A quaintly low-fidelity doo-wop song welcomed listeners to the first few seconds of Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back. It was unclear why exactly this song was being used. However, it fit the band’s black-and-white Liverpool setting perfectly before their big success. Everything about it sounded nothing like The Beatles, except for a high harmony that reminded me voice of Paul McCartney.
George Harrison and Paul McCartney had a complex relationship that changed over many years. They were instrumental in The Beatles’ success from the start, having bonded over their shared creativity and life experiences. Even though there were occasionally arguments in the band, McCartney and Harrison still had a great deal of regard for one another’s musical abilities.
Their relationship developed as they started their solo careers after the Beatles, characterised by cooperation and sporadic friendly rivalry. Harrison’s solo projects, including the Concert for Bangladesh, benefited greatly from McCartney’s assistance, demonstrating their enduring friendship. Their relationship did, however, have its share of difficulties, including times of discord and alienation. But over time, they made up, treasured the history and memories of their time spent together in one of the greatest bands ever. Following Harrison’s death in 2001, McCartney paid poignant tributes to him that captured the essence of their relationship and left a lasting impression on music history.
It turns out that the song in question, “In Spite of All the Danger,” is actually not by the Beatles. It’s a song by the proto-Beatles act The Quarrymen. In 1958, teenagers John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, along with young musicians John “Duff” Lowe on piano and Colin Hanton on drums, snuck into Kensington’s Phillips Sound Recording Service to record their first semi-professional songs.
Since Phillips Sound was essentially a home studio, the sound it produced has so little fidelity that it sounds more like it was recorded in 1948 than 1958. That day, the Quarrymen recorded two songs: an original song called “In Spite of All the Danger” and a cover of Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day.” The latter song gained notoriety primarily for being the only one to bear the McCartney-Harrison credit.
“I believe I wrote the song and George played the guitar solo, even though the label says it was me and George.” Later, McCartney told Beatles biographer Mark Lewishon what he remembered. “We were friends, and nobody gave a damn about copyrights and publishing. In fact, we used to believe that songs belonged to everyone when we travelled to London.”
McCartney went on, “I know I’ve said it a few times, but it’s true. We really believed they were just in the air, and you could never truly own one.” As you can imagine, the publishers anticipated our arrival! “Sit down, boys. Welcome.” Is that your understanding? That’s what we used to do back then, and since George performed the solo, we assumed he “wrote” it.
The Lennon-McCartney songwriting collaboration was well underway by this point, but the band wouldn’t establish their legendary credit until they started to focus on the business side of writing and recording. The band’s only shellac acetate, which served as evidence that they had actually recorded a record, rotated around its members.
“We agreed that each of us would have the record for a week when we received it,” McCartney said. “John gave it to me after he had it for a week. After a week of ownership, I gave it to George, who kept it for a week as well. After Colin owned it for a week, Duff Lowe received it and retained it for 23 years. In the end, McCartney purchased the original from Lowe and retains it to this day.
