George Harrison

:This article is about songwriter and musician George Harrison. For the early twentieth century singer, see Clinton Ford. For Nintendo's Senior VP of Marketing and Corporate Communication, see George Harrison (Executive).

1980s

Immediately following the murder of his friend and former bandmate John Lennon, Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Ringo Starr to make it a tribute song to Lennon, "All Those Years Ago", which found substantial radio airplay and continues to be a staple of "classic rock" radio. All the three remaining Beatles performed on it, although it was expressly a Harrison single. "Teardrops" was issued as a follow-up single, but wasn't nearly as successful.

Related Topics:
All Those Years Ago - Classic rock

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aside from a song on the Porky's Revenge soundtrack in 1984, Harrison released no new records for five years after 1982's Gone Troppo was met with apparent indifference. He returned in 1987 with the album Cloud Nine, co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra, and enjoyed a hit (#1 in the U.S.; #2 in the U.K) when his cover version of "Got My Mind Set On You" was released as a single; another single, "When We Was Fab", was also a minor hit. The album got to #8.

Related Topics:
Porky's Revenge - Soundtrack - 1984 - 1982 - Gone Troppo - 1987 - Cloud Nine - Jeff Lynne - Electric Light Orchestra - When We Was Fab

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

During the late 1980s, he helped form the Traveling Wilburys with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty when they gathered in Dylan's garage to quickly record an additional track for a projected Harrison European single release. The record company realised the track ("Handle With Care") was too good for its original purpose as a single B-side and asked for a separate album. This had to be completed within two weeks, as Dylan was scheduled to start a tour. Released in October 1988, and recorded under pseudonyms as half-brothers (supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury, Sr.), Travelling Wilburys Vol. 1 was dubbed as one of the top 100 albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

Related Topics:
1980s - Traveling Wilburys - Roy Orbison - Jeff Lynne - Bob Dylan - Tom Petty - Handle With Care - 1988 - Pseudonym - Rolling Stone

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of Harrison's most successful ventures during this period was his involvement in film production through his company Handmade Films. Since childhood The Beatles had been fans of the anarchic humour of The Goons, and Harrison became a dedicated fan of their successors, the Monty Python team. He provided financial backing for the Python film The Life of Brian after the original backers (EMI Films) withdrew, fearing the subject matter of the film was too controversial. Other films produced by Handmade included Mona Lisa, Time Bandits, Shanghai Surprise and Withnail and I. He made several cameo appearances in these movies, including appearing as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise, and as Mr. Papadopolous in Life of Brian. One of his most memorable cameos was in the cult Beatles parody The Rutles, created by ex-Python Eric Idle.

Related Topics:
Handmade Films - The Goons - Monty Python - The Life of Brian - Mona Lisa - Time Bandits - Shanghai Surprise - Withnail and I - Life of Brian - The Rutles - Eric Idle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1989 saw the release of Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989, a compilation drawn from his later solo work. This album also included three excellent new songs: "Poor Little Girl", "Cheer Down", and "Cockamamie Business", the last of which saw him once again looking wryly upon his Beatley past.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~