How George Harrison Inspired Oasis’ ‘Supersonic’
TL;DR:
- Noel Gallagher said Oasis’ “Supersonic” was supposed to sound like George Harrison’s work.
- He didn’t expect listeners to notice any similarity.
- Gallagher felt Beatlesque music by other groups would get kids interested in starting bands.
Oasis’ “Supersonic,” one of the band’s most famous songs, was inspired by George Harrison‘s music. During an interview, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher revealed why he didn’t think there was anything wrong with taking inspiration from the Fab Four. On the other hand, George revealed why he wasn’t a fan of Oasis.
George Harrison’s music inspired the guitar riff from Oasis’ ‘Supersonic’
Gallagher was the lead songwriter of the British rock band Oasis. During a 2009 interview in the book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters, he was asked about his reputation for “plundering” from older acts. “I don’t give a f***, that’s what it’s there for,” he said. “I never said I was inventing anything.
“I’m a lover of music,” he added. “If I nicked guitar riffs here and there I’d have thought the songwriter would be quite f****** pleased. The guitar riff in ‘Supersonic’ is a bit George Harrison but I wasn’t expecting anybody not to notice.” Notably, the lyrics of “Supersonic” mention a yellow submarine — one of the most obvious Beatles references in Oasis’ catalog.
Noel Gallagher said songs like ‘Supersonic’ would interest the youth in The Beatles
Gallagher compared the press reaction to Oasis to the press reaction to another Beatlesque British band: The Jam. “I saw it as when you would read interviews with The Jam and they’d always accuse [Paul] Weller of the same thing,” he said. “Then he’d mention these bands and you’d go, ‘I’m going to go and find that, ’cause if he’s into it, I’m going to be f*****’ into it.’
“People would say, ‘It’s just Beatles this and Beatles that,'” he continued. “There were kids all over the country starting bands because of that, because they were going to buy Beatles records because they’d never heard of them before.”
George Harrison criticized Oasis along with U2 and the Spice Girls
While Gallagher was clearly a fan of The Beatles, George wasn’t a fan of Oasis. MTV News reported George dismissed Oasis in a 1997 interview with the Associated Press. He opined that Oasis was not interesting.
George didn’t seem to like 1990s British music as a whole. He doubted that anyone would listen to U2 or the Spice Girls in 20 years. George was wrong on that one! In addition, the “My Sweet Lord” singer revealed he would prefer to listen to Bob Dylan over any contemporary musician. Notably, George and Dylan formed the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys alongside Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra.
The Beatles had fans from ages 7 to 77. In George’s opinion, that proved the band had “meaning” and endured. Whether George noticed it or not, Oasis, U2, and the Spice Girls have similar followings.
George inspired one of Oasis’ most famous songs even if he didn’t appreciate the band much.
