According to author Robert Rodriguez, "Not Guilty" was "much-fabled" among Beatles fans by the late 1970s, since the song was known as a White Album outtake but had never been heard publicly. In their respective books on the Beatles published at that time, Nicholas Schaffner paired it with Lennon's "What's the New Mary Jane" as completed recordings that were known to have been left off the White Album, while Harry Castleman and Walter Podrazik wrote that, as far as collectors were aware, Harrison had taped "Not Guilty" with Clapton in summer 1968 before the Beatles attempted to record the song in March 1969.