{"id":285347,"date":"2025-11-27T01:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T01:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285347\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T01:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T01:28:07","slug":"george-harrison-would-have-formed-a-group-with-just-one-beatle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/285347\/","title":{"rendered":"George Harrison would have formed a group with just one Beatle"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Beatles\u2019 1995 Anthology docu-series returns to TV this week with a new, ninth episode<\/a>, we can all relive the group\u2019s breathtaking rise and disheartening fall as they broke up in late 1969.<\/p>\n

While several of the band members worked together in their solo years \u2014 David Bowie even claimed he, John Lennon and Paul McCartney discussed forming a group<\/a> \u2014 the quartet never re-entered the studio or performed again after 1969.<\/p>\n

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However, George Harrison hadn\u2019t completely soured on his bandmates. As he revealed in a 1974 interview, he was open to forming a new band with one of them.<\/p>\n

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The Beatles’ breakup came at an unfortunate time for Harrison. After years of being stifled by the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership<\/a>, he was flourishing as a writer. Songs like \u201cSomething,\u201d \u201cHere Comes the Sun\u201d and \u201cOld Brown Shoe\u201d demonstrated he could compose tunes as good as his bandmates, while his newfound talents as a guitarist showed him to be a singular stylist.<\/p>\n

The release of All Things Must Pass<\/a>, his ambitious and expansive 1970 solo album, <\/a>was vindication for the years his talents were ignored. The record was the most successful of any former Beatles’ album that year, buoyed by the singles \u201cMy Sweet Lord\u201d and \u201cWhat Is Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remarkably, Harrison hadn’t soured completely on the Beatles. He revealed in a 1974 press conference that, while a reunion was a fantasy, he was open to forming a group with one of his former bandmates. At the time of the presser, Harrison was launching the tour for his solo album Dark Horse, with a band that included organist Billy Preston, bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Andy Newmark and a young Robben Ford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all a fantasy, the idea of putting the Beatles back together again,\u201d he said, as recounted in the book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters. \u201cIf we ever do that, the reason will be that we are all broke. I\u2019d rather have Willie Weeks on bass<\/a> than Paul McCartney. That\u2019s the truth, with all respect to Paul.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPaul is a fine bass player,\u201d he admitted, \u201cbut he\u2019s a bit overpowering at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the press conference, Harrison expressed fondness for drummer Ringo Starr, calling him a drummer with \u201cthe best backbeat I\u2019ve ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the end, it was Lennon whom he held in the highest regard.<\/p>\n

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\u201cJohn\u2019s gone through all of his scene, but he\u2019s like me, he\u2019s come back around,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cTo tell the truth, I\u2019d join a band with John Lennon any day, but I couldn\u2019t join a band with Paul McCartney. But it\u2019s nothing personal. It\u2019s from a musical point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harrison may have also remembered Lennon’s generosity in a September 1969 meeting, where he suggested future Beatles albums<\/a> allow a more equal share of songs for each, and said he regretted not giving Harrison and Starr the lucrative B-sides to Beatles singles so that they might have greater exposure and make more money. Lennon quit the band some two weeks later, making his proposal moot.<\/p>\n

The guitarist had already worked with Lennon on the latter’s 1971 solo album, Imagine, where he contributed lead and slide guitar <\/a>work across a number of tracks. He also played Dobro on “Crippled Inside,” demonstrating the value he brought to the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Aside from his work in the Traveling Wilburys, Harrison plowed on as a solo artist until his death in 2001.<\/p>\n

In related news, Harrison pal and gypsy jazz guitarist Robin Nolan has recorded a new tribute album to his late friend<\/a>, made at Harrison\u2019s Friar Park mansion with some of his most prestigious guitars.<\/p>\n

The Beatles Anthology begins streaming with Episodes 1\u20133 on Wednesday, November 26 on Disney+, followed by Episodes 4\u20136 on Thursday, November 27 and Episodes 7\u20139 on Friday, November 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Beatles\u2019 1995 Anthology docu-series returns to TV this week with a new, ninth episode, we can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-285347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}