“All those chords”: The song George Harrison wrote with Bob Dylan
Most music felt volatile in the early 1960s. Sure, The Beatles dominated the charts for a while, but it was also a period that welcomed some of the most prolific songwriters in history. Subsequently, many artists persistently learned from one another, and this can clearly be heard in their music.
When the Beatles first landed in America, the British invasion began. People became obsessed with the upbeat, toe-tapping music the Fab Four put out so well. Overnight, everyone was obsessed with the idea of playing in a band; however, it didn’t last, as Bob Dylan burst onto the scene shortly after.
Steve Van Zandt remembers Beatlemania and how Bob Dylan eventually knocked them off the top of the charts. “The floodgates opened until the summer of ’65,” he said, “When the Americans took the charts back with the folk-rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan. It transformed America.”
It wasn’t just Americans who were obsessed with Bob Dylan; the Beatles were also big fans, which was reflected in their work. When they released Rubber Soul, it was evident that the band took a much more stripped-back and narrative-driven approach to music. Songs like ‘Norwegian Wood’ were undeniably folk-inspired, showing how quickly Bob Dylan’s influence took hold on other musicians.
Bob Dylan was equally influenced by the Beatles. It’s said that his love for the instrumentation of the Fab Four led to his decision to go electric. As such, both artists took from one another and were pivotal moments in their respective progression. Given their affinity towards each other’s music, it was to be expected that Bob Dylan would start working with different members when the band broke up.
“I was at Bob’s house and we were trying to write a tune,” said George Harrison, discussing their influence on one another, “And I remember saying, ‘How did you write all those amazing words?’ And he shrugged and said, ‘Well, what about all those chords you use?’ So I started playing and said it was just all these funny chords people showed me when I was a kid.”
Harrison continued: “Then I played two major sevenths in a row to demonstrate, and I suddenly thought, ‘Ah, this sounds like a tune here’. Then we finished the song together. It was called ‘I’d Have You Anytime’, and it was the first track on All Things Must Pass.”
All Things Must Pass allowed George Harrison to express himself as a songwriter, as he found a place for all the songs that The Beatles rejected. It wasn’t that the songs were bad, but they didn’t fit the Paul McCartney-John Lennon brand that the band had made famous. As a solo artist, he could tap into his creative side with no boundaries and explore the depths of his songwriting. It was good he had Bob Dylan to help him explore that creative side all the more effectively.
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