George Harrison’s “This Song”

After spending a week in a New York courtroom trying unsuccessfully to convince a judge that “My Sweet Lord” didn’t intentionally infringe on the Ronnie Mack/Chiffon hit “He’s So Fine,” George Harrison wrote and released “This Song” on November 19, 1976. It’s an uptempo tune that expressed his frustration at the in-depth song analysis that Harrison said after several days had him “starting to believe that maybe they did own those notes.”

The following day, on November 20, Harrison appeared on Saturday Night Live and sang “Homeward Bound” and “Here Comes the Sun” with guest host Paul Simon. The show also included a hilarious music video featuring George in a courtroom along with a cast of friends dressed up as the jury, bailiff and defense experts.

“This Song” was released as the first single for Harrison’s Thirty Three & 1/3 album, and features Billy Preston on piano and organ, and Monty Python’s Eric Idle calling out a falsetto “Could be ‘Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch,” “No, sounds more like ‘Rescue Me’!” interjection right before the instrumental break. It actually reached #25 on the U.S. pop charts.

Here’s a video of George performing it on a German television show, Disco 1977, on February 5, 1977.

Category: In Case You Haven't Heard