What if John Lennon had written Now And Then with The Beatles in 1964? A musician using AI has the answer

The Beatles performing onstage in 1964
(Image credit: Daily Mirror - Library/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

While the fears that artificial intelligence was being used to create some kind of synthetic John Lennon were unfounded on the final Beatles recording Now And Then, AI can still be used to tinker with the 'what ifs' and it's now been put into action by musician Timmy Sean to help generate a version of the song as if The Beatles recorded it in 1964. It's impressive stuff.

The song is reimagined as an acoustic strummer with 12-string guitar from George Harrison, while Lennon and McCartney share vocals with the guitarist. This arrangement definitely has legs as a lost Beatles For Sale offcut, and all the music and vocals were recorded by a real musician before AI got involved.  

"This recording contains no samples of other recordings," says Timmy Sean. "The music and vocals were performed and recorded by a real live human, and then the lead vocals I sang were then run through AI filters to replicate the tones of Paul, John, and George’s voices."

Check it out above and follow more from Timmy Sean over on his YouTube channel

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of hi waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear and making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing a Floyd Rose guitar.