Some of the greatest of all time often don’t sound like they’re playing something of this world. There will always be people whose approach to music is fairly simple, but the ones who can pull greatness out of thin air should be studied for their ability to make pure magic on the spot. Although George Harrison had his fair share of magical moments with The Beatles and during his solo career, he felt that this guitarist performed in a way that heaven would be proud of.
Then again, some of the greatest guitar moments of The Beatles tend to have a divine touch behind them. As much as people try to look through the ins and outs of how they created songs, it all comes down to the chemistry between the Fab Four, which turned what could have been fairly simple songs into some of the greatest anthems that the world has ever known.
At the same time, nothing Harrison ever played was made without hardship. Outside of the fact that he could barely get a word in among John Lennon and Paul McCartney, his ability to craft a solo always came down to the way that his part sat in the song, which normally meant slaving over the guitar for as long as it took until the right notes came out.
Look no further than he did when making ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ taken from Revolver. Yes, the song benefits from his backwards guitar line, but for as quick as the section goes by, Harrison spent hours with his instrument deep in concentration trying to find the exact right lick that would have sounded good played in reverse.
Anyone normally has to work at it to be that good, but Eric Clapton seemed to internalise everything he listened to and spin it into magic when he played. Regardless of how many times he heard a Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters record, taking all those elements of the blues resulted in his soaring tone, which Harrison even admitted that he wasn’t good at playing during the documentary Get Back.
Although most guitarists might see themselves in competition with each other, Harrison thought he was looking at some divine being while watching Clapton play, saying, “I think great people can project their greatness. The concert Eric Clapton did at the Rainbow, I was so aware of [him]. He had his eyes closed, and he was playing fantastic guitar. The magic was coming out of Eric’s soul, and it was at that point that he just looked like an angel.”
Granted, that wasn’t the only time that Harrison saw his higher power at work when watching someone play. Throughout his collaborations with Ravi Shankar, he remarked having a similar feeling watching the sitarist perform, and in his solo songs like ‘Be Here Now’, he was always aware of what the spiritual side of music could do.
Because as much as people try to be in competition with each other, no part of music is about trying to one-up the person next to you. It’s about putting raw beauty out into the world, and whenever Clapton strapped on a guitar, Harrison knew that there was some celestial being getting channelled through his licks.
