While Paul Simon had problems with John Lennon, he was a big fan of his Beatles bandmate, George Harrison. The two musicians became friends after performing on Saturday Night Live together, and they maintained a friendly relationship for years. Simon drew comparisons between them musically, but he explained they got along because Harrison was pleasant company. He said he liked him so much because Harrison was a normal person.
George Harrison and Paul Simon performed on ‘Saturday Night Live’ together
Simon and Harrison first became friends when performing on Saturday Night Live together in 1976.
“The roots of my friendship with George Harrison go back to 1976, when we performed together on Saturday Night Live,” Simon wrote for “Remembering George,” a special edition of Rolling Stone. “Sitting on stools side by side with acoustic guitars, we sang ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Homeward Bound.’ Though we’re in the same generation and weaned on Buddy Holly, Elvis and the Everly Brothers, it must have seemed as strange to him to be harmonizing with someone other than Lennon or McCartney as it was for me to blend with someone other than Art Garfunkel. Nevertheless, it was an effortless collaboration.”
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Simon appreciated Harrison’s generosity in their collaboration.
“The mesh of his guitar and voice with my playing and singing gave our duet an ease and musicality that made me realize how intrinsic and subtle his contribution was to the Beatles’ brilliant creative weave,” he wrote. “He made musicians sound good without calling attention to himself.”
Paul Simon shared what he liked so much about George Harrison
Simon said that he had always been impressed by Harrison’s songwriting in The Beatles, even though he was often overshadowed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
“His songwriting, too, which I always thought to be stylistically close to mine, was gentle and sad with country and skiffle influences rippling beneath his often sardonic lyrics,” he wrote. “It all seemed deceptively simple until masterpieces like ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Something’ made people realize that the Beatles had three major writers competing for the limited space of the vinyl LP. They called him ‘the quiet Beatle,’ but he wasn’t particularly quiet; he simply didn’t demand to be heard.”
Their friendship developed beyond their musical connection, though. Simon said that part of the reason he liked Harrison so much was because he came across as a normal person despite his level of fame.
“He was an extraordinary guy; everybody knows that,” he said on Conan. “Amazing person, not just a musician but really brave, open, kind. Just a certain percentage of him Beatles but the rest, he was just regular. Just interested in life, interested in the world, interested in the mind. A pleasure to hang out with him.”
The former Beatle sent a book as a present
While Simon was visiting, Harrison showed him autographed copies of the Beatles Anthology. Several months after his visit, Harrison sent him one in the mail.
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“On the drive back to London, [Jeff] Kramer told me that George had felt awkward about not offering a copy of the book to me, but he was afraid I might not have great interest in owning one,” Simon wrote. “I said I’d never asked for anyone’s autograph, but I was actually a little disappointed that he hadn’t made the offer. Two months later, the tour ended, I came home to find a copy of The Beatles Anthology sitting on my desk. ‘To Paul and Edie,’ the inscription read, ‘with lots of love from your pal, George Harrison.’”
