George Harrison Said Some People Couldn’t Understand How The Beatles Could Enjoy Splitting Up
George Harrison was the lead guitarist in one of the most popular bands in rock music—The Beatles. The band would put out just twelve studio albums over a decade, but the impact of the music has lasted for generations. For Harrison, going on to a solo career after the band’s split was a relief, even if the fans didn’t always agree.
Harrison was relieved when the breakup was official
When it came to getting songs on albums, it was always a battle between how many Lennon-McCartney originals would end up on the album and how many spots would be left for Harrison’s creative expression.
In most cases, Harrison got one or two songs per album but was never totally satisfied with that arrangement. When The Beatles split, Harrison would realize how much he could write, record, and release on his own.
In a 1970 interview with WABC-FM New York’s Howard Smith from Beatles Interviews, Harrison talked about how he never wanted to push to get more songs on each album.
“It was the way the Beatles took off with Paul and John’s songs, and it made it very difficult for me to get in. And also, I suppose at that time I didn’t have as much confidence when it came down to pushing my own material as I have now.”
Harrison was surprised at the reaction to him and the rest of the band enjoying the split
While it may have come as a shock to millions of Beatles fans around the world when the band split, it was no surprise to the band themselves and those who were closest to them. However, Harrison did find it surprising that his reaction to the split was relief rather than sadness or anger.
On a 1971 appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, Harrison talked about how fans reacted to the band’s sense of relief, saying, “They can’t actually understand why we should enjoy splitting up. But there’s a time when people grow up and leave home or whatever they change, you know, and it was really time for a change.”
Harrison went on to talk about the frustration of fighting to get his songs on each album and how releasing records as a solo artist gave him the room he needed to grow and experiment musically. Harrison would go on to have a prolific career until the release of his posthumous album Brainwashed in 2002, which finished nearly a year after his death.
The breakup gave Harrison a chance to work on a variety of new projects
The official word that The Beatles had split came on April 10, 1970, when Paul McCartney issued a press release in conjunction with the release of his solo album, McCartney, according to History. Once that happened, each member of the band went on to do their own solo projects.
Harrison had a long solo career throughout the 1970s and 1980s and also worked on passion projects such as The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, which raised money to help the people of Bangladesh. The CD and DVD sales continue to this day to raise money for charity through the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.
In the late 1980s, Harrison collaborated with other top-tier artists of his era and became The Traveling Wilburys. This all-star band included the likes of Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Geoff Lynne, and Roy Orbison. Although the band was short-lived with Orbison’s death in 1988, Harrison continued with his music career.
Harrison also didn’t leave The Beatles behind. In 1993 he participated in The Beatles Anthology, a retrospective of the band, the music, and the impact they made on pop culture. The release of the anthology also created two new Beatles songs, which brought together McCartney, Harrison, and Ringo Starr to complete new songs from John Lennon’s demos.
