The 1971 Post-Beatles Collab George Harrison Found “Nerve-Wracking”

Individual Beatles members got together on several occasions after the band broke up. Though they were never all in the studio as a foursome again, different duos and trios broke off from the pack, creating pseudo reunions for fans to get excited about. The one pairing that never could work things out, at least musically, was Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The two took jabs at each other in their solo discographies, making it known that at least part of their breakup as a band was to do with this fracturing relationship. Lennon tapped George Harrison for one of his most cutting songs about McCartney. Harrison found it intensely “nerve-wracking” to work on this Lennon project. Find out why below.

The title track to Lennon’s 1971 album, Imagine, is his most famous work from his post-Beatles career. The rest of the album was similarly popular upon its release, but it may not be as widespread as Lennon’s magnum opus ballad.

Other than “Imagine,” the most interesting part of this album is “How Do You Sleep?” Lennon penned this song as a reaction to his broken partnership with McCartney. He certainly didn’t set out to spare McCartney’s feelings with this song, basically undermining all of his hits up to that point.

What made this song all the more hurtful was the fact that Lennon enlisted Harrison to help out on guitar duties. It’s bad enough that your former bandmate wrote a sonic slap in the face for you; it’s another to have a second bandmate jump in on the disrespect.
Harrison’s “Nerve-Wracking” Post-Beatles Team-Up

George Harrison once spoke about the recording of this track, calling it “nerve-wracking as usual.” The quiet Beatle found working with Lennon a tenuous task. Because of the band’s fallout before their breakup, it was up in the air whether or not things would go smoothly.

Source: American Songwriter

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