The only Beatles song to have just George Harrison playing

The experimental vein of Beatles allowed the band to work in different formats. It is no secret, for example, that Paul McCartney played the drums on songs like “Back in the USSR” is that George Harrison took on the bass of songs like “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” It is “She Said She Said”. There are tracks in which all four members do not participate in the recording, such as the first two mentioned, and even songs where only one representative of the quartet attended the session.

It is the case of “Within You Without You”the only song from Beatles to have, among the four members, only Harrison credited for the recording. The track on the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) it was also composed only by the guitarist and promotes a dive into the Indian style of making sound. At the time, the artist was very inspired by the culture of the country, due to the friendship with his mentor. Ravi Shankarwho also taught him to play the sitar.

In addition to the aforementioned, other traditional Indian instruments appear in “Within You Without You”, such as tambura, dilruba and tabla – recorded by musicians from Asian Music Circle. The song is cited as one of the main responsible for spreading Indian culture in the world, since Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band became one of the most successful albums of all time – not only in sales, but also in influence for artists of that time and for generations to come.

George Harrison and Beatles

the ratio of George Harrison with your other colleagues Beatles, in particular John Lennon and Paul McCartney, has always been a bit tricky. Initially, it was comfortable for the guitarist to let the two colleagues take over the compositions. Over time, though, he wanted to participate more—and he didn’t get the space he wanted.

Himself George, owner of a shy personality, was also quite fearful about his songwriting talents. He didn’t always feel that his works were good enough to make it onto the band’s records, and he was also intimidated by the fact that his peers were far more prolific authors.

The fact is that such fear began to be lost when the Fab Four stopped touring in 1966. Not only Harrisonas also Lennon and McCartney they also had more time to experiment. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is all inspired by the idea that the group was no longer on the road, starting with the very concept of the album: the band from “Sergeant Pepper” arose after paul reflect on the burden of integrating the Beatles. What if they made a record with alter egos, like it was a new set? That was more or less the proposal, which gave birth to an even more audacious work.

“Within You Without You”

In turn, George Harrison felt more comfortable exploring Indian music in his compositions, something he had already been doing in songs like “Norwegian Wood” (from Rubber Soul, 1965) and “Love You To” (from Revolver, 1966). Even so, “Within You Without You” it represented a different moment for his personal career, as he could work on these influences without his other colleagues around.

The way of producing, in this case, was so different that George Martin got a little lost. The Indian musicians with whom Harrison collaborated were much more about improvisation than about following programmed arrangements. Thus, the music producer had to compose material for an orchestra to accompany the guitarist and his friends based on what they were doing. Tough work, but it paid off.

It is also worth mentioning that the “quiet Beatle” used the Indian influence in other songs from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He’s the one who makes the guitar sound like a sitar in “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, while “Getting Better” brings him playing tambura. But “Within You Without You” is undeniably unique. Even for being the only Beatles song in which, among the four members, only George Harrison play.