Why did George Harrison leave The Beatles and how is this explored in the new Peter Jackson documentary series The Beatles: Get Back? The Disney+ series premiered on November 25, 2021, and it was a huge hit worldwide. Peter Jackson used old footage shot during the making of The Beatles' 1970 album, Let It Be. This was their last album, and it was recorded during the months leading to their definitive breakup. However, Jackson wanted to reuse the Beatles footage (originally shot by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his film Let It Be) to create a more upbeat interpretation of The Beatles' last months.
The Beatles were an English rock band from Liverpool who managed, in a single decade, to explore dozens of styles and instruments, and to create sounds that still influence numerous artists today. In fact, they are arguably regarded as the most influential band to date. John Lennon and Paul McCartney led the band and wrote the most songs, which eventually had a negative impact on the group as the two would often fight over copyright, and George Harrison and Ringo Starr would often feel left out. By the time they got together in the Abbey Road Studio to record Let It Be (initially titled Get Back), the tensions were unbearable, and the first one to leave was The Beatles' George Harrison, who was just 25 at the time.
On January 10, 1969, George left The Beatles, and the moment is shown in the first episode of Get Back. During rehearsals for the song "Get Back," Paul criticizes George for "vamping" on the songs, and George is visibly unhappy about it. It was the last straw, after a series of arguments between the members of the band which, from George's point of view, often revolved around him not getting enough creative freedom. George spoke about the moment for the Anthology documentary (via Newsweek): "It never came to blows, but I thought, 'What's the point of this? I'm quite capable of being relatively happy on my own and I'm not able to be happy in this situation. I'm getting out of here." He explained that being filmed having a row made everything more difficult (even if today, it seems like Peter Jackson uses this exact documentary footage to rewrite the band's breakup).
Documenting the moment at the time, Lindsay-Hogg observed the band's aggressive reaction to George's departure. John suggested they should just replace him with Eric Clapton, who was "not such a headache" (via Beatles Bible). Then in the studio, the band performed The Who's "A Quick One (While He's Away)" four times as a joke, with Yoko wailing in George's microphone. Ringo also spoke in Anthology about his temporary exit from the band in 1968 and said everyone in the band had the impression they were left out and that the other three were really close. This feeling of alienation carried on until The Beatles split up in 1970.
Just five days after quitting, George returned to the Apple Corps. studio with one condition: that they finish recording the album and not do a live show at the end. They recorded for 11 days straight, then ended up doing an unannounced live show on the studio's rooftop on January 30, 1969. Let It Be came out in May 1970. By then, both John and Paul had left the band, with Paul's exit in April marking the end of The Beatles.
It seems fitting that Peter Jackson be the director to shed a different light on The Beatles' breakup: five decades ago, The Beatles wanted to do Lord Of The Rings as a movie. While that didn't happen, Jackson managed to create a docuseries showing how The Beatles shined even throughout their worst months as a band. Exploring how The Beatles' breakup also led to some of the most widely appreciated tunes to date makes The Beatles: Get Back a valuable docuseries.