George Harrison & Eric Clapton

from a 1996 interview in the CD-ROM music magazine Undercover --

Paul Cashmere: You and Eric Clapton go back a long way. When did you first meet?

George Harrison: I think I met him ... I'm not sure which year ... it was probably '63. No, must have been after that ... must have been '64 or '65 at the Hammersmith Odeon. He was in the Yardbirds. We did a Christmas season there ... two or three weeks we played there. That's the first time I met him. Then, later I met him ... somehow Brian Epstein was managing the Cream and the Bee Gees, and I used to see him hanging around at that point. That was when that guy (Robert) Stigwood had come to work for Brian Epstein. That's when I really got to know him quite a bit. It must have been 1966, '67.

George's first collaboration with Eric was for the recording in December of 1967 for a soundtrack George was working on for Wonderwall, a sexy-psychodelic movie that not many people saw.  The soundtrack was made up of Indian ragas and rock instrumentals.  Eric is most noticeable on the track called "Ski-ing."  Eric is credited on the album under the pseudonym "Eddie Clayton."

It was "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" that first clued the world into the friendship/musical partnership between the two guitarists.  George invited Eric to the White Album sessions and prodded Eric to do the solo on 6 September 1968.  

George returned the favor by writing a song called "Badge" for the next Cream album.  Eric's band recorded George's song in October of 1968 for their Goodbye album.

Then on December 2 through December 12 of 1969, George and Eric Clapton went on a tour of England playing with Delaney and Bonnie.  An album featuring the December 7 show was released in 1970 called On Tour with Eric Clapton by Delaney and Bonnie & Friends.  Delaney Bramlett is the one who turned George onto slide guitar.

Then on December 15 in 1969 George and Eric played guitar for John Lennon's band at the UNICEF Peace for Christmas charity show at the Lyceum Ballroom in London.  They played "Cold Turkey" and "Don't Worry Kyoko."  These songs would later turn up on John Lennon's Sometime in New York City album.

Next, Eric helps out from May 1970 to September 1970 on George's monumental All Things Must Pass triple album box set.  He plays guitar on "I'd Have You Anytime," "My Sweet Lord," "Wah Wah," "What Is Life," "Let It Down," "Beware of Darkness," "Awaiting on You All," "All Things Must Pass," "I Dig Love," "The Art of Dying," "Isn't It a Pity (Version 2)," "Hear Me Lord," "I Remember Jeep," "Thanks for the Pepperoni," and "Plug Me In."

Then Eric appeared as part of George's band for the Concert for Bangla Desh on August 1 of 1971.  Eric was in the throes of his heroin addiction at the time and couldn't make the sound check, but he performed admirably during the shows.

In 1978 on December 7th, George played guitar for the last song on the last date of Eric's Backless Tour.  The concert was in Surrey, England, and the song was "Further on up the Road," which also featured Elton John on piano.

Eric made an appearance in George's 1985 Handmade Films movie called Water starring Michael Caine, Valerie Perrine, and Billy Connolly.  At the end of the film, a band called the Singing Rebels perform a song called "Freedom" at the United Nations building.  The band consists of George and Eric, Jon Lord, Ringo, and Billy Connolly.

Also in 1985, on October 21 George, Eric and Ringo appear in London for a concert paying tribute to Carl Perkins, called Blue Suede Shoes:  A Rockabilly Session.

On June 6, 1987 Eric and George performed "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at Wembley Stadium for the Prince's Trust benefit concerts.  Then Ringo came out, and they all played "With a Little Help from my Friends."

Starting from January 5 to March 1987 George recorded his Cloud Nine album, on which Eric plays on several songs.  Listening to Eric and George trade guitar leads throughout the whole title track is, for me, pure bliss.  

George wrote a song for Eric's 1989 Journeyman album called "Run so Far."  George later recorded his own version of this song which he included on the last album he created, Brainwashed.

Also in 1989 Eric wrote instrumentals for the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack.  George contributed the excellent song "Cheer Down" that was included in the soundtrack.

The Beatle wives put together an album to raise money for Romanian orphans called Nobody's Child:  Romanian Angel Appeal that was released on July 24, 1990.  Eric performs a song called "That Kind of Woman" that is included on this album.  George wrote the song and plays guitar on it as well.

At the Forum in Inglewood, California, on May 1, 1990 during Eric's Journeyman Tour, George joined Eric on stage for three songs:  "Instrumental Jam," "Crossroads," and "Sunshine of Your Love."

Then Eric was in George's band when Eric pushed George to do a short tour of Japan in 1991 that lasted from December 1st to December 17th.

Then, after George's passing, Eric organized and performed at the Concert for George at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 29, 2002.

Finally, Eric recorded a cover of George's "Love Comes to Everyone" that he included on his 2005 album, Back Home.

The Collaborations between John/Paul/George/Ringo Outside of The Beatles

The first instance was when Ringo drummed on the soundtrack sessions for George's Wonderwall Music in 1967.  Ringo and George perform together on the tracks "Red Lady Too," "Drilling a Home," "Ski-ing," "Dream Scene," "Party Seacombe," "Cowboy Music," "Glass Box," and "Wonderwall to Be Here."

The next collaboration was when Ringo drummed on John's 1969 single "Cold Turkey."

On December 15, 1969, George played guitar in John Lennon's band at the UNICEF Charity Concert.  They played two songs, "Cold Turkey," and "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)."

In 1970 Paul arranged the song "Stardust" for Ringo's showtunes album, Sentimental Journey.

Also in 1970, George played guitar and piano on John's "Instant Karma!" single.

Next up in 1970, Ringo drummed on many of the tracks on George's monumental All Things Must Pass triple album.  According to Simon Leng's book, While My Guitar Gently Weeps:  The Music of George Harrison, Ringo plays drums on "My Sweet Lord," "Wah Wah," "Isn't It a Pity," "Beware of Darkness," "All Things Must Pass," "I Dig Love," and "Isn't It a Pity (Version 2)."  Ringo also plays tambourine on "If Not For You."

Finally in 1970, Ringo was the drummer for John's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, and Ringo was the drummer and John was the guitarist for Yoko's Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band album.

In 1971 Ringo drummed and John played guitar for "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" which was a track on Yoko's album Fly.

April of 1971 saw the release of the Harrison/Starkey penned single "It Don't Come Easy" with Ringo playing drums and George guitar.  The B-side was "Early 1970" which featured Ringo on drums/guitar/piano and George on guitar/bass.

Then in June and July of 1971 George played guitar on several tracks of John Lennon's album, Imagine.  He plays on "Crippled Inside," "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier," "Gimme Some Truth," "Oh My Love," and "How Do You Sleep?"

In August of 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Ringo was one of the house band's drummers for the Concert for Bangla Desh.  George was one of the guitarists.  Ringo played tambourine during Bob Dylan's set.

In 1973 Ringo played drums on some of the tracks on George's Living in the Material World album.

Then also in 1973, George collaborated with Ringo on Ringo's "Photograph" single.  They share songwriting credits for the track.  George plays guitar on it.  George also plays guitar on the single's B-side, Ringo's "Down and Out."

Then came Ringo's 1973 hit album, Ringo.  John wrote "I'm the Greatest" and plays piano.  George plays guitar on this track.  George wrote and plays guitar on "Sunshine Life for Me."  Paul plays kazoo on "You're Sixteen."  Paul wrote and plays piano on "Six O'clock."  Finally, George co-wrote and plays guitar on "You and Me (Babe)."

Ringo plays the drums on a couple of tracks on George's 1974 Dark Horse album.  He drums on "So Sad," and "Ding Dong, Ding Dong."

Then in 1974 John helps out on Ringo's Goodnight Vienna album.  John wrote and plays piano on the title track.  John also plays guitar on "All By Myself," and "Only You."

Ringo then joins up with John who was in 1974 producing Harry Nilsson's album, Pussy Cats.  Ringo plays the drums on "Many Rivers to Cross," "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "All My Life," "Loop de Loop," "Rock Around the Clock," and he plays maracas on "Mucho Mungo-Mt. Edna."

During this time, Paul shows up one night in the studio and jams with John, Harry, and Stevie Wonder, but they were drunk/stoned out of their minds to produce anything listenable.  You can discover for yourself if you listen to A Toot and a Snore in '74.

The last collaboration of the seventies occurred on Ringo's 1976 album, Ringo's Rotogravure.  Paul wrote and sings background vocals on "Pure Gold."  John wrote and plays piano on "Cookin (in the Kitchen of Love)."  George wrote "I'll Still Love You."

In 1982 Ringo released his Stop and Smell the Roses album.  Paul and George both produced sessions for the album.  Paul wrote "Private Property," and "Attention."  He also played bass and piano on both tracks.  He played piano and bass on "Sure to Fall." Paul also played the drums (Ringo played guitar) on the track "You Can't Fight Lightning."   George wrote "Wrack My Brain" and played guitar.  George also played guitar on "You Belong to Me."

1981 also saw George's Somewhere in England album that included the goodbye John track "All Those Years Ago" which featured Ringo on drums and Paul on backing vocals.

In 1982 Ringo played drums on Paul's "Take It Away."

In 1983 Ringo again drums for Paul on Paul's Pipes of Peace album on the tracks "So Bad" and "Average Person."

Ringo again provides drums for Paul in 1984's Give My Regards to Broad Street album.  He plays on the track "Not Such a Bad Boy."

In 1987 George and Ringo played together in June at the for charity Prince's Trust Gala.  They were introduced by Elton John, and then played "Here Comes the Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "With a Little Help from My Friends."

Ringo also played drums on George's 1987 album Cloud Nine.  He hit the skins for "When We Was Fab," "Devil's Radio," and "Wreck of the Hesperus."

In 1988 George and Ringo performed as part of the jam band that played "I Saw Her Standing There" when The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1995 George, Paul, and Ringo created "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" for the anthology project.

Then Ringo hooked up with Paul and played drums on "Looking for You," "Really Love You," and "Beautiful Night" for Paul's 1997 album Flaming Pie.  Ringo and Paul co-wrote "Really Love You" together.

The next year Paul and George helped out on Ringo's Vertical Man.  Paul played bass on "What in the . . .World," and George played guitar on "King of Broken Hearts" and "I'll Be Fine Anywhere."

In 2009, Ringo and Paul performed three songs together at the Change Begins Within charity concert at the Radio City Music Hall.  They played "With a Little Help with My Friends," "Cosmically Conscious," and "I Saw Her Standing There."

Paul showed up for the encore to Ringo's 70th Birthday Party Concert at Radio City Music Hall to play "Birthday" with him in 2010.

Finally, perhaps, Paul joined in on Ringo's sessions for Y Not to play bass on "Peace Dream" and sing haunting background vocals on "Walk with You" in 2010.

John/Paul/George/Ringo Duets !

Over the years, John/Paul/George/Ringo have lent their voices to the duet form.

Here is the set list:

1.  Act Naturally
2.  Sweet Little Sixteen
3.  Homeward Bound
4.  Shanghai Surprise
5.  Ebony and Ivory
6.  What's That You're Doing?
7.  Get It
8.  The Girl Is Mine
9.  Say Say Say
10.  The Man
11.  Twenty-five Fingers
12.  Used to Be Bad
13.  The Very Thought of You
14.  Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
15.  Heal the Pain


"Act Naturally" is Ringo and Buck Owens single released in 1989.  It reached number 27 on the country music singles chart.

"Sweet Little Sixteen" is a Ringo and Jerry Lee Lewis song that appeared on Lewis' 2006 album Last Man Standing.

"Homeward Bound" is a George and Paul Simon performance on the November 20, 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live and can be found on the 1990 album Nobody's Child:  Romanian Angel Appeal.  On the show, "Homeward Bound" was preceded by a performance of "Here Comes the Sun," and during rehearsals, they also sang "Bye Bye Love," "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long," "Bridge over Troubled Waters," and "Rock Island Line."

"Shanghai Surprise" is a George and Vicki Brown duet from the Handmade Film of the same name, but it was only officially released as a bonus track on a rereleased version of Cloud Nine.

"Ebony and Ivory" and "What's That You're Doing?" are Paul and Stevie Wonder songs from Paul's 1982 album Tug of War.  "Ebony and Ivory" reached number one on the singles chart.

"Get It" is a Paul and Carl Perkins song that was on also on Paul's Tug of War.

"The Girl Is Mine" is a Paul and Michael Jackson song from Jackson's 1982 Thriller album.  It reached number two on the singles chart.

"Say Say Say" and "The Man" are Paul and Jackson songs from Paul's 1983 album Pipes of Peace.  "Say" made it to number one on the singles chart.

"Twenty-five Fingers" is a Paul and Elvis Costello song that is officially unreleased, but can be found on the bootleg album, The McCartney/McManus Collaboration which covers the work they started in 1987.

"Used to Be Bad" is a Paul and Steve Miller song from Paul's 1997 album Flaming Pie.

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a Paul and Bono performance from the July 2, 2005 concert, Live 8.  Paul's voice sounds a little shaky on this track though, so be warned.

"The Very Thought of You" is a Paul and Tony Bennett song from Bennett's 2006 album, Duets -- An American Classic.  This song was originally a hit when sung by Bing Crosby in 1934.

"Heal the Pain" is a Paul and George Michael song from Michael's 2008 album, Twenty Five.


Notable Mentions:

John sings backing vocals on a performance of "Johnny B. Goode" when he had Chuck Berry on as a guest while John and Yoko were hosting The Mike Douglas Show in 1972.  They also sing "Memphis, Tennessee" together on that same show.   Elton John sings along with John in "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," but you have to listen carefully to distinguish their voices.  John Lennon's seems to be higher in the mix.  Paul sings background on a song he wrote and Johnny Cash performs called "New Moon over Jamaica" that is on Cash's album, Water from the Wells of Home.  Paul also sings background vocals on Brian Wilson's "A Friend like You" from Wilson's album, Gettin' in over My Head.  Paul sings background on Lindsay Pagano's cover of Paul's song "So Bad."  Paul also sings background on Ringo's "Walk with You" from the album, Y Not.

John/Paul/George/Ringo at the Movies

Here is a cd you could create filled with John/Paul/George/Ringo songs that were written for the soundtracks of movies that were released in theaters.






1.  "Blindman". .  Ringo for the 1971 film Blindman.
2.  "Live and Let Die". .  Paul for the 1973 film Live and Let Die.
3.  "Same Time Next Year". .  Paul for the 1978 film Same Time Next Year.
4.  "Did We Meet Somewhere Before". .  Paul for the 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School.
5.  "Dream Away". .  George for the 1981 film Time Bandits.
6.  "Not Such a Bad Boy". .  Paul for the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broadstreet.
7.  "No More Lonely Nights". .  Paul for the 1984 film Give My Regards to Broadstreet.
8.  "I Don't Wanna Do It". .  George for the 1985 film Porky's Revenge.
9.  "Spies Like Us". .  Paul for the 1985 film Spies Like Us.
10.  "Twice in a Lifetime". .   Paul for the 1985 film Twice in a Lifetime. 
11.  "Shanghai Surprise". .   George for the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise.
12.  "Zig Zag". .   George for the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise.
13.  "Hottest Gong in Town". . George for the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise.
14.  "Cheer Down". .  George for  the 1989 film Lethal Weapon 2.
15.  "You Never Know". .  Ringo for the 1991 film Curly Sue.
16.  "Maybe Baby". .  Paul for the 2000 film Maybe Baby.
17.  "Vanilla Sky". .  Paul for the 2001 film Vanilla Sky.
18.  "A Love for You". .  Paul for the 2003 film The In-Laws.
19.  "(I Want to) Come Home". .  Paul for the 2009 film Everybody's Fine.

"Dream Away" by George Harrison

"Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney
Nominated for Best Original Song Oscar

"You Never Know" by Ringo Starr

"(I Want To) Come Home" by Sir Paul McCartney

"Not Such a Bad Boy" by Paul McCartney
"No More Lonely Nights" by Paul McCartney

"A Love for You" by Paul McCartney

"Cheer Down" by George Harrison

"Maybe Baby" by Paul McCartney

"I Don't Wanna Do It" by George Harrison

"Did We Meet Somewhere Before" by Paul McCartney

"Same Time Next Year" by Paul McCartney

"Shanghai Surprise" by George Harrison
"Zig Zag" by George Harrison
"Hottest Gong in Town" by George Harrison

"Spies Like Us" by Paul McCartney

"Vanilla Sky" by Paul McCartney
Nominated for Best Original Song Oscar

"Twice in a Lifetime" by Paul McCartney

"Blindman" by Ringo Starr

     "Blindman" was written by Ringo himself and was the B-side to his 1972 single, "Back off Boogaloo."  Eric Clapton wrote many new instrumentals for the soundtrack of Lethal Weapon 2, and "Cheer Down" is yet another example of the lengthy collaboration of Eric and George.  "I Don't Wanna Do It" is a Bob Dylan song that George recorded several times over the years, but never did anything with it until deciding to contribute it to this Porky's movie.  Paul wrote "Did We Meet Somewhere Before" for the film Heaven Can Wait starring Warren Beatty, but the director chose not to use it, so Paul donated it to the Ramones's Rock 'n' Roll High School.  Paul's "Vanilla Sky" lost the Best New Song Oscar to Randy Newman, who won his first Oscar for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc.