Why George Harrison Was Mislabelled as the 'Quiet Beatle'
On the 29th of November 2023 it was the 22nd anniversary of George Harrisons death. He died of lung cancer aged 58. Harrison was the youngest Beatle.
He performed the song 'Raunchy' for his audition which impressed Lennon. He was reluctant to recruit someone so young into the group, but Paul McCartney persisted and George was officially offered a place in the group.
Why did Harrison struggle to gain attention in The Beatles?
Sharing a band with arguably the greatest song writing duo of all time, it is no wonder George Harrison struggled to establish himself on the same level within the band, thus he was labelled as the 'quiet Beatle'.
The Lennon-McCartney partnership was the dominant force within the band. The press focused on this relationship which reinforced the idea that George was an inferior songwriter. Paul acknowledged the fact that this didn’t leave 'as much room for George as he might have liked'.
George Martin, the bands producer also did not support him to the same extent he did with Lennon and McCartney stating that he only 'tolerated' George's contributions and thought until 'Let it Be' his work was 'awfully poor'. He told Rolling Stone in 1976 that 'he didn't have the talent the other two had'.
This exacerbated things and made it even more difficult for Harrison to put his ideas forward. He became overlooked as Martin believed 'it was silly to look elsewhere' in a band that contained John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
It was not until the latter half of the Beatles career that George was given more opportunities to thrive. His lack of inclusion in Beatles records was one of Georges greatest frustrations. His contributions are perhaps most prominent on Abbey Road, which came out in 1969, containing 'Something' and 'Here Comes The Sun'.
When interviewed in 1971, by Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld, two authors writing about the Beatles break up, Lennon described Harrison as 'narrow minded' and remained dismissive of his contributions, 'Of course he's got an inferiority complex from working with Paul and me'.
Percentage of Songs written by each Beatle
'Here comes the sun', is the most streamed Beatles song on Spotify and Frank Sinatra labelled 'Something' as the 'greatest love song of the last 50 years'
He had already released two solo albums before the Beatles split up, Wonderwall Music and Electric sound. According to McCartney, George likened this extensive backlog of songs he had amassed for his future solo albums to 'diarrhoea'. Although a crude metaphor to describe the situation, McCartney understood what he meant - 'he'd had a lot of stuff stored up and I think it had to come out'.
How did he succeed after The Beatles had broken up?
His triple-solo album, All Things Must Pass, released in 1970, contained many compositions which were proposed as Beatles songs that were rejected by Lennon and McCartney. Songs in this category include the title track 'All Things Must Pass' and 'Isn't It a Pity'.
He was finally given full creative freedom and he capitalised on this opportunity. 'My Sweet Lord' was the first Number One single for a former Beatle.
The title 'quiet Beatle' seemed particularly contrary to those who knew him well. After primarily making music on his own for almost two decades, he formed the supergroup, The Travelling Wilburys in 1988. It was a stark contrast to The Beatles and Harrison was much more enthusiastic.
According to Tom Petty, who played bass for the group, it was a 'dream he had for a long time'. Petty also thought it was a 'hysterical' name for him, telling Rolling Stone that 'he would never shut up'.
His second wife Olivia agreed this was an inaccurate description for Harrison, stating in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he would 'throw words out one after another'.
After so much apathy from John and Paul, he eventually stood up and bluntly announced Well I think I'll be leaving the band now' on the 10th of January 1969.
'I don't have to say much, because I'm the quiet Beatle', was his wry response to the Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted for a second time in 2004, posthumously, for his solo career. Tom Petty accepted this on his behalf.
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