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(Credits: Far Out \/ Bradford Timeline)<\/p>\n
Thu 23 April 2026 6:30, UK <\/p>\n
He might have been known as \u2018The Quiet One\u2019, but\u00a0George Harrison<\/a>\u00a0could be as damning as the rest of his bandmates. Although this more solemn aspect of his personality would rarely come to the fore, when it did, it was more impactful than a barb from John Lennon, given that fans were simply not used to such startling twists of hate.\u00a0<\/p>\n That contrast is exactly what made moments like this stand out so sharply. Harrison wasn\u2019t prone to casual criticism or throwing his weight around, so when he did speak up, it carried a different kind of authority. There was a sense that if something had pushed him to that point, it must have genuinely struck a nerve, especially when it involved his own material being handled in a way that didn\u2019t sit right with him.<\/p>\n It also reflected how protective he was becoming of his songwriting during this period. Having spent years fighting for space alongside Lennon and McCartney, Harrison wasn\u2019t about to be passive when one of his compositions started making waves beyond the band. These weren\u2019t just throwaway contributions anymore; they were personal statements, and hearing them reshaped into something that felt impersonal or overly polished clearly didn\u2019t align with how he believed the song should live and breathe.<\/p>\n Harrison delivered one of the most famous and intense critiques regarding a cover of his Beatles work. While he didn\u2019t start writing comfortably until later in his career with the band due to Lennon and Paul McCartney finally recognising his talent, one of his earliest and most well-received was the 1965 track \u2018If I Needed Someone\u2019, which appeared on Rubber Soul<\/a> and Yesterday and Today. Considered one of Harrison\u2019s best efforts, the material is a love song written for his girlfriend, Pattie Boyd, whom he would marry only months after it was released.<\/p>\n However, before The Beatles released the track on\u00a0Rubber Soul\u00a0in December 1965, one of their most successful fellow acts from The British Invasion, The Hollies, were handed a demo of it by their producer. The band opted to record a version and, strangely, released it on the same day as\u00a0Rubber Soul. The single made an impact, too, reaching number 20 on the UK Chart. However, George Harrison made it clear that he wasn\u2019t a fan, despite receiving royalties.\u00a0<\/p>\n In December 1965, NME reporter Alan Smith joined The Beatles for one of their final tours in their homeland. At one point during the run, Harrison provided his damning account of The Hollies\u2019 version of \u2018If I Needed Someone\u2019. Decrying it as \u201crubbish\u201d, the guitarist instructed the journalist to tell people he didn\u2019t write it for the Merseybeat band. <\/p>\n Smith wrote: \u201cGeorge was getting ready for the first house performance, and I asked him about songwriting. \u2018I see you\u2019ve written one for the Hollies.\u2019 George turned sharply away from the mirror. \u2018Tell people that I didn\u2019t write it for the Hollies,\u2019 he said bluntly.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201c\u2018It\u2019s called \u2018If I Needed Someone\u2019 and they\u2019ve done it as their new single, but their version is not my kind of music. I think it\u2019s rubbish the way they\u2019ve done it! They\u2019ve spoilt it. The Hollies are all right musically, but the way they do their records, they sound like session men who\u2019ve just got together in a studio without ever seeing each other before. Technically good, yes. But that\u2019s all.’\u201d<\/p>\n Harrison\u2019s incendiary comments started a feud with The Hollies<\/a>. Only a week after they were published, their leader, Graham Nash, told the same publication that he was \u201csick and tired\u201d of everything The Beatles did being taken as law. <\/p>\n Listen to both versions of \u2018If I Needed Someone\u2019 below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n