Peter Jackson’s Get Back trilogy has shed new light on a gripping subplot: the emergence of GEORGE HARRISON and his chafing at his status in The Beatles. But his discomfort wasn’t new, and his flowering as an artist would soon bear extraordinary fruit. “George was finding his independence,” discovers TOM DOYLE, “and he wouldn’t be dominated.” PLUS: GEORGE'S 30 GREATEST SONGS: in and out of The Beatles. AND: PAUL McCARTNEY : “I think what George did was phenomenal.”

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“IS THIS A HARRISONG?” JOHN LENNON enquires of George Harrison. It’s Friday, Januar y 3, 1969 – day two for The Beatles at Twickenham Film Studios – as seen 37 minutes into the opening episode of Peter Jackson’s Get Back doc, the music head’s TV event of this and many other seasons. As Harrison leads the others through the chords and melody of the just-written All Things Must Pass, Lennon and McCartney’s indifference is clear – and painful to watch.

To be fair, Lennon appears to be concentrating on following the chord changes on his Lowrey organ, but McCartney comes over as semi-detached and going through the motions. Only when John, Paul and George’s voices begin to knit in harmony during the chorus do we get a tantalising snatch of how great a Beatles version of the song might have been. Lennon and McCartney both mention All Things Must Pass later, when they read out lists of works-inprogress, but the band are never seen or heard returning to it.

Lennon’s quip referenced Harrisongs Ltd., the publishing company Harrison had begun funnelling songs through after his contract with the Lennon/McCartney-biased Northern Songs (with its low royalty rate – another bone of contention) had lapsed in March 1968. But he was also referring to the compositions the increasingly prolific George had been tr ying, and often failing, to offer the others for inclusion on Beatle records since 1963.