George Harrison Thought John Lennon Was Embarrassed of Him
After George Harrison joined Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s band, he began hanging around his older bandmates. He looked up to them, particularly Lennon. Lennon did not feel the same way about his younger bandmate. He thought that Harrison was too young to be in the group. Harrison began to sense that Lennon was embarrassed of him because of the way he looked.
Paul McCartney invited George Harrison to join his band
McCartney was in a band called the Quarrymen with Lennon when he began to champion Harrison to his bandmates.
“I know this guy,” McCartney told Lennon, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson. “He’s a bit young, but he’s good.”
Harrison’s musical abilities impressed the rest of the band, even if they did think he was a bit young. Harrison was impressed by his new bandmate, Lennon, but he found him a bit intimidating.
“George did have a strong personality but he was a bit cowed in the presence of John Lennon, because John had this overbearing presence about him which seemed to intimidate people,” journalist Bill Harry said.
George Harrison thought John Lennon was embarrassed of him
Lennon didn’t necessarily want Harrison hanging around him because of how young he looked.
“George was the youngest, and it was obvious,” author Tony Bramwell said. “He looked very young, even younger than his years. John Lennon didn’t particularly like him and didn’t want him in the band. He regarded him as too young, a kid, but Paul was pushing for him.”
The band played gigs at parties and in people’s homes. During breaks, they spent time together, smoking cigarettes and flirting with girls. Harrison tried to fit in but began to sense that Lennon was embarrassed of him.
“I think [John] did feel a bit embarrassed about that because I was so tiny,” Harrison said. “I only looked about ten years old.”
Harrison would try to spend time with Lennon uninvited, and Lennon tried to dodge him.
“He came round once and asked me to go to the pictures with him but I pretended I was busy,” Lennon said. “I didn’t dig him on first sight.”
George Harrison respected John Lennon in the years after The Beatles
Lennon and Harrison’s relationship soured a bit after their time in The Beatles. Harrison felt creatively stifled by Lennon and McCartney, and the band frequently fought in their final years together. Still, he held onto a lot of respect for his former bandmate.
“He loved the Beatles,” Harrison’s longtime friend Tom Petty said, per the Petty Archives. “He used to b**** sometimes about individual Beatles who got on his nerves. But he really loved them down deep, and I knew this. I think that a lot of George’s personality was formed by George. This is just a guess, but that was the way it appeared to me. He looked up to John so much. He said, ‘Oh, John would be a Wilbury in a second.'”
