George Harrison, February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2001
George Harrison would have turned 65 today, born on this day in Liverpool, England in 1943. He died on November 29, 2001 at age 58.
I’ve written and said a lot about George in the days since I started COAF and I wasn’t exactly sad to have another excuse to do that again today- of course I am terribly sad that so much of this is past tense. To cheer myself up and honor his memory, I’m spending some time listening to the music that made so many of us care in the first place.
It became trendy to extoll the virtues of George shortly after his passing in 2001. I fell victim to that just a little but was really conscious of it. I wasn’t willing to go all the way and say he was my favorite at that time but the truth then and now is that George’s best Beatles work hangs up there with my favorite Beatle moments.
Comparing one Beatle to another is pretty pointless. All four of them were terrific and brought something to the group and all four of them did worthwhile things when they left the band. It’s really only been in the past year or two that I’ve bothered to explore the Beatles’ solo records and in so doing, George has emerged as my favorite. I don’t say that at the expense of what the other three did. They’re great. It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. A growing admiration for Harrison doesn’t come at the expense of my esteem for Paul, John, or Ringo.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of all my favorite George Harrison songs, but here are a few I’m listening to tonight to celebrate the life and talents of one of the greats:
- I’d Have You Any Time: Harrison and Dylan wrote this one; one of the best on George’s best solo record.
- Blow Away: A happy moment from my childhood and a great, happy little pop song.
- Art of Dying: Walls of George Harrison and Eric Clapton guitar. Who wouldn’t want that?
- Any Road: One of the great couplets in all of pop music: “If you don’t know where you’re going/any road will take you there.” Brilliant song on George’s wonderful final record, Brainwashed.
- Handle With Care (Traveling Wilburys): TheWifeToWhomI’mMarried adores this song and George’s contributions are the main reasons (great vocal and slide work).
- I Me Mine: My favorite version of this one comes from Anthology 3. The Let it Be version, while longer, is a bit too ornate for my taste when compared to this more pared back take. George and John’s harmony on the chorus and the snarl of George’s guitar give this one some real bite.
There are loads of songs I could have listed here, but these are just a few keeping me company tonight. Rest in peace, George.
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I think George Harrison, along with Ravi Shankar invented the pop star benefit concert, Without realizing at the time, that they would influence a whole charitable movement that has continued for decades, for various causes. And I personally like his “Concert For Bangladesh” that I have collected recently, it is one of the single most important events in rock n roll history, I think! Miss you, Harrison!