Things usually get a little ugly in the second part of The Beatles’ career. The Fab Four had obviously evolved into entirely different entities from the four-headed monster they once were, from artistic disagreements to management issues. It didn’t help that Yoko Ono began showing up to rehearsals. It’s a little difficult to witness her subsequent mockery with fresh eyes. But there’s no denying that her presence threw the group for a loop. However, things had already reached a boiling point long before that, and when the band recorded the upbeat 1964 song “I’ll Follow the Sun,” there was some tension in the studio.
Granted, by the time Beatles For Sale was being made, was anyone having fun? Simply observe the facial expressions they all have on the cover. The days of the young, idealistic moptops seeking enjoyment were long gone. Experiencing exhaustion from two intense years of Beatlemania, they rushed back into the studio to start work on the next album, signaling the necessity for a break.
That may be the reason why the album’s first half is composed entirely of covers, most of which are from their live performances. The majority of the sessions turned into songwriting sessions as well because John Lennon and Paul McCartney hadn’t had as much time to workshop songs. They would typically complete a song like “Eight Days a Week” in the studio rather than developing it at home.
They were able to explore their back catalogue as a result. McCartney had “I’ll Follow the Sun” lying around from before they were well-known. The group came up with it in between sets and decided it was good enough to include on the album. The song is primarily acoustic throughout.
One of the song’s rare electric moments was George Harrison’s sliding guitar solo. However, he had to battle hard to get it. George Harrison was being sidelined because not everyone was really into it. This didn’t help when Lennon offered to try recording the solo.
Engineer Geoff Emerick described how tense the day was when discussing the sessions in Here There and Everywhere. He stated, “George Harrison seemed annoyed, perhaps because he hadn’t been given much to do. Despite the overall good vibe of the day.” He once bellowed, “You know, I’d like to do the solo on this one,”. As he marched into the control room. I am supposed to be the lead guitarist in this band, after all’”.
Perhaps Harrison was just being petty, or perhaps he felt that he was being marginalised a little too much. It’s not like he was that far off—after all, McCartney would play lead guitar on a few Beatles songs and then start telling Harrison exactly how he wanted the guitar played at any given time.
George Harrison finally got his wish, but not before playing the song in a way that was perfectly suited to it. ‘The Quiet Beatle’ slowly speaking through his guitar halfway through the song feels like the sun breaking through the clouds, even though Lennon was probably used to playing rhythm guitar. For a song like this, a little too obvious, but it works.
