All Together Now
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The Beatles’ Anthology 4 box and a new episode of their Anthology docu-series are upon us. But what’s it all about?
Power trio: Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr working on Now And Then at McCartney’s Hog Hill Mill Studio, 1995.
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“GET THIS bloody little mike out of the way,” says John Lennon, in a faux-Cockney accent.
“Don’t be nervous, John,” advises Paul McCartney.
“I’m not,” Lennon replies, but McCartney’s suggestion is repeated twice more: “Don’t be nervous. Don’t be nervous.”
The Beatles then start the twelfth take of This Boy. Their three-part harmonies sound jaw-droppingly great; Lennon’s vocal in the middle section is as yearning and raw as on the finished version. But after less than a minute, everything crashes to a sudden halt, followed by giggles and guffaws. They then start again, and get most of the way through: Take 13 is tantalisingly good – until, with only a few bars remaining, George Harrison and McCartney get their pronouns mixed up, and they once again collapse into laughter.