The George Harrison solo song co-written by John Lennon
The rest of The Beatles probably didn’t know what they had on their hands with George Harrison. Although he may have worked great in the clubs and was a fine lead guitarist, Harrison’s blossoming as a songwriter tended to get undervalued in their later years, with John Lennon and Paul McCartney focusing and prioritising their own separate compositions. While the other band members fought amongst themselves, Harrison was still honing his craft.
Compared to the other songwriters in the group, Harrison tended to be fairly timid when bringing his songs to the table. Despite putting his foot down on good songs like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, engineer Glyn Johns remembers Harrison being too shy when coming to him with ‘Something’, telling Rolling Stone, “He asked me to stay behind after everyone else had gone. He was terribly nice as if he was imposing on me. And then he plays this song that just completely blows me away”.
During the Get Back sessions, though, it was clear that the tension between Harrison and the rest of the group had reached a high. Since the band had started rehearsals, Harrison would be paid little mind as the rest of the group worked, often seen strumming in the background, clearly thinking of the other people who would love to work with him.
Although there are a few Harrison songs that would end up on the final version of Beatles albums like ‘I Me Mine’, he was still honing in on what would be future solo hits like ‘My Sweet Lord’. While ‘Wah-Wah’ was made during the period when he quit the band, The Beatles got to hear the beginnings of what would become his magnum opus.
Being played on just an acoustic guitar, Harrison shows the band the beginning of ‘All Things Must Pass’ in the Get Back documentary, only for him to constantly get stuck in the second verse. As he continues to fret over what the next line should be, Lennon suggests the line “a mind can blow those clouds away”, remarking, “a bit more psychedelic that”.
Though Lennon was never given credit, his now famous line appears in the final version of the record, with Harrison taking his advice to heart. Even when sculpting ‘Something’, Lennon would help Harrison develop lines, saying that he should say whatever pops into his head and fill the rest of the words in later.
As a sort of repayment to Lennon, Harrison would remain close to his old bandmate, playing on various songs on his album Imagine, like ‘How Do You Sleep’ and ‘Gimme Some Truth’. Even after his tragic passing, Harrison still felt sentimental towards Lennon, writing ‘All Those Years Ago’, thanking Lennon for enriching his life while he was on Earth.
While Harrison had a complicated relationship with Paul McCartney throughout his solo career, Lennon continued to be the big brother figure that helped him become a better writer. The Beatles always absorbed every genre around them, but Harrison found it just as easy to find his muse amongst his bandmates.
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