The final album recorded before their April 1970 split, Abbey Road became one of The Beatles’ most recognizable projects. Selling more than 30 million copies, the trusty duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned the bulk of its 17 tracks. However, many would argue that the real standouts came from lead guitarist George Harrison. On this day in 1969, The Beatles entered the UK singles charts with one of Harrison’s finest songs.

Did George Harrison Write This Famous Beatles Track About His First Wife?

Typically, by the time George Harrison walked into the studio, he had at least a rough idea of how his guitar solos would sound. On The Beatles’ “Something,” however, he threw all of that out the window.

““Now that,” Harrison said in a 1988 interview with Guitar World, “is an example of that kind of thing where I find roughly where I can go.”

Harrison, who died in 2001 at age 58, admitted, “I think also I sort of smoked something, and I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

After repeating the solo “a number of times,” The Beatles left for vacation. Harrison didn’t hear the final product until they returned.

“I was very pleasantly surprised, because I did hit some right notes, and it did have a certain spontaneity to it,” said the “My Sweet Lord” crooner.

[RELATED: The George Harrison Song That Chastised Those Who Fear Change]

“Something” Received High Praise From Music’s Elite

Largely believed to be about George Harrison’s first wife, Pattie Boyd, “Something” is now The Beatles’ second-most covered song after 1965’s “Yesterday.” That included the legendary Frank Sinatra, who hailed the ballad as “the greatest love song of the past 50 years.” (Notably, however, Ol’ Blue Eyes often mistakenly introduced “Something” as a Lennon-McCartney collaboration.)

Sinatra famously wasn’t a Beatles fan, so this was exceedingly high praise. Another high-profile Beatles critic, Elvis Presley, also begrudgingly gave “Something” its flowers. In fact, Presley’s stepbrother, David Stanley, revealed in a March 2025 interview with The Daily Express that the King of Rock n’ Roll was particularly fond of Harrison’s catalog.

“He thought George was the most prolific writer. He really liked his writing,” Stanley said.

In addition to “Something,” all four of Presley’s favorites came from George Harrison—”Norwegian Wood,” “If I Needed Someone,” and “Here Comes the Sun.”

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