The Story Behind the Lost Song George Harrison and Bob Dylan Wrote Over Thanksgiving Weekend, 1968

In late November 1968, over Thanksgiving weekend, George Harrison went to Bob Dylan‘s home in Bearsville in Woodstock, New York, for a few sessions. At the time, Dylan was going through a period of low confidence, following his motorcycle accident two years earlier, shortly after the release of Blonde on Blonde, and had retreated from touring until 1974, when he went out again with the Band.

“Bob Dylan had gone through the thing of breaking his neck in a motorcycle accident and being out of commission for a time,” recalled Harrison in his 1982 memoir I, Me, Mine. “He’d got himself back together and had finished ‘Nashville Skyline’ shortly before I arrived there. I was hanging out at his house, with him, Sarah and his kids. He seemed very nervous, and I felt a little uncomfortable—it seemed strange, especially as he was in his own home.”

During this period, Dylan also recorded The Basement Tapes with the Band, along with his eighth album, John Wesley Harding (1967), followed by Nashville Skyline in ’69. Though Dylan had already been linked to another Beatle, John Lennon, he also developed a close friendship with Harrison during their Thanksgiving sessions.

Over the weekend, both co-wrote two songs meant for Harrison’s third solo album, All Things Must Pass, including the opening track, “I’d Have You Anytime,” and another song meant for that was never officially released.

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“When Everybody Comes to Town”

By 1970, both reconvened at Dylan’s home in Greenwich Village, NewYork, where Harrison recorded a demo of “Everybody Comes to Town,” later retitled “Nowhere to Go.” The lyrics reference Harrison’s frustrations at being known only as a Beatle and his desire to create more.

I get tired of being pushed around
Trampled to the ground
Every time somebody comes to town
I get tired of policemen on the prowl
Looking in my bowel
Every time somebody’s getting high

Nowhere to go
There’s no place to hide myself
Nowhere, I know that they don’t know
And I know it

I get tired of being Beatle Jeff
Talking to the deaf
Every time some whistle’s getting blown

With the closing verse, Harrison takes a similar turn, calling himself Beatle Ted.

I get tired of being Beatle Ted
Talking to the dead
Every time somebody’s getting blown

Both remained friends through Harrison’s death in 2001 and collaborated on several more songs, including co-writing several songs for the Travelling Wilburys, including “End of the Line” and “Handle With Care.” 

“If Dylan hadn’t said some of the things he did, nobody else was going to say them,” Harrison said of his friend during the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration for Dylan in 1993. “Can you imagine what a world it would be if we didn’t have a Bob Dylan? It would be awful.”

Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns