![\"George](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/George-Harrison-Musician-1967-The-Beatles-Far-Out-Magazine1-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Credit: Far Out \/ Bradford Timeline<\/p>\n
For many years, George Harrison<\/a>\u2018s songs were regarded as unfortunate necessities. But, as Bob Dylan once said, \u201cwho wouldn\u2019t be?\u201d Caught behind two of pop music\u2019s finest, Harrison\u2019s bronze position was guaranteed from the start.<\/p>\n His early offerings were included on track listings for the sake of diplomacy, but there was always a sense, as John Lennon later put it, that George just \u201cwasn\u2019t in the same league\u201d as he and Paul McCartney. <\/p>\n However, by the time The Beatles<\/a> got around to crafting their 1969 album Abbey Road, that had all changed. Having established himself as a force to be reckoned with on songs like \u2018Taxman\u2019, \u2018Love You To\u2019 and \u2018Within You Without You\u2019, Harrison stepped into a new chapter of creativity, penning some of the finest songs of his career, including the 1969 Abbey Road cut \u2018Something\u2019. Here, we revisit the time Harrison named his two favourite renditions of the classic track.<\/p>\n \u2018Something\u2019 became one of the stand-out tracks from Abbey Road. \u201cI wrote the song \u2018Something\u2019 for the album before this one, but I never finished it off until just recently,\u201d Harrison explained in 1969. \u201cI usually get the first few lines of words and music together, both at once and then finish the rest of the melody,\u201d he added. \u201cThen I have to write the words. It\u2019s like another song I wrote when we were in India. I wrote the whole first verse and just said everything I wanted to say, and so now I need to write a couple more verses. I find that much more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n After seeking the advice of veteran songwriter John Lennon, Harrison was able to complete the song and watch it take over the world. Countless music artists subsequently shared their own renditions, including Frank Sinatra<\/a> \u2013 something Harrison was less than pleased about. <\/p>\n When artists such as Frank Sinatra pick out your work and label it as \u201cthe greatest love song of the past 50 years\u201d, you know you\u2019re doing something right. However, \u201cAt the time I wasn\u2019t particularly thrilled that Frank Sinatra did \u2018Something\u2019,\u201d Harrison wrote in Anthology. \u201cI\u2019m more thrilled now than I was then. I wasn\u2019t really into Frank \u2013 he was the generation before me\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cEverybody assumed I wrote it about Pattie. The words are nothing, really\u201d<\/p>\n George Harrison<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Harrison went on to explain that he was far more interested \u201cwhen Smokey Robinson did it and when James Brown did it. But I\u2019m very pleased now, whoever\u2019s done it. I realise that the sign of a good song is when it has lots of cover versions\u201d.<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/strong><\/p>\n During a 1988 interview with MuchMusic, Harrison echoed his enthusiasm for Brown and Robinson\u2019s covers of his classic track: \u201cThe best one I ever heard was (from) James Brown and he did it in 1972, but he did only as the B-side of a re-recorded version of \u2018Think\u2019, which is a very old song of his,\u201d George said. \u201cSo it was only on the B-side. I sent him a postcard and said: \u2018You should make it the A-side, it\u2019s a killer! It\u2019s really good,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n Smokey Robinson\u2019s version, meanwhile, was mixed with the song \u2018Something You Got\u2019 by Chris Kenner and featured on Smokey Robinson and The Miracles\u2019 1970 album A Pocket Full of Miracles. \u201cI like Smokey Robinson\u2018s version of \u2018Something as well,\u201d Harrison said in that same MuchMusic interview. \u201cI can\u2019t think off hand, of anything else.\u201d <\/p>\n Many people have toyed with who the song might be \u201cfor\u201d. Whether it was written for Pattie Boyd or for the universe as a whole is up for debate, but Harrison once said: \u201cEverybody assumed I wrote it about Pattie. The words are nothing, really,\u201d while reflecting in 1969. \u201cThere are lots of songs like that in my head. I must get them down. Some people tell me that \u2018Something\u2019 is one of the best things I\u2019ve ever written. I don\u2019t know. Maybe they\u2019re right, maybe they\u2019re wrong. It\u2019s very flattering though\u2026 It\u2019s nice. It\u2019s probably the nicest melody tune that I\u2019ve written.\u201d<\/p>\n You can listen to James Brown\u2019s and Smokey Robinson\u2019s renditions of \u2018Something\u2019 below.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n