Listen to the isolated guitars from ‘All My Loving’ by The Beatles
For any casual fan of The Beatles, most would tell you that George Harrison was the primary lead guitarist on every single track. Combing through their back catalogue, every one of Harrison’s guitar breaks has been known as the glue that held every piece of their classic material together. Harrison was far from the only guitarist, however, and ‘All My Loving’ also gave fans a taste of what John Lennon had to offer.
While Paul McCartney is known as the primary writer behind the early Fab Four track, Lennon’s attention to detail with strumming is one of the key features of the tune, constantly serving up a barrage of chord changes without missing a beat. While there have been questions surrounding Lennon’s ability, this is actually what most can expect out of Lennon, always serving up something that’s a bit more left of field than what Harrison might have done.
Coming from a background of playing banjo chords, Lennon’s way of quickly changing between licks takes a lot of precision to get right, hardly breaking a sweat throughout the verse before switching to something a bit more subdued in the choruses. Once Lennon has let everything loose, Harrison takes his time to grandstand in the solo.
Although Harrison would slowly grow into a formidable guitar hero in his own right, it’s always interesting to hear his initial stabs at lead guitar playing. Despite having a great knack for melody, there’s always a slight apprehension in Harrison’s breaks, almost like he’s not quite ready to be thrown into soloing.
Being a huge fan of American guitarist Carl Perkins, Harrison blends the sound of his hero and Elvis Presley’s guitarist Scotty Moore into a smooth piece of country-flavoured rock and roll. Although most bands of the time were trying to emulate the rock and rollers that came before them, not many could employ the techniques that Harrison uses here, having a knack for making the track jump forward with his finger-picking.
That attention to detail was also echoed when Elvis Costello was talking about the Fab Four’s influence on him. When starting out on learning guitar, Costello marvelled at the melodic framework of Harrison’s playing, remarking to Rolling Stone, “George Harrison wasn’t the kind of guitar player that would write wild, unpredictable solos, but you can sing the melodies of nearly all of his breaks”.
Despite being in their early 20s, both Lennon and Harrison compliment each other like seasoned veterans, never stepping on each other’s toes when making their own sonic statements. As soon as Lennon comes back in for his chord changes in the verses, Harrison bleeds into the background, making Lennon’s line jump out that much more because of how smooth it is.
Instead of coasting by with writing yet another song for their album, the attention to detail Lennon and Harrison put into the arrangement is why they are still heralded as geniuses today. Even though it was McCartney’s song, it took the rest of his bandmates to make an impression behind the fretboard.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.