Ringo Starr on how George Harrison became his editor
Unlike the other relationships in The Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr always kept a strong bond. From the earliest days of Starr’s tenure to well beyond the final notes they ever played together in the band, Harrison and Starr shared a fondness for each other. That fondness extended beyond The Beatles, so much so that some of Starr’s biggest songs were partially written, produced, or helped in some way by Harrison.
Whether it’s the stirring strains of ‘It Don’t Come Easy’, the glam rock stomp of ‘Back Off Boogaloo’ or the impassioned longing of ‘Photograph’, Harrison had a gentle touch and a profound effect on Starr’s musical career outside The Beatles. According to Starr, whenever he wrote a song, he often needed an editor to help polish the song into its final product. One notable time, that person happened to be Harry Nilsson.
“I would write a song, and the problem I had, I never knew how to finish them. And it got to a point where I wrote 44 verses,” Starr explained in a discussion for his book Another Day in the Life. “I didn’t know how to end it! And as a sideline, I gave it to Harry Nilsson. He edited it down to 11 eleven verses. But I never recorded it”.
Other times, that editor would be Harrison, who often gave Starr’s simple chord progressions a bit more lustre. “George was great. I play very simple guitar or piano, whatever I’m writing on,” Starr explained. “And he would put in crazy good chords, making me sound like a genius. He always knew how to finish”.
Starr also shared that Harrison was an early force in what would eventually become a religious conversion for Starr. “And it’s interesting in those days, in the early ‘70s, George was always like, ‘Back off Boogaloo, Jesus I love you’. I would say, ‘I’m not saying Jesus I love you!’. ‘Ok. Hare Krishna…’. ‘I’m not saying Hare Krishna!’. ‘God come into my life’. ‘He’s not coming into my life! I’m not doing it. You’re the guy who says God. And now I have no problem saying God. God is in my life”.
Listen to Starr discussing George Harrison’s effect on his songwriting down below.
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