“I didn’t think I played that well. I had a hunch he could pull something out with the slide. I handed him the guitar, and he just did it”: The time Mike Campbell asked George Harrison to take over his own guitar solo

Like many musicians hailing from Mike Campbell’s generation, The Beatles not only served as a source of inspiration throughout his career but, for Campbell, the Fab Four – George Harrison, in particular – were the reason he started playing guitar in the first place.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off them,” he writes in Heartbreaker: A Memoir. “Especially the one in the middle – the tall, skinny, dark-haired guitarist with the big hollow body Gretsch Country Gentleman. George. The quiet one.

“He smirked and played the perfect, 10-second solo to All My Loving – one minute in to a two-minute song – and that was it for me. That was it. I knew I needed a guitar. I needed one. I didn’t know why. I just knew.”

My Life with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Mike Campbell Looks Back – YouTube

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Come 1988, Campbell was operating in the upper echelons of rock ’n’ roll. And being part of this highly-coveted rank meant rubbing shoulders with the very Beatle who had compelled him to kickstart his own guitar journey.

The Traveling Wilburys – the supergroup composed of Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty – were preparing to release their first single, Handle with Care.

As the story goes, Campbell was personally asked by the Beatle to play a solo à la Eric Clapton. However, if you’re currently scrambling to hear Campbell’s contribution to the track, hold your horses – because he himself asked for his part to be removed from the final recording.

The Traveling Wilburys – Handle With Care (Official Video) – YouTube

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“I was right, and history proves me right,” Campbell told Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt. “I just had a hunch. I didn’t think I played that well, but they were just being nice. I think I played pretty pedestrian.”

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Campbell’s solution was simple: ask his childhood guitar hero to play something better suited to the track.

“I thought, because I was intimidated, you know, I’m sitting there with George and Jeff, [He was like] ‘Okay, I’ll try something.’ That wasn’t my best, but I had a hunch that he [Harrison] could pull something out with the slide that would be more in the soul of the song, which he did.

“I just handed him the guitar, I had handed him a slide. The amp was already set up, and he just did it. Took the pressure off me!”

Mike Campbell’s many stories from his decades-long career are encapsulated in his recently-released memoir – including insights into what he brought to the Heartbreakers as Tom Petty’s guitar foil.