The 60s and the only name everyone spits is The Beatles. There is not really anything that The Beatles haven’t really achieved in their career, even though it was only for a decade. With so many career-defining albums in their name, they surely made history leaving behind well-deserved records.
The Beatles simply did everything. They broke records, created history, and integrated many people with Eastern Hindu philosophy, and whatnot. John, Paul, George, and Ringo became a big deal for it, and it was worth it. Their contribution towards songwriting and development of the lyrics and tunes were exceptional and of different approaches.
This also summoned problems within the band. The Beatles with such massive popularity didn’t help the band later on in their career. Instead, this stopped them from progressing as a band and as musicians. George Harrison explained, “We became popular, and all this stuff happened where we sang the same songs a lot, we still had a laugh, it was still good fun though, But you know the-that side of it, of playing like as a musician lost the edge there because we just played the same tunes that we play recorded, go around the world singing the same ten songs and every year, we’d lose one and add a new one, and it got a bit boring being fab.”
George was the soul of the band. Early in their career, he would spend most of his time fiddling around John and Paul. Later on after their album Revolver, he really found his footing and started contributing more than before. He would always go on as a moral master of the band. He was surely underrated in the band but his solo career was very successful. He also wrote a song for the band and on top of that he invented a musical chord.
George had a certain enlightenment after ‘Revolver’ and ‘Rubber Soul’ was released. He felt that it had changed the band to some extent. He said, “We just became more conscious of so many things,” He continued, “We even listened deeper, somehow. That’s when I really enjoyed getting creative with the music-not just with my guitar playing and songwriting but with everything we did as a band, including the songs that the others wrote. It all deepened and became more meaningful.”
Harrison always struggled to complete his track in comparison to his bandmates. He went on to write about it, made conceptual sketches, and eventually a song. He transformed his frustration into music. ‘I Want To Tell You‘ is the song, and while it may not be that appealing work of Harrison but it is surely noteworthy.
This song was the third song on Revolver and this was only a stepping stone for him. e had moved forward with everything in general from sound to conceptualization. Also, he invented a chord. Back in 1992 while speaking with Guitar world he said, “I’m really pleased that you noticed that. That’s an E7th with an F on the top, played on the piano. I’m really proud of that, because I literally invented that chord.”
He continued, “The song was about the frustration we all feel about trying to communicate certain things with just words. I realized the chords I knew at the time just didn’t capture that feeling. So after I got the guitar riff, I experimented until I came up with this dissonant chord that really echoed that sense of frustration.”
He also says it wasn’t the only time that chord was used. He notes, “John later borrowed it on Abbey Road. If you listen to ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy),’ it’s right after John sings ‘it’s driving me mad!’ To my knowledge, there’s only been one other song where somebody copped that chord—’ Back on the Chain Gang’ by the Pretenders.”
‘I Want To Tell You’ is still a great song with a perfectly blended melody. Be sure to listen to it on any major music platform.
