George Harrison and Paul McCartney: The true irreparable relationship of The Beatles
It’s hard to look at the ending of The Beatles and not think about the massive damage done between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The Nerk Twins were constantly in each other’s orbits whenever they wrote songs together, and when they fell out over business, things were bound to get ugly when they started firing off songs towards each other. While they managed to patch things up a little bit during their solo careers before Lennon’s tragic assassination, the real reason why a Fab Four reunion could never have fully happened was because of George Harrison.
At the same time, no member of the band really wanted to relive their chaotic years after hanging it up. There had been moments when they could contribute to each other’s records, but it was understood that everyone should leave the legacy where it was rather than worry about what a new Beatles song might sound like.
Out of all the members, though, Harrison did carry a bit of resentment with him throughout his solo years. He had spent so many years playing second fiddle to Lennon and McCartney, and even when he had a classic song on his hands, he normally had to twist their arm into using it, either bringing in Billy Preston during the Let It Be or making Eric Clapton turn up for the guitar solo on ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’.
However, the bonds that break often come from those that were closest to begin with, and the way McCartney and Harrison lived seemed to be more than a little bit unfair on Harrison’s side. Besides the fact that Harrison was slightly younger than the rest of the band, he was always treated like a little brother who didn’t quite have himself together as well as McCartney did, which probably led to that signature animosity.
One only needs to look at what Harrison talked about when he reminisced about writing Beatles songs. He had more than a bit of help from Lennon when sculpting tunes like ‘Taxman’, but never once did McCartney offer to help finish his songs, usually adding what he could to the arrangement and even managing to turn tunes like ‘Something’ into a vehicle for his brilliant bass playing.
And that’s before McCartney was vying for Harrison’s job in the studio. Let’s not forget that Harrison was the lead guitar player, so hearing the bassist step out from the back and demand to play lead guitar on a handful of songs or purposely telling him to tone down his sound on tracks like ‘Hey Jude’ only led to more unspoken passive aggression.
So when Harrison did decide to walk out, the main reason he left was that he was tired of McCartney. There were many factors, but judging by what we see in the documentary Get Back, Harrison doesn’t quit because he doesn’t like playing with them but is more frustrated about not being taken seriously by the rest of his bandmates.
Later in his solo career, Harrison might have turned to meditation to help him find inner peace. Once someone recognises that everything in life is all Maya, they start to not care about whether they didn’t get to play on a certain song or someone treated them like trash during a session.
But once The Beatles Anthology rolled around, Harrison still wasn’t willing to let it go, insisting that Jeff Lynne be the producer on the sessions and interim mediator and being the first one to stomp out any kind of secondary projects like working on ‘Now and Then’ with the bare basics of a take.
Although both McCartney and Harrison found peace with each other by the time Harrison left, a lot of that pent-up aggression towards the other may have been an improper way of expressing love for each other. Judging by his love for ‘Marwa Blues’, it was clear that McCartney still adored the music that his spiritual little brother could write, but he might not have known how to express it when he was on this Earth. But somewhere out there, chances are Harrison understands the magic behind the relationship between him and McCartney and can appreciate the joy that they brought to so many people whenever they played together.
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