Like most of the musicians who started their careers after the 60s, the Queen co-founder and guitarist Brian May was deeply influenced by The Beatles. The group released their debut album in 1963 and it was the beginning of a huge musical revolution all over the world, giving birth to a movement that would change the course of music.
Born in 1947, May had the chance to see those changes taking shape when he was still a teenager and not long after in 1970, the year The Beatles came to an end he helped to form Queen. Over the decades the musician talked about many of his heroes, including the late guitarist George Harrison. Brian even revealed which is his favorite song that Harrison wrote to The Beatles.
The George Harrison song Brian May said is his favorite
The Beatles’ main songwriters were John Lennon and Paul McCartney. So they did not always give so much space for George and Ringo to present their own compositions. Harrison often said that they would have to record many McCartney and Lennon songs before they could sit down and work on his own tracks.
But George proved himself to be an amazing songwriter not only for the tracks he recorded with The Beatles. But also for his successful and praised solo career. May is a huge fan of the work of the late guitarist. Following his death in 2001, May revealed as pointed by UDiscover Music which is his favorite Harrison song.
“My favorite George Harrison song? ‘(While) My Guitar Gently Weeps.’ I’ve discovered it takes courage to be gentle. He was an inspiration,” Brian May said.
The track was released in 1968 on their self-titled album also known as the “white album”, because of the cover. Curiously, that track is the only Beatles song which a guitarist who wasn’t a member of the band played in. Harrison invited his close friend Eric Clapton to overdub a lead guitar part.
May also loves “Something” and said it is an incredible song
In 2013, Brian May released a live album called “Acoustic by Candlelight” with the singer Kerry Ellis which featured covers and original songs by the duo. One of the versions they recorded was “Something”, a classic Beatles song written by George Harrison. Before playing the track during a live performance May talked about him.
(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “Most of the big, big, big Beatles hits were written by Lennon and McCartney, right? A massive songwriting team, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote these worldwide smash hits. But there was another member of the band who was very quiet and shy, the youngest boy in the band. He was called George Harrison. He wrote this incredible song (“Something”),” Brian May said.
“Something” was released as a single by The Beatles in 1969. May had the chance to meet Harrison only once during a Water Rats concert in 1992 when Bert Weedon was King Rat. The late Beatle passed away nine years later, in 2001, at the age of 58 after years battling cancer.
He had the opportunity to meet Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney many times over the years. But he laments that he never got to meet John Lennon who was killed in 1980 at the age of 40.
His parents never allowed him to see The Beatles live
There are millions of music fans who would love to have seen The Beatles live in concert but were born years after they had already broke-up. Brian May was a teenager right when The Beatles were active and of course, was born and lived in the United Kingdom. So it was much easier for him to be able to go to one of their concerts. However, his parents never allowed him to go see the Fab Four. He recalled in an interview with Louder Sound in 2020.
“I wasn’t allowed to go to see The Beatles in concert when I was a kid. My parents thought pop concerts were attended by the wrong sort of people. So I never got to see the 20th century’s biggest phenomenon live. But from the moment I heard ‘Love Me Do’ on the radio, I knew this bunch of guys were magic. That they voiced all my hidden joy and yearnings as a teenager struggling to make his way into the world of the ‘60s,” Brian May said.