
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Macca spoke to Britain's Q magazine about the unreleased John Lennon song, titled "Now And Then," explaining that, "There was one more that we didn't do (for The Beatles Anthology), which was a pity. It didn't have a very good title, it needed a bit of reworking, but it had a beautiful verse and it had John singing it. But George (Harrison) didn't wanna do it. The best thing about it all was to work with John again. Hearing him in the headphones, it was like he was in the next room -- 'Fuck, I'm singing harmony with John.' It's like an impossible dream."
We asked Harrison's widow Olivia Harrison how she feels about any unfinished Beatles Anthology reunion songs being released: "Well, I don't know that much about it. But I know that if they thought something wasn't good enough then that's probably the reason no one's heard it. You know, if they never got around to it -- sometimes that's it, time runs out."
The then-surviving Beatles, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, dubbed "The Threetles" by the British press, spent four sessions between February 1994 and March 1995 attempting to flesh out "Now And Then" along with the eventually released reunion songs "Free As A Bird," and "Real Love." The songs were recorded at Macca's home studio, The Mill, in Sussex, England with producer and ELO co-founder Jeff Lynne.
The trio eventually abandoned the track, due in large part to a persistent buzz found on the demo tape that couldn't be erased. Lennon's demo for "Now And Then" -- also known as "I Don't Want To Lose You" -- has been available on the underground circuit for years.
In May 1995, the group allegedly started work an all-new McCartney-Harrison collaboration called "All For Love," which also remains unreleased.
In October 2005, Lennon's widow Yoko Ono talked about a further "electronic" Beatles reunion using the unfinished Lennon track. She explained to The Washington Post that, "I sent those songs to them when the situation was quite different. Now that George is gone, I don't know if the same would apply."
The Beatles' reunion single "Free As A Bird" peaked at Number Six in 1995, with the group's second reunion single "Real Love" topping out at Number 11 in 1996.
In other Beatles-related news:
Yoko Ono's former chauffer, Koral Karsan, was freed on bail Friday (December 15th). The Associated Press reported that Karsan was arrested and charged with grand larceny last week after threatening to kill Ono in an ill-fated extortion plot.
Karsan is accused of handing Ono a letter on December 8th, the anniversary of John Lennon's murder, which threatened her life and demanded $2 million in exchange for keeping her and son Sean Lennon's personal secrets under wraps.
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