One of The Beatles finest ‘lost’ recordings, ‘Not Guilty’ was recorded during the White Album sessions, but remained unreleased until Anthology 3 in 1996.
‘Not Guilty’ was written by George Harrison. A demo was recorded in May 1968 at Kinfauns, his home in Esher, Surrey, where The Beatles convened to try out their bumper crop of songs written during or immediately after their trip to India.
Actually, I wrote that in 1968. It was after we got back from Rishikesh in the Himalayas on the Maharishi trip, and it was for the White Album. We recorded it but we didn’t get it down right or something. Then I forgot all about it until a year ago, when I found this old demo I’d made in the Sixties. The lyrics are a bit passé – all about upsetting ‘Apple carts’ and stuff – but it’s a bit about what was happening at the time. ‘Not guilty for getting in your way/While you’re trying to steal the day’ – which was me trying to get a space. ‘Not guilty/For looking like a freak/Making friends with every Sikh/For leading your astray/On the road to Mandalay’ – which is the Maharishi and going to the Himalayas and all that was said about that. I like the tune a lot; it would make a great tune for Peggy Lee or someone.
Rolling Stone, April 1979
Lyrically, the song is largely in defence of the 1960s counterculture, although references to Harrison’s frustration at his often marginal role within the group can be detected.
Not guilty
For getting in your way
While you’re trying to steal the day …I won’t upset the apple cart
I only want what I can get
I’m really sorry that you’ve been misled
But like you heard me said:
Not guilty
At the time of its recording, relations within the group were becoming increasingly strained, with The Beatles often working alone and choosing not to help each other. For John Lennon and Paul McCartney this was less of an issue, but Harrison needed the rest of the group’s support to have his songs considered.
Part of the problem may have been the complexity of the song, with numerous time signature changes and half-bars which derailed many of The Beatles’ attempts. However, the result was far from disastrous, and would arguably have made a better inclusion on the White Album than a number of other songs.
‘Not Guilty’ was eventually re-recorded by Harrison for his self-titled 1979 album, in a mellower version featuring acoustic guitar and Fender Rhodes electric piano, the latter played by Steve Winwood.
In the studio
The song was recorded at Abbey Road in August 1968. The Beatles taped over 100 takes of ‘Not Guilty’, but even the best of these failed to win a place on the White Album.
The Beatles began work on ‘Not Guilty’ on 7 August 1968. They recorded 46 takes of the rhythm track, comprising guitar, bass, electric piano and drums. The first 18 of these were devoted to the introduction alone; beyond that, just five takes were complete.
The next day the group recorded takes 47-101 of the rhythm track. For these John Lennon switched from electric piano to harpsichord. Take 99 was deemed the best of the day.
On 9 August a reduction mix was made to free up space on the tape. Take 99 became 102, and onto this a range of overdubs were added.
In a session lasting more than six hours, extra lead guitar, bass and drum parts were recorded. The distinctive lead guitar riffs and solo were recorded by George Harrison in the studio control room, with his amplifier stack turned up high in the studio below.
George asked us to put his guitar amplifier at one end of the echo chambers, with a microphone at the other end to pick up the output. He sat playing the guitar in the studio control room with a line plugged through to the chamber.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Work on ‘Not Guilty’ finished on 12 August, with the recording of a second lead vocal by Harrison. As with the previous lead guitar overdub, he opted to tape his performance in the control room.
George had this idea that he wanted to do it in the control room with the speakers blasting, so that he got more of an on-stage feel. So we had to monitor through headphones, setting the monitor speakers at a level where he felt comfortable and it wouldn’t completely blast out his vocal.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
A rough mono mix was made at the end of the session, but the song was later rejected for the White Album.
In the early 1980s, Geoff Emerick made a stereo mix, editing roughly a minute from the running time, for EMI’s aborted Sessions album. The 3:22 mix, which faded the song out early, was eventually released in 1996 on Anthology 3.
In 2018, on the super deluxe edition of the White Album, the full version of take 102, lasting 4:28, was released, as was the remastered Esher demo.
WHAT?? This song is way much better than “don’t pass me by” from the white album.
It should have been included in as well
The vocals are superb. What a great song
I quite like Don’t pass me by. One of Ringo’s only good recordings in my opinion.
But only in the (faster) “mono” version!
The stereo version really drags, and it doesn’t help that the chords are more on the simple side.
it amazes me how george held on to such a great song for 11 years
How can a song like “Wild Honey Pie” be considered better than this?
Absolutely. Highly enjoyable song.
Should have been included on any one of the last three albums.
I’m not actuallly sure that this was considered better than the experimental cut “Wild Honey Pie”– wasn’t it that Pattie Harrison dug “WHP” and so that it made the “White Album”? I don’t think Paul really was expecting it to be a “White Album” track.
But it shouldn’t have replaced “Not Guilty”, that’s for sure.
I think the reason this didn’t make the White Album was that John and Paul saw the lyrics as somewhat of a dig at them. George would have stopped them from taking it off, but he was in Los Angeles producing a Jackie Lomax record and couldn’t make the 24-hour session where they finished the album.
In light of the drug busts of John and George that were to follow, the inclusion of Not Guilty on the White Album would have provided the British Press with a field day on the front pages of the tabloids.
John and Paul were using the general rule of 1 per side, which means that Harrison would have been forced to drop something else by him. Harrison probably gave them a list of what 4 songs he wanted on the WA
“I’m really sorry for your aging head…” Yep that’s George.
Steve Winwood doesn’t play harmonium, he’s playing a Rhodes Electric Piano
So it is. Thanks, I’ve amended the text.
Oy, there are some bad lyrics in this song:
I’m really sorry that you’ve been misled
But like you heard me said:
Seriously? “Like you heard me said”? That’s pretty bad.
Anyway, this song could have replaced Sexy Sadie, and the fact that John’s rant against Maharishi went on the album and George’s defensive rant about himself didn’t make it means the Beatles were sensitive about how they were being perceived. And it was John, no doubt, who pushed for his own song to be on the album.
How about, Like you heard me, said: “Not guilty”?
Poetically just omits the “I”.
No way could this have replaced “maharishi”. That song is a masterpiece and this is… Meh.
I hear it as ” like you heard me ‘say it’ .. Sang in a way that sounds like ‘said’
“Like you heard me said” is actually one of my favorite lines in the song. Obviously not grammatically correct, but the wrongness just makes it right.
Liverpudlian humor.
Who cares that Not Guilty didn’t make the White Album. Paul and John made the Beatles with their songwriting so, fair or not, they got to call the shots. The real crime is that “Wild Honey Pie” made the cut. Yesterday morning someone was playing “Wild Honey Pie” outside my bedroom window, so I went to investigate. I was wrong. It was two cats fighting.
Do you know which Harrison’s guitar is used on “Not Guilty” ? Thanks
Probably Harrison’s 1957 Gibson Les Paul (Lucy) given to him by Eric Clapton. Some say this is the first song he used it on.
Revolution 9 got into the album and this not. C’MON GEORGE MARTIN!
That was most likely Yoko’s doing, seeing as it was basically Plastic Ono creating it, and everyone else objected to it being produced.
“Revolution 9” was largely created by John and Yoko, although George was involved as well – you can hear his voice in certain sections.
Paul had no direct involvement in “Revolution 9”, although one of his pre-recorded piano pieces was used.
Agreed. For that matter, they could have put Hey Jude and Not Guilty on the album and it would only be slightly longer than Revolution 9.
John had MUCH more say in that decision than Mr. Martin. I seriously doubt ol’ George even wanted to listen to that crap, let alone put it on the album.
Well before that time, the Beatles had the final say on what was released.
Fine song, but i don’t care if it was on white album or not, it was finally released on anthology.
I think ‘Not Guilty’ surpasses ‘Revolution 9’ (duh), ‘WHP’, perhaps even George’s own ‘Savoy Truffle’ and certainly ‘Cry baby Cry’ and ‘Honey Pie’…..however other tracks missed the cut including ‘Junk’, ‘Child of Nature’ ‘Sour Milk Sea’, and I could probably write up an alternate track listing if I have time.
Sour Milk Sea is a great song. So is Not Guilty. Martin must have been nuts.
More pertinently than not being on the White Album, other tracks like Sour Milk Sea should have made Anthology 3 rather than so many tatty acoustic demos and incomplete run-throughs.
There are just SO MANY great ‘lost’ tracks on bootleg that it’s a crime for the Anthologies to be handed over to things like an early busk of Bathroom Window.
They couldn’t please everyone, so they pleased themselves. They’re the Beatles. They could do that.
it really is a shame this intelligent song never has seen the white album, instead of the superstition called revolution #9
And, Sexy Sadie is one heckuva good tune. That might have had something to do with it.
a bunch of people almost fifty years later trying to choose what should have been on the white album: hilarious.
John and Paul were right to reject this song. I’m surprised George decided to resurrect it in 1979.
‘Not Guilty’ would have been the worst song on ‘The White Album’. Harrison’s ‘Circles’ and ‘Sour Milk Sea’ are much, much better songs.
I’m surprised The Beatles put so much effort in recording ‘Not Guilty’, having problems with a time signature that Harrison later dropped himself. He “dropped a section of 3/8 time that had been one of the factors in making the 1968 recording difficult.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Guilty_%28song%29
Harrison may have become a better songwriter during the 1960s, but he rarely had the skills that Lennon and McCartney had in even their solo career. Harrison’s lyrics and vocal lines are often just dull, dreary and much of the same.
Harrison’s ‘My Sweet Lord’ was a hit, but partly plagiarism. ‘Got My Mind Set on You’ was a hit, but it’s a cover.
‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun’ are great. And those were included in the Beatles’s catalogue. Fair enough!
‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ is saved by Eric Clapton’s guitar work.
‘All Things Must Pass’? Please, no! What a dreary, dull song. Even amateurs would reject it.
I think ‘Wild Honey Pie’ and ‘Revolution 9’ mean more to music history than ‘Not Guilty’ could ever have done. There have been many “Wild Honey Pies” since then, by other artists. And ‘Revolution 9’ is a great, historical piece of audio art, using analogue samples.
Starr knew his own limitations. Harrison apparently didn’t, trying to make “Lennon-McCartney” look as a trio.
When you spend hours, even days of overdubbing distorted guitars onto distorted guitars, trying to make a composition work, you should know there’s something wrong. (‘Yer Blues’ uses the idea, but could also be acoustic or even a capella.)
Including ‘Not Guilty’ on a Beatles album, although not all sections were included on a Harrison solo album, shows that also Harrison himself would have rejected it.
Harrison should have put his energy into ‘Circles’ and ‘Sour MIlk Sea’, which are sorely missing on (at least) Anthology.
Just my opinion.
And a horribly biased opinion at that. “All Things Must Pass” dreary and dull? And Clapton “saved WMGGW? Nonsense.
Micheal – just what do you think an “opinion” is?
Personally, I could never stand listening to “While My Guitar….”. It’s an ugly recording and grates on my ears. It was only when I heard the demo on Anthology that I realized how beautiful the song actually is. It just got ruined in the recording process.
My opinion……biased as it is!
I think not.
I’m sorry. Try as might, I think Not Guilty is a poor song … Actually, I think the White Album would have been a mind-blowingly good single album, and some of the other tracks should have joined not guilty on the cutting room floor …
George Martin…is that you?
What makes you think Mr. Martin decided that? Good grief. It shows how little Beatle “fans” know about what went on then. John and Paul had much more say-so by this time. Try some research and reading instead of making ad-hominem attacks.
Teddy Salad was just referring what George Martin has said in interviews about the White Album being a single album. And Teddy Salad was making a joke about how the Cronners comment actually read like it WAS George Martin. MikeP didn’t get the joke because he’s too busy being the angry judgmental BeatlesBibleBully. Lighten up MikeP. Unclench the colon.
A hundred and two takes and it still didn’t make the album?! Wow.
I like it. It’s a clever song, great tune. And it just says George all over it. Of course, the bit about upsetting apple carts and certain people stealing the day probably upset John and Paul…
I always liked this almost ominous sounding guitar and the rhythm changes. He might have re-written the words, they did bump along. But as far as feel, it, to me, was as least as dark and brooding as Come Together. I’ve re-produced this song many times using Clapton or Hendrix, slashing through with ragged guitars. I don’t do Fantasy Football, I do Fantasy Engineer & Producer.
I like this song. If it was ready in time, it would have fit in perfectly on The White Album. Like many of those songs it had a minimal feel to it-fewer participants in particular.
To go off topic- great website! Reading about how these songs came about and were put together, and who interchanged and played bass or lead guitar is fascinating. It has even sparked me into listening to the under appreciated songs like “Not Guilty”, “What’s The New Mary Jane,” “You Know My Name…” Even revisiting Revolution 9 with new ears. Thanks for this outstanding forum!!! The Beatles Forever!
Just heard this for the first time as I’ve finally gotten the Anthology’s on iTunes now despite being a gigantic Beatles fan. It’s a shame it never got released onto the White Album. Honestly I think it would have been one of the best tracks on the album. Only listened to it twice so far but I could have sworn it was Paul singing, and I never get mixed up nowadays. Weird, maybe I wasn’t really concentrating both times since it was late.
I could have Not Guilty and Sour Milk Sea instead of Don’t Pass Me By and Revoluion 9… I don’t think Not Guilty is a great song, but I like the things Ringo was doing and Georges guitars on the Beatles version….Add some 1st class John/Paul backup vocals and Not Guilty could be really cool, in spite of its less than stellar melody.. That said. the Beatles made really good to great songs out of less than great melodies.
Chris Thomas said in an inter view he did not play harpsichord on this, apparently it’s John. Interview here, about 25 min. in. https://somethingaboutthebeatles.com/154-chris-thomas-time/
That’s right – John was obviously in what I call his keyboardist mode, hence that he started on electric piano and changed to harpsichord. He clearly loved playing keyboards as much as he loved playing guitar.
Listening to the full finished take 102 on the 50th anniversary boxed set is a delight. What a great tune and a great performance. The time changes and breaks really highlight Ringo’s drumming, his fills are top notch.
The mix on the 2018 box is the final stereo mix, correct?
I know I’ve heard this song sometime before but hearing it today on an internet radio station with headphones was almost like hearing a new Beatles song for me (I don’t have the Anthology recordings). Of course I had to immediately go to The Beatles Bible to learn more about Not Guilty…thanks Joe. I like the guitars in this one and despite some of the negative opinions here I think it deserved to be on an album. Heck, I even think the 12 Bar Original deserved more attention (yes, I know I’m in the minority on that one!) If they had put in the hours on 12 Bar that they put in on this one they both might have been more appreciated. Great songs by a great band…in my humble opinion!
Should have been placed on the White Album along with a couple of the other demos. Bye Bye Revolution 9.
John Lennon was on heroin at the time. I would not have trusted his song judgment on anything at the time.
Everyone complaining about Revolution #9 being included instead of Not Guilty, would be complaining about not hearing Revolution #9 if it HAD been left off the White Album.
After listening to the full take, I can see the problem with Not Guilty is that it is directionless. It just doesn’t have any energy and it certainly doesn’t seem to go anywhere in that coda. I can see why the guys were having so much trouble getting it down right. Even if George had the Wrecking Crew working on it, it wouldn’t have yielded a good version. George really needed a songwriting partner to help him tighten up his melodies and lyrics.
George was capable of writing both on his own and collaboratively and if he had wanted to record it with The Wrecking Crew, he would’ve had to fly out to Los Angeles, because that’s where The Wrecking Crew were based.
Also the 3/8 time signature change imitates the same change in We Can Work It Out, both using a harpsichord. Maybe this and the bitter lyrics contributed to its excision. Having said that, the White Album would have been better with it and Sour Milk Sea. Wild Honey Pie and Mother Nature’s Son could have been dropped. MNS always sounded like Son of Blackbird. We didn’t need two McCartney solo demos.
Is there any reason to think Paul McCartney was on harpsichord? I ask because, White My Guitar Gently Weeps, The Music of George Harrison by Simon Leng briefly mentions “Paul McCartney’s pseudo-harpsichord” when talking about “Not Guilty.” Is this a case where Mr. Leng is misinformed or did not research well enough before matter-of-factly stating Paul was playing harpsichord?