233-621: All Things Must Pass is the third studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison . Released as a triple album in November 1970, it was Harrison's first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles in April that year. It includes the hit singles " My Sweet Lord " and " What Is Life ", as well as songs such as " Isn't It a Pity " and the title track that had been overlooked for inclusion on releases by
466-478: A country music feel to many of the Beatles' recordings. He identified Chuck Berry as another early influence. In 1961, the Beatles recorded " Cry for a Shadow ", a blues-inspired instrumental co-written by Lennon and Harrison, who is credited with composing the song's lead guitar part, building on unusual chord voicings and imitating the style of other English groups such as the Shadows . Harrison's liberal use of
699-463: A "really good bond" formed among the musicians; the main sessions lasted three weeks and "There was no mucking around." Badfinger participated in five sessions until early June, when they left for an engagement in Hawaii. Molland said they would record two or three songs each day, and that Harrison ran the sessions, rather than Spector. Wright recalls that as the project progressed, the large cast of musicians
932-528: A Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, playing alongside Dylan, Clapton, McGuinn, Petty and Neil Young . In 1994, Harrison began a collaboration with McCartney, Starr and producer Jeff Lynne for the Beatles Anthology project. This included the recording of two new Beatles songs built around solo vocal and piano tapes recorded by Lennon as well as lengthy interviews about
1165-559: A Cloud ", which Leng describes as "a uniquely candid reaction to illness and mortality", achieved number 27 on Billboard ' s Adult Contemporary chart. The single " Any Road ", released in May 2003, peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart . " Marwa Blues " went on to receive the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance , while "Any Road" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance . Harrison's guitar work with
1398-569: A December 2005 auction. In England, meanwhile, Harrison met sitar maestro Ravi Shankar , who agreed to train him on the instrument. During a tour of the Philippines the month after the Yesterday and Today furore, the Beatles unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady, Imelda Marcos , who had expected them to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace . When presented with
1631-416: A Pity", and the songs on which Drake participated, such as "All Things Must Pass" and "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp", were among the other tracks taped then. Preston recalled that Spector's approach was to have several keyboards playing the same chords in different octaves , to strengthen the sound. Preston said he had reservations about this approach but "with George's stuff it was perfect." According to White,
1864-628: A Saturday Night , he and Price added their horns parts to songs such as "What Is Life" after the backing tracks had been recorded. He recalls that Harrison and Price worked out the album's horn arrangements together in the studio. In his 2010 autobiography, Whitlock describes the All Things Must Pass sessions as "spectacular in every way", although he says that the project was informed by Harrison's preoccupation with his former bandmates and ongoing difficulties with Klein and Apple. Wright recalls Harrison's discomfort when Lennon and Yoko Ono visited
2097-405: A backing band and electric instrumentation , and "dressed in the height of Mod fashion". As a result, Gould continues, the traditional division between folk and rock enthusiasts "nearly evaporated", as the Beatles' fans began to mature in their outlook and Dylan's audience embraced the new, youth-driven pop culture. During the 1964 US tour , the group were confronted with racial segregation in
2330-508: A band, and assemble a cross-country tour, all within three weeks". The album reached number 4 on the Billboard chart and the single " Dark Horse " reached number 15, but they failed to make an impact in the UK. The music critic Mikal Gilmore described Dark Horse as "one of Harrison's most fascinating works – a record about change and loss". Harrison's final studio album for EMI and Apple Records,
2563-563: A bass guitar with the proceeds, joined in January 1960. He suggested changing the band's name to Beatals , as a tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets . They used this name until May, when they became the Silver Beetles , before undertaking a brief tour of Scotland as the backing group for pop singer and fellow Liverpudlian Johnny Gentle . By early July, they had refashioned themselves as
SECTION 10
#17328723407152796-471: A brief tour of Europe with the American group Delaney & Bonnie and Friends . During the tour, which included Clapton, Bobby Whitlock , drummer Jim Gordon and band leaders Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett , Harrison began to play slide guitar, and also began to write " My Sweet Lord ", which became his first single as a solo artist. For many years, Harrison was restricted in his songwriting contributions to
3029-624: A bright, joyous, original sound, filled with ringing guitars and irresistible melodies." That "ringing guitar" sound was primarily the product of Harrison's 12-string electric Rickenbacker , a prototype given to him by the manufacturer, which made its debut on the record. Touring internationally in June and July, the Beatles staged 37 shows over 27 days in Denmark, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. In August and September, they returned to
3262-620: A charity event, the Concert for Bangladesh, which took place on 1 August 1971. The event drew over 40,000 people to two shows in New York's Madison Square Garden . The goal of the event was to raise money to aid starving refugees during the Bangladesh Liberation War . Shankar opened the show, which featured popular musicians such as Dylan, Clapton, Leon Russell , Badfinger, Preston and Starr. A triple album, The Concert for Bangladesh ,
3495-461: A collection of singles. Now we were really beginning to think about albums as a bit of art on their own." Released in December, Rubber Soul was hailed by critics as a major step forward in the maturity and complexity of the band's music. Their thematic reach was beginning to expand as they embraced deeper aspects of romance and philosophy, a development that NEMS executive Peter Brown attributed to
3728-600: A condom in a concrete corridor; the authorities deported them. Lennon returned to Liverpool in early December, while Sutcliffe remained in Hamburg until late February with his German fiancée Astrid Kirchherr , who took the first semi-professional photos of the Beatles. During the next two years, the Beatles were resident for periods in Hamburg, where they used Preludin both recreationally and to maintain their energy through all-night performances. In 1961, during their second Hamburg engagement, Kirchherr cut Sutcliffe's hair in
3961-505: A controversy with Christians in America's conservative Bible Belt region. The Vatican issued a protest, and bans on Beatles records were imposed by Spanish and Dutch stations and South Africa's national broadcasting service . Epstein accused Datebook of having taken Lennon's words out of context. At a press conference, Lennon pointed out, "If I'd said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it." He claimed that he
4194-536: A copy of the British single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in mid-December 1963 and began playing it on-air. Taped copies of the song soon circulated among other radio stations throughout the US. This caused an increase in demand, leading Capitol to bring forward the release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by three weeks. Issued on 26 December, with the band's previously scheduled debut there just weeks away, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sold
4427-530: A critically acclaimed work that produced his most successful hit single, " My Sweet Lord ", and introduced his signature sound as a solo artist, the slide guitar . He also organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar , a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid . In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles' Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce
4660-415: A faster tempo, a studio session in late November yielded that recording, of which Martin accurately predicted, "You've just made your first No. 1". In December 1962, the Beatles concluded their fifth and final Hamburg residency. By 1963, they had agreed that all four band members would contribute vocals to their albums – including Starr, despite his restricted vocal range, to validate his standing in
4893-596: A friend since the Beatles' years in Hamburg . Handling much of the keyboard work with Whitlock was Gary Wright , who went on to collaborate regularly with Harrison throughout the 1970s. That was the great thing about [the Beatles] splitting up: to be able to go off and make my own record ... And also to be able to record with all these new people, which was like a breath of fresh air. – George Harrison, December 2000 From within Apple's stable of musicians, Harrison recruited
SECTION 20
#17328723407155126-434: A further progression outside the traditional boundaries of popular music. As the lyrics grew more artful, fans began to study them for deeper meaning. While some of Rubber Soul ' s songs were the product of Lennon and McCartney's collaborative songwriting, the album also included distinct compositions from each, though they continued to share official credit. " In My Life ", of which each later claimed lead authorship,
5359-491: A guitarist, writing parts that featured the use of nonresolving tones, as with the ending chord arpeggios on " A Hard Day's Night ". On this and other songs from the period, he used a Rickenbacker 360/12 – an electric guitar with twelve strings, the low eight of which are tuned in pairs, one octave apart, with the higher four being pairs tuned in unison. His use of the Rickenbacker on A Hard Day's Night helped to popularise
5592-633: A knife attack by an intruder at his home, Friar Park . His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered according to Hindu tradition in a private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India. He left an estate of almost £100 million. Harrison was born at 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree , Liverpool, on 25 February 1943. He was the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves (or Hargrove) Harrison (1909–1978) and Louise (née French; 1911–1970). Harold
5825-507: A local department store. During the group's first tour of Scotland, in 1960, Harrison used the pseudonym "Carl Harrison", in reference to Carl Perkins. In 1960, promoter Allan Williams arranged for the band, now calling themselves the Beatles, to play at the Indra and Kaiserkeller clubs in Hamburg , both owned by Bruno Koschmider . Their first residency in Hamburg ended prematurely when Harrison
6058-416: A lung and causing head injuries before he was incapacitated by Harrison's wife, who struck him repeatedly with a fireplace poker and a lamp. Harrison later commented, "I felt exhausted and could feel the strength draining from me. I vividly remember a deliberate thrust to my chest. I could hear my lung exhaling and had blood in my mouth. I believed I had been fatally stabbed." Following the attack, Harrison
6291-404: A million copies in under four weeks. It became their first single to sell a million copies, and remained the biggest-selling record in the UK until 1978. The success brought increased media exposure, to which the Beatles responded with an irreverent and comical attitude that defied the expectations of pop musicians at the time, inspiring even more interest. The band toured the UK three times in
6524-684: A million copies, becoming a number-one hit in the US by mid-January. In its wake Vee-Jay released Introducing... The Beatles along with Capitol's debut album, Meet the Beatles! , while Swan reactivated production of "She Loves You". On 7 February 1964, the Beatles departed from Heathrow with an estimated 4,000 fans waving and screaming as the aircraft took off. Upon landing at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport , an uproarious crowd estimated at 3,000 greeted them. They gave their first live US television performance two days later on The Ed Sullivan Show , watched by approximately 73 million viewers in over 23 million households, or 34 per cent of
6757-436: A nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in rock and roll . He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, "I was totally into guitars." Harrison cited Slim Whitman as another early influence: "The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were definitely coming in." When George Harrison
6990-517: A perfectionist. He was beyond that ..." Harrison's approach to slide guitar incorporated aspects of both Indian music and the blues tradition; he developed a precise playing style and sound that partly evoked the fretless Indian sarod . From its introduction on All Things Must Pass , Leng writes, Harrison's slide guitar became his musical signature – "as instantly recognisable as Dylan's harmonica or Stevie Wonder 's". If I were doing [ All Things Must Pass ] now, it would not be so produced. But it
7223-545: A private ceremony in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers near Varanasi , India. He left almost £100 million in his will. Harrison's final studio album, Brainwashed (2002), was released posthumously after it was completed by his son Dhani and Jeff Lynne. A quotation from the Bhagavad Gita is included in the album's liner notes: "There never was a time when you or I did not exist. Nor will there be any future when we shall cease to be." A media-only single, " Stuck Inside
All Things Must Pass - Misplaced Pages Continue
7456-482: A problem". As a result, six covers from their extensive repertoire were chosen to complete the album. Released in early December, its eight original compositions stood out, demonstrating the growing maturity of the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. In early 1965, following a dinner with Lennon, Harrison and their wives, Harrison's dentist, John Riley, secretly added LSD to their coffee. Lennon described
7689-461: A psychiatric institution in 2002, Abram said: "If I could turn back the clock, I would give anything not to have done what I did in attacking George Harrison, but looking back on it now, I have come to understand that I was at the time not in control of my actions. I can only hope the Harrison family might somehow find it in their hearts to accept my apologies." The injuries inflicted on Harrison during
7922-407: A series of articles in which Mann offered detailed analyses of the music, lending it respectability. With the Beatles became the second album in UK chart history to sell a million copies, a figure previously reached only by the 1958 South Pacific soundtrack . When writing the sleeve notes for the album, the band's press officer, Tony Barrow , used the superlative the "fabulous foursome", which
8155-701: A short tour with Delaney Bramlett 's soul revue, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends . In addition, Harrison identified his involvement with the Hare Krishna movement as providing "another piece of a jigsaw puzzle" that represented the spiritual journey he had begun in 1966. As well as embracing the Vaishnavist branch of Hinduism , Harrison produced two hit singles during 1969–70 by the UK-based devotees, credited as Radha Krishna Temple (London) . In January 1970, Harrison invited American producer Phil Spector to participate in
8388-516: A show in Atlanta, the Beatles gave one of the first live performances ever to make use of a foldback system of on-stage monitor speakers. Towards the end of the tour, they met with Elvis Presley , a foundational musical influence on the band, who invited them to his home in Beverly Hills . Presley later said the band was an example of a trend of anti-Americanism and drug abuse. September 1965 saw
8621-563: A situation that contrasts with the "meticulous documentation" available for the band's studio activities. According to a contemporaneous report in Beatles Monthly , pre-production began on 20 May 1970, the same day as the Let It Be film's world premiere. Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter cite this as the probable date for Harrison's run-through of songs for Spector. John Leckie , who worked as an EMI tape operator in 1970, recalled that
8854-452: A song for a Harrison European single release. Harrison's record company decided the track, " Handle with Care ", was too good for its original purpose as a B-side and asked for a full album. The LP, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 , was released in October 1988 and recorded under pseudonyms as half-brothers, supposed sons of Charles Truscott Wilbury Sr. It reached number 16 in the UK and number 3 in
9087-437: A succession of drummers, including Pete Best , before inviting Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after they signed with EMI Records and achieved their first hit, " Love Me Do ", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed " Beatlemania ",
9320-595: A surprise appearance during the finale of the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert , an event organised to raise money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital . The following year, he appeared at The Prince's Trust concert at London's Wembley Arena , performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun". In February 1987 he joined Dylan, John Fogerty and Jesse Ed Davis on stage for
9553-516: A technique to which Bramlett had introduced him, in order to cover for guitarist Dave Mason 's departure from the Friends line-up. Other songs on All Things Must Pass , all written during the first half of 1970, include " Awaiting on You All ", which reflected Harrison's adoption of chanting through his involvement with the Hare Krishna movement; " Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) ", a tribute to
All Things Must Pass - Misplaced Pages Continue
9786-486: A terrible time because I think there was a lot of cocaine going around, and that's when I got out of the picture ... I didn't like his frame of mind". He released two singles from the LP: " You ", which reached the Billboard top 20, and " This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying) ", Apple's final original single release. Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976), Harrison's first album release on his own Dark Horse Records label, produced
10019-496: A third disc of informal jams titled Apple Jam . Several commentators interpret Barry Feinstein 's album cover photo, showing Harrison surrounded by four garden gnomes, as a statement on his independence from the Beatles. Production began at London's EMI Studios in May 1970, with extensive overdubbing and mixing continuing through October. Among the large cast of backing musicians were Eric Clapton and members of Delaney & Bonnie's Friends band – three of whom formed Derek and
10252-555: A three-motion-picture deal, primarily for the commercial potential of the soundtracks in the US. Directed by Richard Lester , A Hard Day's Night involved the band for six weeks in March–April 1964 as they played themselves in a musical comedy. The film premiered in London and New York in July and August, respectively, and was an international success, with some critics drawing a comparison with
10485-490: A two-hour performance with the blues musician Taj Mahal . Harrison recalled: "Bob rang me up and asked if I wanted to come out for the evening and see Taj Mahal ... So we went there and had a few of these Mexican beers – and had a few more ... Bob says, 'Hey, why don't we all get up and play, and you can sing?' But every time I got near the microphone, Dylan comes up and just starts singing this rubbish in my ear, trying to throw me." In November 1987, Harrison released
10718-589: A work-in-progress on the sequence of overdubs onto the backing tracks. Harrison commissioned Tom Wilkes to design a hinged box in which to house the three vinyl discs, rather than have them packaged in a triple gatefold cover. Apple insider Tony Bramwell later recalled: "It was a bloody big thing ... You needed arms like an orang-utan to carry half a dozen." The packaging caused some confusion among retailers, who, at that time, associated boxed albums with opera or classical works. George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001)
10951-408: Is "It's Johnny's Birthday", sung to the tune of Cliff Richard 's 1968 hit " Congratulations ", and recorded as a gift from Harrison to Lennon to mark the latter's 30th birthday. Like all the "free" tracks on the bonus disc, "It's Johnny's Birthday" carried a Harrison songwriting credit on the original UK release of All Things Must Pass , while on the first US copies, the only songwriting information on
11184-550: Is "generally rated" as the best of all the former Beatles' solo albums. During the final year of his life, Harrison oversaw a successful reissue campaign to mark the 30th anniversary of the album's release. After this reissue, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album six-times platinum. It has since been certified seven-times platinum, with at least 7 million albums sold. Among its appearances on critics' best-album lists, All Things Must Pass
11417-418: Is a two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee – as a member of the Beatles in 1988, and posthumously for his solo career in 2004. Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias , with whom he had a son, Dhani . A lifelong cigarette smoker, Harrison died of numerous cancers in 2001 at the age of 58, two years after surviving
11650-451: Is an experimental album that prominently features a Moog synthesizer . Released in November 1968, Wonderwall Music was the first solo album by a Beatle and the first LP released by Apple Records . Indian musicians Aashish Khan and Shivkumar Sharma performed on the album, which contains the experimental sound collage " Dream Scene ", recorded several months before Lennon's " Revolution 9 ". In December 1969, Harrison participated in
11883-428: Is considered a highlight of the entire Lennon–McCartney catalogue. Harrison called Rubber Soul his "favourite album", and Starr referred to it as "the departure record". McCartney has said, "We'd had our cute period, and now it was time to expand." However, recording engineer Norman Smith later stated that the studio sessions revealed signs of growing conflict within the group – "the clash between John and Paul
SECTION 50
#173287234071512116-532: Is happening on the edge of a canyon, an abyss into which the '60s is about to topple". On the original LP 's third disc, titled Apple Jam , four of the five tracks – "Out of the Blue", "Plug Me In", "I Remember Jeep" and "Thanks for the Pepperoni" – are improvised instrumentals built around minimal chord changes, or in the case of "Out of the Blue", a single-chord riff . The title for "I Remember Jeep" originated from
12349-622: The Bhagavad Gita . His final message to the world, as relayed in a statement by Olivia and Dhani, was: "Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another." He was cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery , and his funeral was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California . His close family scattered his ashes according to Hindu tradition in
12582-550: The Lethal Weapon 2 film soundtrack. Following Orbison's death in December 1988, the Wilburys recorded as a four-piece. Their second album, issued in October 1990, was mischievously titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 . According to Lynne, "That was George's idea. He said, 'Let's confuse the buggers. ' " It peaked at number 14 in the UK and number 11 in the US, where it was certified platinum. The Wilburys never performed live, and
12815-530: The BBC , also joined the airport reception, the first of more than 100 such events. The next day, the band began its fourth tour of Britain within nine months, this one scheduled for six weeks. In mid-November, as Beatlemania intensified, police resorted to using high-pressure water hoses to control the crowd before a concert in Plymouth. On 4 November, they played in front of The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret during
13048-620: The Billboard top 20. The album marked the beginning of Harrison's gradual retreat from the music business, with several of the songs having been written in the tranquil setting of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago . Leng described George Harrison as "melodic and lush ... peaceful ... the work of a man who had lived the rock and roll dream twice over and was now embracing domestic as well as spiritual bliss". The murder of John Lennon on 8 December 1980 disturbed Harrison and reinforced his decades-long concern about stalkers . The tragedy
13281-575: The Kaiserkeller in October. When he learned they had been performing at the rival Top Ten Club in breach of their contract, he gave them one month's termination notice, and reported the underage Harrison, who had obtained permission to stay in Hamburg by lying to the German authorities about his age. The authorities arranged for Harrison's deportation in late November. One week later, Koschmider had McCartney and Best arrested for arson after they set fire to
13514-571: The Marx Brothers . United Artists released a full soundtrack album for the North American market, combining Beatles songs and Martin's orchestral score; elsewhere, the group's third studio LP, A Hard Day's Night , contained songs from the film on side one and other new recordings on side two. According to Erlewine, the album saw them "truly coming into their own as a band. All of the disparate influences on their first two albums coalesced into
13747-682: The Monty Python troupe's comedy film The Life of Brian (1979). Harrison released several best-selling singles and albums as a solo performer. In 1988, he 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 Dylan, Eric Clapton , Ringo Starr , and Tom Petty . Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 31 in their 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. He
13980-595: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, 1988, and each principal member was individually inducted between 1994 and 2015. In 2004 and 2011, the group topped Rolling Stone ' s lists of the greatest artists in history . Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people . In November 1956, sixteen-year-old John Lennon formed a skiffle group with several friends from Quarry Bank High School in Liverpool . They were called
14213-660: The Royal Variety Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre . Please Please Me maintained the top position on the Record Retailer chart for 30 weeks, only to be displaced by its follow-up, With the Beatles , which EMI released on 22 November to record advance orders of 270,000 copies. The LP topped a half-million albums sold in one week. Recorded between July and October, With the Beatles made better use of studio production techniques than its predecessor. It held
SECTION 60
#173287234071514446-567: The Tidewater area of Virginia from Gene Loving of radio station WGH and was featured on the "Rate-a-Record" segment of American Bandstand , but it failed to catch on nationally. Epstein brought a demo copy of " I Want to Hold Your Hand " to Capitol's Brown Meggs , who signed the band and arranged for a $ 40,000 US marketing campaign. American chart success began after disc jockey Carroll James of AM radio station WWDC , in Washington, DC, obtained
14679-403: The album era , as albums became the dominant form of record use over singles . These records also increased public interest in psychedelic drugs and Eastern spirituality, and furthered advancements in electronic music , album art , and music videos . In 1968, they founded Apple Corps , a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After
14912-468: The diatonic scale in his guitar playing reveals the influence of Buddy Holly , and his interest in Berry inspired him to compose songs based on the blues scale while incorporating a rockabilly feel in the style of Perkins. Another of Harrison's musical techniques was the use of guitar lines written in octaves , as on " I'll Be on My Way ". By 1964, he had begun to develop a distinctive personal style as
15145-476: The sitar , which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help! He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) ". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement . After the Beatles disbanded , Harrison released the triple album All Things Must Pass ,
15378-402: The soul music -inspired Extra Texture (Read All About It) (1975), peaked at number 8 on the Billboard chart and number 16 in the UK. Harrison considered it the least satisfactory of the three albums he had recorded since All Things Must Pass . Leng identified "bitterness and dismay" in many of the tracks; his long-time friend Klaus Voormann commented: "He wasn't up for it ... It was
15611-452: The " exi " (existentialist) style, later adopted by the other Beatles. Later on, Sutcliffe decided to leave the band early that year and resume his art studies in Germany. McCartney took over bass. Producer Bert Kaempfert contracted what was now a four-piece group until June 1962, and he used them as Tony Sheridan 's backing band on a series of recordings for Polydor Records . As part of
15844-435: The 1970s Frank Sinatra recorded "Something" twice (1970 and 1979) and later dubbed it "the greatest love song of the past fifty years". Lennon considered it the best song on Abbey Road , and it became the Beatles' second most covered song after " Yesterday ". In May 1970, Harrison's song " For You Blue " was coupled on a US single with McCartney's " The Long and Winding Road " and became Harrison's second chart-topper when
16077-423: The 50th anniversary box set, they had never received an official release: The precise line-up of contributing musicians is open to conjecture. Due to the album's big sound and the many participants on the sessions, commentators have traditionally referred to the grand, orchestral nature of this line-up. In 2002, music critic Greg Kot described it as "a who's who of the decade's rock royalty", while Harris writes of
16310-514: The American population. Biographer Jonathan Gould writes that, according to the Nielsen rating service, it was "the largest audience that had ever been recorded for an American television program ". The next morning, the Beatles awoke to a largely negative critical consensus in the US, but a day later at their first US concert, Beatlemania erupted at the Washington Coliseum . Back in New York
16543-615: The Animals , Petula Clark , the Kinks , and the Rolling Stones to achieve success in America. During the week of 4 April 1964, the Beatles held twelve positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the top five. Capitol Records' lack of interest throughout 1963 did not go unnoticed, and a competitor, United Artists Records , encouraged its film division to offer the Beatles
16776-461: The Band-inspired "All Things Must Pass", along with " Hear Me Lord " and "Let It Down", at the Beatles' Get Back rehearsals, only to have them rejected by Lennon and McCartney. The tense atmosphere at Twickenham fuelled another All Things Must Pass song, " Wah-Wah ", which Harrison wrote in the wake of his temporary departure from the band on 10 January 1969. Harrison later confirmed that the song
17009-563: The Beatles . The album reflects the influence of Harrison's musical activities with artists such as Bob Dylan , the Band , Delaney & Bonnie and Friends and Billy Preston during 1968–70, and his growth as an artist beyond his supporting role to former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney . All Things Must Pass introduced Harrison's signature slide guitar sound and the spiritual themes present throughout his subsequent solo work. The original vinyl release consisted of two LPs of songs and
17242-698: The Beatles faced a fierce backlash from US religious and social conservatives (as well as the Ku Klux Klan ) over a comment Lennon had made in a March interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave . "Christianity will go", Lennon had said. "It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right ... Jesus was alright but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me." His comments went virtually unnoticed in England, but when US teenage fan magazine Datebook printed them five months later, it sparked
17475-548: The Beatles in January 1969; "Everybody, Nobody", the melody of which Harrison adapted for "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp"; "Nowhere to Go", a second Harrison–Dylan collaboration from November 1968 (originally known as "When Everybody Comes to Town"); and "Cosmic Empire", "Mother Divine" and "Tell Me What Has Happened to You". Also from this performance were two tracks that Harrison returned to in later years. He completed " Beautiful Girl " for inclusion on his 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3 . " I Don't Want to Do It ", written by Dylan,
17708-473: The Beatles recorded ten songs during a single studio session for their debut LP, Please Please Me . It was supplemented by the four tracks already released on their first two singles. Martin considered recording the LP live at The Cavern Club, but after deciding that the building's acoustics were inadequate, he elected to simulate a "live" album with minimal production in "a single marathon session at Abbey Road". After
17941-475: The Beatles replaced him in mid-August with Ringo Starr , who left Rory Storm and the Hurricanes to join them. A 4 September session at EMI yielded a recording of " Love Me Do " featuring Starr on drums, but a dissatisfied Martin hired drummer Andy White for the band's third session a week later, which produced recordings of "Love Me Do", " Please Please Me ", and " P.S. I Love You ". Martin initially selected
18174-621: The Beatles revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often publicized as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements. Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney , the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen , and built their reputation by playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg , Germany, over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass . The core trio of Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison, together since 1958, went through
18407-481: The Beatles was on 4 January 1970, when he, McCartney and Starr recorded overdubs to the song " Let It Be " for the soundtrack album of the same name . Before the Beatles' break-up, Harrison had already recorded and released two solo albums: Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound , both of which contain mainly instrumental compositions. Wonderwall Music , a soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall , blends Indian and Western instrumentation, while Electronic Sound
18640-475: The Beatles was varied and flexible. Although not fast or flashy, his lead guitar playing was solid and typified the more subdued lead guitar style of the early 1960s. His rhythm guitar playing was innovative, for example when he used a capo to shorten the strings on an acoustic guitar, as on the Rubber Soul (1965) album and " Here Comes the Sun ", to create a bright, sweet sound. Eric Clapton felt that Harrison
18873-521: The Beatles' albums, but he released All Things Must Pass , a triple album with two discs of his songs and the third of recordings of Harrison jamming with friends. The album was regarded by many as his best work, and it topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The number-one hit single "My Sweet Lord" and the top-ten single " What Is Life " were taken from the album, which was co-produced by Phil Spector using his " Wall of Sound " approach;
19106-444: The Beatles' career. Released in December 1995, " Free as a Bird " was the first new Beatles single since 1970. In March 1996, they released a second single, " Real Love ". They also attempted to finish a third single, " Now and Then ", but did not finish it because the audio quality of the cassette was, according to Harrison, "fucking rubbish." The song was later finished by McCartney and Starr and released in 2023. He later commented on
19339-446: The Beatles. Tensions among the group surfaced again in January 1969, at Twickenham Studios , during the filmed rehearsals that became the 1970 documentary Let It Be . Frustrated by the cold and sterile film studio, by Lennon's creative disengagement from the Beatles, and by what he perceived as a domineering attitude from McCartney, Harrison quit the group on 10 January. He returned 12 days later, after his bandmates had agreed to move
19572-438: The Beatles. While on a visit to Woodstock in late 1968, he established a friendship with Dylan and found himself drawn to the Band's sense of communal music-making and to the creative equality among the band members, which contrasted with Lennon and McCartney's domination of the Beatles' songwriting and creative direction. This coincided with a prolific period in his songwriting and a growing desire to assert his independence from
19805-471: The Dark Horse tour might be considered a noble failure, there were a number of fans who were tuned-in to what was being attempted. They went away ecstatic, conscious that they had just witnessed something so uplifting that it could never be repeated." Simon Leng called the tour "groundbreaking" and "revolutionary in its presentation of Indian Music". On 16 November 1974, Harrison and several others involved in
20038-582: The Dominos with Clapton during the recording – as well as Ringo Starr , Gary Wright , Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann , John Barham , Badfinger and Pete Drake . The sessions produced a double album's worth of extra material, most of which remains unissued. All Things Must Pass was critically and commercially successful on release, with long stays at number one on charts worldwide. Co-producer Phil Spector employed his Wall of Sound production technique to notable effect; Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described
20271-448: The Dominos . Harrison also contributed on guitar to both sides of the band's debut single, " Tell the Truth " and "Roll It Over", which were produced by Spector and recorded at Apple on 18 June. The eleven-minute "Out of the Blue" featured contributions from Keys and Price, both of whom began working with the Rolling Stones around this time. According to Keys in his autobiography Every Night's
20504-456: The Indian sitar . As well as being one of the few musicians to co-write songs with Dylan, Harrison had recently collaborated with Eric Clapton on " Badge ", which became a hit single for Cream in the spring of 1969. Once back in London, and with his compositions continually overlooked for inclusion on releases by the Beatles, Harrison found creative fulfilment in extracurricular projects that, in
20737-504: The Moondogs, were playing rock and roll whenever they could find a drummer. They also performed as the Rainbows . Paul McCartney later told New Musical Express that they called themselves that "because we all had different coloured shirts and we couldn't afford any others!". Lennon's art school friend Stuart Sutcliffe , who had just sold one of his paintings and was persuaded to purchase
20970-404: The Quarrymen , a reference to their school song "Quarry men old before our birth". Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney met Lennon on 6 July 1957, and joined as a rhythm guitarist shortly after. In February 1958, McCartney invited his friend George Harrison , then aged fifteen, to watch the band. Harrison auditioned for Lennon, impressing him with his playing, but Lennon initially thought Harrison
21203-560: The Silver Beatles , and by the middle of August simply the Beatles . Allan Williams , the Beatles' unofficial manager, arranged a residency for them in Hamburg . They auditioned and hired drummer Pete Best in mid-August 1960. The band, now a five-piece, departed Liverpool for Hamburg four days later, contracted to club owner Bruno Koschmider for what would be a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -month residency. Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn writes: "They pulled into Hamburg at dusk on 17 August,
21436-500: The Sky with Diamonds " mirrors Lennon's vocal line in much the same way that a sarangi player accompanies a khyal singer in a Hindu devotional song . The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison , and Ringo Starr . They are widely regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to
21669-583: The Starr version of "Love Me Do" for the band's first single, though subsequent re-pressings featured the White version, with Starr on tambourine. Released in early October, "Love Me Do" peaked at number seventeen on the Record Retailer chart. Their television debut came later that month with a live performance on the regional news programme People and Places . After Martin suggested rerecording "Please Please Me" at
21902-453: The Temple devotees could be "the biggest pain in the necks in the world" yet Harrison "was spiritual and you knew it", which "made you like those Krishnas". Although Harrison had estimated in a New York radio interview that the solo album would take no more than eight weeks to complete, recording, overdubbing and mixing on All Things Must Pass lasted for five months, until late October. Part of
22135-415: The US charts. The single was included on the album Somewhere in England in 1981. Harrison did not release any new albums for five years after 1982's Gone Troppo received little notice from critics or the public. During this period he made several guest appearances, including a 1985 performance at a tribute to Carl Perkins titled Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session . In March 1986 he made
22368-432: The US since All Things Must Pass . The album peaked just outside the top ten there, but outsold his previous two LPs. As part of his promotion for the release, Harrison performed on Saturday Night Live with Paul Simon . In 1979, Harrison released George Harrison , which followed his second marriage and the birth of his son Dhani . Co-produced by Russ Titelman , the album and the single " Blow Away " both made
22601-495: The US, where it was certified triple platinum . Harrison's pseudonym on the album was "Nelson Wilbury"; he used the name "Spike Wilbury" for their second album. In 1989, Harrison and Starr appeared in the music video for Petty's song " I Won't Back Down ". In October that year, Harrison assembled and released Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 , a compilation of his later solo work. The album included three new songs, including " Cheer Down ", which Harrison had recently contributed to
22834-411: The US, with a 30-concert tour of 23 cities. Generating intense interest once again, the month-long tour attracted between 10,000 and 20,000 people to each 30-minute performance in cities from San Francisco to New York. In August, journalist Al Aronowitz arranged for the Beatles to meet Bob Dylan . Visiting the band in their New York hotel suite, Dylan introduced them to cannabis . Gould points out
23067-426: The US. A similar situation arose during their May–June tour with Roy Orbison . In late October, the Beatles began a five-day tour of Sweden, their first time abroad since the final Hamburg engagement of December 1962. On their return to the UK on 31 October, several hundred screaming fans greeted them in heavy rain at Heathrow Airport . Around 50 to 100 journalists and photographers, as well as representatives from
23300-566: The US. In the UK, the LP peaked at number two and the single reached number 8. The album was lavishly produced and packaged, and its dominant message was Harrison's Hindu beliefs. In Greene's opinion it "contained many of the strongest compositions of his career". Stephen Holden , writing in Rolling Stone , felt the album was "vastly appealing" and "profoundly seductive", and that it stood "alone as an article of faith, miraculous in its radiance". Other reviewers were less enthusiastic, describing
23533-521: The United Kingdom to reach number one. The band's third single, " From Me to You ", came out in April and began an almost unbroken string of seventeen British number-one singles, including all but one of the eighteen they released over the next six years. Issued in August, their fourth single, " She Loves You ", achieved the fastest sales of any record in the UK up to that time, selling three-quarters of
23766-590: The Way God Planned It album; " Behind That Locked Door " was Harrison's message of encouragement to Dylan, written the night before the latter's comeback performance at the Isle of Wight Festival ; and Harrison began " My Sweet Lord " as an exercise in writing a gospel song during Delaney & Bonnie's stopover in Copenhagen in December 1969. " I Dig Love " resulted from Harrison's early experiments with slide guitar ,
23999-418: The acrimonious sessions for the Beatles ' self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). At Woodstock in November, Harrison started a long-lasting friendship with Bob Dylan and experienced a creative equality with the Band that contrasted with John Lennon and Paul McCartney 's dominance in the Beatles. He also wrote more songs, renewing his interest in the guitar after three years studying
24232-415: The airport with news of Sutcliffe's death the previous day from a brain haemorrhage . Epstein began negotiations with record labels for a recording contract. To secure a UK record contract, Epstein negotiated an early end to the band's contract with Polydor, in exchange for more recordings backing Tony Sheridan. After a New Year's Day audition, Decca Records rejected the band , saying, "Guitar groups are on
24465-461: The album Introducing... The Beatles , comprising most of the songs of Parlophone's Please Please Me , but a management shake-up led to the album not being released. After it emerged that the label did not report royalties on their sales, the licence that Vee-Jay had signed with EMI was voided. A new licence was granted to the Swan label for the single "She Loves You". The record received some airplay in
24698-437: The album as "dark-tinged Krishna folk-rock". The recurrent lyrical themes are Harrison's spiritual quest, as it would be throughout his solo career, and friendship, particularly the failure of relationships among the Beatles. Music journalist Jim Irvin says that Harrison sings of "deep love – for his faith, for life and the people around him". He adds that the songs are performed with "tension and urgency" as if "the whole thing
24931-494: The album still sounds fresh, precisely because of its intense origins." Lennon said little thought went into composition at the time; he and McCartney were "just writing songs à la Everly Brothers , à la Buddy Holly, pop songs with no more thought of them than that – to create a sound. And the words were almost irrelevant." Released in March 1963, Please Please Me was the first of eleven consecutive Beatles albums released in
25164-683: The album was the Indian-inspired " Within You Without You ", to which no other Beatle contributed. He played sitar and tambura on the track, backed by musicians from the London Asian Music Circle on dilruba , swarmandal and tabla. He later commented on the Sgt. Pepper album: "It was a millstone and a milestone in the music industry ... There's about half the songs I like and the other half I can't stand." In January 1968, he recorded
25397-523: The album's recording, Harrison asserted more creative control than before, rejecting suggestions for changes to his music, particularly from McCartney. "Something" became his first A-side when issued on a double A-side single with " Come Together "; the song was number one in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and West Germany, and the combined sides topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. In
25630-399: The album's release, rumours claimed that the Band backed Harrison on the country-influenced "Behind That Locked Door". You could feel after the first few sessions that it was going to be a great album. – Klaus Voormann, 2003 Music historian Richie Unterberger comments that, typical of the Beatles' solo work, the precise dates for the recording of All Things Must Pass are uncertain,
25863-477: The album's release, such as sequencing. Harrison harboured doubts about whether all the songs they had finished were worthy of inclusion. Allan Steckler, Apple Records' US manager, was "stunned" by the quality of the material and assured Harrison that he should issue all the songs. Spector's signature production style gave All Things Must Pass a heavy, reverb -oriented sound, which Harrison came to regret. Whitlock says that, typical of Spector's Wall of Sound, there
26096-400: The album, recorded between August and October 1964, to continue the format established by A Hard Day's Night which, unlike their first two LPs, contained only original songs. They had nearly exhausted their backlog of songs on the previous album, however, and given the challenges constant international touring posed to their songwriting efforts, Lennon admitted, "Material's becoming a hell of
26329-632: The album, which included several of his long-time musical collaborators, including Clapton, Jim Keltner and Jim Horn . Cloud Nine reached number eight and number ten on the US and UK charts respectively, and several tracks from the album achieved placement on Billboard ' s Mainstream Rock chart – " Devil's Radio ", " This Is Love " and " Cloud 9 ". In 1988, Harrison formed the Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison , Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. The band had gathered in Dylan's garage to record
26562-470: The baby in the womb." Harrison lived at 12 Arnold Grove until 1 January 1950. A terraced house on a cul-de-sac , it had an outdoor toilet, and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In the autumn of 1949, the family was offered a council house and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke . In 1948, Harrison enrolled at Dovedale Primary School . He passed the eleven-plus exam and attended Liverpool Institute High School for Boys from 1954 to 1959. Though
26795-451: The band Badfinger , future Yes drummer Alan White , and Beatles assistant Mal Evans on percussion. Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins ' powerful tambourine work led to Spector giving him the nickname "Mr Tambourine Man", after the Dylan song . According to Gibbins, he and White played most of the percussion parts on the album, "switch[ing] on tambourine, sticks, bells , maracas ... whatever
27028-711: The band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four". Epstein, Martin or other members of the band's entourage were sometimes informally referred to as a " fifth Beatle ". By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars and had achieved unprecedented levels of critical and commercial success. They became a leading force in Britain's cultural resurgence, ushering in the British Invasion of the United States pop market. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). A growing desire to refine their studio efforts, coupled with
27261-473: The band at the Star-Club in Hamburg. The following year, he was the most active of the former Beatles in promoting the reissue of their 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine . On 30 December 1999, Harrison and his wife Olivia were attacked at their home, Friar Park . The perpetrator was 34-year-old paranoid schizophrenic man Michael Abram, who broke in and attacked Harrison with a kitchen knife, puncturing
27494-447: The band members' "now habitual use of marijuana". Lennon referred to Rubber Soul as "the pot album" and Starr said: "Grass was really influential in a lot of our changes, especially with the writers. And because they were writing different material, we were playing differently." After Help! ' s foray into classical music with flutes and strings, Harrison's introduction of a sitar on " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) " marked
27727-409: The band over the next couple of months, and they appointed him as their manager in January 1962. Throughout early and mid-1962, Epstein sought to free the Beatles from their contractual obligations to Bert Kaempfert Productions. He eventually negotiated a one-month early release in exchange for one last recording session in Hamburg. On their return to Germany in April, a distraught Kirchherr met them at
27960-463: The band's ongoing exploration of non-Western instruments, while the sitar- and tabla -based "Love You To" represented the Beatles' first genuine foray into Indian music. According to the ethnomusicologist David Reck, the latter song set a precedent in popular music as an example of Asian culture being represented by Westerners respectfully and without parody. Author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1978 that following Harrison's increased association with
28193-422: The band, Harrison was known as "the quiet Beatle". That moniker arose when the Beatles arrived in the United States in early 1964, and Harrison was ill with a case of Strep throat and a fever and was medically advised to limit speaking as much as possible until he performed on The Ed Sullivan Show as scheduled. As such, the press noticed Harrison's apparent laconic nature in public appearances on that tour and
28426-625: The basic track for his song " The Inner Light " at EMI's studio in Bombay , using a group of local musicians playing traditional Indian instruments. Released as the B-side to McCartney's " Lady Madonna ", it was the first Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single. Derived from a quotation from the Tao Te Ching , the song's lyric reflected Harrison's deepening interest in Hinduism and meditation . During
28659-474: The basic track for which they had recorded with Voormann in March at Trident. Aside from his contributions to projects by Starr, Clapton, Preston and Ashton during 1970, over the following year Harrison would reciprocate the help that his fellow musicians on All Things Must Pass had given him by contributing to albums by Whitlock, Wright, Badfinger and Keys. On 28 October, Harrison and Boyd arrived in New York, where he and Spector carried out final preparation for
28892-461: The burgeoning youth culture. The group's popularity generated unprecedented interest in British music, and many other UK acts subsequently made their American debuts, successfully touring over the next three years in what was termed the British Invasion . The Beatles' success in the US opened the door for a successive string of British beat groups and pop acts such as the Dave Clark Five ,
29125-534: The bus to school, Harrison met Paul McCartney , who also attended the Liverpool Institute, and the pair bonded over their shared love of music. McCartney and his friend John Lennon were in a skiffle group called the Quarrymen . In March 1958, at McCartney's urging, Harrison auditioned for the Quarrymen at Rory Storm 's Morgue Skiffle Club, playing Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith 's " Guitar Boogie Shuffle ", but Lennon felt that Harrison, having just turned 15,
29358-434: The cast taking on "a Cecil B. De Mille aspect". The musicians included Bobby Whitlock , Jim Gordon , Carl Radle , Bobby Keys , Jim Price and Dave Mason, all of whom had recently toured with Delaney & Bonnie. Along with Eric Clapton, there were also musicians whose link with Harrison went back some years, such as Ringo Starr, Billy Preston and German bassist Klaus Voormann , the latter formerly of Manfred Mann and
29591-487: The centre were George and Eric and the guitars". Molland recalled that, to achieve the resonant acoustic guitar sound on songs such as "My Sweet Lord", he and his bandmates were partitioned off inside a plywood structure. According to Voormann, Harrison set up a small altar containing figurines and burning incense, creating an atmosphere in which "everyone felt good." Having suffered in the Beatles at McCartney's tendency to dictate how each musician should play, Harrison allowed
29824-502: The challenging nature of their concert tours, led to the band's retirement from live performances in 1966. During this time, they produced albums of greater sophistication, including Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). They enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). The success of these records heralded
30057-452: The commercialised popular culture of television, radio, pop records, fan magazines, and teen fashion. To many of Dylan's followers in the folk music scene, the Beatles were seen as idolaters, not idealists." Within six months of the meeting, according to Gould, "Lennon would be making records on which he openly imitated Dylan's nasal drone, brittle strum, and introspective vocal persona"; and six months after that, Dylan began performing with
30290-402: The consensus reaction to the tour was negative. Some fans found Shankar's significant presence to be a bizarre disappointment, and many were affronted by what Inglis described as Harrison's "sermonizing". Further, he reworked the lyrics to several Beatles songs, and his laryngitis -affected vocals led to some critics calling the tour "dark hoarse". The author Robert Rodriguez commented: "While
30523-486: The contributors the freedom to express themselves in their playing. All the participants later recalled the project favourably. The first song recorded was "Wah-Wah". During the playback, Harrison was shocked at the amount of echo Spector had added, since the performance had sounded relatively dry through the musicians' headphones. Voormann immediately "loved" the sound, as did Clapton; Harrison later said: "I grew to like it." "What Is Life", versions one and two of "Isn't It
30756-587: The country at the time. When informed that the venue for their 11 September concert, the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida , was segregated, the Beatles said they would refuse to perform unless the audience was integrated. Lennon stated: "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now ... I'd sooner lose our appearance money." City officials relented and agreed to allow an integrated show. The group also cancelled their reservations at
30989-405: The customary group photograph, its Aubrey Beardsley -inspired cover – designed by Klaus Voormann , a friend of the band since their Hamburg days – was a monochrome collage and line drawing caricature of the group. The album was preceded by the single " Paperback Writer ", backed by " Rain ". Short promotional films were made for both songs; described by cultural historian Saul Austerlitz as "among
31222-427: The development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle , beat , and 1950s rock 'n' roll , their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock . As pioneers in recording , songwriting, and artistic presentation,
31455-413: The experience: "It was just terrifying, but it was fantastic. I was pretty stunned for a month or two." He and Harrison subsequently became regular users of the drug, joined by Starr on at least one occasion. Harrison's use of psychedelic drugs encouraged his path to meditation and Hinduism. He commented: "For me, it was like a flash. The first time I had acid , it just opened up something in my head that
31688-471: The film project to their own Apple Studio and to abandon McCartney's plan for making a return to public performance. Relations among the Beatles were more cordial, though still strained, when the band recorded their 1969 album Abbey Road . The LP included what Lavezzoli describes as "two classic contributions" from Harrison – " Here Comes the Sun " and " Something " – that saw him "finally achieve equal songwriting status" with Lennon and McCartney. During
31921-506: The first Beatle to discuss LSD publicly, declaring in a magazine interview that "it opened my eyes" and "made me a better, more honest, more tolerant member of society". Controversy erupted in June 1965 when Queen Elizabeth II appointed all four Beatles Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) after Prime Minister Harold Wilson nominated them for the award. In protest – the honour
32154-551: The first half of the year: a four-week tour that began in February, the Beatles' first nationwide, preceded three-week tours in March and May–June. As their popularity spread, a frenzied adulation of the group took hold. On 13 October, the Beatles starred on Sunday Night at the London Palladium , the UK's top variety show. Their performance was televised live and watched by 15 million viewers. One national paper's headlines in
32387-402: The following day, the Beatles met with another strong reception during two shows at Carnegie Hall . The band flew to Florida, where they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show a second time, again before 70 million viewers, before returning to the UK on 22 February. The Beatles' first visit to the US took place when the nation was still mourning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy
32620-412: The following days coined the term " Beatlemania " to describe the riotous enthusiasm by screaming fans who greeted the band – and it stuck. Although not billed as tour leaders, the Beatles overshadowed American acts Tommy Roe and Chris Montez during the February engagements and assumed top billing "by audience demand", something no British act had previously accomplished while touring with artists from
32853-429: The grinning Beatles dressed in butcher's overalls, accompanied by raw meat and mutilated plastic baby dolls. According to Beatles biographer Bill Harry , it has been incorrectly suggested that this was meant as a satirical response to the way Capitol had "butchered" the US versions of the band's albums. Thousands of copies of the LP had a new cover pasted over the original; an unpeeled "first-state" copy fetched $ 10,500 at
33086-541: The group did not record together again following the release of their second album. In December 1991, Harrison joined Clapton for a tour of Japan. It was Harrison's first since 1974 and no others followed. On 6 April 1992, Harrison held a benefit concert for the Natural Law Party at the Royal Albert Hall , his first London performance since the Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert . In October 1992, he performed at
33319-592: The group include " Taxman ", " Within You Without You ", " While My Guitar Gently Weeps ", " Here Comes the Sun " and " Something ". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt ; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins , Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry . By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds , and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as
33552-404: The group's break-up in 1970, all principal former members enjoyed success as solo artists, and some partial reunions occurred. Lennon was murdered in 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active. The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time , with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They are the most successful act in
33785-524: The group. Lennon and McCartney had established a songwriting partnership , and as the band's success grew, their dominant collaboration limited Harrison's opportunities as a lead vocalist . Epstein, to maximise the Beatles' commercial potential, encouraged them to adopt a professional approach to performing. Lennon recalled him saying, "Look, if you really want to get in these bigger places, you're going to have to change – stop eating on stage, stop swearing, stop smoking ...". On 11 February 1963,
34018-657: The history of the US Billboard charts , holding the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart (15), most number-one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart (20), and most singles sold in the UK (21.9 million). The band received many accolades , including seven Grammy Awards , four Brit Awards , an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 documentary film Let It Be ), and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards . They were inducted into
34251-468: The hit singles " This Song " and " Crackerbox Palace ", both of which reached the top 25 in the US. The surreal humour of "Crackerbox Palace" reflected Harrison's association with Monty Python 's Eric Idle , who directed a comical music video for the song. With an emphasis on melody and musicianship, and a more subtle subject matter than the pious message of his earlier works, Thirty Three & 1/3 earned Harrison his most favourable critical notices in
34484-417: The home invasion were downplayed by his family in their comments to the press. Having seen Harrison looking so healthy beforehand, those in his social circle believed that the attack brought about a change in him and was the cause for his cancer's return. In May 2001, it was revealed that Harrison had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and in July, it was reported that he
34717-495: The inclusion of one of these songs – " Something " – and " Here Comes the Sun " on the Beatles' Abbey Road album in September 1969, music critics acknowledged that Harrison had bloomed into a songwriter to match Lennon and McCartney. He began talking publicly about recording his own album from the autumn of 1969, but only committed to the idea after McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Included as part of
34950-493: The institute did offer a music course, Harrison was disappointed with the absence of guitars, and felt that the school "moulded [students] into being frightened". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby , Cab Calloway , Django Reinhardt and Hoagy Carmichael ; by the 1950s, Carl Perkins and Lonnie Donegan were significant influences. In early 1956, he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard Elvis Presley 's " Heartbreak Hotel " playing from
35183-610: The invitation, Epstein politely declined on the band members' behalf, as it had never been his policy to accept such official invitations. They soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to taking no for an answer. The resulting riots endangered the group and they escaped the country with difficulty. Immediately afterwards, the band members visited India for the first time. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first – rock 'n' roll or Christianity. – John Lennon, 1966 Almost as soon as they returned home,
35416-401: The last covers the band would include on an album until Let It Be 's brief rendition of the traditional Liverpool folk song " Maggie Mae ". The band expanded their use of vocal overdubs on Help! and incorporated classical instruments into some arrangements, including a string quartet on the pop ballad " Yesterday ". Composed and sung by McCartney – none of the other Beatles perform on
35649-519: The launch of an American Saturday-morning cartoon series, The Beatles , that echoed A Hard Day's Night 's slapstick antics over its two-year original run. The series was the first weekly television series to feature animated versions of real, living people. In mid-October, the Beatles entered the recording studio; for the first time when making an album, they had an extended period without other major commitments. Until this time, according to George Martin, "we had been making albums rather like
35882-483: The lyrics of the album's title track "a recognition of the impermanence of human existence ... a simple and poignant conclusion" to Harrison's former band. In 1971, Bright Tunes sued Harrison for copyright infringement over "My Sweet Lord", owing to its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons hit " He's So Fine ". When the case was heard in the United States district court in 1976, he denied deliberately plagiarising
36115-468: The making of All Things Must Pass and credits Tony Ashton as one of the keyboard players on both versions of "Isn't It a Pity". Ginger Baker , Clapton's former bandmate in Cream and Blind Faith , played drums on the jam track "I Remember Jeep". For contractual reasons, on UK pressings of All Things Must Pass , Clapton's participation on the first two discs remained unacknowledged for many years, although he
36348-408: The media widely adopted as "the Fab Four". EMI's American subsidiary, Capitol Records , hindered the Beatles' releases in the United States for more than a year by initially declining to issue their music, including their first three singles. Concurrent negotiations with the independent US label Vee-Jay led to the release of some, but not all, of the songs in 1963. Vee-Jay finished preparation for
36581-443: The model, and the jangly sound became so prominent that Melody Maker termed it the Beatles' "secret weapon". In 1965, Harrison used an expression pedal to control his guitar's volume on " I Need You ", creating a syncopated flautando effect with the melody resolving its dissonance through tonal displacements. He used the same volume-swell technique on " Yes It Is ", applying what Everett described as "ghostly articulation" to
36814-409: The moderate success of "Love Me Do", the single "Please Please Me" was released in January 1963, two months ahead of the album. It reached number one on every UK chart except Record Retailer , where it peaked at number two. Recalling how the Beatles "rushed to deliver a debut album, bashing out Please Please Me in a day", AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Decades after its release,
37047-490: The monotony of numerous appearances at the same clubs night after night. In November 1961, during one of the group's frequent performances at the Cavern Club , they encountered Brian Epstein , a local record-store owner and music columnist. He later recalled: "I immediately liked what I heard. They were fresh, and they were honest, and they had what I thought was a sort of presence ... [a] star quality." Epstein courted
37280-455: The music scores from melodies that Harrison sang or played to him on piano or guitar. Leng recognises the arrangements on "pivotal" songs such as "Isn't It a Pity", "My Sweet Lord", "Beware of Darkness" and "All Things Must Pass" as important elements of the album's sound. According to Scott, he and Harrison worked alone for "weeks and months" on the overdubs, as Harrison recorded the backing vocals and lead guitar parts. In some cases, they slowed
37513-445: The musical and cultural significance of this meeting, before which the musicians' respective fanbases were "perceived as inhabiting two separate subcultural worlds": Dylan's audience of "college kids with artistic or intellectual leanings, a dawning political and social idealism, and a mildly bohemian style " contrasted with their fans, "veritable ' teenyboppers ' – kids in high school or grade school whose lives were totally wrapped up in
37746-459: The musicians included Starr, Clapton, Gary Wright , Billy Preston , Klaus Voormann , the whole of Delaney and Bonnie's Friends band, and the Apple group Badfinger . On its release, All Things Must Pass was received with critical acclaim; Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described it as being "of classic Spectorian proportions, Wagnerian , Brucknerian , the music of mountain tops and vast horizons". Author and musicologist Ian Inglis considers
37979-436: The name of Clapton's dog, Jeep, and "Thanks for the Pepperoni" came from a line on a Lenny Bruce comedy album. In a December 2000 interview with Billboard magazine, Harrison explained: "For the jams, I didn't want to just throw [them] in the cupboard, and yet at the same time it wasn't part of the record; that's why I put it on a separate label to go in the package as a kind of bonus." The only vocal selection on Apple Jam
38212-491: The news was made public, Harrison, who would die within the month, bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages. On 29 November 2001, Harrison died at a property belonging to McCartney, on Heather Road in Beverly Hills, California . He was 58 years old. He died in the company of Olivia, Dhani, Shankar and the latter's wife Sukanya and daughter Anoushka , and Hare Krishna devotees Shyamasundar Das and Mukunda Goswami , who chanted verses from
38445-529: The original owner of Friar Park; and " Beware of Darkness ". The latter was another song influenced by Harrison's association with the Radha Krishna Temple, and was written while some of the devotees were staying with him at Friar Park. On 1 May 1970, shortly before beginning work on All Things Must Pass , Harrison attended a Dylan session in New York, during which he acquired a new song of Dylan's, " If Not for You ". Harrison wrote " Apple Scruffs ", which
38678-495: The other 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 later called Rubber Soul his "favourite [Beatles] album". Revolver (1966) included three of his compositions: " Taxman ", selected as the album's opening track, " Love You To " and " I Want to Tell You ". His drone-like tambura part on Lennon's " Tomorrow Never Knows " exemplified
38911-507: The other genres on the album, Leng writes of the "plethora of new sounds and influences" that Harrison had absorbed through 1969 and now incorporated, including "Krishna chants, gospel ecstasy, Southern blues-rock [and] slide guitar". The melodies of "Isn't It a Pity" and "Beware of Darkness" have aspects of Indian classical music , and on "My Sweet Lord", Harrison combined the Hindu bhajan tradition with gospel. Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork describes
39144-597: The platinum album Cloud Nine . Co-produced with Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the album included Harrison's rendition of James Ray's " Got My Mind Set on You ", which went to number one in the US and number two in the UK. The accompanying music video received substantial airplay, and another single, " When We Was Fab ", a retrospective of the Beatles' career, earned two MTV Music Video Awards nominations in 1988. Recorded at his estate in Friar Park, Harrison's slide guitar playing featured prominently on
39377-418: The previous November. Commentators often suggest that for many, particularly the young, the Beatles' performances reignited the sense of excitement and possibility that momentarily faded in the wake of the assassination, and helped pave the way for the revolutionary social changes to come later in the decade. Their hairstyle, unusually long for the era and mocked by many adults, became an emblem of rebellion to
39610-471: The project: "I hope somebody does this to all my crap demos when I'm dead, make them into hit songs." After the Anthology project, Harrison collaborated with Ravi Shankar on the latter's Chants of India . Harrison's final television appearance was a VH-1 special to promote the album, taped in May 1997. Soon afterwards, Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer ; he was treated with radiotherapy , which
39843-432: The promotional material for McCartney's self-titled solo album , this announcement signalled the band's break-up . Despite having already made Wonderwall Music (1968), a mostly instrumental soundtrack album, and the experimental Electronic Sound (1969), Harrison considered All Things Must Pass to be his first solo album. I went to George's Friar Park ... and he said, "I have a few ditties for you to hear." It
40076-444: The reason for this was Harrison's need to make regular visits to Liverpool to tend to his mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer. Spector's erratic behaviour during the sessions was another factor affecting progress on the album. Harrison later referred to Spector needing "eighteen cherry brandies " before he could start work, a situation that forced much of the production duties onto Harrison alone. At one point, Spector fell over in
40309-466: The recital, noting the quantity and quality of Harrison's material. Harrison had accumulated songs from as far back as 1966; both " Isn't It a Pity " and " Art of Dying " date from that year. He co-wrote at least two songs with Dylan while in Woodstock, one of which, " I'd Have You Anytime ", appeared as the lead track on All Things Must Pass . Harrison also wrote " Let It Down " in late 1968. He introduced
40542-571: The record's face labels was the standard inclusion of a performing rights organisation, BMI . In December 1970, "Congratulations" songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter claimed royalties, with the result that the composer's credit for Harrison's track was swiftly changed to acknowledge Martin and Coulter. Aside from the seventeen songs issued on discs one and two of the original album, Harrison recorded at least twenty other songs – either in demo form for Spector's benefit, just before recording got officially under way in late May, or as outtakes from
40775-604: The recording – "Yesterday" has inspired the most cover versions of any song ever written. With Help! , the Beatles became the first rock group to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year . The group's third US tour opened with a performance before a world-record crowd of 55,600 at New York's Shea Stadium on 15 August – "perhaps the most famous of all Beatles' concerts", in Lewisohn's description. A further nine successful concerts followed in other American cities. At
41008-414: The recording of The Beatles that same year, tensions within the group ran high, and drummer Ringo Starr quit briefly. Harrison's four songwriting contributions to the double album included " While My Guitar Gently Weeps ", which featured Eric Clapton on lead guitar, and the horn -driven " Savoy Truffle ". Dylan and the Band were a major musical influence on Harrison at the end of his career with
41241-659: The recording of Lennon's Plastic Ono Band single " Instant Karma! " This association led to Spector being given the task of salvaging the Beatles' Get Back rehearsal tapes, released officially as the Let It Be album (1970), and later co-producing All Things Must Pass . Harrison first discussed the possibility of making a solo album of his unused songs during the ill-tempered Get Back sessions, held at Twickenham Film Studios in January 1969. On 25 February, his 26th birthday, Harrison recorded demos of " All Things Must Pass " and two other compositions that had received little interest from Lennon and McCartney at Twickenham. With
41474-399: The release as awkward, sanctimonious and overly sentimental. In November 1974, Harrison became the first ex-Beatle to tour North America when he began his 45-date Dark Horse Tour . The shows included guest spots by his band members Billy Preston and Tom Scott , and traditional and contemporary Indian music performed by "Ravi Shankar, Family and Friends". Despite numerous positive reviews,
41707-412: The reverb on tracks such as "My Sweet Lord" and "Wah-Wah" was recorded onto tape at the time, because Spector insisted on hearing the effects in place as they worked on the tracks. Outtakes from the recording sessions became available on bootlegs in the 1990s. One such unofficial release, the three-disc The Making of All Things Must Pass , contains multiple takes of some of the songs on the album, providing
41940-443: The sessions were preceded by a week of Harrison recording demos, accompanied by Starr and Voormann. The first formal recording session for the album took place at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios ) on 26 May, although Unterberger states that "much or all" of that day's recording was not used. The majority of the album's backing tracks were taped on 8-track at EMI between late May and the second week of June. The recording engineer
42173-542: The sessions, the Beatles were signed to Polydor for one year. Credited to "Tony Sheridan & the Beat Brothers", the single " My Bonnie ", recorded in June 1961 and released four months later, reached number 32 on the Musikmarkt chart. After the Beatles completed their second Hamburg residency, they enjoyed increasing popularity in Liverpool with the growing Merseybeat movement. However, they were growing tired of
42406-400: The sessions. Although uncredited for his contributions, Frampton also played acoustic guitar on the country tracks featuring Drake; he and Harrison later overdubbed further rhythm parts on several songs. Orchestral arranger John Barham also attended the sessions, occasionally contributing on harmonium and vibraphone . Simon Leng consulted Voormann, Barham and Molland for his chapter covering
42639-576: The sessions. In a 1992 interview, Harrison commented on the volume of material: "I didn't have many tunes on Beatles records, so doing an album like All Things Must Pass was like going to the bathroom and letting it out." Harrison's solo performance for Spector included six compositions that, until their inclusion on the Deluxe editions of the album's 50th anniversary box set , were only available on bootleg compilations, such as Beware of ABKCO! The six songs are: "Window, Window", another song turned down by
42872-478: The sides were listed together at number one on the Hot 100. His increased productivity meant that by the time of their break-up he had amassed a stockpile of unreleased compositions. While Harrison grew as a songwriter, his compositional presence on Beatles albums remained limited to two or three songs, increasing his frustration, and significantly contributing to the band's break-up. Harrison's last recording session with
43105-473: The sitar after "Norwegian Wood", he became known as "the maharaja of raga-rock ". Harrison continued to develop his interest in non-Western instrumentation, playing swarmandal on " Strawberry Fields Forever ". By late 1966, Harrison's interests had moved away from the Beatles. This was reflected in his choice of Eastern gurus and religious leaders for inclusion on the album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. His sole composition on
43338-488: The song's natural harmonics . In 1966, Harrison contributed innovative musical ideas to Revolver . He played backwards guitar on Lennon's composition " I'm Only Sleeping " and a guitar counter-melody on " And Your Bird Can Sing " that moved in parallel octaves above McCartney's bass downbeats. His guitar playing on " I Want to Tell You " exemplified the pairing of altered chordal colours with descending chromatic lines and his guitar part for Sgt Pepper ' s " Lucy in
43571-420: The song, but lost the case, as the judge ruled that he had done so subconsciously. In 2000, Apple Records released a thirtieth-anniversary edition of the album, and Harrison actively participated in its promotion. In an interview, he reflected on the work: "It's just something that was like my continuation from the Beatles, really. It was me sort of getting out of the Beatles and just going my own way ... it
43804-665: The songs at Trident because of its 16-track recording desk. Spector also made suggestions about overdubbing more instruments and orchestration on some tracks, but encouraged Harrison to focus on his vocals and avoid hiding his voice behind the instrumentation. John Barham's orchestrations were recorded during the next phase of the album's production, starting in early September, along with many further contributions from Harrison, such as his lead vocals, slide guitar parts and multi-tracked backing vocals (the latter credited to "the George O'Hara-Smith Singers"). Barham stayed at Friar Park and created
44037-497: The songs to his co-producer, who was convalescing in Los Angeles, and Spector replied by letter dated 19 August with suggestions for further overdubs and final mixing. Among Spector's comments were detailed suggestions regarding "Let It Down", the released recording of which Madinger and Easter describe as "the best example of Spector running rampant with the 'Wall of Sound ' ", and an urging that he and Harrison carry out further work on
44270-510: The sound as " Wagnerian , Brucknerian , the music of mountain tops and vast horizons". Reflecting the widespread surprise at the assuredness of Harrison's post-Beatles debut, Melody Maker ' s Richard Williams likened the album to Greta Garbo 's first role in a talking picture and declared: "Garbo talks! – Harrison is free!" According to Colin Larkin , writing in the 2011 edition of his Encyclopedia of Popular Music , All Things Must Pass
44503-402: The studio and broke his arm. He subsequently withdrew from the project due to what Madinger and Easter term "health reasons". Early in July, work on All Things Must Pass was temporarily brought to a halt as Harrison headed north to see his dying mother for the last time. EMI's growing concerns regarding studio costs added to the pressure on Harrison. A further complication, according to Harris,
44736-509: The studio, saying: "His vibe was icy as he bluntly remarked, 'What are you doing here?' It was a very tense moment ..." According to Whitlock, Harrison played the couple some of his new music and Lennon "got his socks blown off", much to Harrison's satisfaction. The presence of Harrison's friends from the Radha Krishna Temple caused disruption during the sessions, according to Gibbins and Whitlock. While echoing this view, Spector cited this as an example of how Harrison inspired tolerance, since
44969-485: The subsequent nickname stuck, much to Harrison's amusement. He had two lead vocal credits on the LP, including the Lennon–McCartney song " Do You Want to Know a Secret? ", and three on their second album, With the Beatles (1963). The latter included " Don't Bother Me ", Harrison's first solo writing credit. Harrison served as the Beatles' scout for new American releases, being especially knowledgeable about soul music . By 1965's Rubber Soul , he had begun to lead
45202-427: The tape down to allow Harrison to sing the high-register vocal lines. Spector returned to London for the later mixing stage. Scott says that Spector would visit Trident for a few hours and make suggestions on their latest mixes, and that some of Spector's suggestions were followed, others not. Spector has praised Harrison's guitar and vocal work on the overdubs, saying: "Perfectionist is not the right word. Anyone can be
45435-478: The time when the red-light area comes to life ... flashing neon lights screamed out the various entertainment on offer, while scantily clad women sat unabashed in shop windows waiting for business opportunities." Koschmider had converted a couple of strip clubs in the district into music venues, and he initially placed the Beatles at the Indra Club . After closing Indra due to noise complaints, he moved them to
45668-529: The top spot for 21 weeks with a chart life of 40 weeks. Erlewine described the LP as "a sequel of the highest order – one that betters the original". In a reversal of then standard practice, EMI released the album ahead of the impending single " I Want to Hold Your Hand ", with the song excluded to maximise the single's sales. The album caught the attention of music critic William Mann of The Times , who suggested that Lennon and McCartney were "the outstanding English composers of 1963". The newspaper published
45901-457: The tour visited the White House. They were invited by President Gerald Ford's son, Jack. In December, Harrison released Dark Horse , which was an album that earned him the least favourable reviews of his career. Rolling Stone called it "the chronicle of a performer out of his element, working to a deadline, enfeebling his overtaxed talents by a rush to deliver a new 'LP product', rehearse
46134-433: The way out, Mr. Epstein". However, three months later, producer George Martin signed the Beatles to EMI 's Parlophone label. Martin's first recording session with the Beatles took place at EMI Recording Studios (later Abbey Road Studios) in London on 6 June 1962. He immediately complained to Epstein about Best's drumming and suggested they use a session drummer in his place. Already contemplating Best's dismissal,
46367-454: The whites-only Hotel George Washington in Jacksonville. For their subsequent US tours in 1965 and 1966, the Beatles included clauses in contracts stipulating that shows be integrated. According to Gould, the Beatles' fourth studio LP, Beatles for Sale , evidenced a growing conflict between the commercial pressures of their global success and their creative ambitions. They had intended
46600-465: The words of his musical biographer, Simon Leng, served as an "emancipating force" from the restrictions imposed on him in the band. His activities during 1969 included producing Apple signings Billy Preston and Doris Troy , two American singer-songwriters whose soul and gospel roots proved as influential on All Things Must Pass as the music of the Band. He also recorded with artists such as Leon Russell and Jack Bruce , and accompanied Clapton on
46833-431: Was Phil McDonald , with Leckie as his tape operator. Spector recorded most of the backing tracks live, in some cases featuring multiple drummers and keyboard players, and as many as five rhythm guitarists. In Whitlock's description, the studio space was a "massive room ... two sets of drums on risers, a piano, organ and other keyboards to the wall on the left, up against the far wall on the right were Badfinger, and in
47066-410: Was "clearly an innovator" as he was "taking certain elements of R&B and rock and rockabilly and creating something unique". Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner described Harrison as "a guitarist who was never showy but who had an innate, eloquent melodic sense. He played exquisitely in the service of the song". The guitar picking style of Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins influenced Harrison, giving
47299-686: Was Harrison's contribution to the soundtrack for the 1985 film Porky's Revenge! During the main sessions for All Things Must Pass , Harrison taped or routined early versions of " You ", " Try Some, Buy Some " and " When Every Song Is Sung ". Harrison offered these three songs to Ronnie Spector in February 1971 for her proposed solo album on Apple Records. After releasing his own versions of "Try Some, Buy Some" and "You", he offered "When Every Song Is Sung" (since retitled "I'll Still Love You") to former bandmate Ringo Starr for his 1976 album Ringo's Rotogravure . " Woman Don't You Cry for Me ", written in December 1969 as his first slide-guitar composition,
47532-448: Was a "swipe" at McCartney. " Run of the Mill " followed soon afterwards, its lyrics focusing on the failure of friendships within the Beatles amid the business problems surrounding their Apple organisation . Harrison's musical activities outside the band during 1969 inspired other songs on the album: " What Is Life " came to him while driving to a London session that spring for Preston's That's
47765-569: Was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line , and Louise was a shop assistant of Irish Catholic descent. He had one sister, Louise (16 August 1931 – 29 January 2023), and two brothers, Harold (20 July 1934 - ?) and Peter (20 July 1940 – 1 June 2007). According to Boyd, Harrison's mother was particularly supportive: "All she wanted for her children is that they should be happy, and she recognised that nothing made George quite as happy as making music." Louise
47998-399: Was a very happy occasion." He commented on the production: "Well, in those days it was like the reverb was kind of used a bit more than what I would do now. In fact, I don't use reverb at all. I can't stand it ... You know, it's hard to go back to anything thirty years later and expect it to be how you would want it now." Harrison responded to a request from Ravi Shankar by organising
48231-455: Was about 14, a friend of Harrison, Raymond Hughes, offered to sell a guitar. Harrison's mother then paid for the guitar, which cost £3.10s.– (equivalent to £110 in 2024 ). One of his father's friends taught Harrison how to play " Whispering ", " Sweet Sue " and " Dinah ". Inspired by Donegan's music, Harrison formed a skiffle group, the Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. On
48464-543: Was also a deep personal loss, although Harrison and Lennon had little contact in the years before Lennon was killed. Following the murder, Harrison commented: "After all we went through together I had and still have great love and respect for John Lennon. I am shocked and stunned." Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had written for Starr to make the song a tribute to Lennon. " All Those Years Ago ", which included vocal contributions from Paul and Linda McCartney, as well as Starr's original drum part, peaked at number two in
48697-531: Was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles . Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu -aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although most of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney , most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for
48930-487: Was an enthusiastic music fan, and she was known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons' windows. When Louise was 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
49163-529: Was another song that Harrison revisited on Thirty Three & 1/3 . Harrison included " I Live for You " as the only all-new bonus track on the 2001 reissue of All Things Must Pass . "Down to the River" remained unused until he reworked it as "Rocking Chair in Hawaii" for his final studio album, the posthumously released Brainwashed (2002). Harrison recorded the following songs during the All Things Must Pass sessions but, until their inclusion on some editions of
49396-439: Was at that time primarily bestowed upon military veterans and civic leaders – some conservative MBE recipients returned their insignia. In July, the Beatles' second film, Help! , was released, again directed by Lester. Described as "mainly a relentless spoof of Bond ", it inspired a mixed response among both reviewers and the band. McCartney said: " Help! was great but it wasn't our film – we were sort of guest stars. It
49629-505: Was becoming obvious", he wrote, and "as far as Paul was concerned, George could do no right". Capitol Records, from December 1963 when it began issuing Beatles recordings for the US market, exercised complete control over format, compiling distinct US albums from the band's recordings and issuing songs of their choosing as singles. In June 1966, the Capitol LP Yesterday and Today caused an uproar with its cover, which portrayed
49862-512: Was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland. While in Switzerland, Starr visited him but had to cut short his stay to travel to Boston, where his daughter was undergoing emergency brain surgery. Harrison, who was very weak, quipped: "Do you want me to come with you?" In November 2001, he began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non–small cell lung cancer that had spread to his brain. When
50095-455: Was deported for being too young to work in nightclubs. When Brian Epstein became their manager in December 1961, he polished up their image and later secured them a recording contract with EMI . The group's first single, " Love Me Do ", peaked at number 17 on the Record Retailer chart, and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me , was released in early 1963, Beatlemania had arrived. Often serious and focused while on stage with
50328-407: Was endless! He had literally hundreds of songs and each one was better than the rest. He had all this emotion built up when it was released to me. – Phil Spector, on first hearing Harrison's backlog of songs in early 1970 Spector first heard Harrison's stockpile of unreleased songs early in 1970, when visiting his recently purchased home, Friar Park . "It was endless!" Spector later recalled of
50561-512: Was fun, but basically, as an idea for a film, it was a bit wrong." The soundtrack was dominated by Lennon, who wrote and sang lead on most of its songs, including the two singles: " Help! " and " Ticket to Ride ". The Help! album, the group's fifth studio LP, mirrored A Hard Day's Night by featuring soundtrack songs on side one and additional songs from the same sessions on side two. The LP contained all original material save for two covers, " Act Naturally " and " Dizzy Miss Lizzy "; they were
50794-434: Was hospitalised with more than 40 stab wounds, and part of his punctured lung was removed. He released a statement soon afterwards regarding his assailant: "He wasn't a burglar, and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys. Adi Shankara , an Indian historical, spiritual and groovy-type person, once said, 'Life is fragile like a raindrop on a lotus leaf.' And you'd better believe it." Upon being released from
51027-452: Was inside of me, and I realised a lot of things. I didn't learn them because I already knew them, but that happened to be the key that opened the door to reveal them. From the moment I had that, I wanted to have it all the time – these thoughts about the yogis and the Himalayas, and Ravi 's music." McCartney was initially reluctant to try it, but eventually did so in late 1966. He became
51260-479: Was listed among the musicians appearing on the Apple Jam disc. A pre- Genesis Phil Collins played congas at a session for "Art of Dying". Harrison gave him a credit on the 30th anniversary reissue of the album, but Collins' playing does not appear on the track. Unsubstantiated claims exist regarding guest appearances by John Lennon, Maurice Gibb and Pink Floyd 's Richard Wright . In addition, for some years after
51493-524: Was needed". Gibbins' bandmates Pete Ham , Tom Evans and Joey Molland provided rhythm acoustic-guitar parts that, in keeping with Spector's Wall of Sound principles, were to be "felt but not heard". Other contributors included Procol Harum 's Gary Brooker , on keyboards, and pedal steel player Pete Drake , the last of whom Harrison flew over from Nashville for a few days of recording. Adding to his and Badfinger's acoustic guitars on some All Things Must Pass tracks, Harrison invited Peter Frampton to
51726-481: Was one of a number of Dylan-influenced songs on the album, towards the end of production on All Things Must Pass , as a tribute to the diehard fans who had kept a vigil outside the studios where he was working. According to Leng, All Things Must Pass represents the completion of Harrison's "musical-philosophical circle", in which his 1966–68 immersion in Indian music found a Western equivalent in gospel music. While identifying hard rock , country and Motown among
51959-477: Was pared down. He says that the later recording sessions featured a core group of himself, Harrison, Clapton, Starr or Gordon on drums, and Voormann or Radle playing bass. The Apple Jam instrumentals "Thanks for the Pepperoni" and "Plug Me In", featuring Harrison, Clapton and Mason each taking extended guitar solos, were recorded later in June, at the Beatles' Apple Studio , and marked the formation of Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon's short-lived band Derek and
52192-477: Was ranked 79th on The Times ' "The 100 Best Albums of All Time" in 1993, while Rolling Stone placed it 368th on the magazine's 2023 update of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". In 2014, All Things Must Pass was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame . Music journalist John Harris said George Harrison 's "journey" to making All Things Must Pass started when he visited America in late 1968, after
52425-526: Was referring to how other people viewed their success, but at the prompting of reporters, he concluded: "If you want me to apologise, if that will make you happy, then okay, I'm sorry." Released in August 1966, a week before the Beatles' final tour, Revolver marked another artistic step forward for the group. The album featured sophisticated songwriting, studio experimentation, and a greatly expanded repertoire of musical styles, ranging from innovative classical string arrangements to psychedelia . Abandoning
52658-487: Was released by Apple in December, followed by a concert film in 1972. Credited to "George Harrison and Friends", the album topped the UK chart and peaked at number 2 in the US, and went on to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year . Tax troubles and questionable expenses later tied up many of the proceeds, but Harrison commented: "Mainly the concert was to attract attention to the situation ... The money we raised
52891-486: Was secondary, and although we had some money problems ... they still got plenty ... even though it was a drop in the ocean. The main thing was, we spread the word and helped get the war ended." Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World held the number one spot on the Billboard albums chart for five weeks, and the album's single, " Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) ", also reached number one in
53124-463: Was some reverb on the original recordings but the effect was mostly added later. In music journalist David Cavanagh 's description, once abandoned by his co-producer midway through the summer, Harrison had "proceeded to out-Spector Spector" through the addition of further echo and multiple overdubs. Voormann has said that Harrison "cluttered" the album's sound in this way, and "admitted later that he put too much stuff on top". According to Leckie, however,
53357-437: Was that Clapton had become infatuated with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd , and adopted a heroin habit as a means of coping with his guilt. In Spector's absence, Harrison completed the album's backing tracks and carried out preliminary overdubs, doing much of the latter work at Trident Studios with former Beatles engineer Ken Scott . Harrison completed this stage of the project on 12 August. He then sent early mixes of many of
53590-544: Was the first record ... And anybody who's familiar with Phil [Spector]'s work – it was like CinemaScope sound. – George Harrison, January 2001 On 9 October, while carrying out final mixing at EMI, Harrison presented Lennon with the recently recorded "It's Johnny's Birthday". The track featured Harrison on vocals, harmonium and all other instruments, and vocal contributions from Mal Evans and assistant engineer Eddie Klein. That same month, Harrison finished his production work on Starr's 1971 single " It Don't Come Easy ",
53823-461: Was thought at the time to be successful. He publicly blamed years of smoking for the illness. In January 1998, Harrison attended Carl Perkins ' funeral in Jackson, Tennessee , where he performed a brief rendition of Perkins' song " Your True Love ". In May, he represented the Beatles at London's High Court in their successful bid to gain control of unauthorised recordings made of a 1962 performance by
54056-485: Was too young to join the band. McCartney arranged a second meeting, on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, during which Harrison impressed Lennon by performing the lead guitar part for the instrumental " Raunchy ". He began socialising with the group, filling in on guitar as needed, and then became accepted as a member. Although his father wanted him to continue his education, Harrison left school at 16 and worked for several months as an apprentice electrician at Blacklers ,
54289-496: Was too young. After a month's persistence, during a second meeting (arranged by McCartney), Harrison performed the lead guitar part of the instrumental song " Raunchy " on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus, and they enlisted him as lead guitarist . By January 1959, Lennon's Quarry Bank friends had left the group, and he began his studies at the Liverpool College of Art . The three guitarists, billing themselves as Johnny and
#714285