Paul McCartney Said George Harrison’s Songs ‘Weren’t That Good’ Until a Classic Beatles Album
George Harrison thought that Paul McCartney and John Lennon undervalued his contributions to The Beatles. The Beatles guitarist wanted his bandmates to take him more seriously as a songwriter, but he said they were too caught up in one another. McCartney once said that he didn’t think Harrison’s songs were that good up until one of the band’s final albums, proving Harrison’s point.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were The Beatles’ primary songwriters
Lennon and McCartney were responsible for some of The Beatles’ biggest hits. While they also wrote on their own, McCartney said it was always easier to write with his bandmate.
“Writing with John was a lot easier because you’ve actually got a sounding board,” McCartney said on Fresh Air in 2021. “You’re sitting across from someone and we normally wrote on two acoustic guitars. So he’d be sitting there, I’d be sitting here and one of us would suggest an opening line. And then the other one would go okay and would make a suggestion for the second line. So you would kind of ping pong.”
Paul McCartney insulted George Harrison’s songwriting before ‘Abbey Road’
Harrison complained that his bandmates were so caught up in each other that they overlooked his contributions to the group.
“[Lennon] didn’t realize how I was, and this was one of the main faults with John and Paul,” he said, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson. “They were so busy being John and Paul they failed to realize who else was around at the time.”
In a taped meeting between Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison in 1969, shortly before the release of Abbey Road, the band discussed plans to record a new album. In the recording, Lennon suggested that he, McCartney, and Harrison would write four songs and Ringo Starr would write two. McCartney responded to this suggestion with a dig at Harrison.
“I thought until this album that George’s songs weren’t that good,” he said, per The Guardian.
Harrison defended his writing. Prior to Abbey Road, Harrison wrote songs like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “Taxman.”
“That’s a matter of taste,” he said. “All down the line, people have liked my songs.”
George Harrison said he wouldn’t want to be in a band with Paul McCartney again
Harrison and McCartney often clashed over their years together in The Beatles. While they were able to maintain a friendlier relationship after the band broke up, Harrison said that he wouldn’t want to work 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, per the book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters. “It’s just from a musical point of view.”
