George Harrison Wrote This Song for The Beatles, but the Band Rejected It Until 1970

The Beatles, the famous British rock band formed in 1960, have become one of the most revered and successful musical acts in history. Their classic hits such as "Here Comes The Sun", "I Want To Hold Your Hand", and "All You Need Is Love" helped the Fab Four to change the face of popular music forever. As many ardent fans know, some of their most famous songs have interesting backstories. One such song, written by George Harrison, could have been one of The Beatles' biggest hits, but instead it became part of Harrison's solo discovery, and the reason why is quite intriguing.

As ardent music fans will know, Frank Sinatra had a love-hate relationship and opinion when it came to The Beatles. For example, in a press release for his 1965 released album A Man and His Music, Sinatra didn’t hold back when it came to criticizing the British band and their new-age sound, choosing instead to prop up his own music, “If you happen to be tired of kid singers wearing mops of hair thick enough to hide a crate of melons…it should be refreshing.” However, at the same time, he also begrudgingly gave the group their much-deserved props when the moment called for it.

Case in point, Sinatra praised the George Harrison-penned song "Something", even going so far as to call it "the greatest love song of the past 50 years." In fact, Sinatra loved the song so much that he performed and recorded two of his own versions. "Something" isn't the only song Sinatra liked or covered; he also sang their track "Yesterday". In fact, according to singer Billy Joel, it was Sinatra that helped to propel The Beatles into stardom, stating, “Even Sinatra covered it. He wasn’t a big fan of a lot of pop music. The fact he did that was very important to some people who didn’t take The Beatles seriously,” and “Like, ‘Wait a minute, this must be a pretty damn great song if Frank is doing it."

Source: Karly B/collider.com