The George Harrison Solo Hit That the Beatles Ironically Rejected
From uneven songwriting credits to incessant in-fighting, the tense interpersonal dynamics of the Fab Four manifested in plenty of ways, including the future George Harrison hit the Beatles ironically rejected. The song was one of countless Harrison suggestions the band ultimately turned down, opting instead to prioritize the creative songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
However, the charts spoke for themselves. The song would later become a No. 1 U.S. hit for the “Quiet Beatle.” This accolade bested his bandmate, John Lennon, by one chart-topping hit.
Five months before the Beatles would make their Ed Sullivan Show debut, sparking a wave of Beatlemania across the States, a still unknown George Harrison visited his sister in rural Illinois. (A roadside memorial marks the early 1960s occasion, one of several unique tributes built in Harrison’s honor.) While there, Harrison perused a local record shop. He picked up Presenting James Ray, which featured “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You” as the first track.
Harrison immediately took to the song and offered it to his bandmates as a potential cover. As the story goes, his bandmates rejected the idea because it wasn’t original material. This would’ve made sense had the band committed to recording and performing all original music at the onset of their career, but, of course, that wasn’t the case. Some of their most famous hits in their early career were covers, including “Twist and Shout” and “Please Mister Postman.”
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
