George Harrison
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see George Harrison (disambiguation).
| George Harrison MBE | |
|---|---|
Harrison at the White House in 1974
| |
| Background information | |
| Born | 25 February 1943 Liverpool, England |
| Died | 29 November 2001 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, US |
| Genres | Rock, pop, world, experimental |
| Occupations | Musician, singer, songwriter, music and film producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, sitar, keyboards, bass, ukulele |
| Years active | 1958–2001 |
| Labels | Parlophone, Capitol, Swan, Apple,Vee-Jay, Dark Horse, Gnome |
| Associated acts | The Quarrymen, the Beatles, Plastic Ono Band, Traveling Wilburys, Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton |
| Website | www.georgeharrison.com |
| Notable instruments | |
| |
George Harrison,[nb 1] MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist ofthe Beatles. Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney were the band's primary songwriters, most of their albums included at least one Harrison composition, including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", which became the Beatles' second-most-covered song.
Harrison's earliest musical influences included Big Bill Broonzy, George Formby and Django Reinhardt; Chet Atkins, Chuck Berry and Ry Cooder were significant later influences. By 1965 he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in the Byrds and Bob Dylan, and towards Indian classical music through his use of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". He developed an interest in the Hare Krishna movement and became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing them to the other members of the Beatles and their Western audience by incorporating Indian instrumentation in their music. After the band's break-up in 1970, Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass, from which two hit singles originated. He also organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Ravi Shankar, a precursor for later benefit concertssuch as Live Aid. Harrison was a music and film producer as well as a musician; he founded Dark Horse Records in 1974 and co-founded HandMade Films in 1978.
Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer, and in 1988 co-founded the platinum-selling supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. A prolific recording artist, he was featured as a guest guitarist on tracks by Badfinger, Ronnie Wood and Billy Preston, and collaborated on songs and music with Bob Dylan, Eric Claptonand Tom Petty, among others. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Harrison's first marriage, to Pattie Boyd, ended in divorce in 1977. The following year he married Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one son, Dhani. Harrison died in 2001, aged 58, from lung cancer. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India, in a private ceremony according to Hindu tradition. He left almost £100 million in his will.
Contents
[hide]1943–57: early years
Further information: The Quarrymen
Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943, Harrison was the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise (née French).[3] He had one sister, Louise, and two brothers, Harry and Peter.[4] His mother was a shop assistant from a Catholic family with Irish roots, and his father was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line.[5] His future wife, the model Pattie Boyd, described Harrison's parents as "quite short and very Liverpudlian".[6] According to Boyd, Harrison's mother was particularly supportive: "All she wanted for her children is that they should be happy, and she recognized that nothing made George quite as happy as making music."[6] An enthusiastic music fan, she was known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons' windows.[7] While pregnant with George, she often listened to the weekly broadcast Radio India. Harrison's biographer Joshua Greene wrote, "Every Sunday she tuned in to mystical sounds evoked by sitars and tablas, hoping that the exotic music would bring peace and calm to the baby in the womb."[8]
Harrison was born and lived the first six years of his life at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, in a terraced house in a cul-de-sac.[9] The home had an outdoor toilet and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1949 the family were offered a council house and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke.[10] In 1948, at the age of five, Harrison enrolled at Dovedale Primary School.[11] He passed his 11-plus examination and attended the prestigious Liverpool Institute from 1954 to 1959.[12]
Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby, Cab Calloway, Django Reinhardt, Hoagy Carmichael, and Big Bill Broonzy. In early 1956 he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in rock and roll.[13] He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, "I was totally into guitars".[14]
Although apprehensive about his son's interest in pursuing a music career, in late 1956 Harrison's father bought him a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar.[15] A friend of his father's taught Harrison how to play "Whispering", "Sweet Sue", and "Dinah", and inspired by the music of Lonnie Donegan, Harrison formed a skiffle group called the Rebels with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly.[16] On the bus to school Harrison met Paul McCartney, who became a member of John Lennon's band the Quarrymen, and the pair bonded over their shared love of music.[17]
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