The surviving Beatles shocked fans worldwide when they announced they'd be the latest rock 'n' roll band to utilize AI technology to create new music. Paul McCartney calls it the group's "final" song and insists that it is authentic. AI simply allowed Paul and Ringo Starr one last chance to record with their deceased bandmates.
However, it's hard not to imagine what John Lennon and George Harrison would've thought about this new tune. George often had contradicting thoughts about The Beatles and never understood why fans always wanted more from them.
Ringo Starr revealed George Harrison recorded parts of the upcoming AI Beatles song
Fans worldwide had a reason to be concerned when Paul McCartney announced that The Beatles would release a new, final song that used AI. They feared Paul and Ringo formed the tune around an AI-generated John Lennon and George Harrison.
However, the new technology has helped extract vocals from one of John's demos. So, The Beatles' "final" song will be no different from the songs the remaining band members recorded for The Beatles Anthology project in the 1990s.
Ringo Starr recently told Rolling Stone that even George got to record parts of the song before his 2001 death. That means the "final" tune will likely be "Now and Then," one of John's demos the remaining members worked on during the Anthology project.
George Harrison likely would've had conflicting sentiments on The Beatles' "final" song
It isn't very easy to decipher what George would've thought of The Beatles releasing one last tune. His views of his former band were often conflicting.
Sometimes, he called The Beatles innovative and was thankful to have been in a band that had such a sizable impact on the world. More often than not, though, he couldn't understand why people loved The Beatles so much and didn't think they were that great musically.
Ultimately, George wanted to move on from being a Beatle. The toughest part about being one of the Fab Four for him was that no one ever saw him as anything else. He never understood the fans who wanted The Beatles to reunite and continue.
That's why he initially had a hard time with The Beatles Anthology. In Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Joshua M. Greene wrote that George was reluctant to participate in the project.
By then, George had warmed to his Beatles legacy but still didn't understand why the group should give more to fans when they already gave so much, including their nervous systems. Still, he decided to be a part of the project and had a good time doing it.
George would've been pleased to make one last Beatles song
George might not have been initially pleased to make the upcoming Beatles song, but he would've relented in the end. He couldn't deny that doing the Anthology project allowed him and his bandmates to tell their story the correct way. Plus, when was he ever going to record more songs with them?
It's impossible to know how George would've felt about the new song, but he loved The Beatles deep down.
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