It is no secret now, nor has it ever been, that George Harrison’s contributions to The Beatles were far too often underappreciated and overlooked. Yet, without the countless contributions of the long-haired spiritual hero, the group’s output would be virtually unrecognisable, particularly in the case of their final farewell, Let It Be.
With The Beatles, the band’s second LP, was the first to bear George Harrison’s name as a songwriting credit. Admittedly, that track, ‘Don’t Bother Me’, is not one of the songwriter’s all-time greatest efforts, but it did predict the future of Harrison’s songwriting contributions, in that it was almost entirely ignored by the rest of the band. Seemingly, when you have a powerhouse the likes of the Lennon-McCartney partnership within your ranks, it is difficult to pay attention to anything else.
Harrison wasn’t in any doubt over his position within the band, either. Why else would he become the first Beatle to record a solo record if not to give himself an outlet for the kind of influences that were being overlooked in the Beatles’ camp? In spite of his repeated and rather unjustified neglect as a songwriter, though, Harrison utterly transformed the entirety of the Get Back project, even if only two of his compositions made it to the final tracklisting.
From the very beginning of Get Back, McCartney appeared to be the one bearing the brunt of responsibility, setting out the group’s musical manifesto for the record while Lennon descended further into the depths of heroin addiction with Yoko Ono. During those early days, the album was envisioned to usher in The Beatles’ longest-awaited return to live performance, but, as you will already know if you are reading this article, it didn’t quite work out like that.
In the end, the reasons for the abandonment of that plan were multifaceted, but the prevailing factor was George Harrison. The songwriter seemed to thrive much more within the confines of a studio than on a stage, and he wasn’t at all keen on the idea of returning to playing exhaustive world tours in front of fans screaming so loud that he could hardly hear himself think. So, for one of the first and only times in Beatles history, he put his foot down.
George Harrison – Sitar – 1960s
George Harrison devoting himself to the influences he picked up in India (Credits: Far Out / Apple Corps LTD)
After a particularly intense argument with John Lennon, which had followed a much more sustained period of conflict with McCartney, Harrison walked out on the band in January 1969, leaving the Fab Four as… well, a not-quite-as-fab three.
Harrison did, of course, return to the group eventually, but not without having some of his demands met. Namely, that the rest of the group abandon their plans to return to the stage, and swap out the Twickenham soundstage that they had been recording in for the familiar surroundings of the Apple Corps studios.
In doing so, Harrison totally transformed the sound and motivation of what ended up being The Beatles final farewell. Were it not for his demands, Get Back/Let It Be would have likely sounded entirely different, geared much more towards cavernous live venues and grandiose performances rather than the often quite intimate, personal atmosphere which features throughout much of the record.
As if that wasn’t enough, it was also Harrison who was responsible for ushering Billy Preston into the band’s inner circle, making the legendary pianist one of the few external forces to directly impact the Beatles’ discography and adding essential new layers that made the album what it was.
Harrison’s songwriting prowess might have gone unnoticed or deliberately ignored by his bandmates throughout the 1960s, but on Let It Be, he expertly demonstrated just how much he could transform a project for the better, even without the songwriting power that audiences would come to know during his solo years.
