If there’s one band who managed to etch their songs into the collective memory of the masses, it’s The Beatles. It seems as if we’re all born knowing the words to ‘Let It Be’, the gentle opening twangs to ‘Here Comes the Sun’, and the thudding ‘Come Together’. The Fab Four’s far-reaching familiarity speaks to their truly mammoth influence, with even Beatles sceptics or straight-up haters knowing every word to their big hitters.
After the four-piece formed in the suburbs of Liverpool in the early 1960s, Beatlemania gradually began to sweep the nation and, eventually, the world. Lead songwriting duo John Lennon and Paul McCartney penned countless classics, pushing beyond pop and rock and roll into new worlds of sampling and psychedelia. They pioneered new recording techniques, created countercultural moments, and shaped the music industry as we know it today.
Along the way, they became the biggest band on the planet, a title they still maintain six decades later. Their compositions continue to dominate lists of the most well-known and well-loved songs of all time, and the majority of us know their lyrics and melodies by heart. For guitarist and so-called shy Beatle George Harrison, there were a group of American artists who had the same effect on him, carving a place for themselves in his heart.
During a conversation with Guitar Player, Harrison was asked about the influence of fellow British-born guitarist Hank Marvin, who found success with the Shadows just ahead of the rise of Beatlemania. Though Marvin had a widespread influence, he wasn’t a player that Harrison looked to as a reference point. He preferred to look further afield.
“Hank is a good player,” Harrison commented, “I would certainly not put him down – and I did enjoy the little echo things they had and the sound of the Fenders, which they started out on.” Although he respected Marvin’s talents with a guitar, Harrison was much more inspired by the instrumentalists on the other side of the Atlantic, by surf-rockers The Ventures and original rock and rollers Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran.
“I just always preferred the American stuff to the English,” Harrison explained, “I’m more influenced by Buddy Holly.” Holly had a particularly enduring influence on the Beatles guitarist, who noted that he could still play the solos to classics like ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Think It Over’ and ‘It’s So Easy,’ “right till this day.” “I knew all them tunes,” Harrison enthused, “And Eddie Cochran stuff.”
The familiarity and admiration Harrison felt for the likes of Holly and Cochran, his American predecessors, he would later emulate during his time with the Beatles. As the Liverpudlian lads worked together to create their own take on rock and roll, they attracted the attention of budding musicians who were inspired by their experimental approaches and success story. Harrison became Holly for a whole new generation of players.
Now, there are countless people all over the world who know Harrison’s creations by heart, who have taken the time to pore over guitar tabs and desperately try to emulate the tones of ‘Here Comes the Sun’ or ‘All Things Must Pass’, just as he once memorised the works of Holly and Cochran. Bolstered by the influence of his American predecessors, Harrison became one of the most iconic guitarists of all time.
