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Explore George Harrison’s early guitar work on “I Saw Her Standing There,” a key moment in The Beatles’ rock legacy. Discover how this iconic track marked the beginning of Harrison’s evolution as a lead guitarist.
On the morning of February 11th, 1963, The Beatles arrived at Abbey Road Studio Two at 9 am, ready to achieve something remarkable. In just one day, they would record ten songs for their debut album, Please Please Me—a feat that’s nearly impossible to imagine in today’s world of extended album cycles. By the late 1960s, even The Beatles had moved far beyond such intense recording sessions, but on that day, they were working within tight time constraints and a limited budget, while also juggling a UK tour that dominated the rest of their year.
The session began with the band hurriedly setting up their equipment to record the Lennon-McCartney ballad “There’s a Place.” This song, filled with yearning melancholia, evoked the emotive scores of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. But as the recording session progressed, it became clear that this was no ordinary day for the band, especially for lead guitarist George Harrison, whose moment to shine was just around the corner.
Up to that point, The Beatles’ singles “Love Me Do” and “Please Please Me” had showcased John Lennon’s harmonica skills, leaving little room for Harrison’s guitar to take center stage. While Harrison added a raw-edged rock and roll riff to “Please Please Me,” the song’s hook still belonged to the harmonica, and the same was true for “There’s a Place.”
However, halfway through the sixth song they recorded that day, Harrison finally got his opportunity to step into the spotlight. The track, originally titled “Seventeen,” was a high-energy number created by Paul McCartney and completed by Lennon. It was later renamed “I Saw Her Standing There” and became the opening song on their debut album, setting the tone with McCartney’s iconic “One, two, three, FOUR!” count-in.
Harrison’s solo in “I Saw Her Standing There” arrives at the end of the second verse, marked by McCartney’s wild screams in the style of Little Richard. Although he swings into the groove a bit late with a bluesy, minor-key guitar figure, Harrison’s solo added a rough-and-ready flavor to the song’s middle section, signaling to Merseybeat boppers in the dance halls that it was time to get down to business. While the rest of the solo played within the track’s basic chord structure, suiting its relentless dance rhythm, it didn’t fully showcase Harrison’s unique personality as a guitarist.
At just 19 years old during the Please Please Me recordings, Harrison was still years away from developing the loose, note-bending style that would later define his work. Tracks like his later composition “Something” would demonstrate his ability to infuse songs with deeply emotive guitar lines that conveyed more than words ever could. While “I Saw Her Standing There” offers glimpses of Harrison’s feel for groove, he was still gaining the confidence needed to craft solos that could steal the spotlight.
George Harrison was initially brought into The Beatles for his technical proficiency as a lead guitarist, but his creativity with the instrument was still blossoming. As the 1960s progressed, Harrison would evolve into a soloist whose body of work stood shoulder to shoulder with the very best in the rock world. This early track marks an important step in his journey and is a significant moment in The Beatles’ rock legacy.
