Approaching John

 

George in New York in '63

screenshot from "Now and Then" video 

Photo by Peter Harrison 

George Harrison on the roof deck of the Pickwick Arms Hotel - end of  September or early October  1963. 

The small clip of George in New York in the New and Then video has me excited that all of the 1963 George film is still around and has been worked on and cleaned up.   I  have heard about George and his brother shooting film in Benton, Illinois from many of the locals there when they were alive and I have longed to see the footage.   Little snippets keep popping up here and there.  One day Olivia or Dhani will allow us to see it all.  

Chris Giffin - the Now and Then clock artist

Chris Giffin with some of her work in 2006.

 

As much as I dislike the front cover of Now and Then,  I think the artwork on the back cover is really interesting so last week I decided to find out what it all means.   I am so glad that I did!   The clock was made by an artist named Chris Giffin.  She is currently retired, but in 1997 some of the clocks that she made were for sale in Providence, Rhode Island.   George and Olivia were in Providence that year because their son, Dhani was going to school at Brown.   And so George bought a clock that said, "Now and Then" on it as well as some other pieces by Giffin.   I can't help but wonder -- why did George pick out this clock?   Did it have anything to do with the song called "Now and Then" that his former bandmate, John Lennon had written and he had attempted to record with Paul and Ringo just two years earlier?   

Anyhow -- read Olivia's story about the clock and note that originally the clock did NOT have a photograph of The Beatles at the bottom, but a photograph of a city.   The Beatles were added just for the album cover with the artist's permission.   I bet in a million years she never would have thought her art would have been part of a Beatles song!   

The new song

 

I love the new song, Now and Then.   It isn't the best song.  I personally like "Real Love" the best of the three post-Beatles era songs.  But I like the work that was done on it, especially how clear John's voice sounds.   More than the actual song itself, I love the fact that it is 2023 and we have a new Beatles song out and the world is talking about it.    But just for the record -- this has to be the worst Beatles cover ever!  Did people say that about the White album when it was first released?   I will take a plain white cover over this cover anytime. 

I recognize that jacket!

 

I am sure all week you have been reading deep, wonderful thoughts fans around the globe have had about the Now and Then 12-minute documentary and song.    When I am typing this (Wednesday night), I have just watched the little documentary but the song has not been released.  By the time this post is published on the site, we all will have heard the song.

Maybe I will have something amazing to say about it soon, but here is my first thought as I watch the little documentary -- "Hey!  I know that jacket George is wearing.  He wore it at the Billboard Music Awards in 1990!"   Yep -- same jacket!

I am sure no one else has THAT to point out about the Now and Then documentary.