George Harrison

Name: George Harrison
Birthday: February 25, 1943
Death: November 29, 2001 Parents: Harold and Louise Harrison
Wives: Patti Boyd and Olivia Arias
Children: Dhani Harrison
Instruments Played: Lead Guitar

George is the only Beatle to have both of his parents with him throughout his adulthood, and his family life was good as well. He came from a rather large family, and he was the youngest, so he was quite spoiled. Like Ringo and Paul, George also came from a poor family, but it was not nearly as poor as Ringo, but it was poorer than Paul's. George's financial status can be seen by his poor, Scouse accent, which was one of the reasons John's Aunt Mimi disapproved of John being with George.

As a child George was always very bright. In school at first, he excelled, but he started having the same feelings John did for what he was being taught. He began to feel that the teacher's were "thick" and weren't teaching him anything he needed so he began to act out as well, although he was not as troublesome as John. He used to be a loud mouth, and he also was known for being a very flamboyant dresser, for which he was greatly criticized. In his later school years, he began to be so interested in the guitar that nothing else even captured his attention, so he just slept through school. George convinced his mother, who always had a soft spot for him, to buy him a cheap, acoustic guitar. Hd became obsessed with the guitar, and would often play until his fingers bled, because he wanted to be good. Unlike Paul, George struggled to learn to play instruments. But eventually he became quite good.

On his way to grammar school, he would ride with an older boy, who held a similar facination with the guitar. Paul McCarntey often rode with George to school. Paul really respected George's ability despite the age difference. By 1957, Paul had joined a group. He desperatley tried to get George in, but, the leader of the group, called the Quarry Men, John Lennon, would not allow George in because of his age. Late one night on a double deck bus, the three boys were all alone. Paul used this as his chance to audition George. He told George to show John how he played a great hit at the time, "Raunchy". George played, and of course it was perfect, and John let him in.

The Quarry Men at first had trouble getting gigs and places to practice. Having George gave them another place to practice as his mom took pleasure in hearing the boys play. The band also had trouble finding a steady drummer, and name. They would often enter contests as a threesome, and would tell those who questioned them, that they didn't need drums because, "the rhthym's in the guitars". Eventually they got a gig in Hamburg, Germany thanks to their manager, Allen Williams. So they found themselves a drummer, Pete Best, who completed the band to make it a five piece band, (John's art college friend Stuart Sutcliffe was the fourth member and he played bass). They had also settled on a name, The Beatles, from ideas of John and Stu.

In Hamburg the boys had a great time. Hamburg was known as the "city of sin" to the rest of the world, and it sure lived up to its name to the young Beatles. They often partoke in a lot of sex, alcohol, and other drugs. George was not different than the others, even though he was underage. In Hamburg the Beatles developed extremely well as musicians. George and Paul were the most talented players of the group, and they improved a lot and found their style. George, being the lead guitar player, needed to be good since his role was so vital. The Beatles improved so much because they played such long sets, and they often relied upon speed tablets to keep them going. It wasn't long before they started to make close friends with some Germans, like Klaus Voorman, Astrid Kircherr, and Jurgen Vulmer. George was always looked up as a little brother by those in Hamburg. This is not an insult, it was just George's personality made people look unto him as a younger sibling. George was very easily influenced and constantly admired John, yet he was also a strong personality. When Stu took up Astrid's idea of the "moptop", he was ridiculed by all but George who was the next to conform.

George's because he was so impressionable, yet intelligent and philosophical, he was always willing to try new things. This played a very important trait in George since it led him to try new drugs to expand his mind and more importantly it led him to find Indian religion. Unfortunately, George got kicked out of Hamburg before the others because German law forbids people under 18 to be in the clubs past a cetain time, and George was underage. He went back very depressed since he thought the group would go on without him, and he wasn't needed, and couldn't haven't anymore fun in Hamburg. However, he was soon joined by the others who were also kicked out for various other reasons.

The Beatles became local heroes after playing the Cavern, a wine cellar on Matthew Street. They had a unique style to music and their looks, and soon they were sought after by many Liverpudlian girls. George was always rather shy, and he was dubbed the "Quiet One", because of this. Yet, George was not just shy, he was the one who carried the band and put the most energy into the band. The others would often play to the girls or goof off on stage, yet George continued to labor over his solos and put effort into the songs. Besides being dedicated to his music, George was very dedicated to his to his friends as well. When fans protested the Beatles bringing Ringo to the band, George stuck up for his friend and received a black eye for doing so.

When the Beatles became famous, George retained his personality, and became the Beatle most concerned money, not surprising considering his backround. Also, George always struggled to find meaning in what he did, like the others in the band, which explains his involvement in Indian religion and music. His mother says that she often played Indian music for George while he was in the womb, which is why he is so drawn to it, yet it doesn't matter how he came across it, really.

Like the rest of the Beatles, George was came from a rather poor, Liverpudian background. He had his own personality and with the rest of the Beatles, he became an inspiration to many in the world.

Being in the Beatles was a tremendous experience for all of the Beatles. They all changed tremendously over the time period the Beatles were together. It makes perfect sense that they did; they were teenagers when they put together the band, and at or near thirty when they finished. There is an enormous amount of growth during that period. Apart from maybe John, George experienced probably the most change throughout the Beatle years.

In the beginning George was very laid back, friendly, naive towards song writing and fame, and money hungry. ALL of this changed by the end of his time with the Beatles. George was probably the first Beatles to become sick of what surrounded the Beatles during their touring days. He grew tired of the same banal questions, the same screaming, insane fans, and the whole inprisonment incorporated with being a Beatle. By the time the Beatles finished touring, he became a completely different person.

First, he had grown sick of being famous. He no longer enjoyed being a Beatle. By the time of Sgt. Pepper, he virtually refused to be interviewed. Second, George had becomed a somewhat accomplished songwriter, with great works like "If I Needed Someone", "Taxman", and "I Want to Tell You". He no longer felt he should be limited to the two or three songs per album. This was especially true during Abbey Road when he FINALLY got his first A-side, and his songs were just as accomplished as John and Paul's yet he was overshadowed. In the filming of Let It Be, it can be seen where George was sick of being, "Paul's backing band", and he even got into a row with Paul in one scene over this.

A third reason George changed so much, was because he expanded his mind through drugs, like the other Beatles, and began to look at the world in a different perspective. George has said that taking acid has opened doors for him that he never knew existed. Marijuana did the same thing but to a different extent.

However, drugs did not provide any answers, according to the Beatles, it merely provided the questions. This is why George wanted to go deeper, and thanks to his wife Patti, he found Indian meditation and religion. He first became interested in Indian music during filming for "Help!", where there were many musicians from India, and he bought a sitar and tried to learn to play. He eventually became quite good, although the song he is most famous for playing it on, Norwegian Wood, was done at a time when George was not all that familar with the sitar. Following Indian instruments, George was introduced to the Maharashi Mahesh Yogi, through his wife, and then he began to become enratured with Eastern religion, a path he continues today with the Dalia Lama. In 1967, all the Beatles attended a seminar by Maharashi, and then decided to get a private lesson by him in Wales, so they went there, but were cut short of the visit because of the death of Brian Epstein. Later the Beatles went to India on holiday to study with the Maharashi, and George just loved it, despite the fact they ended their relationship with the Maharashi. Finding eastern religion and philosophy made George an entirely different person. He was always fairly somber, yet now he was somber and almost preacher like, which is reflected in his songs. He was no longer concerned about material possessions and money, and he didn't like being a Beatle since it interfered with religion. He never forgot how to joke around, but he wasn't the same person, much in the same way the others weren't.

Like all of the Beatles, George's growth is reflected in his songs. His first compostion appears on "With the Beatles" and it is called "Don't Bother Me", it is a good song, although not nearly his best, but it shows he is trying and is certainly learning quickly. "Help!", features two more of his songs, first of which is "I Need You", one of his finest, and a later a poor lyrics song, "You Like Me Too Much". From then on, George's songs fit in nicely with the others and are more introspective and have moments of brilliance like the Lennon/McCartney's of that time. On Rubber Soul, his songs also reflect his pot taking and the coming of the counter culture as well, with "If I Needed Someone" and "Think For Yourself". On Revolver, George had a moment of sheer brilliance with the catchy, "Taxman", and he had a good song with "I Want to Tell You". He also had his first Indian song, "Love You To", to bring his songs up to three. For the next couple of years, he slacked off a bit, and wrote just a couple Indian songs, but he came back in 1968 for the White Album. On this he has what many consider his greatest song ever with "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". He also had a spiteful song called "Piggies", a God song that is often overlooked by most fans which is called "Long Long Long", and a catchy, trite song, "Savoy Truffle". On Yellow Submarine George contributed more new songs than John or Paul both none are stellar, although "It's All Too Much" is quite good. George ended his Beatles career with what most consider to be his great songs, which are "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", both compostions are without a doubt as good as John or Paul's.

George is often the overlooked Beatle. He was not the main writer, best looking, most talented, or funniest. Yet he had a piece of all of these traits which made him a vital part of the group. He evolved during this time period tremendously, and later became the "Dark Horse" of the Beatles (which is the name of his publishing company). He was and still is an integral component of history and can almost be praised for single-handedly showing the western world ideas of the eastern world, a pattern which is still being pursued today.

George's solo work is no where near extensive as Paul's, it is more along the lines of John's. George would contribute songs in spurts and his career is like a rollercoaster like John's. However, like John and Paul, George grew considerably as a song writer as a solo act, and his songs have much merit.

George's first album was a triple album called "All Things Must Pass", and many consider this to be his best album. It contains his first number one, in fact, the first number one of any solo Beatle, which is "My Sweet Lord." Unfortunatley George was sued for this song, for plagarism. He was sued by the Chiffons, who felt that "My Sweet Lord" was a re-write, if unintentionally, of their song, "He's So Fine". If you listen to both of them one after the other, you can see there is definitely a stronge resemblance. George lost the law suit, but, nonetheless, "My Sweet Lord" was a great song. The album was a masterpiece and it uses Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" concept, in which all of the songs have a really thick backing sound. The idea was great for George's work and he has some beautiful pieces on this album. The album on the whole is rather mellow and melodic. It contains great songs like "If Not For You" which is a remake of a Bob Dylan song, "What is Life", a great, upbeat hit of George's, "Beware of the Darkness", a sort of stark but philosophical number, and "Isn't it A Pity (Version 1 and 2), also stark but with beautiful chord arrangments, as well as an amazing title track. This album is probably George's finest, although he would have hits later, this is probably his best body of work.

The next album was his concert for Bangladesh. George started a trend with this idea. Ravi Shankar, as George said in the song, approached George about the conditions of Bangladesh and asked him to do something. George decided to do a concert whose profits would go to help Bangladesh. Now this idea has been repeated numerous times, but George was the first to do it. He brought along friends like Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr, and Eric Clapton. There are really really great songs on this album, some of the best of each act.

George's third album, Living in the Material World, was not as strong as the others but it did have one great song, "Give Me Love", which is soft,and melodic and typical of George's style. Dark Horse, appropriately titled, was his next album, which was also weak, and by this time, George was also having serious throat trouble and it shows on the album. His voice is very rough and it is hard to distinquish that it is in fact George. The work would have been stronger had his voice been in better condition, the only song that made an impact was the title track and even that was not that great.

George's next album, Extra Texture, was also lacking, although it did have one good song, "You". The next album released by George was a compilation of his hit songs from 65-76. The album has a few Beatles classics along with the best of his solo work, namely the songs mentioned here. Thirty Three and a Third was George's next album and it was a bit stronger then his previous albums, although it was not as strong as the solo work of Paul. The song that deserves mention is "Crackerbox Palace" which is one of George's finest moments in his solo work. The next album was considerably weak, such as his self titled album, which features Beatles ideas on it, like "Not Guilty" which was written during the White Album, and "Here Comes the Moon", and obvious parody of "Here Comes the Sun".

His next album released in 1981, just after John's assassination, showed he still had a gift for song writing. He had a tribue to John on it called, "All Those Years Ago", which is great song, and it reached number 3 in the UK. Gone Troppo, the next album, also had some good songs on it, but it was not up to par with his first solo songs. In 1987, George hit big with, Cloud Nine. Namely his cover of "Got My Mind Set On You" was the best song on the album, and is certainly a great song to her. Many of the tracks were good, and George was entering a period of great writing again in his solo work. His next album on his own, was a compilation of some of his later songs like the Best of George Harrison earlier, this one is also very good and captures the highlights of George's career.

In 1988 George joined one of rock's supergroups called the "Travelling Wilbury's". In this group there was Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. Great songs are on the first volume of this album, including "Handle With Care", "End Of the Line", and "Last Night". The album doesn't disappoint the fans of any of these amazing artists and it contains great songs. The Wilbury's continued collaborating, but they did not reach the success they had previously and much of this is probably due to the sudden death of Roy Orbison.

Since the Wilbury's George really hasn't released any solo work and as been living life rather reclusively, although he did contribute to the Beatles anthology singles, "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love". His work deserves to be looked at and he most certainly is the "Dark Horse" of the group. His career began remarkably, with stellar songs from "All Things Must Pass", and his career continued to rise and fall, from then on, with some fantastic songs released during his solo career.