Paul McCartney Said George Harrison Wasn’t as Peaceful as He Seemed After Beatles Split: ‘Not at All Hare Krishna’
When The Beatles broke up, George Harrison was furious with Paul McCartney. He felt his bandmate had overlooked his contributions to the band, and McCartney had gone against the rest of the group in their pick of a manager. McCartney said that he felt abandoned by his former bandmates after the split, and he noted Harrison’s anger. He said that while Harrison often spoke about his spirituality, he was a very angry person after the split.
George Harrison was not happy with Paul McCartney after The Beatles broke up
In the earliest days of The Beatles, McCartney and John Lennon wrote most of the band’s songs together. Harrison grew increasingly invested in songwriting over the years, but his bandmates often overlooked his contributions. After the band broke up, Harrison said he would hire a different bassist if they ever reunited.
“The point is, it’s all a fantasy, the idea of putting the Beatles back together again,” he said, per the book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters. “If we ever do that, the reason will be that we are all broke … I’d rather have Willie Weeks on bass than Paul McCartney. That’s the truth, with all respect to Paul.”
He said he would work with Lennon, but would never want to have to be in a band with McCartney again.
“To tell the truth, I’d join a band with John Lennon any day, but I couldn’t join a band with Paul McCartney, but it’s nothing personal,” he said. “It’s just from a musical point of view.”
Paul McCartney said George Harrison was furious with him after The Beatles broke up
McCartney announced The Beatles’ split, but he was left reeling after the breakup. He said he spent most of his days drinking whiskey and lying in bed.
“To escape. To be numb,” he said, per the book Paul McCartney: A Life by Peter Ames Carlin. “I was a zombie.”
It didn’t help that his bandmates shunned him.
“When the Beatles split up, I felt on the rocks,” he said, per the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “I was accused of walking out on them, but I never did. I think we were all pretty weird at the time of the court cases.”
He said that Lennon didn’t want to speak to him, and Harrison was furious, much more than people might expect given his public image.
“I’d ring John and he’d say don’t bother me,” he said. “I rang George and he came out with effing and blinding, not at all Hare Krishna.”
John Lennon’s girlfriend took note of his anger
Harrison also turned his anger on his other bandmates. Lennon’s girlfriend, May Pang, recalled a time when an increasingly angry Harrison confronted Lennon.
“Then George’s anger really burst forth,” Pang wrote in the book Loving John. “‘Where were you when I needed you!’ he snapped. It was the first of a series of explosions, each of them followed by moments of tense silence.”
Harrison eventually took Lennon’s glasses off his face and smashed them on the floor.
“Suddenly, he reached over, yanked John’s glasses from his face, and dashed them to the floor,” Pang wrote. “His face was a mask of fury and contempt; I had never seen an angrier man. George’s anger even paralyzed John.”
The following morning, though, Harrison apologized for his behavior.
