I am going to make no bones or apologies for this- George Harrison was my teenage idol and he is still a musician who means a tremendous amount to me.
But first some context
As any child born to children of the 60’s Beatles music was always around me. For me it was like having four singing uncles. I remember getting excited about watching ‘Let it be’ on television when I was three. I would always listen intently to their music as a child. 'Yellow Submarine' was my favourite film when I was very young (I particularly liked the 'sea of holes' section). One of the most idyll memories of my childhood is listening to the Beatles on long car rides through the Irish countryside. The Beatles music became synonymous with sunshine, nature and joyous movement.
One of my earliest memories is of seeing Steve Harley and Cockney rebel playing ‘Here comes the sun’ on Top of the Pops in the summer of 1976 around the time the older of my two sisters was born.
When I was about 8 I got hold of my parents Beatles LPs and asked my Dad to tell me who each of the Beatles were. I examined carefully the front cover of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Abbey Road’ and obsessively read the story book inside the Magical Mystery Tour album. Even this age I found George the most intriguing. I always feel guilty I was not more sad at John Lennon’ death.
Fast forward a few years to 1987. I was a teenager of 14 who did not particularly get on with the pop music of the time (well- I did not get on with 80’s in general!). I was beginning to realise I had considerably more affinity with the music of the 1960’s. The Beatles were always part of this. I became completely enamoured of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ when it was issued on CD that year and watched the documentary about the making of the album ‘It was twenty years ago’ with my Dad. I remember thinking how handsome George was in the documentary.
But I began to love George’s music without realising it. In the summer of 1987 I heard Peter Young (my all time favourite disc jockey!) play ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ from the White Album when it was issued on CD. I was haunted by it all the next day. About this time I also aw George perform the song at the Prince’s Trust concert on television.
But it was not until October 1987 that I was truly smitten. The late, great, Roger Scott played ‘Got my mind set on you’ three mornings in a row. The second morning it began to stick in my mind. The third morning the sound of Jim Keltner’s drum intro became the sound of my adolescence kicking in. I promptly went out and brought the single in WH Smiths Streatham (making it the first record I brought in a shop- As an aside the B-Side ‘Lay his head’ is an underrated gem). It was wonderful to see ‘Got my mind set on you’ rise to number 2 in the charts. I also adored the video where George sits in an easy chair. Over the next few months I listened to the ‘Cloud 9’ album several times, and enjoyed hearing George get a considerable amount radio play and have further chart success. George had not issued a solo album for five years and would not issue any further solo albums in his lifetime. Listening to the album again recently I am stuck with how it managed to sound contemporary to the late 1980’s (particularly ‘That’s what it takes’) and how confident it sounds. I particularly like the title track which begs for a soul queen such as Bettye Lavette to bring out all its’ bluesy qualities.
I next came across the ‘White Album’ on an old tape of my parents which I found in our utility room. This is still one of my all time favourite albums and I have even attended an event about the album at the British Library (as it happens I caught site of Gabriel for the first time in a year that night which goes to prove George’s belief that nothing is coincidental). This album contains my favourite George and favourite Beatle track ‘Long, Long, Long’. This song expresses a soul’s (however you view that) yearning to return to its’ creator (whatever you view that as) more beautifully than a library full of theology books (and I should know having studied theology).
In January 1989 I had a vivid dream in which I saw the cover of the‘ Living in the material world’ album (which I had seen in a book about the Beatles). Then only a few days later, when I visited my guide pack brown owl’s house to tape some records I found a copy of it! I adored it from first listen. My favourite track was ‘Try some, buy some’. I also heard ‘Revolver’ for the first time and particularly liked ‘I want to tell you’
I purchased three of George’s solo album on tape (I could not afford CDs!) To celebrate my GCSE results in August 1989 I purchased ‘All things must pass’ on tape. I was with my grandmother and delightedly discussed George with her. George’s masterpiece is full of beautiful, graceful songs which had been stacking up while he had been in The Beatles. It is gratifying to know George had the last laugh and that many critics think this is the best solo album by an ex- Beatle. The only small caveat I have in recommending is that there is more to George’s solo career than this album!
I will regret until the day I die (and it is one of my main regrets) that I did not somehow make it to George’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall in April 1992- goodness knows I really wanted to go but did not have the confidence to ask my parents for the money.
George’s music helped get me through my complex adolescence and was a companion in my university years (which were the happiest of my life). When I felt psychically lost and disconnected from things around me due to a number of events that had occurred in my early teens (namely moving back from Ireland and my TS diagnosis) the music of George and the Beatles was one of the main things that brought me back to myself. As with whatever music and musicians adolescents adopt as ‘their’ music and musicians, George and his music helped me explore and develop the type of person I was and who I wanted to be. I found a place within myself of belonging, comfort, wonder and empathy. As you can tell from other entries in this blog music means a tremendous amount to me. I have had so many wonderful experiences and made some great friends through music. Music informs my politics, social outlook, spirituality, and the way I treat others. This is a direct result of being a fan of George in my teens.
In the years after I left university I began to get more into soul music and contemporary ‘indie’ music. However I thoroughly enjoyed the Anthology programmes (I joke that I like other women in the UK spent six Sunday evenings in the winter of 1995 enjoying watching a of handsome enigmatic man with a huge country estate on TV only for me it was George in Anthology and not Colin Firth in ‘Pride and prejudice’). I also made a visit to Liverpool in August 1997 with Lucy and I got quite emotional seeing 12 Arnold Grove where George was born.
I confess that I did not really listen to George’s music as much after 1996. But I was always a fan. I was as concerned as all his other fans when his treatment for throat cancer was reported in 1997. I spent new years’ eve 1999 in a state of disbelief that George and his beloved wife Olivia had been attacked at Friar Park (I knew how much Friar Park meant to George and his family and was saddened that this refuge had been violated in the worst manner imaginable). I kept an eye on the press coverage of the trial of the Harrison’s attacker the following year (I may write more about this in a later post!). Finally in 2001, the headlines about George’s cancer screamed out at me as I was passing through Victoria to work. Earlier that year George had reissued ‘All things must pass’ on CD and seemed to I couldn’t bring myself to read or follow news about George’s cancer, partially as an act of respect for George and his family’s hard earned privacy but mainly because I did not want to think about it as it was too upsetting.
I was sitting at work and had a quick look on the Guardian website around lunchtime on 30 November 2001 (I had taken to checking the news during my lunch hour after the events of 9/11 that year). There was the news that George had died the previous day. I had tried to kid myself that this news was not coming. I meekly said ‘Aw, George Harrison has died’ to my colleague. I then found myself heading for a news stand to get an evening standard. I listened in a stunned state to my favourite radio show of the time Mark and Lard on Radio 1 (who had been expecting Paul MacCartney as a guest that day) and they played ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ in George’s honour.
A few days later I made my way up to Abbey road for the first time and left a note of condolence outside Abbey Road studios. I even kept the minutes meditation for George that Olivia and Dhani Harrison suggested for his fans even thought I was in the middle of a meal with my colleagues!
I have to confess here that I brought ‘Living in the material world’ and the white album on CD soon after George’s death. I feel ashamed that it took his death to remind me how much those albums had meant to me. I also confess that I only occasionally listened to George or the Beatles music in the ten years after his death. It was as if for the time being George had done his job. But on many a Friday’s summer evening after work I would walk from my work through Regents park to Baker street and think how close I was to where the Beatles made their music.
Last September I saw a poster for ‘Living in the material world’ the documentary that Martin Scorsese has made about George with the assistance of Olivia Harrison at Baker Street underground. My heart leapt for joy when I saw it. I was annoyed I could not got to see the documentary at the cinema as it was on either too early or too late. But I certainly watched it when it was on BBC 2. It only took one viewing to re-ignite my respect for George as a person and my love for his music. I made sure I got the DVD for Christmas (and the accompanying book!). I dug out George’s albums and made sure I marked the tenth anniversary of his death. I finally got round to viewing the copy of ‘The concert for Bangladesh’ I was given some years ago and purchasing a copy of ‘Brainwashed’. This little post is just one clue that the George Harrison fest is ongoing! (helped in no small part by Youtube)
I am so grateful to George Harrison for making music which played such a helpful role at a critical time of my life. I am so grateful for the memories that this music brings back. But more than that I am grateful to George for making music that will remain a part of who I am and how I want to live my life always.
Thank you George
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