George Harrison Said He Never Consciously Tried Copying Bob Dylan’s Singing Voice
George Harrison said he never consciously tried copying Bob Dylan’s singing voice. Although Dylan significantly influenced the former Beatle. The pair later combined their musical talents in The Traveling Wilburys.
George Harrison said Bob Dylan’s song ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ influenced one of his Beatles songs
During a 1989 interview with Mark Rowland (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), George spoke about how Dylan influenced his Beatles song, “Long, Long, Long.”
“Yeah, that was just a sort of funny little tune I wrote one day, basically,” George explained. “The only thing I suppose that’s memorable about it is that I was very hung up on [Bob Dylan’s] ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ at the time. It’s got the same chords as ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.'”
“But ‘Sad-Eyed Lady’ is a much better song.”
George said he didn’t consciously try to copy Dylan’s singing voice
Rowland pointed out that some of George’s singing is reminiscent of Dylan’s. He asked if George ever consciously tried to copy Dylan’s singing voice. George initially agreed because Dylan had a massive influence on him. However, George then said he didn’t imitate Dylan, despite that.
“Oh, yeah…. It’s probably just ’cause my voice is so bad,” George explained. “[Chuckles.] You know, out of all the contemporaries of ours, you know, I mean, it goes with the same list of favorites that I’ve had for years, going from Little Richard and Larry Williams and all that kind of stuff, to the rock ‘n’ roll Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, you know, that stuff.
“And in 1963, Bob Dylan. And Bob, you know, as a songwriter … and as a singer, I happen to think his voice is great. I love all that sort of madness. And as a person I think somebody who, you know, like he said once, ‘Time will tell just who has fell, and who’s been left behind….’ I think being out there, whether you like him or not, he’s Bob, and I’m thankful that there’s people like that.
“So consequently, over the years I’ve always listened to his music, and I’ve never tried to imitate. I have just as a joke sometimes. I think, basically, being born in Liverpool, you have this nasal sort of kind of thing.”
George has covered some of Dylan’s songs
George might not have copied Dylan’s singing voice, but he did cover his friend’s songs from time to time. In 1992, at Dylan’s 30th-anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden, George covered “Absolutely Sweet Marie” and contributed to “My Back Pages.”
In Peter Jackson’s three-part documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, there’s an interesting clip of George jamming to “Mama, You’ve Been On My Mind.” George covered Dylan’s songs many more times. When George wasn’t covering Dylan, he often wrote songs that had a touch of the singer/songwriter.
Finally, in the late 1980s, George and Dylan combined their talents and sounds in The Traveling Wilburys. George had worked with Dylan in the studio before, but recording two albums with him, from start to finish, was unlike anything George had ever done. It was a dream come true for him.
