Every song by The Beatles that features George Harrison’s sitar
The latter part of The Beatles‘ band-ship was defined by their trips to India: the loose-hanging clothes, the ashram stays, the increasingly spiritual meanings behind their lyrics. Their reformed style reigned in a new sound, one that became age-defining: they introduced Asian instrumentation to Western pop.
George Harrison had a knack for experimenting with novelty, so when John Lennon wrote ‘Norwegian Wood’, he asked his bandmate to try and add the sitar to what became an iconic accompaniment. The band’s guitarist was new to the sitar, describing it as “crummy” after discovering it thanks to The Byrds’ David Crosby. But as Lennon revealed: “He was not sure whether he could play it yet because he hadn’t done much on the sitar, but he was willing to have a go.”
‘Norwegian Wood’ is featured on Harrison’s favourite of the Liverpool boys’ albums, Rubber Soul. “We did spend a bit more time on it and tried new things. But the most important thing about it was that we were suddenly hearing sounds that we weren’t able to hear before. Also, we were being more influenced by other people’s music, and everything was blossoming at that time,” Harrison revealed in a 1990 interview. Creating new sounds influenced by the contemporary landscape drew The Beatles to India, where they could find peace away from the loud protests going on across Europe and the United States. That’s when the ‘Summer of Love’ began, and Harrison’s sitar was its soundtrack.
Kabir Bedi, the Indian journalist who got to speak to the Fab Four during a layover in Delhi in 1966, recalls the hotel-room interview in his book Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life Of An Actor. The book captures his question to Harrison: “Is that the first time a sitar has been played in a Western song?” “Can’t think of any other,” he replied with the hint of a smile. “I’d like to use it more.” Harrison goes on to tell Bedi that he’ll be buying a sitar in Delhi.
The band made frequent trips to India, and in 1968, recorded ‘The Inner Light’ in Bombay, marking the first Beatles recording that wasn’t made in Europe. Combining this with the sitar and the lyrics’ themes of transcendental meditation, the track perfectly encapsulates the state of the band’s work in the late 1960s.
Harrison developed a more refined taste for the role of the sitar, using it more creatively in later tracks. After having been trained in the art of the sitar by its Indian master, Ravi Shankar, he even expanded his love for Indian instruments by including the swarmandal in ‘Strawberry Fields’. Known as “the Indian harp”, the small plank-shaped instrument has a sound that resembles the sitar, but adds yet more novelty to The Beatles’ ever-evolving sound.
What could nowadays be perceived as appropriation of culture was a ground-breaking discovery and space on the world stage for a culture recently breaking from colonial oppression. Harrison’s work created a platform for India to be trendy, as its pyjama trousers and colourful shirts hit high fashion, and its musical prowess was suddenly all over pop.
The Beatles songs with George Harrison on sitar:
- ‘Norwegian Wood’
- ‘The Inner Light’
- ‘Love You To’
- ‘Within You Without You’
- ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’
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