George Harrison wrote “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something” on piano because “Nothing Seemed Fresh” on guitar
Even as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest guitarists, George Harrison sometimes turned to the piano to write his songs. The Beatle relied on ivory keys to give it a fresh sound, not tight strings, when writing “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something”.
George Harrison wrote “Old Brown Shoe” at the piano
According to Far Out Magazine, George turned to keyboards around 1967. He wrote songs like “Blue Jay Way” and “Only a Northern Song” on the Hammond organ.
In his 1980 memoir me mine, George said he wrote “Old Brown Shoe” on the piano. Although he was unfamiliar with the instrument.
He wrote, “‘Old brown shoe.’ I started with the chord progressions on the piano (which I don’t actually play) and then started writing ideas for the words from different opposites: “I want a love that’s right/ But right is only half of what’s wrong.” is.” Again it is the duality of things – yes-no, up-down, left-right, right-wrong, etc.
During an interview with Timothy White for Goldmine in 1992, George said he also wrote his famous song “Something” on the piano. He also revealed his reason why he slipped onto the piano bench for such creations.
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George began writing songs on the piano because “nothing sounded fresh” on the guitar.
Interestingly, George started writing songs on the piano because the guitar didn’t give him the right sound he wanted.
George explained during his interview with White: “I wrote it [‘Old Brown Shoe‘] on the piano like I did on Something. Because sometimes I got to the point where I knew the guitar so well that nothing seemed fresh, and then I’d just go on the piano and play a few chords and they sounded great.”
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The Beatle also tried his hand at bass
During his time with the Beatles, George swapped instruments with his bandmates whether he wanted to or not. If they needed him on bass because Paul McCartney stormed out of the recording studio or for any other reason, he would step in.
George played bass on “Old Brown Shoe”, “Bungalow Bill”, “Back in the USSR” and “She Said She Said”.
On “Old Brown Shoe,” George said, “It’s like a crazy game.” Creem’s J. Kordosh pointed out, “It sounds like McCartney is going crazy again.” George said he’s gone crazy. He added, “I do exactly what I do on guitar.”
However, according to Song Facts, fans are still debating whether George or Paul played bass on “Old Brown Shoe.”
“The various editing sessions in the studio muddy the water quite a bit,” writes Song Facts. During the let it be sessions, the Beatles made two recordings, one with George and his piano accompaniment and one with the whole group plus Billy Preston.
“They rehearsed the song eight more times for these sessions, and there are some bootlegs of those tapes,” Song Facts continued. “Then followed a complicated flurry of edits on various tracks when they actually set out to record ‘Old Brown Shoe,’ with Harrison replacing two guitar tracks with his own and dropping Lennon’s rhythm guitar in favor of a Hammond organ.”
Whoever played bass, “Old Brown Shoe” turned out great, as did all the songs George wrote on the piano.
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https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/george-harrison-wrote-old-brown-shoe-something-piano-nothing-seemed-fresh-guitar.html/ George Harrison wrote “Old Brown Shoe” and “Something” on piano because “Nothing Seemed Fresh” on guitar
