Although some fans and part press fueled the idea that The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were rivals, that was not true. Keith Richards has always been a big fan and a close friend of the members of the band. In fact, it was John Lennon and Paul McCartney who gave the Stones their first hit song, “I Wanna Be Your Man”.
In the years that followed, both bands wrote some of the most influential songs of all time and built incredible discographies. Throughout his career, Keith Richards has spoken about The Beatles on many occasions and has already mentioned two of their songs that he loves.
The 2 Beatles songs Keith Richards said he loves
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
“This was a guy (George Harrison) who could come out with a great song or a great record anytime. I was always wailing for some more. Let’s hope there’s more in the can. I always loved “Guitar Gently Weeps.” because that was a guitar- player thing,” Keith Richards told Rolling Stone in 2001.
Written by George Harrison, the song of course also featured John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, but it is the only Beatles song to include another guitar player. It was George’s friend Eric Clapton, whom Keith also admires, the one who recorded the guitar solo. The track was part of their self-titled album often referred to as “The White Album”, released in 1968.
Richards has already listed The Beatles as one of the greatest bands of all time, and unlike what the press claimed over the decades, there was no rivalry between the members of the two bands. In fact, they used to help each other. “John was a particular good friend of mine. Stories that cannot be told (laughs). George was a lovely guy, we got Paul (a great songwriter) and Ringo, what a guy, what a steady (beat). They came to see us play, we were playing in a pub, at Station Hotel in Richmond, that was our gig.”
Keith Richards continued:
“It was the only one we really had and everybody was having a good time. I turn around and there is, these four guys in black leather overcoats standing there. This was soon after ‘Love Me Do’. I mean this was really early on and this is early 60s. From then on we’re always good mates. When George’s new single (was ready) we always made sure we didn’t clash because in those days was like every two months you had to have a new single.”
“We would collaborate with each other. So we didn’t go head to head, because otherwise it seemed like ‘you’re either Beatles or Stones’, bullshit. And we are so similar, that’s not true. We all recognized that and it was one of the great things about it. I mean, between the two bands there was never any sense of competition, (it) was cooperation,” Keith Richards said in ‘Ask Keith‘ (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
“Here Comes the Sun”
“‘Here Comes the Sun’ it’s just beauty, beauty. What can you say? Still waters run deep. I have no doubt that there was a whole lot inside of George, and a whole lot he never revealed. But at the same time, every time he did something, he did reveal a little bit of himself. So that in fact you think you know George better than George knew himself,” Keith Richards told Rolling Stone magazine.
Curiously, Keith Richards was not a big fan of how George Harrison’s guitar was recorded on The Beatles’ early records. When talking about that once, he also recalled the strange experience of meeting Dhani Harrison, George’s son, who really resembles his father.
“George (Harrison) was another great mate of mine. I think as you say, that George Martin particularly didn’t serve his guitar sound as well as it could have been done. But it was early days and they were doing those things. They (would) make an album in one night, you know. Listen to ‘Twist And Shout’, you can hear they barely being able to get there, but great records. Just purely a matter of the recording sound, nothing to do with Geroge, he was a great friend of mine.”
He continued:
“In fact, I’ve met his son, Dhani just two, three weeks ago and there is Dhani Harrison who is the spitting image of George. I kept calling him George (laughs). He was so much like his dad, and George was such a gentle soul. I used to call him ‘farmer George’ because he liked gardening more than anything. (He is) another one sorely missed. I guess the good die young,” Keith Richards said in a video done for his old website section “Ask Keith” (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Also written by George Harrison, “Here Comes the Sun” was actually recorded as a trio, since John Lennon was not involved. Although the track was overshadowed by other huge hits from the ‘Abbey Road’ album, which was released in 1969, it grew in popularity over the decades. As of 2026, it is The Beatles’ most popular song on Spotify, having been played more than 1.7 billion times. While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ is still quite far from reaching that number, with more than 300 million streams.