George Harrison Watched Frank Sinatra Record an ‘Extraordinary’ Rendition of ‘My Way’
While Frank Sinatra predicted The Beatles’ success would sputter out in the United States, he initially became friendly with George Harrison. Sinatra gave the highest compliments to one of Harrison’s songs and welcomed him into the recording studio. Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, recalled what it was like to watch Sinatra sing “My Way” live.
Pattie Boyd recalled watching Frank Sinatra record with George Harrison
Sinatra recorded “My Way” in 1968. According to Boyd, she and Harrison were present to watch him sing it.
“While in Los Angeles, George and I were invited to go and meet Frank Sinatra in his recording studio,” she wrote in her book Pattie Boyd: My Life in Pictures (per People). “Thrilled, we were ushered upstairs to the control room where Frank was surrounded by many guys at the mixing desk. We briefly met him before he disappeared downstairs.”
Boyd said Sinatra’s singing was transfixing. He recorded “My Way” in one take.
“We then watched as he proceeded to sing ‘My Way’ with a full orchestra,” Boyd recalled. “Wow, it was extraordinary. He listened back to this one take and said, ‘OK, that’s it, let’s go.’”
Some historians have said Boyd and Harrison were in the studio with Sinatra a little over a month before he recorded the song. It’s possible that he performed a version of the song simply for their enjoyment.
Frank Sinatra greatly admired a George Harrison song
Harrison and Boyd found Sinatra’s performance impressive. He felt similarly impressed by one of Harrison’s songs, though he didn’t initially know which Beatle wrote it.
“I remember watching a Frank Sinatra special on television about fifteen years ago, and Frank said that he wanted to pay tribute to one of the great songwriting teams, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, by singing one of the songs from their great songbook,” Musician Magazine’s Mark Rowland told Harrison, “and he proceeded to sing ‘Something,’ and I thought in some way that sort of … summed up your peculiar position in the band.”
Harrison said this happened to him often. Sinatra later corrected his mistake, though. He often covered “Something,” and introduced it as one of Harrison’s songs.
“It’s a great song by George Harrison of The Beatles,” he told the audience. “It’s one of the best love songs I believe to be written in 50 or 100 years. And it never says ‘I love you,’ in the song, but it really is one of the finest.”
He initially didn’t have high hopes for The Beatles
Years before Harrison wrote “Something,” The Beatles came to America for the first time. They were a sensation in the United Kingdom but some, Sinatra among them, doubted their ability to find fans across the Atlantic. He was, of course, incorrect.
In 1964, Harrison wrote a column in the Daily Express about traveling to America. There was a footnote from Sinatra at the end of it.
“I thought the Beatles would die in New York,” he wrote, adding, “I was very surprised by the reception they got. I guess I was wrong.”
