1 of The Beatles’ Engineers Said He Took His ‘Hat off’ to George Harrison for Constantly Swallowing Criticism From Paul McCartney
One of The Beatles‘ recording engineers, Norman Smith, said he took his “hat off” to George Harrison for constantly swallowing criticism from Paul McCartney. The bandmates weren’t musically compatible.
George Harrison and Paul McCartney weren’t musically compatible
In the early days of The Beatles, George and Paul got along well. However, in 1963 when George started writing songs, the first crack in their working relationship formed. Paul, John Lennon, and The Beatles’ producer, George Martin, collectively pushed his songs aside and didn’t encourage him to continue writing.
They underestimated him, but George only wrote more. Somewhere along the way, the dynamic of the band shifted. Usually, if a band member had a song, they’d dictate the arrangement to the rest. With Paul and John writing most of the songs, George and Ringo Starr suddenly began to feel like second-class members.
During a 1979 interview, Rolling Stone pointed out that it seemed like Paul and George were the least musically compatible. George explained he liked Paul as a friend but not as a bandmate. He added that Paul made it clear that he wanted George and everyone to do tons of his songs first before he’d help them on theirs.
“It’s like, we all have our own tunes to do. And my problem was that it would always be very difficult to get in on the act, because Paul was very pushy in that respect. When he succumbed to playing on one of your tunes, he’d always do good. But you’d have to do fifty-nine of Paul’s songs before he’d even listen to one of yours. So, in that respect, it would be very difficult to ever play with him.”
“George saw Paul as difficult,” George’s first wife, Pattie Boyd, told the Daily Mail in 2013. Recording engineer Norman Smith witnessed the bandmates’ toxic relationship too.
Norman Smith commended George for constantly swallowing criticism from Paul
For the most part, George was OK with being pushed to the background because he liked it there; he didn’t want to be upfront. He wanted to release his songs but wasn’t competitive and didn’t want to push either.
After George started his spiritual journey in the mid-1960s, getting his songs out meant little to him, as did being a Beatle. Returning to the band after a six-week trip to one of the holiest lands in India was hard for George. He told artist Peter Max, “I’d give up everything if I could be a monk who walks from one side of India to another.”
While he craved returning to India to learn more about God-consciousness, George grew bored of The Beatles’ ideas. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour failed to inspire him. It felt as if he was in another world. Meanwhile, Paul criticized him, according to recording engineer Norman Smith.
In Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Joshua M. Greene wrote, “He loved John, Paul, and Ringo, yet he wanted to wean himself from them. Professionally he still stood outside the Lennon-McCartney songwriting circle, something Paul in particular would not let him forget by correcting his guitar playing and issuing directions on what to do differently.
“George was having to put up with an awful lot,” Smith said. “As far as Paul was concerned, George could do no right. . . . I take my hat off to George that he swallowed what he had to swallow in terms of criticism.”
Paul’s domineering caused George to quit The Beatles briefly
By Let It Be, George felt like a glorified session man. While recording the 1970 album, George abruptly quit after being domineered by Paul one too many times. The group managed to get their guitarist back, but it was never the same.
Years later, in the 1980s, George thought it was funny that Paul wanted to write songs with him. During a press conference, he explained, “For the last few years, I’ve said my mind to him, you know, just whenever I felt something.
“Paul had asked, had suggested maybe the chance of me and he writing together something, and it’s pretty funny really because I mean, I’ve only been there about 30 years in Paul’s life. It’s like now he wants to write with me but I think it may be quite interesting.”
The pair worked together for a final time in the 1990s when they made two new Beatles songs, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love,” with fellow Beatle Ringo Starr. Eventually, years after George’s 2001 death, Paul admitted he underestimated George.
