Harrison, George

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Harrison, George

Harrison, George, neither the most prolific nor the most successful of the former Beatles, the group member most involved in Eastern music and mysticism; b. Wavertree, Liverpool, England, Feb. 25, 1943. One of the first rock artists to express spiritual and humanitarian concerns in his music, Harrison’s first post-Beatles album, All Things Must Pass, was hailed as one of the rock masterpieces of the 1970s despite its occasional lapses into didacticism and pedantry. His humanitarian impulses produced the benefit show Concert for Bangladesh, the forerunner of mid-1980s benefits such as Live Aid. In 1974 he formed his own record company, Dark Horse, and became the first former Beatle to tour America. In 1978 Harrison and his personal manager formed Hand Made Film Productions, which became a respected force in the British film industry. A return to performing in 1987 with a new solo album, and the formation of the mock supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, brought Harrison renewed attention at the decade’s end.

George Harrison took up guitar and formed his first group, the Rebels, at age 13. In 1958 he joined Paul McCartney and John Lennon in the skiffle group the Quarrymen, but they disbanded around the end of 1959. Harrison, McCartney, and Lennon then formed the Moondogs, later changing their name to the Silver Beatles. Regularly performing at the Cavern Club in Liverpool after January 1961 and making occasional forays into Hamburg, Germany, the Beatles’ lineup was completed with the August 1962 addition of drummer Ringo Starr. Harrison, overshadowed by songwriters Lennon and McCartney, made his songwriting debut with “Don’t Bother Me” from Meet the Beatles (1964; issued as With the Beatles in the United Kingdom and on CD in the U.S./U.K.). Later Beatles songs written by Harrison included “If I Needed Someone,” “Taxman,” “Within You, Without You,” the classic “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Something” (his first #1 hit with the Beatles), and “Here Comes the Sun.” During his tenure with the Beatles, Harrison recorded Wonderwall Music, an Eastern- sounding instrumental album, and the experimental Electronic Sound album, one of the few releases on the short-lived Zapple label.

Although Paul McCartney did not sue for dissolution of the Beatles until December 1970, George Harrison was essentially independent of the group by the May 1970 release of Let It Be. His debut solo album, All Things Must Pass, was coproduced by Phil Spector and recorded with Eric Clapton and Billy Preston. An instant best-seller, the album yielded the top hit “My Sweet Lord” (backed with “Isn’t It a Pity”) and the near-smash “What Is Life,” as well as “Wah-Wah,” “If Not for You,” “Beware of Darkness,” and “Apple Scruffs.”

Concerned with the famine overwhelming Bangladesh, Harrison organized two benefit performances staged in N.Y.’s Madison Square Garden on Aug. 1, 1971. Enlisting the services of Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, and Leon Russell (among others), Harrison was able to coax both Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton (both in semiretirement) into performing at the charity show. The resulting multirecord set, Concert for Bangladesh, accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars for relief of the heinous situation in Bangladesh (although it took years of legal haggling for the money to be finally released).

In the meantime, George Harrison took nearly two years to complete his second solo album, Living in the Material World. Finally released in mid-1973, the album was critically lambasted despite yielding the top hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” Also included were the title song as well as “Try Some Buy Some” and the satiric “Sue Me, Sue You Blues,” inspired by the bickering among the former Beatles. Meanwhile, Harrison himself faced a lawsuit because of the remarkable similarities between his “My Sweet Lord” and the Chiffons’ 1963 top hit “He’s So Fine” (the melody is clearly the same).

In June 1974 Harrison announced the formation of Dark Horse Records. The label’s first signing was longtime friend Ravi Shankar, the sitar player. During November 1974 Harrison became the first former Beatle to tour the United States, with Shankar. However, the tour was met by scathing reviews, due in large part to voice problems and a muddled sound mix. The soon-released Dark Horse took another critical drubbing, although it contained two hits, “Dark Horse” and “Ding Dong, Ding Dong,” and a rewritten version of the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye, Love,” an apparent indictment of Eric Clapton’s cuckolding of Harrison. (Clapton had become involved with Harrison’s then-wife, Patti Boyd, inspiring the song “Layla” the Harrisons were divorced, and Clapton married Boyd.)

Following Extra Texture and its hit “You,” George Harrison released Thirty-Three & 1/3, which produced the major hits “This Song,” which refers to the plagiarism suit regarding “He’s So Fine,” and “Crackerbox Palace.” Also in 1976, Capitol issued The Best of George Harrison, which included seven of his hits recorded by the Beatles. In March 1978 he appeared in a small part in the television special The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle’s Beatles parody. During that year Harrison formed Hand Made Film Productions with his personal manager, Denis O’Brien. The company produced the irreverent and controversial Monty Python film Life of Brian, released in 1979. Subsequent film projects included 1981’s Time Bandits, with Pythons Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin, and 1982’s The Missionary, with Palin.

In 1981 George Harrison scored a smash hit with the tribute to the slain John Lennon, “All These Years Ago,” recorded with Ringo Starr and Paul and Linda McCartney. Following 1982’s uninspired Gone Troppo, Harrison remained largely out of sight. Hand Made Films produced the wry 1985 film A Private Function, the 1986 flop Shanghai Surprise (with Madonna and then-husband Sean Penn), and the critically acclaimed Mona Lisa (1986) and Withnail and I (1987). Harrison reemerged musically in 1987 with Cloud Nine, coproduced by Jeff Lynne; it had a top hit with “Got My Mind Set on You,” originally recorded by R&B singer James Ray in 1962, and a major hit, “When We Was Fab,” which was reminiscent (in its lyrics and in its arrangement, complete with sitar) of the Beatles. In 1988 and again in 1990, Harrison recorded as one of the Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty (and Roy Orbison in 1988); the group had a hit with Harrison’s “Handle with Care.” In late 1991 George Harrison toured Japan with Eric Clapton and his band, resulting in Live in Japan. In 1995 the three living former Beatles reunited to promote their Anthology TV/CD/video package, and recorded two new songs based on demo tapes by John Lennon that prominently featured George Harrison’s guitar work and harmony vocals.

Discography

george harrison:Wonderwall Music (1968); Electronic Sound (1969); All Things Must Pass (1970); Living in the Material World (1973); Dark Horse (1974); Extra Texture (1975); The Best of G. H.. (1976); 33 & 1/3 (1976); G. H.. (1979); Somewhere in England (1981); Gone Troppo (1982); Cloud Nine (1987); The Best of Dark Horse, 1976-1989 (1989); Live in Japan (1992). george harrison and friends:The Concert for Bangladesh (1972). the traveling wilburys:Volume One (1988); Volume 3 (1990).