"Not Guilty" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. He wrote the song in 1968 following the Beatles' Transcendental Meditation course in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, an activity that he had led the group into undertaking. The lyrics serve as a response to the recrimination Harrison received from his bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the aftermath to the group's public falling out with the Maharishi, and as the Beatles launched their multimedia company Apple Corps. The band recorded the song amid the tensions that characterised the sessions for their 1968 double LP The Beatles. The track was completed in August 1968 but not included on the release.
View of Rishikesh and the Ganges. When writing "Not Guilty", Harrison addressed the divisive atmosphere within the Beatles following their return from India in 1968.
George Harrison is the eighth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison, released in February 1979. It was written and recorded through much of 1978, a period of domestic contentment for Harrison, during which he married Olivia Arias and became a father for the first time, to son Dhani. Harrison wrote several of the songs in Hawaii, while the track "Faster" reflected his year away from music-making, when he and Arias attended many of the races in the 1977 Formula 1 World Championship. The album also includes the hit single "Blow Away" and "Not Guilty", a song that Harrison originally recorded with the Beatles in 1968.
George Harrison (album)
Harrison's friendship with Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda and other drivers inspired some of the album's songs.
The Hawaiian island of Maui inspired further songs and the mood of George Harrison.
Harrison reacting to questions about a possible Beatles reunion, at his Los Angeles press conference; photo: Brich/The Associated Press