The Feud between Graham Nash and George Harrison

The December 10th, 1965, issue of New Musical Express showed the state of the pop scene that week. One week after the Beatles’ track ‘Help!’ was number three on the album charts, Rubber Soul was already Britain’s best-selling LP, not to mention ‘Day Tripper’ was the best-selling single in the country. The back pages of the issue also included a feature on Xmas Radio with the Hollies and Herman’s Hermits. Elsewhere in the magazine, writer Alan Smith was travelling with and documenting the Beatles’ tour that winter in support of Rubber Soul. He asked Harrison, in particular, if he had more songwriting plans in the future since he, as Smith noted, had written ‘If I Needed Someone’ “for the Hollies.” “Tell people I didn’t write it for the Hollies,” George snapped back Smith. “It’s called ‘If I Needed Someone’ and they’ve done it as their new single, but their version is not my kind of music.” George wasn’t done. He added: “I think it’s rubbish the way they’ve done it! They’ve spoilt it. The Holli