“There it was, John’s voice, crystal clear. It’s quite emotional. And we all play on it – it’s a genuine Beatles recording”: The final Beatles song, Now and Then, has been released at last – but is it any good?

(from left) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon perform at the Saville Theatre in London in 1968.

Just shy of 60 years after they forever altered the landscape of popular music with their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and 43 years after the tragic murder of John Lennon, a new song from The Beatles – said to definitively be the last – has been released.

The song, Now and Then, was written by Lennon, and recorded (in demo form) at his apartment in New York City. As part of The Beatles Anthology project, the surviving Beatles – Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – added new instrumental and vocal parts to Lennon's demo.