Few artists have been able to capture lightning in a bottle quite like The Beatles did on The Ed Sullivan Show. Arriving in America like musical gods, teenagers around the country quickly fell in love with the quirky demeanours of the Fab Four as they blasted out one hit after another by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. While nothing could stop the songwriting duo in their prime, George Harrison was always put on the side.
In the early days, Harrison was more than happy just to play lead guitar. Often dubbed the shy member of the group, Harrison could usually be found playing his signature blend of country and rock and roll lead guitar and maybe pop in for a lead vocal on songs like ‘Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby’.
Once he started to see how well Lennon and McCartney worked off each other, Harrison thought he would try his hand at writing on the song ‘Don’t Bother Me’. Written one day when he was sick in bed, Harrison described the process as a woodshedding experience, telling Living in the Material World, “[It] was written as an exercise to see if I could write a song. Because I thought if John and Paul could write songs, anyone could. But it’s not particularly good song”.
Featured on the album With the Beatles, Harrison already stood out as a musical force of nature completely independent of Lennon and McCartney. While the two leaders of the group were prone to write songs with a lovestruck twist, Harrison’s tone is decidedly more cynical as he talks about wanting to be left alone after breaking up with his girlfriend.
Although Harrison would not consider the tune a favourite of his, one of the many artists paying attention was Tom Petty. Gravitating towards the sound of the British Invasion, Petty fell in love with The Beatles’ songwriting style, incorporating it into the sounds of heartland rock on albums like Damn the Torpedoes.
Harrison was paying attention right back as well, admiring Petty’s no-bullshit approach when working on his material. While Petty’s penchant for hooks led to him striking up a friendship with Harrison, he didn’t exactly share the quiet Beatle’s opinion on his first song.
When talking about the group’s back catalogue, Petty had an affinity for Harrison’s first stab at songwriting. Talking to Harrison about the song, Petty still thought his first tune held up to time, saying, “I thought it was just the coolest song, like nothing I’d heard in rock. I’d say, ‘Well, I like it. A lot. If you did that today, I’d say it was really good.’ And he’d go, ‘Well, you’d be wrong’.”
While Harrison’s song was far from heavy for its time, it’s easy to see how Petty took inspiration from it. From its meandering minor chord progression and favouring the lower notes on the guitar, the song is a blueprint for what the moody side of The Heartbreakers would sound like, from the tone-bending solos of Mike Campbell to Petty’s first stabs at jaded love songs like ‘Restless’. Harrison might not have been looking to become one of the greatest songwriters of the world thanks to this one track, but sometimes artists have an influence on generations to come without even realising it.
