Deconstructing Now and Then - The Beatles (Isolated Tracks)

[@isolatedstems]

Check out the Free As A Bird stems here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bXOynK2kpsmiaqMsi=C7ek-3Kbk7Wotf4U Check out the Real Love stems here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5TRiIyAe66JqKssi=rDd-TMmyGJKF-YN0

[@pasternakstudios]

I don’t know if I read it wrong, but a ‘solo’? George’s guitar solo section? Was George supposed to have recorded something (at least a little), and Paul didn’t use it? Damn, brother, this song could have been better and had more musical texture than it have.

[@isolatedstems]

@@pasternakstudios George's guitar was just some basic comping with some licks here and there. They hadn't gotten to the point where he would record a solo. His guitar part is pretty buried but that comes down to the mix which wasn't done by Paul but Mike Stent.

[@eduz8213]

man, Paul's backing vocals make me sentimental... he probably knows he's way past his prime physically but still keeps going and making cool songs

[@Visualizemyfuture]

He is in great shape physically, he is still playing live 3 hour shows(very few musicians or bands of any age play such long concerts), yesterday he played in Buenos Aires Argentina (2 hours 50 minutes) and today he is going to play a second show there.

[@taylorcostello7913]

I keep listening to the electric guitar work by George starting at 26:05. Of the three, George was the most fickle about recording Now and Then but I'm struck by how emotionally resonant and affecting his work is here.

[@user-dnf83n0s8sg9u]

I feel the same way. What a line! Sounds like it’s right from the 60s. Maybe my favorite element of the song. Just wish it was way louder

[@CongaLineMonkey]

George was the heart and soul of the reunion tracks. He was buried way too deep in the mix on Now and Then.

[@JimNavarro]

and we keep learning and learning from those guy! The Beatles forever!

[@sarveshbane1609]

WOW!! and George's Electric Guitar doesn't seem overshadowed during Paul's Slide Solo like the original isolated video, Amazing Stuff!!

[@ThePoppermostTV]

Excellent job! Does anyone else who records music freak out when they see Ringo's untreated kitchen? 🤪 Can't get over the drum sound on this record...that rim shot and the ride cymbal are hard going. Amazing bass sound though and the end string tag is awesome too. Would LOVE to hear the 1995 drum track with it one day.

[@coolbeans1998]

I didn’t realize they possibly used the 95 sample of Paul’s voice for a clip, could you imagine how that would’ve sounded? 😮

[@Zoologic21]

Honestly the lick at 26:39 was really just about the only bit of George’s electric guitar work that I could hear in the official release of the song/video, and I was left thinking that was all his contributions were to the song! Quite illuminating, if not also a little spooky to hear the different points in time that certain parts were done. Love being able to hear the background vocals much more prominently as well. I don’t know that I have a problem with the mix specifically, but it definitely feels like the spirit of the song was changed significantly with modern production. Some things like the sound of the piano and the slide guitar solo really stand out to me as I’m not a fan of the way they sound. It almost sounds thin or too clean, like you can tell it’s of the more newer elements of the song, and having this mostly have nothing to really do with John’s original take aside from his vocal is a mixed feeling for me. I understand his piano playing was a little more rough around the edges, but it just feels like a strange thing to build on when you’re taking things here and there. Of course some decisions are probably more practical and due to limitations of still wanting to keep things real, but there still is a bit of an incongruent feeling in the song for me as it was released. Still wonderful, and the music video is a brilliant bit of art itself. Thank you for these stems!

[@crispy_bongomapping2344]

The possible '95 Paul vocals are a really curious case. They definitely stick out when isolated and are very distinct in the mesh of Paul's 2022 vocals. It would really seem like they're there, but them being so sparsely used raises a lot of uncertainty. Firstly, if Paul did record backing vocals in the '95 session, you'd assume Now and Then would feature them way more heavily. A younger-sounding Paul would be ideal to click better in harmony with Lennon, and sound much more like FAAB/Real Love. So assuming they have any saved '95 Paul vocals at all, why would they just barely use them to fill in the "I want you to be there for me, always to return to me" part? A reasonable possibility for that is that Paul may not in fact have recorded a full backing track of the song's entire lyrics in '95, and just did a fill-in for those lyrics, as they were heavily incomplete/mumbled in the Lennon demo. So, maybe only missing lyric fills were recorded for the purpose of working on the demo tape vocals themselves, which ultimately went nowhere. That's interesting in its own right, though, as the apparent '95 vocals obviously have Paul singing the lyric "you to be there for me," although that lyric is not even present on the original Lynne/Mann sheet. Of course, maybe at this point in '95 development the lyrics had changed to include "be there for me," but who knows. On that note, it's even weirder that the Lynne/Mann sheet definitely included the lyric "return to me" heavily. You'd think there'd then be '95 vocals of Paul singing that line, though in the isolated segment, the apparent '95 voice largely cuts out and is replaced by '22 Paul at the "Return to me" line. That's just really odd seeming.

[@isolatedstems]

There is a possibility that the possible 95 vocals were just cut down to fill in the lyrics due to the mic quality. Although that doesn't make a lot of sense that the mic quality would be bad, but the little of it we hear it has a substantially different sound that almost muffled. That could've just been an effect added later on though. I honestly think there is more to that vocal part that they cut out for whatever reason. It might also have just been one of the first things Paul recorded in 2022 to temporarily fill in the part before adding in a proper part, though it is loud enough that that doesn't really make sense either. This along with where the electric harpsichord is are my two biggest questions about the song.

[@pasternakstudios]

Perhaps to avoid any dissonance with the 2023 vocals, we have an 80-year-old Paul doing the backing track vocals, followed by a younger one singing the chorus. Additionally, after singing “Always you return to me,” the backing vocals abruptly cut off, allowing John to melodize the final part: “Mee…” It would indeed be great to hear a new mix in the future that resembles the 1995 version.

[@strangedaysindeed9]

To my ears, I don't hear anything even remotely resembling McCartney's 1995 vocals (or Ringo's voice) in these isolations. It all sounds like recent McCartney's vocals, a singer in his 80's.

[@pedrobeatlecreator]

Quite interesting debate here. Here's my take on it: maybe it's neither 1995 nor 2022. There were some rumours that Paul worked on Now And Then in mid 2000s (especially 2007). Maybe they used his vocal takes from these sessions. His voice on that specific part doesn't sound old as 2022 or young as 1995. Or it's just him in 2022 trying very hard to sound like John or himself on 1995.

[@isolatedstems]

@@pedrobeatlecreator Possibly. The main thing is the mic quality or an effect on the vocal that makes it stand out along with it only covering the words that John mumbles. The rest of the backing vocals cover the entire chorus, and this part only covering small parts is very strange.

[@alejandrolee5182]

Great job and awesome investigation of how the track was constructed!

[@RoidoFoja]

I was waiting for this video just to hear the piano and I must say I love the isolated piano work thanks ❤

[@pedrobeatlecreator]

Thanks for doing this! I've always loved the reunion tracks.

[@siin_07]

I wish George's electric guitar was more louder in the official mix.

[@dailyphysics6296]

Strings sound great

[@sandrocamposmusica]

Really they used samples of their old's songs? Woww 🤩🤩🤩

[@ClarkKent768]

Amazing Work! Thank you for doing this :)

[@RoidoFoja]

Hi, I'm making this comment to see if anyone else hears John's voice after "I Want" you can listen to "To Know You'll Talk to Me" from the original demo, lol, after 2 weeks I realized it sounds very low, I was only able to hear it using headphones.

[@coolbeans1998]

Heard definitely. Read this comment thinking "there's no way" and I heard it the second I turned it on lmao. Wonder why they didn't just mute that part considering they have Paul overdubbing

[@hugosanchez7599]

I think Paul's bass line should be way louder in the mix. I also have a doubt... is it confirmed that those electric guitars were played by George in 1995 and not Paul in 2022?? The arrangement of the song is great when you separate its parts, but the mix could have been way better if it was more similar to the mix of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, for example, which feels more raw and timeless Btw, the audio separation is mind-blowingly detailed, congratulations!

[@isolatedstems]

We are about 99% sure all the electric guitar was done by George. Paul only played the electric slide solo.

[@thomaspappalardo7589]

You can see George playing that part in the making of documentary. Honestly, it was a missed opportunity to not include those frames in the official music video.

[@luisportillo7607]

Where's the sound of the harpsichord?

[@pedrobeatlecreator]

Is Ringo inaudible on the backing tracks?

[@isolatedstems]

It's a little hard to hear but is indeed there. I think I hear it most when they say then

[@sebastianmaharg]

It's a pity Jeff Lyne wasn't involved in the final product somehow.

[@Kimians]

Listen to Paul’s vocal at 10.25. He loses it emotionally. And who can question that. It must have been so emotionally demanding to record this.

[@chordacopia5149]

Chords for Now And Then: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmGtnnWXaKyKedE

[@sebastianmaharg]

Ringo's drums sound super compressed and tinny. Not good.

[@flingathinger]

Where’s the shaker track? Also I wish the electric harpsichord was more noticeable

[@RoderickCairns]

According to wikipedia, only George played acoustic guitar. Also, as well as piano, bass and the slide solo, Paul also plays electric harpsichord.

[@thomaspappalardo7589]

George played the electric rhythm. In the Now and Then documentary, you see footage of him playing the exact part.

[@RoderickCairns]

@@thomaspappalardo7589 I said "only George played acoustic guitar", not "George only played acoustic guitar"

[@caua8751]

I really can't hear Ringo's voice in this song

[@isolatedstems]

Yeah it's a little buried even when isolated. I hear it best when they say "then"

[@TrancetasticWilza]

He was pretending

[@marcosmucelin]

This sounds great. Can you please send me the isolated stems that you used to make this mix please? I wanted to make my own mix as well. Thanks

[@isolatedstems]

My Beatle stems are only available to my Patreons since they take a lot of work to make. Sorry about that.

[@marcosmucelin]

@@isolatedstems No problem, I'll definetly check it out. Thanks

[@beenjaafnaf]

can you get the fnaf1 instrumental pls?

[@mikee6220]

That slide guitar

[@briancornish5857]

Fa(AARP)b..

[@paulknight9998]

You can hear him struggling on the backing vocals. That's why the little bugger removed the bridge. He couldn't reach the notes.

[@thomaspappalardo7589]

If you read the description, the bridge was nixed as far back as 1995, it’s not on the Jeff Lynne lyric sheet from the original sessions.

[@paulknight9998]

@@thomaspappalardo7589 No more than the bridge in "FAAB" which was later rewritten and finished.

[@thomaspappalardo7589]

@@paulknight9998 The session lyric sheet has the same entire structure as the finished version 30 years later. That definitely proves the demo bridge was never intended to be used.

[@briancornish5857]

Fa(AARP)b..