The legendary George Harrison song that The Beatles didn’t take seriously: “It wasn’t happening”
We tend to paint the picture of The Beatles as one of glorious technicolour psychedelic mania, sunshine and roses – but the reality was often a lot more painstaking. Just look at George Harrison. The youngest and most underestimated member of the band, his struggle to break through in his own creative right under the behemoth wrath of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was all too real, as it almost led to the Fab Four missing out on one of their most unsuspecting hits.
While not to berate Lennon and McCartney’s titan songwriting partnership, it was more than evidently clear that they viewed three as a crowd. Harrison barely got a look in, even as he was expanding his sonic horizons, that the dynamic duo was too blinded by their own greatness to acknowledge. As such, when it came to a tune in which Harrison thought he’d struck gold, it took the others a fair amount of convincing.
Of course, ‘When My Guitar Gently Weeps’ in time became a seminal standout masterpiece, but in the moment, Harrison recalled in Anthology 1, “We tried to record it, but Paul and John were so used to just cranking out their tunes that it was very difficult at times to get serious and record one of mine.”
“It wasn’t happening,” he continued. “They weren’t taking it seriously, and I don’t think they were even all playing on it, and so I went home that night thinking, ‘Well, that’s a shame,’ because I knew the song was pretty good.” Down on his luck and feeling ousted somewhat from the Fab Four musical mansion, Harrison knew he had to get his tune back on the radar as soon as possible – and luckily, he had just the right friend to lean on.
Perhaps equally prolific to Lennon and McCartney were Harrison’s collaborative efforts with Eric Clapton, who came in helpful as a muse in lifting ‘When My Guitar Gently Weeps’ off the ground. After being rejected by his bandmates, the ‘Quiet Beatle’ took his tune to the guitarist, encouraging him, despite his initial reticence, to lend his hand.
Afterwards, Harrison brought the song – with Clapton in tow – back to The Beatles’ studio, where he explained: “So he [Clapton] came in. I said, ‘Eric’s going to play on this one,’ and it was good because that then made everyone act better. Paul got on the piano and played a nice intro, and they all took it more seriously.”
Clearly feeling chastised and with their tails between their legs, this was a turning point for the rest of the band in recognising Harrison’s unparalleled sonic genius – and for the part of the tune’s legacy itself, they hardly looked back.
In everything he did, George Harrison was very much the rock star embodiment of the underdog. But in many ways, he wore this badge with pride as it led him down musical paths that no one could have expected, and that sealed his fate as a visionary mind just as much as the others. Across the span of The Beatles, The Traveling Wilburys, and his own solo efforts, his quiet sensibility always kept the world guessing – but it was also his greatest strength.
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