George Harrison: Encyclopedia II - George Harrison - Role in The Beatles

George Harrison - Role in The Beatles

Harrison was a fluent, inventive and highly accomplished lead and rhythm 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. Other Harrison solos were directed or modified by producer George Martin, who also vetoed several of Harrison's song and instrument offerings; Martin admitted years later, "I was always rather beastly to George."

During the era of Beatlemania, Harrison was characterized as the "Quiet Beatle", noted for his introspective manner and his tendency not to speak in press conferences. He studied situations and people closely, though, and was the most interested of any Beatle in the band's finances, often quizzing Brian Epstein about them. He could also wisecrack as well as anyone in the band; when a reporter asked what they did in their hotel suite between shows, Harrison told him "We ice-skate." He also gave the 'Beatle haircut' a formal name: "Arthur!"

Harrison wrote his first song, "Don't Bother Me", during a sick day in 1963, as an exercise "to see if I could write a song", as he remembered. "Don't Bother Me" appeared on the second Beatles album (With the Beatles) late that year, on Meet the Beatles! in the US in early 1964, and also in A Hard Day's Night. Harrison was usually allotted only one original song per album, the break coming in 1966, when three Harrison songs appeared on Revolver.

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 instrument, immersed himself in Indian music and was pivotal in popularizing the sitar in particular and Indian music in general in the West. Buying a sitar himself as the Beatles came back from a Far East tour, he became the first western popular musician to play one on a pop record "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". 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. Shankar didn't admire Harrison's first Indian-influenced efforts, but the two became friends, and Harrison began his first formal musical studies with Shankar.

A personal turning point for Harrison came during the filming of the movie Help!, on location in the Bahamas, when a Hindu devotee presented each Beatle with a book about reincarnation. Harrison’s interest in Indian culture expanded to his embracing Hinduism. A pilgrimage with wife Pattie to India, where Harrison studied sitar, met several gurus and visited various holy places, filled the months between the end of the final Beatles tour in 1966 and the commencement of the Sgt. Pepper sessions. Ironically though, it was through Pattie (and back in England) that George met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who introduced the Beatles, their wives and girlfriends to Transcendental Meditation. While they parted company with the Maharishi months afterwards, Harrison continued his pursuit of Eastern spirituality.

In the summer of 1969, he produced the single "Hare Krishna Mantra", performed by Harrison with the devotees of the London Radha-Krishna Temple, that topped the 10 best-selling record charts throughout UK, Europe, and Asia. That same year, he and fellow Beatle John Lennon met A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Soon after, Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition (particularly japa-yoga chanting with beads; a meditation technique similar to the Catholic rosary), and remained associated with it until his death. When during his lifetime, Harrison bequeathed to ISKCON his Letchmore Heath mansion (renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor) north of London, he redoubled speculations that he would leave ISKCON a large sum in his will; in fact, he left nothing to the organization. [1].

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.

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.

Harrison's songwriting improved greatly through the years, and his material gradually earned respect from both his fellow Beatles (with Lennon telling McCartney during 1969 "George's songs this year are at least as good as ours") and the public. Nonetheless, he later said that he always had difficulty getting the band to record his songs.

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"; "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; and "Piggies", which later featured inadvertently in the notorious Charles Manson murder case (as did McCartney's "Helter Skelter" actually about a fairground ride).

"Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" are probably his two best-known Beatles songs. "Something" is considered one of his very best works, and was even covered by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, who famously deemed it "the greatest love song of the last 50 years." At the same time, "Something" serves as a supreme example of Harrison's lack of recognition as a songwriter - Frank Sinatra once called it his "favorite Lennon-McCartney tune." 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.

When asked years later what kind of music the Beatles might have made if they'd stayed together, his answer was to the point: "The solo stuff that we've done would have been on Beatle albums." Harrison, Lennon and McCartney had always largely written apart; on one level, breaking up for each was merely a change of collaborators.

See also: List of Beatles songs written by George Harrison.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Role in The Beatles", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki