Something About George Harrison

Photo: Love one another

by ~yummiedesire

http://yummiedesire.deviantart.com/art/love-one-another-320847517

By Stephen A. Nelson

(Based On Something I wrote for ESL magazines in Taiwan)

It was something in the way he sang; something in the way he played. That’s why, in life, George Harrison was a successful solo artist and one-quarter of the most popular music group in history — The Beatles. And that’s why now, 11 years after his death, he is still being remembered for the way his music changed the world.

George Harrison was born in 1942 in the seaport city of Liverpool, England. He grew up listening to early rock ‘n’ roll heroes such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Carl Perkins. When he was 14, he met Paul McCartney and John Lennon and joined the skiffle group that would eventually evolve into The Beatles. Even before Ringo Starr joined the group in 1962, George’s electric guitar had transformed the ensemble into bona fide rock ‘n’ roll band.

Yet to truly understand George’s place in history, you have to understand just how big The Beatles really were in the 1960s: If Elvis was the Atom Bomb, then The Beatles were a nuclear chain reaction; if Elvis was king, then John, Paul, George, and Ringo were gods. The Beatles weren’t just imitated—they were worshipped. So when John Lennon told the British press “We’re more popular than Jesus,” he wasn’t kidding. And he wasn’t wrong.

In the beginning, George was the Quiet Beatle — the one who used his guitar and voice to modestly fill the spaces between the two super-egos of Lennon and McCartney. But first as a Beatle, and later as a solo artist, George went from being the Third Man to being the soul and conscience of the rock generation.

When The Fab Four were at the height of their fame and influence, George introduced them — and the Western world — to Indian music, Indian culture, and Indian religion.

In fact, many people say that what we now call “World Music” really began when George started playing the sitar on Beatles’ songs such as Norwegian Wood; and what we call “Monde Culture” really began when he started espousing Hindu philosophy on the mind-bending Sergeant Pepper album.

Still, George will be best remembered as a composer of exquisite, eternal songs that ranged from the sardonic Taxman to the sublime While My Guitar Gently Weeps; and from the soulful prayer of My Sweet Lord to the superb poetry of Something. 

Indeed, when George died of cancer 11 years ago, he was still writing love songs to God. And today he is still touching souls with a kind of music that seems to live forever.

Copyright Stephen A Nelson 2001, 2012