George Harrison: the ranking of his best "Top 40" songs after the Beatles

On the day Paul McCartney announces his new album, the magazine Ultimate Classic Rock remembers his friend George Harrison, who died in Los Angeles on November 29, 2001, by publishing a ranking of his best post-Beatles hits, specifically the "Top 40 songs".

"Even at the height of his early creative phase," writes Nick DeRiso in the introduction, "George Harrison would usually end up with just two tracks on Beatles albums. That's what happens when your bandmates are called John Lennon and Paul McCartney. After the band broke up in 1970, Harrison understandably launched his solo career with a remarkable stockpile of great songs. The impact on the charts was immediate: every single released in the first five years reached the Billboard Top 40, and two hit number 1. He would go on to add four more Top 40 hits, including another number 1, before taking a break from music in the early Eighties... During his late-Eighties comeback, Harrison scored what would remain the most recent U.S. number 1 by a former solo Beatle. Around the same time he came close to the Top 20 twice more with other singles, while in 1990 he stopped just short of the UK Top 40 with 'Nobody's Child', recorded with the Traveling Wilburys... As happened with Lennon too, Harrison's music returned to the top of the charts after his untimely death. A reworked version of his first great hit climbed back to number 1 in the UK, amid the wave of mourning that followed his death from cancer."

Here is Ultimate Classic Rock's ranking of George Harrison's best "Top 40" songs (full feature here).

16. My Sweet Lord (2000) (All Things Must Pass, 2001)

15. Ding Dong, Ding Dong (Dark Horse, 1974)

14. Any Road (Brainwashed, 2002)

13. Bangla Desh (single, 1971)

12. Dark Horse (Dark Horse, 1974)

11. Crackerbox Palace (Thirty-Three and a Third, 1976)

10. This Song (Thirty Three & 1/3, 1976)

9. You (Extra Texture [Read All About It], 1975)

8. Got My Mind Set On You (Cloud Nine, 1987)

7. Blow Away (George Harrison, 1979)

6. My Sweet Lord (All Things Must Pass, 1970)

5. When We Was Fab (Cloud Nine, 1987)

4. All Those Years Ago (Somewhere In England, 1981)

3. Handle With Care (The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, 1988)

2. What Is Life (All Things Must Pass, 1970)

1. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (Living In The Material World, 1973)

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