In the 1960s, you could not turn on a radio without hearing The Beatles. Their songs seemed to have taken the world by storm, inciting uncontrollably high levels of fan mania. The Fab Four were constantly harassed by the media and fans. Some inquisitive listeners even broke into the homes of individual members in an effort to meet their heroes.
Over the course of the decade, the band’s sound and style developed further, solidifying their status as genuine musical geniuses. The Beatles showcased their experimentation skills with Rubber Soul, their sixth studio album. They incorporated instruments like the sitar, which were not as common in Western music. They also sang lyrics with a much higher level of sophistication.
By the end of the decade, the group had put out a number of iconic albums, including Abbey Road, Revolver, and The White Album. They had also experimented with musique concrete and sound collages, helping to establish new recording techniques. This opened the door for new genres like heavy metal. Each member of the ground-breaking band contributed something essential to the mix.
But there was always an unequal distribution of power among the group’s members, with Ringo Starr being regarded as the “least important” one. George Harrison’s bandmates seldom gave him the opportunity to fully showcase his extraordinary talents and frequently treated him unfairly. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the primary songwriting team, regarded as an unbeatable team of masters.
George Harrison, who was a few years younger than the other members of the band, greatly looked up to Lennon in the early going and saw him as an older brother figure. However, after experimenting with psychedelic drugs, meditation, and Eastern religion, Harrison seemed to truly find himself as the band entered an unprecedented era of success. He didn’t hesitate to defend himself when the other members started acting irrationally as a result. In 1968, he even left the band for a short while because he couldn’t handle McCartney’s domineering style of leadership.
He wrote songs like “I Me Mine” and “Wah-Wah” that seemed to hint at the ego issues and conflicts within the band. Harrison also lost his fear of scolding the other Beatles when he didn’t agree with them. After hearing Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance,” he expressed his opinions about the song’s message in a very public way.
Harrison was not impressed with the 1969 song, despite the fact that it has become an iconic anti-war song. In George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters, he quotes him as saying, “This is where I really disagreed with John, because I want peace too.” However, I don’t think you can bring about peace by yelling, “Give peace a chance, man! Every tree in a forest needs to be green for it to be green”. Talking about peace won’t bring it to you. Peace won’t come to you until you truly stop talking and be more on the road to peace.”
“It’s similar to acid: people take acid to achieve a higher state of consciousness, but it doesn’t work,” he continued. You have to give up pills and stop the whole scene if you want to become God-conscious.
