It has been a melancholic day for Erika Buckman as she put on her late daughter’s scarf, contemplating how much she missed her. It has come to light that the phone rang. And she learned astonishing news involving her daughter, Caroline Buckman, who was born in 1974, and died a few months ago, in March.
A caller informed her: Your daughter is on a new Beatles record.
The family hadn’t known. Before she died, Caroline never found out either. This was the result of a project so secretive its details were guarded from her and other musicians involved.
When she heard the news last Friday morning, Erika Buckman replied, “You’re going to make me cry.”
Born in Charlottesville, Va., her daughter became a violist in Los Angeles, a studio musician who unwittingly worked on what has been called the final song from the band widely regarded as the most influential of all time. The surviving Beatles released Now and Then on Nov. 2. It includes John Lennon’s voice from the 1970s; George Harrison’s guitar from the 1990s; fresh recordings of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr; and a strings section.
Buckman, 81, envisioned her daughter’s reaction, had she learned she’d played on the last song ever released by the Beatles: “She would have been delirious [with joy] about it.”
She acknowledged her own conflicting emotions, with her daughter claimed by cancer before she could share in this news.
“It is sad,” Erika Buckman said. On the other hand, she said, “I’m very proud.”
(H/t CBC)
