"If I Needed Someone" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist. It was released in December 1965 on their album Rubber Soul, except in North America, where it appeared on the June 1966 release Yesterday and Today. The song reflects the reciprocal influences shared between the Beatles and American band the Byrds. On release, it was widely considered to be Harrison's best song to date. A recording by the Hollies was issued in Britain on the same day as Rubber Soul and peaked at number 20 on the national singles chart.
Harrison wrote the song for Pattie Boyd, the English model whom he married in January 1966. The lyrics convey an ambivalent tone, however, and have invited interpretation as a message to a casual love interest. Harrison based the song's jangly guitar riff on one used by Roger McGuinn in the Byrds' adaptation of "The Bells of Rhymney". "If I Needed Someone" features prominent three-part harmony vocals and Rickenbacker twelve-string electric guitar – the instrument that the Byrds had adopted to replicate Harrison's sound in the 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. The song's use of drone and Mixolydian harmony also reflected Harrison's nascent interest in Indian classical music. Following its inclusion in the set list for the Beatles' 1965 UK tour, it became the only Harrison composition performed live by the group.
The Hollies' success with the song gave Harrison his first chart hit as a songwriter, although his criticism of their performance led to a terse exchange in the press between the two groups. Several other artists covered the track in the first year after its release, including the American bands Stained Glass and the Kingsmen. A live recording by Harrison, taken from his 1991 tour with Eric Clapton, appears on the album Live in Japan. Clapton also performed the song at the Concert for George tribute to Harrison in 2002, while McGuinn released a cover version on his 2004 album Limited Edition.
Background and inspiration
In addition to reflecting George Harrison's interest in Indian classical music, "If I Needed Someone" was inspired by the music of the Byrds, who in turn had based their sound and image on those of the Beatles after seeing the band's 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. According to music journalist David Fricke, the composition resulted from "a remarkable exchange of influences between the Beatles and one of their favorite new bands, the Byrds". The two groups formed a friendship in early August 1965, when the Byrds were enjoying international success with their debut single, a folk rock interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", and Harrison and John Lennon attended their first shows in London. Although the concerts received unfavourable reviews in the British music press, Harrison lauded the band as "the American Beatles". In late August, the Byrds' Jim (later Roger) McGuinn and David Crosby met up with the Beatles in Los Angeles, where they discussed with Lennon and Harrison the music of Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar and American Indo-jazz pioneer John Coltrane. The meeting led to Harrison introducing the sitar on Lennon's song "Norwegian Wood", and to Crosby and McGuinn incorporating Indian influences into the Byrds' "Why" and "Eight Miles High".
Harrison likened "If I Needed Someone" to "a million other songs" that are based on a guitarist's finger movements around the D major chord. The song is founded on a riff played on a Rickenbacker 360/12, which was the twelve-string electric guitar that McGuinn had adopted as the Byrds' signature instrument after seeing Harrison playing one in A Hard Day's Night. When McGuinn told him this in Los Angeles, Harrison was appreciative of the recognition, particularly as his contributions to the Beatles were often overshadowed by those of Lennon and Paul McCartney. In late 1965, Harrison acknowledged the Byrds' influence on "If I Needed Someone" when he sent a copy of the Beatles' new album, Rubber Soul, along with a message for McGuinn and Crosby, to Derek Taylor, the Byrds' publicist. In his note, Harrison said that the riff was based on the one McGuinn had played on the Byrds' adaptation of "The Bells of Rhymney", and that the rhythm was based on the drum part in "She Don't Care About Time". McGuinn later recalled: "George was very open about it. He sent [the record] to us in advance and said, 'This is for Jim' – because of that lick [in 'The Bells of Rhymney']."