'Earliest known footage' of The Beatles in leather suits features in Now And Then music video
The Beatles tease their final song 'Now and Then' with trailer posted to social media
The earliest known footage of The Beatles features in a new music video for their final song 'Now And Then'.
It was directed by three-time Oscar-winner Peter Jackson, who says he faced "a wall of sheer terror" just thinking about creating it.
He admitted he was initially “very reluctant” to take on the music video for the song due to the scale of the task.
The final track 'Now and Then' is sourced from John Lennon's vocals and piano demo recorded in the late 1970s, using artificial intelligence to extricate and isolate his voice.
In a statement, Peter Jackson wrote: “To be honest, just thinking about the responsibility of having to make a music video worthy of the last song The Beatles will ever release produced a collection of anxieties almost too overwhelming to deal with.
“My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down.”
After sharing his concerns around the lack of footage, Apple “unearthed over 14 hours of long forgotten film shot during the 1995 recording sessions” and Sir Paul and Sir Ringo filmed themselves performing.
The filmmaker was also supplied with “a few precious seconds of The Beatles performing in their leather suits, the earliest known film of The Beatles and never-seen-before”.
The video shows the Beatles acting "relaxed, funny and rather candid" and Jackson hopes it will “bring a few tears to the eye”.
He said: “To be honest, while we hope we’ve given The Beatles a suitable final farewell, that’s something you’ll need to decide for yourselves when it’s finally released - only a few days from now.
Jackson added: “Having got to the end, I’m very happy I’m not waiting for the release of somebody else’s Now And Then music video.
"I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come.”
His 2021 Beatles documentary, titled 'The Beatles: Get Back' used audio restoration technology that allowed for vocals, music and conservations by the band to be isolated, a technique which they have now used for 'Now And Then'.
As well as the new track and music video, a 12-minute documentary will be released on The Beatles' YouTube channel on 1 November at 7:30pm.
The short film, titled 'Now and Then - The Beatles Last Song', was written and directed by Oliver Murray, known for My Life As A Rolling Stone and features commentary from Sir Ringo and Sir Paul.
'Now and Then' will be released on 2 November at 2pm as a double A-side with the band’s 1962 debut single Love Me Do.
Finally, the music video will debut on 3 November.
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