In 1968, while recording Hey Jude, one of The Beatles’ most iconic tracks, creative tensions surfaced between Paul McCartney and George Harrison over the song’s direction. Written by McCartney as a message of comfort for John Lennon’s son Julian during his parents’ divorce, the song was immensely successful, amassing over 600 million streams on Spotify, a platform that didn’t exist until 2008.
Despite its uplifting nature, the recording sessions revealed underlying disagreements between McCartney and Harrison. McCartney recalled that Harrison suggested adding electric guitar phrases to echo his vocal lines, an idea McCartney resisted. In a 1997 interview with Guitar World, McCartney said, “I remember telling George not to play guitar on Hey Jude. He wanted to echo riffs after the vocal phrases, which I didn’t think was appropriate.” McCartney admitted it was difficult to reject a contribution from Harrison, acknowledging, “He didn’t see it like that, and it was a bit of a number for me to have to dare to tell George Harrison – who’s one of the greats, I think – not to play guitar. It was like an insult.”
McCartney reiterated this during a 2018 interview with Howard Stern, explaining that in The Beatles, “the rule was, if it was your song, you were the boss of the song.” He attempted to be tactful in his refusal, telling Harrison, “I really don’t hear it, I don’t think that’s gonna work.” Nonetheless, Harrison was reportedly frustrated, a sentiment that grew over the course of the White Album sessions as he felt sidelined by McCartney and Lennon.
Harrison’s frustration eventually led him to take more control over his own compositions. For his song While My Guitar Gently Weeps, after McCartney and Lennon showed indifference, Harrison brought in guitarist Eric Clapton for an uncredited solo, now regarded as one of the greatest in rock history. Reflecting on this decision in a 1997 interview, Harrison said, “I said [to Clapton], ‘Well, damn it, it’s my song and I’d like you to come down.’” His insistence paid off, as he noted that “everybody behaved, and the song came together quite nicely.”
