![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/George-Harrison-Bob-Dylan-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ David Hume Kennerly \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Tue 20 January 2026 18:00, UK <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t obvious to the music press that, of all The Beatles, George Harrison<\/a> would be the one to strike up a solid friendship with the original folksmith, Bob Dylan.<\/p>\n Reportedly, it was John Lennon that Dylan<\/a> was more eager to meet. During the peaks of Beatlemania, Lennon\u2019s supposed intellectual edge in the group piqued the young Dylan\u2019s interest when they first met in New York City in 1964. Two years later, after Dylan\u2019s plugged-in heresy, his and Lennon\u2019s relationship had lapsed into one of subtle competition, likely having inspired each other with Lennon\u2019s pursuit of acoustic numbers like \u2018You\u2019ve Got to Hide Your Love Away\u2019 and \u2018Girl\u2019, and Dylan\u2019s chase for folk rock defiance of fan expectations.<\/p>\n Little feeling was allegedly held for Paul McCartney, deemed the sappy pop penner of the group, but somewhere in the room, an affinity was sparked between Dylan and Harrison. The quiet Beatle was a serious fan. When psychedelia hit the counterculture, Dylan turned his back on the lysergic excesses of the day, favouring the rootsy detours into country and open about his dismissal of The Beatles\u2019 Sgt Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band opus. Harrison didn\u2019t care, indifferent about the album himself and taking Dylan\u2019s Blonde on Blonde with him to India\u2019s Rishikesh retreat, the only Western LP he brought with him.<\/p>\n The first song they\u2019d ever write together was penned shortly after. Producing Apple Records<\/a> signee Jackie Lomax in Los Angeles, Harrison joined the Dylans in his Woodstock home with wife Pattie Boyd to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, Harrison found Dylan subdued and distant, recovering from a motorcycle accident and suffering a frustrating bout of writer\u2019s block. After three days of stilted conversation, Harrison suggested getting the guitars out.<\/p>\n \u201cHe sang me that song and he was, like, very nervous and shy, and he said, \u2018What do you think about this song?\u2019\u201d Harrison recalled in a 1977 interview. \u201cAnd I\u2019d felt very strongly about Bob\u2026 I felt somehow very close to him, or something, you know, because he was so great, so heavy, and so observant about everything. And yet to find him later, very nervous and with no confidence\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The song wound up being \u2018I\u2019d Have You Anytime\u2019. Opening 1970\u2019s All Things Must Pass, the pair\u2019s cut would serve as a bonding experience, Harrison lyrically encouraging Dylan to loosen up while the troubled songsmith offers a sentiment of welcome in his life.<\/p>\n The two wouldn\u2019t collaborate from then on, except for coaxing Dylan out of his semi-reclusive rut to perform at the Concert for Bangladesh benefit show. The next time Harrison had entertained working with the songsmith again wouldn\u2019t be til 1987, when Harrison was working on his comeback album of sorts, Cloud Nine.<\/p>\n Boasting Elton John on piano, old pal Eric Clapton on guitar, and the ever dependable Ringo Starr on drums, an acerbic little number called \u2018Devil\u2019s Radio\u2019 taking aim at the rumour mill whirring away behind all of the former Beatles was just missing Dylan\u2019s signature vocals, according to Harrison.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen, \u2018Devil\u2019s Radio\u2019 cut with Harrison behind the mic and released as a promo after topping the Hot 100 with his cover of James Ray\u2019s \u2018Got My Mind Set on You\u2019. Studio time would be had soon enough, though. Pressured for an extra single during the Cloud Sessions, Harrison and co-producer Jeff Lynne managed to corral Tom Petty, and the famous Roy Orbison to Dylan\u2019s Santa Monica home studio, cutting the \u2018Handle With Care\u2019 song and birthing The Traveling Wilburys<\/a> supergroup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Topics<\/p>\n The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
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