Highlights
- George Harrison was sued for his song “My Sweet Lord” sounding too similar to “He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons.
- Harrison claimed he was not aware of the similarity and would have made changes if he had known.
- John Lennon seemed to side with The Chiffons, while Ringo Starr defended Harrison in the lawsuit.
Made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, The Beatles are the biggest and best band to make it in music. Though their time together was short, the band changed the face of music, leaving a lasting impression on pop culture as a whole.
Eventually, the guys all took to solo careers, and each of them found success. This includes George Harrison, whose double album propelled him to solo stardom, and showed the world that he was an underrated part of the band’s success.
While this was all good and well, Harrison was also slapped with a massive lawsuit fresh off of his solo victory, and it cost him a small fortune.
George Harrison Was Sued For “My Sweet Lord” Sounding Like “He’s So Fine” By The Chiffons
On the heels of The Beatles petering out, George Harrison was ready to become a solo star. His vehicle to get there was his iconic All Things Must Pass album, which featured the smash hit, “My Sweet Lord.” The song was massive for Harrison, but the former Beatle paid a heavy price for the song.
“The publisher of “He’s So Fine,” Bright Tunes Music, sued Harrison in February 1971 on behalf of Ronnie Mack, the song’s writer. Mack died in 1963, shortly after the Chiffons’ tune became a No. 1 hit in the U.S. The song was a modest hit in the U.K., reaching No. 12,” Ultimate Classic Rock wrote about the suit.
Harrison himself stated that he had a lack of awareness about the song he was accused of ripping off.
“I wasn’t consciously aware of the similarity between ‘He’s So Fine’ and ‘My Sweet Lord’ when I wrote the song, as it was more improvised and not so fixed. Although when my version of the song came out and started to get a lot of airplay, people started talking about it, and it was then I thought, ‘Why didn’t I realize?’ It would have been very easy to change a note here or there, and not affect the feeling of the record,” he wrote.
Harrison was found guilty of the crime, with the judge ruling against him.
“It is clear that My Sweet Lord is the very same song as ‘He’s So Fine.’ This is, under the law infringement of copyright and is no less so even though subconsciously accomplished,” the judge stated.
For Harrison, he was ordered to pay a massive $1.6 million, though he would pay less than half of that.
To further add interest to the case, his former bandmates had opposing opinions about George’s actions.
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John Lennon Seemed To Side With The Chiffons During The Case, But Ringo Starr Defended Him
John Lennon seemed to side with The Chiffons.
“Well, he walked right into it. He knew what he was doing.” When asked if he thought George had consciously plagiarised the single, Lennon said: “He must have known, you know,” John continued. “He’s smarter than that. It’s irrelevant, actually — only on a monetary level does it matter,” Lennon said.
Ringo Starr, meanwhile, defended him.
“George was very unlucky. There’s no doubt that the tune is similar, but how many songs have been written with other melodies in mind? George’s version is much heavier than the Chiffons. He might have done it with the original in the back of his mind, but he’s just very unlucky that someone wanted to make it a test case in court,” Ringo stated.
A perfect split between the two men.
As far as the band is concerned, well, lawsuits were nothing new to them.
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The Beatles Were Engaged In A Number Of Suits Through The Years
At one point, McCartney himself sued the rest of the band. He did so, however, so that opportunities would be available down the line.
“The only way for me to save The Beatles and Apple — and to release Get Back by Peter Jackson which allowed us to release Anthology and all these great remasters of all the great Beatles records — was to sue the band. If I hadn’t done that, it would have all belonged to Allen Klein. The only way I was given to get us out of that was to do what I did,” he told British GQ.
McCartney went through hell to make it happen, but ultimately, it was the right move.
The Beatles Got $77 Million After Each Court Defendant Was Ordered To Pay $1 Million For The Lawsuit Defeat
The 77 defendants refused to show up, and the court battle against the Beatles resulted in a $77 million settlement.
In the way of lawsuits, George Harrison’s copyright suit wasn’t overly terrible, and in truth, most people seem to have completely forgotten about it.
Source: NewsFinale
