George Harrison is remembered as the quiet Beatle, but he was so much more than that.
From a successful solo career, to holding a major benefit concert, to becoming a movie
producer, he accomplished quite a lot during his life and career.
This is the untold truth of George Harrison.
Most Beatles songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but Harrison managed to
chime in with his own efforts every once in a while.
The first song he penned for the band was "Don't Bother Me," which was featured on their
sophomore LP With the Beatles.
This track has an interesting backstory, as it was written during a bout of illness.
During a tour in 1963, Harrison came down with a bug.
While quarantining himself in his hotel room, he lay in bed with his guitar and started
strumming to pass the time.
He then decided that he would write a song as an exercise to find out if he could pull
it off.
And sure enough, he accomplished his goal.
In retrospect, Harrison doesn't exactly hold "Don't Bother Me" in the highest esteem.
As he later recalled,
"I didn't think it was a particularly good song."
Nevertheless, it was an important step in his musical journey, as he also noted,
"But at least it showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing and maybe eventually
I would write something good."
Harrison is well-known for his affinity for the sitar, a stringed instrument that originated
in the Indian subcontinent.
He first picked it up after seeing one on the set of the Beatles' 1965 film Help!
He famously played it in the Beatles' 1965 song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),"
off their album Rubber Soul.
The song did well on the charts, but famous sitar player Ravi Shankar was unimpressed
with Harrison's simplistic playing, which just echoed the main melody.
As he reportedly said,
"If George Harrison wants to play the sitar, why does he not learn it properly?"
Harrison and Shankar eventually crossed paths, and the two of them hit it off immediately.
Shankar offered to instruct Harrison, who gladly accepted.
Soon enough, he was learning not only about the proper playing techniques but also the
instrument's spiritual significance in Indian culture.
When the rest of the world moved past the fad of Indian influences on Western music,
Harrison remained invested in Eastern music.
He even helped to finance and distribute Raga, a 1971 documentary about Shankar's life.
"The thing that really blew me away was, 'cause I thought he's just such an amazing player."
George Harrison's interest in the sitar developed during a time of great strife in South Asia.
After a long period of British colonialism, the Indian subcontinent was divided into the
two independent nations of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Subsequently, Pakistan was split into two territories, one on each side of India: East
Pakistan and West Pakistan, the latter of which was where the government was based.
In March 1971, East Pakistan declared independence as the nation Bangladesh.
In response, West Pakistan began a vicious military genocide, killing between 300,000
and 3 million Bengalis and forcing millions of refugees to migrate to India.
Ravi Shankar, a Bengali, was eager to help with the situation.
He asked Harrison if he would be interested in planning a concert to raise funds for the
refugees, and Harrison jumped onboard.
The Concert for Bangladesh, which was held at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971,
was the first-ever benefit concert of its scale.
It was a star-studded affair, featuring such acts as Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell,
Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Badfinger, and of course, Shankar and Harrison.
The show raised almost $250,000, all of which was donated to UNICEF.
When asked afterward why he'd gotten involved with the Bengali cause, Harrison answered
simply,
"Because I was asked by a friend if I would help."
"Everybody knew the name of Bangladesh all over the world."
George Harrison wasn't just a musician; he also founded a production company, HandMade
Films, along with his business manager Denis O'Brien.
The company got its start with quite the iconic project: the 1979 comedy classic Monty Python's
Life of Brian.
Harrison wasn't involved with the movie from its very beginning, though.
At first it was an EMI production, but that company's chairman, Lord Delfont, was reportedly
so appalled by the screenplay that he completely removed himself from the endeavor, leaving
the Pythons to finance the film themselves.
So Python member Eric Idle called up Harrison, a friend of his, to see if he would be interested
in helping out.
Harrison was a major fan of the Pythons' comedy, so he then consulted with O'Brien, who was
all for it.
Harrison had to remortgage his mansion to make the film, but that was a small price
to pay in order to be able to watch a new Monty Python movie on the big screen.
HandMade also released several films that are now considered British cinema classics,
including The Long Good Friday, Time Bandits, and Withnail and I.
Many of these movies featured first-time directors or actors who were just starting out, and
many who had also been dropped by other studios.
As Harrison once professed,
"If something's really good, it deserves to be made."
He seemed truly committed to this philosophy, as he produced 23 titles during his time with
the company.
Even before his production work on Life of Brian, Harrison was close with the Monty Python
crew.
In fact, he even made a cameo on the 1975 Christmas special of Eric Idle's TV program
Rutland Weekend Television.
In the episode, he played himself, but with a twist.
He sports a pirate hat, an eyepatch, a parrot on his shoulder, and a peg leg, insisting
that his name is "Pirate Bob."
Throughout the show, he interrupts various sketches with the intention of showing off
his marvelous acting skills.
But time and again, Idle emphasizes that he just wants Harrison to be himself.
"No pirate sketch down here, see?"
"No pirate sketch?"
"No."
"Oh, well up you then."
At the end of the episode, Harrison finally appears without the pirate garb, guitar in
hand.
He strums out the beginning of his hit single "My Sweet Lord," but then over the song's
gentle opening chords, he barks,
"I like to be a pirate, a pirate's life for me!"
And then what follows is a rousing performance of an original sea shanty written by Harrison
and Idle.
George Harrison's recording contract with EMI, which had been orchestrated by Brian
Epstein during his time with the Beatles, ended in 1976.
Harrison prepared for the next chapter in his musical career in advance by creating
his own label, Dark Horse Records, in 1974.
The artists that Harrison signed to the label included the likes of Ravi Shankar, the band
Attitudes, the vocal duo Splinter, and R&B group The Stairsteps.
Harrison himself also recorded six albums on Dark Horse from 1976 to 1992.
Many of the songs on these albums were also featured in movie productions by HandMade
Films.
Today, Dark Horse has made a full circle journey, having merged with EMI/Parlophone in 2002.
It's now led by George's son Dhani as well as manager David Zonshin.
It recently teamed up with BMG to release new recordings from George Harrison's back
catalogues, as well as the back catalogues of Joe Strummer and Tom Petty.
You might know that George Harrison played on the Beatles song "Drive My Car," but did
you know that he was also a massive auto enthusiast?
It's true, as he bought and sold his cars with such enthusiasm that nobody knows exactly
how many he ever owned.
According to a 2020 GQ profile, his most notable automobiles included a green Ford Anglia 105E
that served as his first car, a black Jaguar E-Type that Brian Epstein reportedly gave
him for his 21st birthday, a white 1964 Aston Martin DB5, and last but not least, the psychedelically
decorated Austin Mini Cooper S that was featured in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour.
Harrison didn't just show off his vehicular love by collecting cars; he was also a fan
of Formula One racing, to the extent that he once spent months following the Formula
One World Championship across the globe.
He even wrote a song about his passion for racing: 1979's "Faster," whose title he took
from the diary of race car driver Jackie Stewart.
The song features a recording of the engines at the start of the 1979 British Grand Prix.
It was released as a single to raise money for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Fund, which
was founded in honor of a Swedish driver who passed away from cancer in 1978.
George Harrison was often referred to as "the Quiet Beatle," but true fans know that he
was no shrinking violet.
In fact, he was known for his silly sense of humor, including his knack for clever one-liners.
During the Beatles' early days, producer George Martin made some criticisms and asked the
band if there was anything they didn't like about a particular track.
So Harrison quipped,
"Well, for a start, I don't like your tie."
Harrison was also fond of pranks, and perhaps his most legendary exploit occurred when he
decided to pull one over on Phil Collins.
When the former Genesis frontman was 19, he was invited to play conga drums for Harrison's
1970 album All Things Must Pass.
But upon the album's release, Collins realized that none of his tracks were incorporated
into the final product.
Twenty years later, Collins ran into Harrison and asked him why he hadn't been featured.
Harrison cast the blame onto his producer Phil Spector but offered to send Collins the
master tapes of the session.
When Collins received them, he was shocked to hear terrible drum playing, along with
Harrison's voice saying,
"Get rid of the lad on the congas, he's crap!"
Collins called Harrison to say that he hadn't realized he'd played so poorly at the time.
He also noted that the tape revealed that Harrison, not Spector, had rejected his drumming.
Harrison apologized, and the two moved on, swiftly changing the topic.
But Harrison eventually burst out laughing and admitted that he'd fooled Collins.
In actuality, the tapes were fake, as Harrison had hired a band to re-record the song with
the deliberate inclusion of some truly terrible conga playing.
The moment ended in good spirits, with Harrison assuring Collins that the real sessions had
"sounded great."
George Harrison and his family had quite the scare when an intruder
named Michael Abram broke into their mansion in Oxfordshire.
At around 3:20 A.M., Harrison's wife Olivia was awakened by the sound of glass shattering.
Upon realizing that someone had entered the premises, she phoned the police while George
went downstairs to investigate.
He discovered that a kitchen window had been broken, as had his statue of St. George and
the Dragon.
He then came face-to-face with Abram, who was carrying both a knife and a sword taken
from the statue.
Harrison chanted "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna" as a distraction tactic, but that didn't stop
Abrams from charging at him and stabbing him in the chest.
Abram apparently believed that Harrison had possessed him and that he was on a mission
from God to kill the musician.
Despite the significant wounds, Harrison managed to survive.
"I've got a son who needs a father, so I have to stick around for him as long as I can."
George Harrison loved his family, music, Eastern spirituality, and fast cars.
Unfortunately, he was also fond of smoking cigarettes, which may have cut his life short.
In 1998, he developed throat cancer, which initially went into remission after he underwent
treatment.
But then in 2001 the cancer recurred.
Harrison then went in for lung surgery, but doctors soon discovered that the cancer had
spread to his brain.
On November 29 of that year, he passed away at the age of 58 in the home of a friend,
with his wife Olivia and son Dhani by his side.
His family released a statement that read,
"We are deeply touched by the outpouring of love and compassion from around the world.
The profound beauty of George's passing — of his awakening from this dream — was no surprise
to those of us who knew how he longed to be with God."
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