This song is one of the great masterpieces from the Beatles catalog, and for me, it's clearly the greatest composition of all from George Harrison's career, which is saying something, because he emerged as a BRILLIANT songwriter in the very late 60s and early 70s.  This song was featured on my very favorite Beatles album, their incredible swan song, "Abbey Road".  Yes....I know "Let It Be" was the last album they released, but "Abbey Road" was the last one they recorded, so it will always be their farewell work for me.  "Something" was released as a double A-Side single along with John Lennon's "Come Together in 1969....it was the first A-Side to feature a Harrison song in the history of the band....and it of course hit #1 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and West Germany, and cracked the top 5 in the UK.  

This was definitely the moment when George Harrison proved that he had developed into the same caliber of songwriter that his bandmates John Lennon & Paul McCartney were.  This came about at a time when there was a lot of acrimony inside the band, largely over business affairs, contracts, royalties, and what direction to move in for future projects.  But, there was also creative tension.  The writers were wanting more autonomy over their songs and less compromise.  They weren't in full agreement about how often to put out a new record, how many songs should be included from each writer, or even the process by which that should be determined.  Lennon & McCartney had become one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in history, and thus certainly felt they had earned having their songs fill up the bulk of the albums.  And yet, Harrison was now bringing with him songs like "Something", "Here Comes the Sun", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and felt the quality of his writing now deserved more than one or two cuts per LP.

I suppose it was inevitable that the Beatles were going to fall apart by this point....too many alphas trying to direct traffic.  But I'm so amazed by what they were able to do together in those last couple of years.  George went on after the Beatles breakup to release what I, and many others, believe to be the greatest of all the Beatles' solo albums..."All Things Must Pass", which featured a number of brilliant compositions that had been rejected by the group to that point for inclusion on the albums they were working on.  I'm happy George blossomed into such a gifted songwriter.  I can't imagine a world without "Something" in it.  It's been covered by a huge slew of other artists, and is truly a signature staple for the group's legacy as a whole.

I saw Paul McCartney live in 2002 on his first tour in about 10 years at the time, and he paid tribute to George by playing "Something"....but on the ukulele.  He told a heartwarming story about how much George LOVED ukuleles, and how he was a brilliant ukulele player.  Paul said, "You would go over for dinner, and round about the time dessert should be served, the ukuleles would come out."  He then said that the last time he saw George, who was very ill and not far from passing from cancer, he said to him, "I learned a song on Ukulele that I want to play for you."  It was a really special moment that I'll never forget and will always be able to relive by closing my eyes.  He also told a funny story about how Frank Sinatra covered the song and said, "This is my favorite Lennon-McCartney song, bar none."  LOL.

George was a gentle soul, and soulful and spiritual man.  He had great talent, and fostered deep friendships among other artists in the music industry like Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, and many others.  A couple dozen or so of his closest friends...many of the greatest titans of the industry....cleared their schedules and got together one year after he died to give him the memorial service he deserved, dubbed "The Concert for George".  Every 6 months or so I'm drawn back into watching it from top to bottom, and every time it brings tears to my eyes to hear these incredible musicians play all of that incredible music because they loved their dear friend, George Harrison.  Thanks George....for all of it. 

Enjoy my cover of this song from July 22, 2020 during I livestream concert I did in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then check out George Harrison himself performing it at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1971 at his historic "Concert for Bangladesh".  Also, I posted below my favorite ever performance of it with shared lead vocals by Paul McCartney doing his ukulele rendition, followed by Eric Clapton singing to a more accurate facsimile of the Beatles original in 2002 at Royal Albert Hall in London during the phenomenal and moving "Concert for George", held in tribute to Harrison a year to the day after his death.

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If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube

If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube

If the video doesn't show above, use THIS LINK to see it on YouTube