Not Guilty (song)
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"Not Guilty" is a song by English musician George Harrison released on his 1979 album George Harrison. He wrote the song in 1968 following the Beatles' Transcendental Meditation course in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and its lyrics refer to Harrison's relationship with his bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney as a result of that experience. The Beatles recorded the song for the White Album in August 1968 but abandoned the track after several days' work, logging 99 takes. This last take appeared on the Anthology 3 compilation in 1996, as "Take 102".
Harrison revisited "Not Guilty" in 1978 during sessions for his eponymous solo album. Unlike the Beatles' original, which featured distorted electric guitar and harpsichord, the remake used acoustic guitar and was softer in tone.
Background and composition
George Harrison wrote "Not Guilty" in 1968 following the Beatles' Transcendental Meditation course in Rishikesh, India.[1] As the Beatle who had been most interested in attending teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's course, Harrison felt responsible for his bandmates' experience there.[2] Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney had each left the ashram early and returned to England, while Harrison and John Lennon stayed on, only to then depart hurriedly after hearing of alleged impropriety between the Maharishi and a female student.[3] In an interview with Billboard editor Timothy White in 1999, Harrison referred to "the grief I was catching" from Lennon and McCartney post-India, and explained the message behind the song: "I said I wasn't guilty of getting in the way of their career. I said I wasn't guilty of leading them astray in our going to Rishikesh to see the Maharishi. I was sticking up for myself …"[4]
The line "I won't upset the Apple cart" was a deliberate reference to Apple Records and his general dissatisfaction with the Beatles' career at that point,[5] while "making friends with every Sikh" referred to activities with the Maharishi.[1]
An acoustic demo of the song was recorded during May 1968 at Harrison's home, Kinfauns in Esher, in preparation for what became the album The Beatles, also known as the White Album. This version of the song has never been officially released, but is available on numerous bootlegs.[5]
Beatles version
The Beatles recorded "Not Guilty" in August 1968 during sessions for the White Album. The song as presented to the group was difficult to learn due to its time signature changes, and the first 18 takes on 7 August broke down after the introduction; after a further 27 takes, recording was abandoned until the next day. However, the sessions still proved unsatisfactory, and ran to 99 takes. Initial takes featured keyboard accompaniment from an electric piano, but this was replaced by a harpsichord that was installed in Abbey Road Studio 1.[6]
Harrison tried to salvage the recording on 9 August with a six-and-a-half hour session of lead guitar overdubs, during which he sat in the control room playing the guitar, while the amplifier was recorded from an echo chamber.[7] After a further attempt to record guitar at live performance levels on 12 August, the song was abandoned, although the idea of recording amplifiers in a small room appealed to Lennon, who decided to use the technique on the next song the group attempted, "Yer Blues".[8] Harrison then spent a short holiday in Greece, fed up that none of his bandmates seemed to be helping him with the production of "Not Guilty".[9] According to Beatles author Walter Everett, the song was one of the last to be cut from the final running order of The Beatles.[5]
The final take, numbered 102 (a reduction mix of take 99),[7] was edited and remixed by Geoff Emerick in 1984 for the aborted Sessions album.[10][11] It was leaked to the Ultra Rare Trax Volume 3 bootleg in the late 1980s,[12] and eventually released officially in October 1996 on Anthology 3.[6]
Solo version
After rediscovering his Kinfauns demo,[1] Harrison revisited "Not Guilty" in March 1978, during sessions for his album George Harrison, released the following year.[13] The sessions coincided with a period of domestic contentment for Harrison, during which he married his partner Olivia Arias and become a father for the first time, to son Dhani.[14] Author Simon Leng views Harrison's remake of the song as typical of the singer's frame of mind on George Harrison, writing: "In complete contrast [to the Beatles' version], the 1979 reproduction is all shimmering cool and acoustic sea spray – here is a man looking back on events rather than being caught up in their heat."[15] Harrison restored two lines ("For being on your street / Getting underneath your feet") that were not in the Beatles' version and dropped a section of 3/8 time that had been one of the factors in making the 1968 recording difficult.[9]
Harrison recorded the song at his home studio in Henley, Oxfordshire,[13][16] with Stevie Winwood, Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark among the backing musicians.[17] Leng describes the musical mood on the track as "a loose version of the Rickie Lee Jones or Paul Simon jazz-pop sound, dominated by phased electric piano and breathy vocals".[15] Neil Larsen played Rhodes piano on the song.[18]
Personnel
Beatles version
According to Ian MacDonald:[6]
- George Harrison – vocals, electric guitars, harpsichord
- Paul McCartney – bass, percussion
- John Lennon – harpsichord
- Ringo Starr – drums
George Harrison version
According to Simon Leng:[19]
- George Harrison – vocals, acoustic guitars
- Neil Larsen – electric piano
- Steve Winwood – keyboards
- Willie Weeks – bass
- Andy Newmark – drums
- Ray Cooper – conga
References
- Citations
- ^ a b c Brown, Mick (19 April 1979). "A Conversation With George Harrison". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ^ Doggett 2011, p. 33.
- ^ Woffinden 1981, p. 4.
- ^ Huntley 2006, p. 165.
- ^ a b c Everett 1999, p. 345.
- ^ a b c MacDonald 1997, p. 266.
- ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 147.
- ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 148.
- ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 267.
- ^ Heylin 2010, p. 299.
- ^ Everett 1999, p. 346.
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Ultra Rare Trax, Vol 3". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ^ a b Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 457.
- ^ Tillery 2011, pp. 120, 163.
- ^ a b Leng 2006, p. 203.
- ^ Badman 2001, p. 221.
- ^ Leng 2006, pp. 199, 202.
- ^ Planer, Lindsay (23 July 2014). "Not Guilty". AllMusic.
- ^ Leng 2006, pp. 202–03.
- Sources
- Badman, Keith (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-8307-6.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Doggett, Peter (2011). You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. New York, NY: It Books. ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-802960-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Heylin, Clinton (2010). Bootleg! The Rise And Fall Of The Secret Recording Industry. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-217-9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Huntley, Elliot J. (2006). Mystical One: George Harrison – After the Break-up of the Beatles. Toronto, ON: Guernica Editions. ISBN 978-1-55071-197-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Leng, Simon (2006). While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. ISBN 978-1-4234-0609-9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. Hamlyn / EMI. ISBN 978-0-600-55784-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - MacDonald, Ian (1997). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (First revised ed.). Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-6697-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Madinger, Chip; Easter, Mark (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium. Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Tillery, Gary (2011). Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison. Wheaton, IL: Quest Books. ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Woffinden, Bob (1981). The Beatles Apart. London: Proteus. ISBN 0-906071-89-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
- 1979 songs
- George Harrison songs
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- Song recordings produced by George Harrison
- Song recordings produced by George Martin
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