Paul McCartney says he would ‘often talk down’ to fellow Beatles member George Harrison

Paul McCartney believes he would “often talk down” to George Harrison while the pair were in The Beatles.

McCartney would make this clear during an episode of The Beatles’ Anthology series, and was open with how his relationship had fared with Harrison. The Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps hitmaker would also suggest their relationship had not changed after The Beatles broke up, with Harrison alluding to McCartney being slightly older as the reason. The pair had lived nearby to one another and attended the same grammar school before they joined The Beatles. Speaking during the Anthology documentary series, McCartney said: “In fact, he was about one and a half years younger than me. That’s quite a big age difference at that time.

“I suppose I used to talk down to him a bit, as you do to a kid who’s one and a half years younger than you. He was fourteen-and-a-half and I was sixteen. It might have been a failing of mine, to tend to talk down to him because I’d known him as a younger kid.”

Harrison added: “He was always nine months older than I. Even now, he’s still nine months older than me.” Despite the difference in age, the pair would join The Beatles alongside John Lennon and later Ringo Starr.

Despite the strained relationship, McCartney would name one of Harrison’s recordings as one of his all-time favourite songs. McCartney confirmed Here Comes the Sun from Abbey Road was one of his all-time favourite recordings from Harrison.

The Wings frontman also confirmed Brainwashed, Harrison’s posthumous release, which dropped in 2002, was among his favourite albums. In a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) to promote his 2020 album, McCartney III, McCartney confirmed Here Comes the Sun was one of his favourite songs from Harrison. He wrote: “It is a brilliant song and the kind of song that’s really good in times like these.”

The “times like these” McCartney refers to in his comment is the lockdown the United Kingdom, and other countries across the world, experienced due to the Coronavirus pandemic. A previous compilation release from McCartney saw the legendary songwriter name a Brainwashed track as another favourite from Harrison’s discography.

The album Paul McCartney’s Glastonbury Groove compiled some of McCartney’s favourite songs. Compiled by McCartney himself, the album featured classics like God Only Knows by The Beach Boys, Cheek to Cheek by Fred Astaire, and George Harrison’s Marwa Blues.

Marwa Blues released on November 18, 2002, a year after Harrison’s death. It went on to win the Best Pop Instrumental Performance award at the Grammy Awards, and featured Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra on keyboards and acoustic guitar. Harrison’s son, Dhani Harrison, also features on acoustic guitar.

The Beatles’ legendary songwriter has frequently shared his love for Pet Sounds and the work of Brian Wilson, too, but one song stands out for the Get Back and Hey Jude mastermind.