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A surprise: liner notes inside the sleeve, by the music writer John Harris. They explain, among other things, what’s up with the assemblage on the back cover. It’s the work of an American artist, Chris Giffin, purchased by George Harrison in 1997. Harris writes that Olivia Harrison “recently decided to have a closer look at it”:
“I put it on the mantlepiece,” she says. “Then the phone rang. It’s Paul, and he begins to remind me of this third song with Real Love and Free as a Bird. I said, ‘I remember it.’ He said, ‘It’s called Now and Then.’ I’m standing there with the phone in one hand, looking at the clock that said Now and Then. I was sort of dumbfounded. I said, ‘I think this is George saying it’s OK.’”Here, from Oregon Art Beat, is a 2010 feature about Chris Giffin and her art. There are many clocks.
comments: 7
liner notes are often the best part of albums.
as i never heard the original before it was taken down, i did come across this video of comparing the two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk88M4ABo_4 you may have already seen this but i found it fascinating to hear that snippets of past beatles songs were included.
i'm still fascinated by this song. every time i listen to it, i hear different sounds that i hadn't noticed before which was always the amazing thing about beatles songs.
can you imagine the pressure giles might have been under as his dad was probably one of the best music producers having worked with the beatles. in reading his wikipedia, george martin actually tried to discourage giles from the music industry.
kirsten
Yes, they borrowed from “Because” and “Here, There and Everywhere.” I can hear some things much more clearly on the 45. But the 45 also sounds a lot more like an assemblage, which is, after all, what it is.
The demo is at archive.org:
https://archive.org/details/now-and-then-john-lennon-piano-demo
Just days ago there was a compilation of Lennon demos and outtakes there — now apparently gone. Act quickly! : )
I think that’s an excellent analysis of the two versions. But I’d name the chord in the missing section as Emaj7.
I still don’t know where “Eleanor Rigby” drops in.
I just checked the liner notes again — they mention only “Because” and “Here, There and Everywhere.”
so my favorite way to really listen to music back then was to lay on the floor between the speakers and would pick out an instrument to follow. and then repeat.
short of that i found these times to be snippets of other songs although not always so clear what they are. clearly beatles sounds from the past: 0:17 - norwegian wood 1:24 I am the walrus?, 1:34 Eleanor Rigby, 2:19, 2:35, 3:53, and 4:13. i know the sounds just from listening to so many beatles albums but the titles elude me.
listening to the original by john was incredible. i saw something where paul used to say "scrambled eggs" when he didn't know the words.
kirsten
The string's definitely have an “Eleanor Rigby” / “I Am the Walrus” sound. Given that it's the Beatles, there could be all kinds of small traces in there.
I think many an English major’s close-reading skills were developed while staring at album covers and paying attention to songs. : )
Strings! Plural. (I can't trust dictation — or was that autocorrect?)
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