George Harrison Takes Command on “Something,” the Beatles’ Most Iconic Love Song
Frank Sinatra talks with George Harrison and Pattie Boyd in 1968 in the Reprise Records control room during Sinatra’s Cycles sessions. Photo by Ed Thrasher
Lyrics collide when a young James Taylor records an album at Apple Records.
George Harrison’s Moment
George Harrison was always the enigmatic Beatle…quiet, withdrawn “Don’t Bother Me” George, among the outgoing personalities of bellicose John, charming Paul, and Ringo for laughs. As the psychedelic ’60s progressed, George embraced Eastern spirituality, transcendental meditation, and the sitar, furthering his mysterious allure.
Behind closed doors, “The Quiet Beatle” was amassing a formidable songbook that did not seem quite good enough to the band’s principal songwriters, Lennon and McCartney. Oh, they threw George a bone by including one or two of his songs on most Beatles albums. But George had yet to enjoy what came easily to John and Paul: an A-Side single under his name.
That would change with Abbey Road. The Beatles’ last album yielded two powerhouse songs for George, “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something.” Two weeks after the album’s release, “Something’ was coupled with Lennon’s “Come Together” to become a double A-side single, George Harrison’s first time atop the Billboard Hot 100. “They blessed me with a couple of B-sides in the past,” George remarked. “But this is the first time I had an A-side. Big deal, eh?”
Singer/songwriter James Taylor poses for a portrait at Apple Records on September 27, 1968. Photo by Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Lyrics Collide with James Taylor
Geoge Harrison began writing “Something” in September 1968 during the White Album sessions. Down the hall from the Beatles’ lair in Studio 2, a young, unknown musician named James Taylor was working on his debut album for Apple Records. Taylor was the first non-British act to be signed by Apple. He had the right connections: His producer was Peter Asher, who happened to be the brother of Jane Asher, Paul McCartney’s girlfriend. (McCartney played bass and sang background vocals on Taylor’s hit “Carolina in My Mind.”)
Read: The Beatles’ White Album: Brilliance Overcame Adversity
With Asher producing, James Taylor’s album was recorded from July to October in 1968, at the same time the Beatles were recording the White Album. For his song “Something in the Way She Moves,” Taylor wanted the title to be “I Feel Fine,” after a line in the chorus. Well, that title was taken. And of course the title Taylor selected happened to be the first line in George Harrison’s “Something.”
Tribute or coincidence? Probably the latter, as both songs were written separately. George Harrison: “And so I thought of trying to change the words, but they were the words that came [to me] when I first wrote it. So in the end, I just left it at that, and just called it ‘Something.'”
Pattie and George. Photo by Hutton-Deutch Collection/CORBIS via Getty Images
Written for Pattie?
When asked during a 1969 interview with the BBC whether his then-wife Pattie Boyd was the inspiration for “Something,” George Harrison answered, “Maybe Pattie, probably.” In Boyd’s 2007 autobiography, Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, Pattie asserted, “He told me in a matter-of-fact way that he had written it for me.”
In subsequent interviews, Harrison became coy in linking a face behind the song, name-dropping the Hindu deity Krishna and, of all people, Ray Charles. George and Pattie divorced in 1977.
“Something” Session Notes
Although “Something” first appeared on session notes for the White Album, the song didn’t go public until the release of Abbey Road. The reason: Harrison shelved it, believing that if the melody came to him so easily, it might have been “stolen” from another song.
Session notes indicate that while George and EMI producer Chris Thomas were working on “Piggies,” Harrison tinkered with an entirely new song, “Something.” Thomas listened and reportedly said, “That’s great. Why don’t we do that one instead?” Harrison answered that he was thinking of giving the song to Jackie Lomax, who was recording an album at Apple.
George would change his mind.
Source: discogs.com
Frank Sinatra Sings “Something”
“Something” was Frank Sinatra’s favorite song by the Beatles. Sinatra praised “Something” as “the greatest love song of the last 50 years.” Long after Frank covered the song, George revealed in Anthology:
At the time, I wasn’t particularly thrilled that Frank Sinatra did ‘Something.’ I’m more thrilled now than I was then. I wasn’t really into Frank–he was a generation before me. I was more interested when Smokey Robinson did it and when James Brown did it. But I’m very pleased now.
Here is an undated performance of “Something” by Frank Sinatra, with an interesting arrangement, published by Marcos Azevedo via YouTube:
Legacy
“Something” became the second most covered Beatles song after “Yesterday.” According to WhoSampled.com, the song yielded 171 recorded cover versions. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) in 1999 named “Something” the 17th most performed song of the 20th century, with five million performances. (BMI is in the business of knowing this.)
In an October 25, 1969, column for the Saturday Review, Ellen Sander wrote: “[George] feels his way through the song, instinctively cutting through its body and into the core, emoting so clearly and so gracefully that at the moment he peals ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ it is shown that even what is not known can be understood.”
Here is a list of 20 prominent artists who’ve recorded “Something.”
Covers
Frank Sinatra
Shirley Bassey
Lena Horne
Elvis Presley
Joe Cocker
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Booker T & the MGs
James Brown
The O’Jays
Ray Charles
Isaac Hayes
Sarah Vaughn
Tony Bennett
Norah Jones
Johnny Mathis
Dionne Warwick
Jerry Butler
Bobby Vinton
Martha Reeves & the Vandellas
Billie Eilish
After Harrison’s 2001 death, a big-time roster of names including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton each performed “Something” in tribute to the “Quiet Beatle.”
