George Harrison’s calculated prank on Phil Collins has to be one of the funniest in rock music history

20 September 2024, 14:13

He was always known as the 'quiet Beatle'.

Yet, George Harrison's sense of humour was as sharp and acerbic as the best of them - he just chose his moments to showcase it wisely.

He picked up the moniker during his time in The Beatles, when George was consistently overshadowed by the duelling force that was John Lennon and Paul McCartney, both in a personal and professional capacity.

It was clear to see how frustrated he became about his contributions being overlooked in Peter Jackson's documentary Get Back, despite penning some of the band's most lauded and widely adored hits.

That would often be the case in less musical environs too, often having to settle for witty one-liners after Lennon and McCartney had commandeered the spotlight.

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According to Tom Petty during their time in the Traveling Wilburys together, George wouldn't stop chatting away or cracking jokes, seemingly in his element having stepped out of the shadow of his former Beatles peers.

The same could be said for when a "nervous" young buck that goes by the name of Phil Collins joined George, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Klaus Voorman, and Phil Spector at Abbey Road Studios.

Little did he know that George would play an elaborate prank on him some years later, that has to go down as one of the funniest in rock music history.

In a 2020 interview with Classic Rock magazine, Phil recalled the momentous occasion of being asked to record with Harrison.

This was years before his success with Genesis, so by all accounts Collins was starry-eyed and incredibly green.

After The Beatles broke up in 1970, the Fab Four began working on their respective solo records - as we now know, George's became the immaculate All Things Must Pass.

"That was when I was in Flaming Youth," his band at the time Phil recalled. "Our manager got a call from Ringo Starr’s chauffeur, who said they needed a percussionist, and he suggested me.

"So I went down to Abbey Road and Harrison was there and Ringo and Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann and Phil Spector, and we started routining the song.

"No one told me what to play, and every time they started the song, Phil Spector would say, ‘Let’s hear guitar and drums,’ or ‘Let’s hear bass and drums.’"

Phil was drafted in to play congas, who added: "And I’m not a conga player, so my hands are starting to bleed. And I’m cadging cigarettes off Ringo - I don’t even smoke, I just felt nervous.

"Anyway, after about two hours of this, Phil Spector says, ‘Okay congas, you play this time.’ And I’d had my mic off, so everybody laughed, but my hands were shot.

"And just after that they all disappeared – someone said they were watching TV or something – and I was told I could go," Collins continued.

"A few months later I buy the album from my local record shop, look at the sleeve notes and I’m not there. And I’m thinking, 'There must be some mistake!' But it’s a different version of the song, and I’m not on it."

Around the time of the interview, All Things Must Pass was remastered and re-released to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2020.

Asked if he failed to make the credits once again, Phil replied: "Yeah but worse – there’s more!"

“Cut to years later. I bought [former F1 driver] Jackie Stewart’s house. And Harrison was a friend of Jackie’s, and Jackie told me George was remixing All Things Must Pass."

"And he said, ‘You were on it, weren’t you?’ And I said, ‘Well I was there...’," sheepishly skirting around the fact he never made the grade.

Two days after talking to Jackie however, Phil received a delivery from George. It was a tape with a note reading: "Could this be you?"

"I rush off and listen to it, and straight away I recognise it. Suddenly the congas come in – too loud and just awful."

"And at the end of the tape you hear George Harrison saying, ‘Hey, Phil, can we try another without the conga player?’"

"So now I know, they didn’t go off to watch TV, they went somewhere and said, ‘Get rid of him,’ cos I was playing so badly."

Then Jackie rings and says, ‘I’ve got someone here to speak to you,’ and puts George on and he says, ‘Did you get the tape?’," Phil continues, "and I said, 'I now realise I was fired by a Beatle.'"

Over the phone, George let Phil in on an elaborate prank that was made so much sweeter by being years after their first meeting took place.

"And he says, ‘Don’t worry, it was a piss-take. I got Ray Cooper to play really badly and we dubbed it on. Thought you’d like it!'"

"I said, ‘You f**king bastard!’ Thinking back fondly of the prank now, he added, ‘It was lovely, wasn’t it?’"

George's commitment to the prank has to be admired, given he shelled out to pay for a whole band for the day just to provide Phil with a moment of embarrassment.

There have been many anecdotes about George's comedic nature that have come out of the woodwork over the years, but this is ranks up there with the best of them.