George Harrison wrote this song for a Beatles album but it was rejected after 100 takes

The Beatles were already reaching breaking point when they were working on The White Album; countless fights, arguments, and walkouts almost became a typical day in the studio with the Fab Four, with some songs heading to the trash can rather than the album. One of the songs was a song that George Harrison wrote, which was “Not Guilty,” even after over 100 takes.

"Not Guilty" Was Inspired by the Beatles' Trip to India

Some of the band's finest songs were released after their trip to India, including John Lennon’s Across the Universe, which took him months to complete. However, it was a trip that could have brought the band together as one, but not even a trip to a different part of the world could unite them. Instead, it resulted in the band leaving India unhappy, and Lennon and Harrison letting their songs do the talking for them.

The trip was partially to do with Harrison associating the band with Indian instrumentation and the teachings of the Maharishi. However, The Beatles quickly denounced the Maharishi after rumors began to spread about alleged inappropriate advances to female students. While Paul McCartneyandRingo Starrwere not as interested in the Maharishi, Lennon would write “Sexy Sadie” to hit out at the Maharishi after the rumors spread.

In response to “Sexy Sadie,” Harrison penned “Not Guilty,” a song that criticizes McCartney and Lennon for the way they had sidelined him. Perhaps “No Guilty” was a result of the times over the years when Harrison felt disregarded and left out by the powerful Lennon-McCartney duo, especially when it came to Harrison writing songs and Lennon-McCartney getting the credit and the applause. Tensions had been brewing between them long before the trip, so even if “Not Guilty” was never written, a song about them could most likely end up in Harrison’s songbook.

Why Was "Not Guilty" Rejected?

 

The Beatles are considered the greatest band for many reasons, with one of them being due to having extremely high standards in their music. Even after 102 takes, the band, including Harrison, was not 100% happy with “Not Guilty,” but that was not why it was rejected. The recording executives chose to leave it off the album, to Harrison’s dismay, due to its lyrical content, as it revealed his growing tensions and frustrations with McCartney and Lennon. Not wanting to expose the band’s ongoing tension and strife, it was ultimately decided that “Not Guilty” would be excluded. However, to Lennon’s delight, “Sexy Sadie” made its way onto the tracklist.

The Beatles’ way of working includes many takes, as perfectionism triumphs over anything else (like McCartney’s “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, for example). However, Harrison spent two days getting Starr, Lennon, and McCartney to learn “Not Guilty,” which resulted in 102 takes. This was the most amount of takes that the band has ever recorded in a session ever.

Despite using 102 takes, only 20 of these takes were completed. A great amount of the takes were time spent perfecting and learning the song. However, with 102 takes of learning and recording “Not Guilty,” a song that expressed Harrison’s frustrations with McCartney and Lennon, the other members became less interested in recording the song. Sadly, 102 takes would end up being meaningless.

George Harrison Released "Not Guilty" Years Later

It took Harrison a decade to revisit “Not Guilty” after The Beatles’ disbandment. During that time, he released All Things Must Pass, which was full of songs he had written during his time in the band. In 1978, Harrison decided to re-record the song, which was a calmer version of the original song. He released it as part of his self-titled album.

As the song had 102 takes, with 20 of them being complete, an official Beatles version of the song remains to be speculated by fans and collectors. Only a few of these versions were released to the public, with an edit of the band’s recording released in 1996 as part of the outtakes compilation of Anthology 3. An unedited versionw as released as part of the 50th anniversary edition of The White Album, many years after Harrison’s death after a battle with cancer in 2001.