Today is the official release date for the physical media of the last Beatles single “Now and Then” – yay, I say.

Like I said in yesterday’s post, I already own two of the colored vinyl 45’s that I got a day early but there’s also a red colored vinyl issue (a Target exclusive) as well as black vinyl issue of a 12-inch version of the single plus a cassette version (available exclusively from http://www.thebeatles.com Website) and upcoming in a couple of weeks (in the States that is, already available in Europe) a CD single.

Whew, I think that’s all the versions out there so far but I may have missed one. In this day and age there is no end to the many variations of physical media being issued but as usual I was sucked in by the joyous celebration worldwide of this last Beatles single and I broke down and added the black vinyl 12-inch version of the “Now and Then” single to my stash of Beatles items.

(Note: I told you being a collector is a sickness lol)

As I said hearing this song on one of the vinyl versions is the way to go, so far for me anyway, as this new 12-inch version sounds even better than the 45 and makes the songs sound warmer and more engaging than the digital versions I’ve heard online.

Plus the jet black vinyl and the superb Apple and Red Parlophone labels look stunning on the larger format so it’s worth it to me to have it in my collection.

I was struck yesterday by the absolute outpouring of reaction videos to “Now and Then” that I saw on YouTube with generally positive feedback to the song as well as the production of the single. I’m glad to see that there’s a large swath of Beatledom that is indeed as happy about this release as I am so that warms my heart.

Again there are several really over the top haters out there but the feeling of event from the first viewing of the mini-documentary a couple of days ago as well as listening to the song for the first time yesterday on Sirius; all the negativity just vanishes. It’s just been a FABulous few days culminating today with the physical releases of the single AND the premiere of the video just this morning directed by famed filmmaker Peter Jackson.

As for the video I thought it was FANTASTIC! There was a lot of video footage of Paul, George and Ringo circa 1995 in the studio during their initial attempt at making a record out of Lennon’s home demo of “Now and Then”. Truly this stuff is superb and one day hopefully we’ll get more.

There is also some lovely footage of Paul and Giles Martin in the studio in 2022 adding strings to the new recording as well as lots of old Beatles footage from a range of sources from home movies to scenes from their films as well as their music clips – again terrific stuff.

Now truth be told right before I watched the video for the first time I read some absolutely scathing reviews of the new “Now and Then” video online and while I’m all for differences of opinion there’s no reason to rant and rave about what a travesty this video and song are and how low The Beatles have stooped, etc. Enough already, you hate it we know.

It’s a little dramatic to be so hyper negative but whatever I’ve enjoyed both the song and video tremendously. I think the fact that Peter Jackson added a bit of humor and wackiness to the video (see images above and below) has gotten some peoples knickers in a twist but that attitude of let’s not be too serious is a Beatles trademark so I can see both Paul and Ringo wholeheartedly approving of it. If they didn’t the video wouldn’t be here end of story.

Anyway, just a brief note from me on what I’m dubbing Beatles Day 2023.

I hope those of you out there who are enjoying the good vibes, yes they are out there, are having a great day and enjoying being a Beatles fan. Life is too short, enjoy or ignore but please spare me the “woe is me this shouldn’t have happened ever” tude – too late, it’s here and it’s top gear lol.

As usual enjoy photos of the 12-inch black vinyl and several screen shots from the new “Now and Then” that came out today.

Be well and happy and see you soon!

More to come …