Honorable Mentions
The songs below are important for understanding George Harrison’s musical career, but are left out of the main pages for various reasons. (This list is a work in progress!)
With the Beatles
George of course sang lead (or co-lead) on several Beatle records. Many were covers and a couple were original Lennon/McCartney compositions:
- “Chains”
from Please Please Me - “Crying, Waiting, Hoping”
from Live at the BBC - “Devil in Her Heart”
from With the Beatles - “Don’t Ever Change”
from Live at the BBC - “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
from Please Please Me - “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby”
from Beatles for Sale - “Glad All Over”
from Live at the BBC - “I Forgot to Remember to Forget”
from Live at the BBC - “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You”
from A Hard Day’s Night - “Nothin’ Shakin’ (But the Leaves on the Trees)”
from Live at the BBC - “Roll Over Beethoven”
from With the Beatles - “So How Come (No One Loves Me)”
from Live at the BBC - “The Sheik of Araby”
from Anthology 1 - “Shout”
from Anthology 1 - “Take Good Care of My Baby”
from the Decca audition (unreleased) - “Three Cool Cats”
from Anthology 1 - “Young Blood”
from Live at the BBC - “You Really Got a Hold on Me”
from With the Beatles
Los Paranoias
An impromptu jam during the “White Album” sessions is mysteriously credited to all four Beatles even though George is not present on the recording. This was first released on Anthology 3:
- “Los Paranoias”
“Whenever” aka “When Every Song is Sung” aka “I’ll Still Love You”
George considered this song during the making of All Things Must Pass. It didn’t make the cut, but was offered to several other artists to record. Ronnie Spector, Cilla Black, Mary Hopkin, and Leon and Mary Russell never properly finished their recordings. The song remained unreleased until Ringo Starr recorded it for his album Ringo’s Rotogravure. George does not appear on any officially released version of this song:
- “I’ll Still Love You”
The Pirate Song
On Boxing Day 1975, George appeared on Eric Idle’s sketch comedy show Rutland Weekend Television. Throughout the episode, George tries to get into several sketches dressed as a pirate to the chagrin of the other actors. The episode closes with George’s scheduled musical segment where he’s finally dressed as himself. The band begins playing the familiar intro to “My Sweet Lord,” but George quickly segues into a completely different song about pirates! This hilarious Eric Idle co-write has yet to be released officially:
- “The Pirate Song”
Solo Cover Songs
George performed the songs of other artists right up until the end of his solo career. The last U.S. number one hit by any of the Beatles appears on this list:
- “Baltimore Oriole”
from Somewhere in England - “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea”
from Brainwashed - “Get Back”
from All Things Must Pass [2021, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe Editions] - “Got My Mind Set on You”
from Cloud Nine - “Got My Mind Set on You” [Extended Version]
from “Got My Mind Set On You” UK 12″ single - “Got My Mind Set on You” [Live]
from Live in Japan - “Hong Kong Blues”
from Somewhere in England - “I Don’t Want to Do It” [27 May 1970 Demo]
from All Things Must Pass [2021, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe Editions] - “I Don’t Want to Do It”
from Porky’s Revenge Soundtrack - “I Really Love You”
from Gone Troppo - “If Not for You” [27 May 1970 Demo]
from All Things Must Pass [2021, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe Editions] - “If Not for You” [Take 2]
from All Things Must Pass [2021, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe Editions] - “If Not for You”
from All Things Must Pass - “Let It Be Me”
from Early Takes: Volume 1 - “Mama You’ve Been on My Mind”
from Early Takes: Volume 1 - “Nobody’s Child”
from Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal with the Traveling Wilburys - “Roll Over Beethoven” [Live]
from Live in Japan - “Runaway”
from “She’s My Baby” single with the Traveling Wilburys - “Runaway” [Remix]
from Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 [2007] with the Traveling Wilburys - “True Love”
from Thirty Three & ⅓ - “Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine)”
from All Things Must Pass [2021, Deluxe, Super Deluxe and Uber Deluxe Editions]
Water Soundtrack
George’s HandMade Films released Water in 1985. George co-wrote two of the songs from its soundtrack. Some sources say George appears on the recordings, some sources say he doesn’t! I’m erring on the side of caution and including the two songs here rather than on the main page:
- “Celebration”
- “Focus of Attention”