Happy Birthday George Harrison!
Today would have been George Harrison’s 74th birthday. Although some people forget about George, despite his talent and major contribution to music, this post is dedicated to him on his birthday.
George Harrison was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and music and film producer best remembered for being a member of the most famous band of all time, The Beatles.
George Harrison was born 25 February 1943 in Liverpool, England, although it is disputed that he may have been born on 24 February 1943. On the bus to school Harrison met Paul McCartney, and they bonded over their shared love of music. George auditioned to be a part of The Quarrymen with John Lennon and Paul McCartney as members. He was just 15, and the youngest member of the group that would soon become The Beatles alongside John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
The Beatles
George was the lead guitarist of the Beatles and mostly only sang backing vocals. With the iconic singer/songwriter partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney dominating The Beatles, George became known as “the quiet Beatle.” George’s first solo writing credit was ‘Don’t Bother Me’ in 1963.
He began to write more of his own songs for The Beatles and in the late 1960s, George developed an interest in Hinduism and meditation, and Indian music. George’s songs for the Beatles included ‘Taxman’, ‘Within You Without You’, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Something.’ The Beatles became the most famous band in the world, with huge fans. With Beatlemania, the band couldn’t be heard at live performances and the Beatles became reclusive and agitated. Eventually tensions in the band grew strong and the Beatles broke up in 1970.
Something
The Beatles final recorded album, Abbey Road included two of George Harrison’s greatest songs Here Comes the Sun and Something, which became one half of the Beatles’ first number one double A-side single. It was also George’s first A-side, and the first of his songs to reach the top of the charts.
‘Something’ received critical acclaim and recognition became the Beatles’ second most covered song after Yesterday. Artists such as James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Peggy Lee covered the masterpiece ‘Something’. John Lennon considered it the best song on Abbey Road and Paul McCartney said it was “George’s greatest track.” Ringo Starr paired ‘Something’ and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ are “Two of the finest love songs ever written”, and that, “they’re really on a par with what John and Paul or anyone else of that time wrote.”
In 1970 Frank Sinatra recorded ‘Something’, and later dubbed it “the greatest love song of the past 50 years”. Sinatra wasn't a fan of The Beatles or rock n roll music, but was very impressed with Something. He mistakenly called ‘Something’ the greatest Lennon–McCartney composition, until he discovered it was actually a George Harrison original song.
Elton John said: “‘Something’ is probably one of the best love songs ever, ever, ever written … It’s better than ‘Yesterday,’ much better … It’s like the song I’ve been chasing for the last thirty-five years.”
Solo Career
Before the Beatles’ break-up, George had already recorded and released two solo albums: Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound, and was the first member of The Beatles to release a solo album.
‘My Sweet Lord’ was released in November 1970 on his triple album All Things Must Pass. Also issued as a single, George’s first as a solo artist, ‘My Sweet Lord’ topped charts worldwide and was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number one single by an ex-Beatle.
As a solo artist, George Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer such as What Is Life, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth, All Things Must Pass and Got My Mind Set On You.
George played 26 instruments: guitar, sitar, four-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.
He featured as a guest guitarist on various tracks and collaborated on songs and music with Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo and Tom Petty, as well as others. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”.
George is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and he was inducted (posthumously) for his solo career in 2004. In December 1992 he became the first recipient of the Billboard Century Award, an honour presented to music artists for significant bodies of work. George was posthumously honoured with The Recording Academy’s Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammy Awards in February 2015.
He died from lung cancer on 29 November 2001, at a friend’s home in Los Angeles, aged 58. He left behind a huge legacy of music, and is one of the greatest musicians of all time. Happy Birthday George!
