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George Harrison MBE (February 24, 1943 –
November 29, 2001) was a popular British songwriter, musician and film
producer best known as a member of the Beatles. According to Harrison,
his birthday was really February 25. His sister has said that their
mother wrote in her diary that he was born ten minutes after midnight on
25 February.
Harrison married twice. His first wife was
the model, Pattie Boyd, for whom Harrison is sometimes supposed to have
written the song "Something"; that marriage ended in divorce. Harrison
married for a second time to Olivia Trinidad Arias, in September 1978.
The ceremony took place at their home, with Joe Brown acting as best
man. They had one son, Dhani Harrison, born the previous month.
* * * *
Early years
Born in Liverpool, England, and raised as a
child at 12 Arnold Grove, he first attended school at Dovedale Infants,
just off Penny Lane. Later on, he attended the Liverpool Institute, a
"smart school", but was regarded as a poor student, and contemporaries
described him as someone who would "sit alone in the corner". In the
mid-1950s he knew Paul McCartney (also a Liverpool Institute student)
and beginning in February 1958 played lead guitar in the band (initially
called the Quarry Men) that eventually became the Beatles.
At the height of the Beatles' popularity,
he was often characterized as the "Quiet Beatle", noted for his
introspective manner and his growing interest in Hinduism. In the mid
1960s he began playing the sitar, which influenced the sound of the
Beatles' music in such songs as "Norwegian Wood", "Love You To", and
"Within You Without You". His experimentation with the instrument
brought him into contact with the sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar, who
became a close friend and mentor.
It was his meeting with Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi that led him first into meditation. In the summer of 1969, the
Beatles produced the single "Hare Krishna Mantra", performed by Harrison
and the devotees of the London Radha-Krishna Temple that topped the 10
best-selling record charts throughout UK, Europe, and Asia. The same
year, he and fellow Beatle John Lennon met
A.C._Bhaktivedanta_Swami_Prabhupada, Founder-acharya of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Soon after, Harrison
embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and remained associated with it
until his death. While during his lifetime, Harrison had bequeathed to
the society his Letchmore Heath mansion (renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor)
north of London, he redoubted speculations that he would leave ISKCON a
large sum in his will: in fact, he left nothing to the organization.
Role in The
Beatles
Harrison was a fluent, inventive and highly
accomplished rhythm and lead guitarist, whose influences included Chuck
Berry, Carl Perkins and Chet Atkins. Although he was a creative soloist,
several of his famous Beatles guitar solos were recorded under specific
directions from Paul McCartney, who on occasion demanded that Harrison
play what he envisioned virtually note-for-note.
A turning point in Harrison's career came
during an American tour in 1965, when his friend David Crosby of The
Byrds introduced him to Indian classical music and the work of sitar
maestro Ravi Shankar. Harrison quickly became fascinated with the sitar,
immersed himself in Indian music and was instrumental in popularising
the sitar in particular and Indian music in general in the West. He
travelled to India to take lessons from Shankar, bought a sitar himself,
and became the first western popular musician to use one on a recording
(Norwegian Wood). He championed Shankar with western audiences and was
largely responsible for having him included on the bill at the Monterey
International Pop Festival in June 1967.
Harrison and Lennon were the first two of
the Beatles to try LSD in 1965, when they were unwittingly 'dosed' by
their dentist at a party in London. For a short time Harrison used the
drug regularly and became an enthusiastic advocate, although he later
renounced the use of drugs.
Harrison formed a close friendship with
Eric Clapton in the late 1960s and they co-wrote the song "Badge", which
was released on Cream's farewell album in 1969. This song was the basis
for Harrison's composition for The Beatles' Abbey Road album, "Here
Comes The Sun", which was written in Clapton's back garden. Harrison
married model Pattie Boyd in 1966, but in the late 1960s Clapton fell in
love with her. Clapton famously poured out his unrequited passion on the
landmark Derek & the Dominoes album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
(1971), but soon after its release Boyd left her husband and she and
Clapton subsequently married. Despite this, the two men remained close
friends.
Friction between Harrison and McCartney
increased markedly during the recording of The White Album, with
Harrison threatening to leave the group on several occasions. The
tension between Harrison and McCartney can be clearly seen in several
scenes in the Let It Be documentary film and relations became so
strained during the making of the film that Harrison briefly quit the
band.
While not the primary composer in the group
(Lennon and McCartney wrote the vast bulk of the Beatles' material), as
time went on Harrison's songwriting improved greatly and his material
gradually earned respect from both his fellow Beatles and the public. By
the mid-Sixties Lennon and McCartney had become somewhat more accepting
of his contributions, although he later said that he always had
difficulty getting his songs recorded and only managed to get one or two
included on each LP.
Notable Harrison compositions from the
Beatles' oeuvre include: the intricate "If I Needed Someone"; "I Want To
Tell You"; the Indian-influenced "Love You To"; the acerbic "Taxman"
(later referenced in Cheap Trick's "Taxman, Mr. Thief" and The Jam's
"Start"); the much-maligned "Within You, Without You", which is arguably
a foundation stone of the world music genre; "While My Guitar Gently
Weeps", which was strongly influenced by the music of his friend Roy
Orbison and featured a guitar solo by his close friend Eric Clapton; "Piggies",
which later featured inadvertently in the notorious Charles Manson
murder case.
"Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" are
probably his two best-known Beatles songs. "Something" is considered one
of his very best works, and was even covered by Frank Sinatra and Elvis
Presley. His increasing productivity, coupled with his difficulties in
getting The Beatles to record his music, meant that by the end of the
group's career he had amassed a considerable stockpile of unreleased
material.
1970s
After the Beatles split in 1970, Harrison
released a number of albums that were critically and commercially
successful, both as solo projects and as a member of other groups. After
years of being limited in his contributions to the Beatles, he released
a large number of the songs he had stockpiled in the first major solo
work released after the breakup, All Things Must Pass, the first triple
album in rock history. It included the number one hit single "My Sweet
Lord", although Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over
the supposed similarities to the 1963 Chiffons single "He's So Fine".
Harrison denied deliberately stealing the song, but he did lose the case
in 1976; in the ruling, the court accepted the possibility that Harrison
had "unconsciously plagiarised" the Chiffons song as the basis for his
own song.
Harrison was probably the first modern
musician to organize a major charity concert. His Concert for Bangladesh
on August 1, 1971, drew over 40,000 people to two shows in New York's
Madison Square Garden with the intention of aiding the starving refugees
from the war in Bangladesh. Classical sitar maestro Ravi Shankar opened
the proceedings, which included other popular musicians such as Bob
Dylan (in a surprise rare live appearance), Leon Russell, Eric Clapton,
Badfinger, Billy Preston and fellow Beatle Ringo Starr. Unfortunately,
however, the concert actually lost money due to expenses.
In addition to his own works, during this
time Harrison wrote or produced several hits for Ringo Starr and also
appeared on tracks by John Lennon.
Harrison's next album was Living in the
Material World in 1973. "Give Me Love" was a big hit, and "Sue Me Sue
You Blues" was a window into the former Beatles' miserable legal
travails, but overall the record was seen as too overtly religious. In
1974 Harrison released Dark Horse and at the same time launched a major
tour of the United States. The album was not received well, despite the
occasional gem such as "So Sad", and the tour got poor notices due to
excessive preachiness and Harrison's voice being hoarse.
Harrison continued to issue records
throughout the rest of the 1970s. The most successful was Thirty Three &
1/3, which was lighter in tone and featured the hits "This Song" (a
satire of the "My Sweet Lord" ruling) and "Crackerbox Palace" (a
humourous and surrealistic number, perhaps reflecting his association
with members of Monty Python).
Harrsion had formed his own record label,
Dark Horse Records, in 1974 and issued a limited number of records by
performers such as Splinter, Attitudes and Ravi Shankar. He moved his
own output to the label in 1976, once his contract with EMI finished.
1980s
Immediately following the murder of his
friend and former bandmate John Lennon, Harrison modified the lyrics of
a song he had written for Ringo Starr to make it a tribute song to
Lennon, "All Those Years Ago", which found substantial radio airplay and
continues to be a staple of "classic rock" radio. All the three
ex-Beatles performed on it, marking the first time since the break-up in
1970 that the three appeared on one record, although it was expressly a
Harrison single. But he released no records for five years after Gone
Troppo in 1982 was met with apparent indifference. He returned in 1987
with the album Cloud Nine, co-produced with Jeff Lynne, and enjoyed a
hit (#1 in the U.S.; #2 in the U.K) when his cover version of "Got My
Mind Set On You" was released as a single; another single, "When We Was
Fab", was also a minor hit. The album got to #8.
During the 1980s, he helped form the
Traveling Wilburys with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, and Tom
Petty when they gathered in Dylan's garage to quickly record an
additional track for a projected Harrison European single release. The
record company realised the track ("Handle With Care") was too good for
its original purpose as a single B-side and asked for a separate album.
This had to be completed inside 2 weeks, as Dylan was scheduled to start
a tour. Released in October of 1988, under various pseudonyms as
half-brothers, supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr., their
album was immediately dubbed as one of the top 100 albums of all time by
Rolling Stone magazine.
One of Harrison's most successful ventures
during this period was his involvement in film production through his
company Handmade Films. Since childhood The Beatles had been fans of the
anarchic humour of The Goons, and Harrison became a dedicated fan of
their successors, the Monty Python team. He provided financial backing
for the Python film The Life of Brian after the original backers (EMI
Films) withdrew, fearing the subject matter of the film was too
controversial. Other films produced by Handmade included Mona Lisa, Time
Bandits, Shanghai Surprise and Withnail and I. He made several cameo
appearances in these movies, including appearing as a nightclub singer
in Shanghai Surprise, and as Mr. Papadopolous in Life of Brian. One of
his most memorable cameos was in the cult Beatles parody The Rutles,
created by ex-Python Eric Idle.
1989 saw the release of "Best of Dark Horse
1976-1989," a compilation drawn from his later solo work. This album
also included three excellent new songs; "Poor Little Girl", "Cheer
Down" and "Cockamamie Business," the last of which saw him, once again,
looking wryly upon his Beatley past.
1990s
The first year of the new decade saw a new
Traveling Wilburys album, despite the sad death of Roy Orbison. The band
had allegedly approached Del Shannon about replacing Roy, but he also
met an untimely death. The album was recorded as a four-piece.
It was not as successful as the previous
album, but still managed to stay on the charts for quite a time,
spawning the singles "She's My Baby" and "Wilbury Twist".
In 1991 Harrison staged a tour of Japan
along with his friend Eric Clapton. It was his first tour since the
ill-fated 1974 U.S. tour, and although he seemed to enjoy it more there
were to be no others. The Live in Japan recording came from these shows.
Throughout the 1990s, Harrison, a former
smoker, endured an ongoing battle with cancer, having growths removed
first from his throat, then his lung. There was also a December 30, 1999
attempt on his life by a crazed fan, 35 year-old Michael Abram, who
broke into his home, Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames, and stabbed him
multiple times, puncturing his lung. Harrison and his wife fought the
intruder and detained him for the police. Abram, who believed he was
possessed by Harrison and was on a "mission from God" to kill him, was
later acquitted on grounds of insanity.
Death
George died at the home of a friend in Los
Angeles, California on Thursday, November 29, 2001, at the age of only
58. His death was ascribed to lung cancer that had metastasized to the
brain. (It has been suggested that this "friend" was actually Paul
McCartney). He was cremated, and although it was widely reported that
his ashes were scattered in the River Ganges, the ceremony was not
conducted at the expected time . The actual disposition of the ashes has
not been publicly disclosed.
After his death, the Harrison family
released the following statement: "He left this world as he lived in it:
conscious of God, fearless of death and at peace, surrounded by family
and friends. He often said: 'Everything else can wait but the search of
God can't wait, and love one another'".
His final album, Brainwashed, was completed
by Dhani Harrison and Jeff Lynne and released in November 2002.
On November 29, 2002, the first anniversary
of his death, the Concert For George saw the two remaining Beatles Paul
McCartney and Ringo Starr join many of Harrison's friends for a special
memorial concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London that benefitted the
Material World Charitable Foundation. Ravi Shankar's daughter Anoushka
Shankar joined Jeff Lynne in a performance of "The Inner Light," Clapton
and Lynne performed "I Want To Tell You" and "If I Needed Someone," Tom
Petty and The Heartbreakers (with Jools Holland and Sam Brown) performed
"Taxman" and "I Need You," Starr performed "Photograph", members of
Monty Python (Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam)
performed "The Lumberjack Song," and McCartney and Starr performed "For
You Blue". For the finale, all of the artists went back on stage to end
with "Something," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "My Sweet Lord" (with
Billy Preston on keyboards) and "Wah-Wah". Joe Brown concluded with the
Gus Kahn/Isham Jones classic "I'll See You In My Dreams".
George Harrison and Aaliyah Haughton made
UK Chart History when they scored the first, and to this date only, back
to back posthumous number one hits when Aaliyah's "More than a Woman"
(Released on 07 January 2002 and topped the chart on 13 January 2002)
was followed by George's "My Sweet Lord" (Re-released on 14 January 2002
and topped the chart on 20 January 2002).
Harrison was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004.
* * * *
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