[6][7] Although Harrison makes no mention of the song in his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Derek Taylor, in his role as the book's editor, describes the Apple Scruffs as the "central core" of fans after Beatlemania had subsided, adding that "We were all very fond of them".
[14] "Apple Scruffs" was one of the more sparsely arranged tracks Harrison recorded for All Things Must Pass,[15] departing from co-producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound aesthetic heard on much of the album.
[17][23] The released recording was edited together from the full take, lasting around two-and-a-half minutes, with the section comprising the song's chorus and the following instrumental passage repeated,[18] thereby extending the track length to 3:04.
[27][nb 2] In the view of musicologist Thomas MacFarlane, the slide guitar solo reflects Harrison's interest in microtonal expressivity and ends in a stuttering phrase that marks the start of the tape edit.
[35] In the wake of the Beatles' break-up seven months before, according to author Peter Doggett, "Apple Scruffs" and tracks such as "Run of the Mill" and "Wah-Wah" offered the band's fans "a teasing glimpse into an intimate world that had previously been off-limits to the public".
[43][nb 4] The US picture sleeve gave both sides of the single equal billing, with the song titles printed above a Barry Feinstein photo of the top of a tower at Harrison's new home, Friar Park.
"[52] In his combined review of all the former Beatles' 1970 solo releases, Geoffrey Cannon of The Guardian described All Things Must Pass as "relaxed, well resolved, and, as ever with George, magnanimous" and said he especially admired the sentiments in "Apple Scruffs", despite it being "one of the slighter songs".
[53] Billboard magazine's reviewer wrote of "What Is Life" and "Apple Scruffs" as "intriguing rhythm follows-ups" to Harrison's international hit "My Sweet Lord", and songs that were "sure to repeat that success" and become popular jukebox selections.
[54] Don Heckman of The New York Times paired the song with "I Dig Love" as the tracks that conveyed a "familiarly whimsical" quality on an album where "The spirit of the Beatles is everpresent".
[58] Writing for Record Collector that same year, Peter Doggett also included it among the album's highlights, describing the song as Dylan-esque and a "message of love to the Beatles fans who camped outside their office".
[31] In a 1996 article on the Apple Scruffs for Mojo, Cliff Jones wrote that Harrison's musical tribute "immortalised" a fan phenomenon in which, as witnesses to the Beatles' final years, the participants transcended fandom and were themselves part of the band's history.
[61] Leng says that the song especially resonates in pop culture history after John Lennon's murder in New York City in 1980 and Harrison's knife attack at Friar Park in 1999, both of which were carried out by individuals who were obsessed with the Beatles.
Describing Harrison's track as a "celebration of a unique and warm connection between the members of the Beatles and their public", Inglis adds: "Heard today, its sentiments evoke the last days of what novelist Edith Wharton had referred to, several decades earlier, as 'the age of innocence'.
"[63] Writing for Rolling Stone in 2014, author William Shaw concluded his article on the Apple scruffs by quoting Harrison's lyrics to support the contention that "Most of all, they acted as a kind of balm for the Beatles during their most punishing days as the four most famous people on the planet."