In the grand scheme of rock history, the careers of The Beatles and Bob Dylan may as well be on different planets. Compared to the freewheeling street poetry that Dylan was spewing out left and right, the Fab Four were making the most letter-perfect pop rock the world had ever known, with nearly every one of their singles reaching the hit parade. Towards the end of The Beatles’ run, there was a possibility that Dylan could have written a song for the band.
When The Beatles first met Bob Dylan, they were already avid fans of his work, with Lennon penning the song ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’ as his tribute to the American folkie. After helping expand their minds through the power of marijuana, The Beatles began taking their music in separate directions, with Rubber Soul marking the first time they departed from their traditional mop-top sound.
While the experimentation worked for a while, their need to break free of their usual construction on The White Album led to the band getting back to basics on Let It Be. Though the ill-fated sessions were marred by bad blood and creative disagreements between the band members, George Harrison could be heard strumming a song that The Beatles could have used with Dylan’s words.
After spending time with Dylan in New York, Harrison and Dylan are said to have written ‘I’d Have You Anytime’ and heard the beginnings of a song with the tentative title ‘Maureen’. Named after Ringo Starr’s wife, the track was a slowed-down version of a classical arrangement that John Lennon and Paul McCartney had worked on called ‘Thingymebob’. As part of a resurfaced recording, Harrison can be heard saying: “Here’s one Dylan wrote for Ringo”.
While there was a chance that the band could use it, the song was ultimately scrapped when the band started to focus on original material like ‘Dig a Pony’ and ‘I’ve Got a Feeling’. However, McCartney’s knack for sidelining Harrison’s contributions started to get to him, even leaving the group for a spell before being coaxed into returning.
Although Harrison relented, adding keyboardist Billy Preston for the album sessions made Dylan’s involvement in The Beatles more likely. In the documentary Get Back, Harrison could be heard saying that he wanted to get more members in the band, motioning for Dylan to join.
Given Dylan’s low profile at the time due to his motorcycle accident, that idea was put on the shelf for The Beatles to begin work on their next project, Abbey Road. Though there would be plenty more fantastic Beatles songs, ‘Maureen’ would be left behind, never to see the light of day on any future Beatles projects.
As the years passed, though, Harrison would eventually find himself working with Dylan again, performing alongside him, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison as a member of The Traveling Wilburys. While it might have taken decades to get going, classic rock fans could finally hear what a Bob Dylan vocal would have sounded like if given a Beatlesque melody. While The Traveling Wilburys may have been a conduit to The Beatles’ glory years, fans will always be left wondering what a collaboration between both rock giants may have sounded like in their prime.
