“Of course”: The only musician George Harrison would listen to no matter what
Out of all the members of The Beatles, George Harrison was possibly the most musically curious of the foursome in that his output and general taste covered the most bases. Sure, Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote more songs, but there was generally less variation in their work when compared to the contributions that Harrison made to the band, and his solo work after the band split also stretched over a vast array of genres.
He was arguably the driving force behind the introduction of Indian music to the band’s sound, having visited the country alongside his wife, Pattie for the first time in 1966. Immediately obsessed with the sounds of traditional music from the South Asian nation, he penned songs such as ‘Within You, Without You’ and ‘The Inner Light’ that drew inspiration from what he heard on his visit, and incorporated elements of the spirituality that often accompanied it.
That being said, Harrison knew how to write good pop hooks, rock and roll ragers, ballads and folk songs. The guitarist was always a true all-rounder, and there aren’t many bad songs to be found within his contributions to the group. ‘Blue Jay Way’ may be his most surreal and psychedelic track ever offered to The Beatles, ‘Something’ his most tender and gorgeous, and ‘Piggies’ his most outrageously fun. When you then consider that an album like All Things Must Pass is a compendium of songs that The Beatles rejected, it’s clear that he had so much gold stored up in his arsenal.
However, this doesn’t necessarily tell us much about the music he was digesting in his time away from recording, and it was clear from his songwriting output that his influences were forever changing and expanding as he matured. The further away from The Beatles and deeper into Harrison’s solo catalogue you go, the more variation you’re likely to find. Even as early as 1975, he was finding himself making soul-influenced records like Extra Texture (Read All About It); something he’d not really been able to explore while with the rest of the band.
In a 1976 interview with India Today, Harrison spilled the beans on what his listening habits were like at the time, and while some of his older influences such as traditional Indian music were still present, he said that he’d been returning to a lot of his old Motown records. “That’s the music I still like,” the guitarist claimed. “My favourites are Smokey Robinson – I’ve written two songs about him – and Stevie Wonder.” While he also named a couple of rock and roll legends in Chuck Berry and George Benson, he would then go on to praise the work of one particular artist who he never tired of hearing.
“Of course, anything Dylan does is worth a listen,” Harrison told the publication. Harrison’s love for Bob Dylan had never been a secret, and some of his folkier offerings were directly influenced by the works of the Minnesota folk icon. The duo had first met in 1964 when they were both beginning to make an impression on the music industry, but they didn’t work together for a little longer.
The opening track from All Things Must Pass, ‘I’d Have You Anytime’, was co-written with Dylan, and their connection would last much longer than this, with the two collaborating on each other’s material several more times in the future. They would, of course, also go on to form the Traveling Wilburys together in the late 1980s alongside Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne, forming one of the most treasured supergroups of all time. The connection that Harrison and Dylan shared was almost on par with the one that Lennon and McCartney shared in terms of how well their styles complemented each other. It was clear from how much they adored each other’s work that they’d never tire of listening to their respective works.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.