Thanks for your reply and apart from not liking the song, I do agree with much of what you are saying.
He had, but he's not around now, which is my point and neither was John when the same was done to 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' which I thought was a mistake too. All this smacks of McCartney not Starr and Harrison. I believe that George's main objection to working on 'Now and Then' back in 1995 as the 'Threetles' was the poor quality of the demo as opposed to the song, and lacking the technology of today, it was impossible to enhance.
During the White album period, it wasn't unusual for John, Paul and George to be separately working on their own material in studios one, two and three. As I'm sure you know, the recording of that album was so toxic and fractious that Geoff Emerick quit and even George Martin was spitting expletives by the end of it. Given that he had to produce the truly dreadful Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, who could blame him? - (and if that wasn't bad enough, months of drudgery over the equally awful 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was to follow a year later). Two years prior to this, a disagreement during the recording of 'She Said She Said' saw McCartney storm out of the Revolver sessions (George played bass). Of course is still a Beatles song - as is 'Julia', 'Her Majesty' or 'Blackbird' - or any of the songs you or I mention. The point being, they were still a functioning band (well, almost during the White Album). The Beatles were still an entity and artistically a foursome even if Ringo's contributions were marginal and George often got short shrift. (In fact, mentally, I think George had ceased to be a Beatle in 1967). I will say this however, had John had his way 'Abbey Road' would have likely resembled 'Life With the Lions' or 'The Two Virgins'.
Here I have to vehemently disagree. It's quite literally a throwaway track and completely discarded in favour of emergent material written in Bermuda that found its way onto Double Fantasy. Yes, it was probably composed at Tittenhurst Park, but never used on any of Lennon's solo albums and likely revisited on the piano with a cassette recorded perched on top in 1977 out of a whim. It isn't a Beatles track though, was never intended to be a Beatles track and likely forgotten as quickly as it was in 1970. The Beatles ceased to be a creative alliance in August 1969, the last recording associated with the band was an overdub during the Phil Sector salvage job on 'Let it Be' in the spring of 1970 and they were officially dissolved in a court of law in January 1971.
Those were still 'Beatles' songs, released by an existing band prior to their break up. This latest venture is rather like exhuming a corpse and dressing it up. I realise that sounds incredibly distasteful, but without John or George's artistic input, it isn't the Beatles. it's a voice from the grave, which is rather unsettling.
Of course Lennon hated McCartney's 'Granny music' as he derogatorily referred to it. Similarly, Macca didn't care much for Lennon's self-indulgence or avant garde posturing and pretensions, but it was still as you say, the Beatles on the can. This release is more like a label that has been falsely appended to it - sullying the name and the history in the process. Yet again, it compromises and adulterates the legend and the legacy.
Agree entirely, Lennon was notorious for that wasn't he. He also appeared to have an appalling memory as evidenced by the 1970 Jan Wenner interviews which were as bitter as they were fanciful. A particularly jaded and cynical time of his life. I am inclined to believe his recount of the circumstances surrounding Taxman though, although that acerbic tendency that crept into lyrics, was equally a hallmark of George as it was John, so we will never know.
