A master musician, a film producer and actor, best known as the lead guitarist and occasionally lead vocalist of The Beatles
George Harrison was born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.
He was also the youngest of four children, born to Harold Harrison and Louise Harrison.
Like his future band mates, Harrison was not born into wealth. Louise was largely a stay-at-home mom while her husband Harold drove a school bus for the Liverpool Institute, an acclaimed grammar school that George attended and where he first met a young classmate, Paul McCartney. By his own admission, Harrison was not much of a student and what little interest he did have for his studies washed away with his discovery of the electric guitar and American rock-'n'-roll.
There were a lot of harmonies in the Harrison household. He had a knack of sorts for it by age 12 or 13, while riding a bike around his neighborhood and hearing Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", playing from a nearby house. By the age of 14 George--who was a fan of such legends as , Harrison, who grew up in the likes of listening to such rock legends Carl Perkins, Little Richard and Buddy Holly--had purchased his first guitar and taught himself a few chords.
McCartney', who had recently joined up with another Liverpool teenager, John Lennon, in a skiffle group known as The Quarrymen, invited Harrison to see the band perform. Harrison and Lennon had a few things in common, such as the fact that they both attended Dovedale Primary School but didn't know each other. Their paths finally crossed in early 1958. McCartney had been egging the 17-year-old Lennon to allow the 14-year-old Harrison to join the band, but Lennon was reluctant; as legend has it, after seeing McCartney and Lennon perform, George was granted an audition on the upper deck of a bus, where he wowed Lennon with his rendition of popular American rock riffs.
The 17-year-old Harrison's music career was in full swing by 1960. Lennon had renamed the band The Beatles and the young group began cutting its rock teeth in the small clubs and bars around Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. Within two years, the group had a new drummer, Ringo Starr, and a manager, Brian Epstein, a young record store owner who eventually landed the group a record contract with EMI's Parlophone label.
Before the end of 1962, Harrison and The Beatles recorded a song, "Love Me Do", that landed in the UK Top 20 charts. Early that following year, another hit, "Please Please Me," was released, followed by an album by the same name. "Beatlemania" was in full swing across England, and by early 1964, with the release of their album in the US and an American tour, it had swept across the States as well.
Largely referred to as the "Quiet Beatle" Harrison took a back seat to McCartney, Lennon and, to a certain extent, Starr. Still, he could be quick-witted, even edgy. During the middle of one American tour, the group members were asked how they slept at night with long hair.
From the get-go, Lennon-McCartney were primary lead vocalists. While the two spent most of the time writing their own songs, Harrison had shown an early interest in creating his own work. In the summer of 1963 he spearheaded his first song, "Don't Bother Me," which made its way on to the group's second album. From there on out, Harrison's songs were a staple of all Beatle records. In fact, some of the group's more memorable songs--e.g., "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something," which was the only Beatle song ever recorded by Frank Sinatra--were penned by Harrison.
However, his influence on the group and pop music in general extended beyond just singles. In 1965, while on the set of The Beatles' second film, ¡Socorro! (1965), Harrison took an interest in some of the Eastern instruments and their musical arrangements that were being used in the film. He soon developed a deep interest in Indian music. He taught himself the sitar, introducing the instrument to many western ears on Lennon's song, "Norwegian Wood"" He soon cultivated a close relationship with renowned sitar playerRavi Shankar. Other groups, including The Rolling Stones, began incorporating the sitar into some of their work. It could be argued that Harrison's experimentation with different kinds of instrumentation helped pave the way for such ground-breaking Beatle albums as "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
Harrison's interest in Indian music soon extended into a yearning to learn more about eastern spiritual practices. In 1968 he led The Beatles on a journey to northern India to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Having grown spiritually and musically since the group first started, Harrison, who wanted to include more of his material on Beatle records, was clearly uneasy with the McCartney-Lennon dominance of the group. During the "Let It Be" recording sessions in 1969, Harrison walked out, staying away for several weeks before he was coaxed to come back with the promise that the band would use more of his songs on its records.
However, tensions in the group were clearly high. Lennon and McCartney had ceased writing together years before, and they, too, were feeling the need to go in a different direction. In January of 1970 the group recorded Harrison's "I Me Mine." It was the last song the four would ever record together. Three months later, McCartney announced he was leaving the band and The Beatles were officially over.
After the breakup of The Beatles, Harrison pursued a solo career. He immediately assembled a studio band consisting of ex-Beatle Starr, guitar legend Eric Clapton, keyboardist Billy Preston and others to record all the songs that had never made it on to The Beatles catalog. The result was a three-disc album, "All Things Must Pass". While one of its signature songs, "My Sweet Lord," was later deemed too similar in style to The Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine," forcing the guitarist to cough up nearly $600,000, the album as a whole remains Harrison's most acclaimed record.
Not long after the album's release, Harrison combined his charitable work and his continued passion for the east when he put together a series of ground-breaking benefit concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden to raise money for refugees in Bangladesh. Known as the "Concert for Bangladesh", the shows, which featured Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, and Ravi Shankar, would go on to raise some $15 million for UNICEF, produced a Grammy-winning album, a successful documentary film (The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)) and laid the groundwork for future benefit shows like "Live Aid" and "Farm Aid".
Not everything about post-Beatle life went smoothly for Harrison, though. In 1974, his marriage to Pattie Boyd, whom he'd married eight years before, ended when she left him for Eric Clapton. His studio work struggled, too, from 1973-77, starting with, "Living in the Material World", "Extra Texture," and "33 1/3," all of which failed to meet sales expectations.
Following the release of that last album, Harrison took a short break from music, winding down his own label, Dark Horse Records--which he had started in 1974, and which had released albums by a number of other bands--and started his own film production company, Handmade Films. The company produced the successful Monty Python film La vida de Brian (1979) and would go on to make 26 other films before Harrison sold his interest in the company in 1994.
In 1979, he returned to the studio to release his self-titled album. It was followed two years later by, "Somewhere in England," which was still being worked on at the time ofJohn Lennon's assassination in December of 1980. The record eventually included the Lennon tribute track, "All Those Years Ago," a song that reunited ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with ex-Wings members Denny Laine and Linda McCartney. While the song was a hit, the album, its predecessor and its successor, "Gone Troppo," weren't. For Harrison the lack of commercial appeal and the constant battles with music executives proved draining and prompted another studio hiatus.
A comeback of sorts came in November 1987, however, with the release of the album "Cloud Nine," produced by Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra). The album turned out several top-charting hits, including "Got My Mind Set On You"-- remake of the 1962 song by Rudy Clark--and "When We Was Fab," a song that reflected on the life of Beatlemania, with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, who was dressed up as a walrus, but was a camera shy, in February 1988. Later that year Harrison formed The Traveling Wilburys. The group consisted of Harrison, Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, and spawned two successful albums. Buoyed by the group's commercial success, Harrison took to the road with his new bandmates in 1992, embarking on his first international tour in 18 years.
Not long afterwards he was reunited with McCartney and Starr for the creation of an exhaustive three-part release of a Beatles anthology--which featured alternative takes, rare tracks and a John Lennon demo called "Free as a Bird," that the three surviving Beatles completed in the studio. The song went on to become the group's 34th Top 10 single. After that, however, Harrison largely became a homebody, keeping himself busy with gardening and his cars at his expansive and restored home in Henley-on-Thames in south Oxfordshire, England.
Still, the ensuing years were not completely stress-free. In 1997, Harrison, a longtime smoker, was successfully treated for throat cancer. Eighteen months later, his life was again put on the line when a deranged 33-year-old Beatles fan somehow managed to circumvent Harrison's intricate security system and broke into his home, attacking the musician and his wife Olivia with a knife. Harrison was treated for a collapsed lung and minor stab wounds. Olivia suffered several cuts and bruises.
In May 2001, Harrison's cancer returned. There was lung surgery, but doctors soon discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. That autumn, he traveled to the US for treatment and was eventually hospitalized at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. He died November 29, 2001, at ex-bandmate McCartney's house in Los Angeles, at aged 58, with his wife and son at his side.
Just one year after his death, Harrison's final studio album, "Brainwashed," was released. It was produced by Lynne, Harrison's son Dhani Harrison and Harrison himself, and featured a collection of songs he'd been working at the time of his death. Dhani finished putting the album together and it was released in November of 2002. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Richard Collins II (brothergaryii@gmail.com) (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
Date of Death
29 November 2001, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA (lung cancer)
Spouse
Olivia Harrison (1 September 1978 - 29 November 2001) (his death) (1 child)
Pattie Boyd (21 January 1966 - 9 June 1977) (divorced)
Trade Mark
His Gretsch Country Gentleman electric guitar
Songs about love
Long hair
His usual beard.
Trivia
George's older sister Louise Harrison resides in southern Illinois as of 1998.A good deal of confusion as to his real birthday was solved when a family birth record noted him as being born shortly before midnight around 11:50 P.M.) on February 24th, 1943. He had believed his birthday was February 25th for his entire life.
Lead guitarist of The Beatles.
On 30 December 1999, an intruder broke into his Oxfordshire mansion, stabbing him multiple times in the chest. Harrison and his wife fought the intruder and detained him for the police.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Beatles January 20, 1988.
Wrote the introduction to a biography on sitarist Ravi Shankar.
He played 26 instruments: guitar, sitar, 4-string guitar, bass guitar, arp bass, violin, tamboura, dobro, swordmandel, tabla, organ, piano, moog synthesizer, harmonica, autoharp, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, claves, African drum, conga drum, tympani, ukulele, mandolin, marimba, and Jal-Tarang.
Son, Dhani Harrison (born 1 August 1978) was a student at Brown University.
He and his fellow members of The Beatles were awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Co-founder, executive producer and principal partner of HandMade Films, a position he held until 1994.
Attended Dovedale Road Primary School (now Dovedale Road Junior School) and the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys (now the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts).
Got a job as an apprentice electrician at age 16 but didn't have the interest to continue it. With one son a mechanic and another a groundskeeper, father Harry hoped his sons would go into business together once George finished his apprenticeship. Harry let George quit to become a working musician, though, when The Beatles began to get weekly bookings, figuring he was young and could still "start over" if music didn't work out.
Liked jelly babies (a softer version of jelly beans).
George met Pattie Boyd on the set of ¡Qué noche la de aquel día! (1964). She was engaged at the time, but George kept asking her out until she gave in. They were married in 1966.
In 1968 Eric Clapton played guitar on George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on The Beatles' "White Album". Also, George was at Eric's home in England and wrote "Here Comes the Sun" while skipping a board meeting for the band's company, Apple Corps.
In the early 1970s Eric Clapton fell madly in love with Pattie Boyd (at the time married to Harrison) and wrote "Layla" about her; when she refused to leave George for him, Clapton became so distraught and depressed he turned to heroin and developed a severe addiction. By 1974, feeling abandoned by George's obsession with Indian culture, Pattie left George for Eric and the Harrisons' divorce was finalized in 1977. Two years later, Pattie and Eric were married (they divorced in 1988). Through it all, George, Eric and Pattie remained the best of friends - George attended the Claptons' wedding reception and commented, "I'd rather she was with him than some dope". (Clapton and Harrison called each other "husbands-in-law.").
Was the second Beatle ever to become a vegetarian, after Ringo Starr, but before Paul McCartney. According to his first wife Pattie Boyd, Harrison would allow neither meat nor fish to be brought into his house.
Re-release of "My Sweet Lord" reaches #1 in the UK, replacing Aaliyah's "More Than A Woman". It is the first time there have been two consecutive posthumous #1 hits in the UK. [January 2002]
Was the first of The Beatles to produce a "solo" album, with his soundtrack album to Joe Massot's film Wonderwall (1968) (Paul McCartney had earlier composed the score forLuna de miel en familia (1966), but did not produce or play on the recordings). Songs were recorded both in India (featuring Ashish Khan and guests) and England; the English tracks featured Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Peter Tork (each performing under pseudonyms) and former Beatles rivals The Remo Four, from Liverpool.
Wrote an autobiography titled "I Me Mine" in the late 1970s (which he described in the introduction as "the small change of a short lifetime"), and included reproductions of the original handwritten lyrics to nearly all his songs. The book was originally issued as an exclusive leather-bound edition by Genesis Books for about $350 per copy; a less-expensive hardback edition was later published by Simon and Schuster.
Had his own professional 16-track recording studio installed at Friar Park, where nearly all his solo records after 'All Things Must Pass' were made (album credits usually mention "Friar Park Studio", or "F.P.S.H.O.T."). In the 1980s Jeff Lynne, used to working with 48-track digital machines, found it startling to have to rethink his approach to record with Harrison, but found it refreshing in the long run (the band Shakespear's Sister also borrowed the studio in the early 1990s, to record "Hormonally Yours").
A controversy arose in the days after Harrison's death, when it turned out his death certificate listed a bogus address; it was revealed he had died at Paul McCartney's Los Angeles house, whose address they'd wanted to keep secret. McCartney described the late Harrison as "my baby brother".
Harrison was cremated within hours of his death, and his ashes were later scattered along the Ganges River in India, in accordance with his last wishes.
Overcame both hepatitis in the mid-1970s (which caused a delay in the release of his album "Thirty-Three and 1/3"), and a cocaine addiction in the early 1980s.
Was called "my archangel" by Srila Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna movement.
A federal court in New York ruled in 1976 that his song "My Sweet Lord" was a copyright infringement on the 1963 Laurie Records hit "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons. "My Sweet Lord" contained a similar repetition of two musical phrases ("sol-mi-re" and "sol-la-do-la-do") found in "He's So Fine," along with identical harmonies. Although the court found that Harrison did not intend to plagiarize "He's So Fine," it ruled that, having been familiar with the song, he had "subconsciously" copied its melody (Bright Tunes Music Corp. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 420 F.Supp. 177 (S.D.N.Y. Aug 31, 1976). Appeals dragged the case on into the 1990s, with Harrison's former manager Allen Klein becoming the plaintiff when he bought Bright Tunes. Harrison eventually ended up owning both songs, while Klein's reputation suffered from his "changing sides" in the suit.
He was the youngest of four children (Louise, Harold Jr. and Peter were his older siblings), and came from the most "normal" home of any of The Beatles. Father Harry drove a Liverpool city bus, while mother Louise gave dance lessons at their home. The Harrisons were common-sense people, but allowed their children to pursue their dreams, and encouraged George to take up music. Mrs. Harrison invited The Beatles over to practice early in their career, and sometimes came to see them perform. The family remained close, even after daughter Louise married and moved to America, and George became famous; Louise frequently made herself available for media interviews about her younger brother, and hosted his early American visits. He provided enough money for his parents to retire comfortably, while his home at Friar Park was a family affair indeed, tended by he and his older brothers. His mother died of cancer in 1970, and he wrote "Deep Blue" in reaction to her death. His father died (also of cancer) in 1978, having adopted some of his son's spiritual beliefs; George and wife Olivia later related that they'd awoken that same night, to a strange blue light in the room, and a vision of Harry smiling at them.
When Lorne Michaels offered The Beatles $3000 to appear on Saturday Night Live (1975), Harrison actually took him up on the offer and performed on the show. The joke was that Michaels was offering $750 per Beatle, and Harrison wanted the full $3000. As a tribute, this appearance was re-aired as part of "Weekend Update" the Saturday after Harrison died.
Spoke German, but not fluently
Was an ace Monopoly player.
Although rightly considered the shyest pf The Beatles, Harrison loved comedy and often associated with Monty Python through the 1970s.
Was a member of The Traveling Wilburys, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra.
Treated for throat cancer in 1997, which went into remission the next year.
Brother-in-law of Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood was married to Jenny Boyd, Pattie Boyd's sister).
In 1978, The Rolling Stones album "Some Girls" was withdrawn from stores after several stars whose photos appeared on the original cover (including Lucille Ball, Raquel Welch,Farrah Fawcett, Lee Majors and Red Buttons) threatened to sue. The album was re-released with a "censored" cover; Harrison's photo appears on both versions. He joked publicly that he'd sue the Stones "if they removed his photo."
Together with Eric Clapton, he wrote the Cream hit "Badge." He also played the song's lead guitar track up to the bridge.
After his lung cancer was found to have returned in March 2001, Harrison was operated on in June and had half of one lung removed. By November of that year however the cancer had spread to his brain, making recovery impossible.
The only one of The Beatles whose childhood was not marred by personal tragedy.
Was actually hurt by the critical savaging of Shanghai Surprise (1986) and its subsequent financial failure, because he had very little to do with it and his name was on the film. In later years he said that his songs were the victims of the film's failure.
Disillusioned with working for a major label, he quickly and hastily recorded "Gone Troppo" in 1982 to fulfill his contract. When asked to renew, he refused. He also refused to do any publicity for the album, which he thought of as second-rate. Due to the shoddy publicity campaign by Warner Brothers for the album, it was a flop and its highest chart position was #108. Harrison decided not to make another album for five years. When he did, the album, "Cloud Nine", was a smash, landing in the #1 spot.
After eight years being idle, he decided to tour in 1974 despite a bad voice due to some throat problems. The tour was a critical and commercial disaster, with unfair severe criticism for the opening act of "Ravi Shankar and Friends", Harrison's voice (which was called "Dark Hoarse") and his preaching. He was so disillusioned and angry with the incident that he never toured in America again, only going to Japan in 1992 for a very large sum and Eric Clapton's back-up band.
Originally submitted his album "Somwhere In England" in 1980 with a psychedelic cover and four rather downbeat songs. Warner Brothers rejected the album, and ordered a new cover and four new, more upbeat songs. It was around this time that John Lennon died, and Harrison decided to re-arrange his song "All Those Years Ago" as a tribute to Lennon and sing it himself (he originally thought it should be a Ringo Starr tune). Starr had recorded percussion, which was used in the final track. At the same time, Paul McCartneyasked if he could come over to George's house so George could do some guitar work on Paul's song "Wanderlust." It was the first time McCartney and Harrison had been together since the break up of The Beatles in 1970. Harrison asked Paul, wife Linda McCartney andDenny Laine to record backing vocals for his song, "All Those Years Ago." After recording the song, McCartney decided that Harrison didn't need to record the guitar part and he'd use a horn ensemble instead. After three other songs were recorded, and a new photo shot at an art gallery in London, the album was resubmitted and accepted. Based on the strength of a new Beatles "reunion" (on "All Those Years Ago"), the album was released to critical and commercial excitement. "All Those Years Ago" became Harrison's first top-ten hit in eight years.
He was the youngest member of The Beatles.
Is portrayed by Chris Cound in The Linda McCartney Story (2000).
The Beatles were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [November 2004]
Is portrayed by Chris O'Neill in Backbeat (1994).
After The Beatles broke up, he was the first of them to have a #1 hit as a solo artist ("My Sweet Lord" December 1970).
The first song he wrote was "Don't Bother Me", while he was sick in hospital. He said later, "It was an exercise, to see if I *could* write a song".
Former schoolmate of Paul McCartney; the two got acquainted riding the same bus every day, carrying their first guitars. After McCartney joined John Lennon's Quarrymen, Harrison began turning up at their shows, and filled in when other members weren't available. Lennon objected to having a "kid" join the band, but McCartney persuaded him.
Through good friend Eric Clapton, Delaney Bramlett introduced him to playing slide guitar, which he would use after The Beatles.
Though the guitar chord - 7th + sharpened 9th - became known as "The Hendrix Chord" through its heavy use on "Foxy Lady" and "Purple Haze," the 7#9 was actually used several months earlier by Harrison on "Taxman" from The Beatles' 1966 album "Revolver".
He and The Beatles were awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Portrayed by Sam Bell in Nowhere Boy (2009).
First musician of the pop era to introduce the sitar when he played it on "Norwegian Wood" from the The Beatles' album "Rubber Soul" (1965). This was the first time the Indian instrument had been played on a pop single. Rivals The Rolling Stones soon followed with sitar accompaniment on their hit "Paint It Black" (1966).
During his November 1976 appearance on Saturday Night Live (1975), he appeared and sang, in a video titled "This Song". It referenced the then popular controversy over the similarity in the melody of his mega-hit "My Sweet Lord"(1971) and that of The Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine".
In the early 1960s when The Beatles were a backup group for Tony Sheridan, George co-wrote with John Lennon an instrumental, "Cry For A Shadow". The title was a reference to a disbanded British group.
Began playing the slide guitar at age 27. At that time, Harrison began to incorporate it into his solo work, which allowed him to mimic many traditional Indian instruments, including the sarangi and the dilruba.
Release of the book, "Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me" by Pattie Boyd and Penny Junor.
Release of the book, "The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison" by Dale C. Allison.
Release of the book, "Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison" by Joshua Greene.
Founded his own record label, Dark Horse Records, in 1974.
Like fellow Beatle John Lennon, Harrison was also known to be a very private person.
Was very good friends with: Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Elton John,Tom Petty, Phil Collins, Neil Young, Paul Simon, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Billy Preston, Neil Aspinall, Neil Innes, Carl Perkins and Roger McGuinn.
A devout Monty Python fan.
By late 1986, after a substantial break, Harrison felt the desire to make music again. He asked former Electric Light Orchestra lead vocalist, fellow guitarist and fellow musician,Jeff Lynne to co-produce a new album, "Cloud Nine," with him. The album went platinum, after his 1970 multi-platinum album, "All Things Must Pass," 17 years earlier.
When he was a young boy, Harrison collected photos of racing drivers and their cars, at 12-years-old, he had attended his first race, the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree.
Before the breakup of The Beatles, he purchased and restored the buildings of Friar Park, a 120-room Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames.
In early 1956, he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard Elvis Presley's, "Heartbreak Hotel", playing from a nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in rock and roll. He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, "I was totally into guitars.".
The first Beatle to wear a mop-top haircut.
His idols were: Big Bill Broonzy, George Formby, Django Reinhardt, Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry and Ry Cooder.
When it was his final show at Madison Square Garden in New York, he told 11-year-old,Julian Lennon, to tell father, John Lennon, "all is forgiven and I still love you." That was the last time Harrison saw Lennon before his shooting.
Was supposed to help Julian Lennon on the slide guitar for the song, "Help Yourself," but wasn't able to make it because he had to attend Eric Clapton's son's funeral. Instead, George sent Julian the samples.
Performed at The Concert for the Natural Law Party Royal Albert Hall in London, England, along with Ringo Starr, Starr's daughter, Lee Starkey and Julian Lennon. [6 April 1992].
In 1974, a former secretary, who was working at A&M Records, Olivia Harrison, had spoken to Harrison, many times over the phone. He was impressed and sent a friend to scout her out. Harrison and Olivia met at a party and the two soon formed a romantic relationship, and the two got married after his divorce from Pattie Boyd was final.
Was a longtime friend of 'Weird Al' Yankovic. Yankovic wrote a parody of "Got My Mind Set on You", called "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long". It was released as a song off his album "Even Worse".
He was inspired by Lonnie Donegan, who taught him how to play the guitar, after listening to Donegan, growing up.
During the escalation in Beatlemania from 1964 to 1966, Harrison got through flights by taking uppers and drinking whiskey and coke. Decades later, his memories of this time focused almost entirely on the horrors of airplanes, airports, cars and crowds.
After the breakup of The Beatles, Harrison began a long association with Ringo Starr, who participated in either his or Harrison's songs: "It Don't Come Easy," "Photograph," "Back Off Boogaloo," "I'll Still Love You," and "Wrack My Brain.".
He was voted as a guitarist as the 11th of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, by "Rolling Stone.".
Between 1971-2001, he made 27 movies with Handmade Films, and had a remarkable/non-remarkable 60 singles, under a variety of categories. 1 of them went to #1.
The only Beatle to have cancer deaths in his family, before the same disease caught up with him.
He gave a slang word to the national vocabulary. In The Beatles' first movie ¡Qué noche la de aquel día! (1964), Harrison used the word "grotty" to describe some items of clothing. "Grotty" (meaning "grotesque") caught on as an actual slang word used frequently in the sixties. It is still used, albeit sparingly, to this day. According to John Lennon, Harrison "used to cringe every time he had to say it.".
Former Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr appeared in both of his videos: "All Those Years Ago", about the death of their own singing partner, John Lennon, and on "When We Was Fab", which was used in reference of Beatlemania.
Harrison knew Julian Lennon (John Lennon's first son) since birth.
Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 14, 2009.
He asked Peter Tork to record some banjo for the score of Wonderwall (1968). Tork's banjo playing was featured in the film.
Was posthumously honored with The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award. [8 February 2015].
He became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, an honour presented to music artists for significant bodies of work. [1992].
The last song he wrote was "A Horse To Water.".
Attended the funeral of Linda McCartney (Paul McCartney's first wife), on 8 June 1998.
Brother of Harry Harrison, Peter Harrison and Louise Harrison.
George's 1968 custom Fender Telecaster "Rosewood" guitar (Serial #235594) (that was used in Let It Be (1970) and for The Beatles' final live roof-top performance) was bought at auction in 2003 by actor Ed Begley Jr..
At a Pink Floyd concert in Detroit in 1994, George went backstage and spoke to a man who he believed to be Steve O'Rourke, the group's manager, only to find to his embarrassment that it was Nick Mason.
Personal Quotes
I'd rather be a musician than a rock star.[his last public statement, issued after his death] Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.
[at his induction into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame] It's a shame Paul [Paul McCartney] can't be here, because he was the one who had the speech in his pocket.
[on his teenage years in Liverpool] You couldn't get a cup of sugar, let alone a rock-and-roll record.
[on the reasons why he became a vegetarian] People are simply screwing up when they go out and buy beefsteak, which is killing them with cancer and heart troubles. The stuff costs a fortune, too. You could feed a thousand people with lentil soup for the cost of half a dozen filets.
It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.
[in 1997, about his battle with throat cancer] I got it purely from smoking. Luckily, they found that this nodule was more of a warning than anything else. I'm not going to die on you folks just yet. Life is like a raindrop on a lotus leaf. Everybody realizes that you are either a very lucky person or you're not.
[on how he picked the title for his album "Cloud Nine"] I couldn't really think of, I racked my brain for weeks and months to try and think of a title because I was trying not to have a song title. We had various titles, had hundreds of them, you know, but the next day none of them seemed to work, you know. It was called "Fab" for a bit, but a lot of people liked "Fab" because they get the joke, it was called so many things in the end I just had to have a title, otherwise the album would never have come out. As there were clouds on the cover, we called it "Cloud Nine". I mean, when you look at the cover it could have been called "Spot the Loony!". But I thought, you know, they may not go for that.
[about his song "Got My Mind Set On You"] Ah, it was an old song from about 1959, I think, the writer's name is Rudy Clark. I don't know who he is but it was an excellent song, but the old version I heard of it was a bit antique and doesn't really sound like my version of it, but the song itself had stuck in my head for 20-odd years and just came out on this album ["Cloud Nine"]. But it rocks along, it's quite a good choice.
[on his song "Just for Today"[ It says, "Just for today, don't worry about anything, just try and deal with one thing at a time". Bbasically, it's really for everybody. It's generally a reminder just for today to keep cool and don't try and deal with everything all at once and that kind of thing.
[on his song "Someplace Else"] I did write the song specifically at the request of the producer of the' Madonna' movie and it was the love song for the naughty couple. So I re-cut that song "Someplace Else" and the other song called "Breath Away from Heaven", which is slightly Chinese-sounding. Well, it's supposed to be just slightly Chinese-sounding, I re-grooved that as well from the soundtrack album, from the soundtrack version. So those two were both from Shanghai Surprise (1986).
[about Eric Clapton] I've been friends with Eric for years. And I think I always will be. He's a lovely fella and I love him very dearly. And he, and I just called him up again and you know I'm doing an album ["Cloud Nine"]. "Eric could you come and play?". Sure, he came over and played great stuff. "Devil's Radio", "Cloud Nine", he does a nice little solo on the end of "That's What It Takes" and also the other one on the second side, "The Wreck of the Hesperus.
[on Ringo Starr] Yeah, it's like a built-in thing. If I play a song to Ringo I don't need to say to him, "You know, I want it to go like this"; I just play it and he joins in. He's got a great feel. Ringo's like I sort of don't practice much on the guitar, I sort of pick up and play it when I need to and he's the same. He never practices, he's a very naughty boy. But he just gets his sticks and he just does it and it sounds just like Ringo and he can hold the rock steady all day long.
[on creating the album "Cloud Nine"] I thought, "I'm not going to make one of them, you know, sort of clattery records like everybody else seems to be doing this period. I'm going to make a record like something like I did 20 years ago". Just like a rock n' roll band making a record. We had real saxes and real guitars, real pianos, real drums, real people playing real songs.
[on the process of making his album "Cloud Nine"] I'm at ease with myself, maybe. I'm happy to be making records, by getting away from the music business I was in a good mood to do it, you know, it's just the fun of doing it and just trying to sustain the energy and the interest.
[on life and experience] Experience is the main reason why we're here, I think, in the world to gain experience and from our experience we gain knowledge. Oh, I think so, anyway. Knowledge and if we get any knowledge then we gain liberation, you know, we free ourselves.
[in 1987, about the inspiration for the song "Taxman"] It's not so bad these days, is it? They pay 52% or something. In those days we used to make a pound and give 'em 19 shillings and threepence out of a pound. But it's not quite as bad. But, you know, you have to live where you want to live, really.
I believe I love my guitar more than the others love theirs. For [John Lennon] and [Paul McCartney], songwriting is pretty important and guitar playing is a means to an end.
If we'd know we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.
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