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).

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.

Related Topics:
Chuck Berry - Carl Perkins - Chet Atkins

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During the era of Beatlemania, Harrison was characterized as the "Quiet Beatle", noted for his introspective manner.

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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 sitar, immersed himself in Indian music and was instrumental in popularizing the sitar in particular and Indian music in general in the West. He traveled to India to take lessons from Shankar, bought a sitar himself, and became the first western popular musician to use one on a recording "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.

Related Topics:
David Crosby - The Byrds - Ravi Shankar - Sitar - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Monterey International Pop Festival

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Harrison?s interest in Indian culture eventually expanded to Hinduism and meditation. It was his meeting with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that led him first into meditation. In the summer of 1969, the Beatles produced the single "Hare Krishna Mantra", performed by Harrison and the devotees of the London Radha-Krishna Temple that topped the 10 best-selling record charts throughout UK, Europe, and Asia. The same year, he and fellow Beatle John Lennon met A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Soon after, Harrison embraced the Hare Krishna tradition and remained associated with it until his death. While during his lifetime, Harrison had bequeathed to the society his Letchmore Heath mansion (renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor) north of London, he redoubted speculations that he would leave ISKCON a large sum in his will: in fact, he left nothing to the organization. http://www.newsindia-times.com/2002/12/13/intl-top14.html.

Related Topics:
Hinduism - Meditation - Maharishi - Mahesh Yogi - 1969 - Hare Krishna - Radha - Krishna - A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Acharya - International Society for Krishna Consciousness - ISKCON

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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.

Related Topics:
Eric Clapton - Badge - Cream's - 1969 - Abbey Road - Here Comes the Sun

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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.

Related Topics:
The White Album - Let It Be

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While not the primary composer in the group (Lennon and McCartney wrote the vast bulk of the Beatles' material), as time went on Harrison's songwriting improved greatly and his material gradually earned respect from both his fellow Beatles and the public. By the mid-Sixties Lennon and McCartney had become somewhat more accepting of his contributions, although he later said that he always had difficulty getting his songs recorded and only managed to get one or two included on each album.

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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.

Related Topics:
If I Needed Someone - I Want to Tell You - Love You To - Taxman - Cheap Trick - The Jam - Within You Without You - While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Roy Orbison - Piggies - Charles Manson

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"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 Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. 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.

Related Topics:
Something - Here Comes the Sun - Frank Sinatra - Elvis Presley

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

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