George Harrison Leaves Us

I woke up to find that George Harrison died on Thursday afternoon.
It struck such a profound chord in me and I am very sad.
I hope people that knew and appreciated his music will remember what a beautiful soul that man had and what he gave to the world.

Max

Thanks Max for posting that note.

George was my favorite Beatle.

I rode to work today playing "Here comes the Sun" over and over!

God Bless you George and your family during this difficult time.

When I was in high school, I felt very much like an outcast (not least because of my tickling fetish). The music of the Beatles and the lessons it taught me in strength, self-reliance and in knowing that God is with you and that things have a way of working out, were one of the only things that got me through that rough passage in life. Thanks, George, and John. God rest you both.

George will truly be missed. What wonderful joy he brought to others in his music! May he enjoy unending bliss.

Ann

Looking back at all of the artists that have been taken from us, Heaven has ONE HELL of a band!
I hope they are giving away tickets at the Pearly Gates for concerts!



TTD

Ps. Take care George. It was great having you here!

While I enjoy music. I have never been very fanatical about any particular band or solo artist. However the Beatles are the one exception to that rule. Like many I was crushed when John was murdered. When I logged on this morning and discovered that George had passed away it left me speechless.

He will be missed deeply.

George was pretty cool. His work with the Beatles and solo albums were decent, lets not forget the other really cool group he was in: The Traveling Wilburys! Thank You, George! - Drew.

I'll miss his contributions as a songwriter, and his '88 hit, 'Got my mind set on you', has some found connotations in my life. I'll remember his work fondly.

Myriads

I'm so happy to come home and find this thread......I just KNEW it would be here.

Even though it has been a long time coming, it still is so profound in the way it cuts right to the heart....everybody feels it, too. What gets me furious is that I feel like he might have had a better chance had he not been stabbed 10 times two years ago! I mean that REALLY breaks my heart.....I mean, of all the people in the world.... how could you want to harm a Beatle?!!! And GEORGE?!! Everything about the Beatles is about excellence and positivity and fun and human.....and George (and John) especially added spirituality to the mix as well. God love him.

I heard the news this morning when a friend called me at 7:00 in the morning (everyone who knows me knows I'm a huge Beatles freak) and I immediatley put on "Love Scene", a very obscure tune from a pretty rare album of George's called "Wonderwall Music" (it was actually the first Beatles solo album, recorded in 1968 while they were still together)....if you ever get a chance to hear it, it's a really beautiful piece of music. Anyhow, George had such a beautiful, pure, dignified, humble spirit and he brought so much joy into the Earth.....I go into a record store and I see kids looking at Beatles books or in the Beatles sections, or wearing Beatle shirts. I can hardly believe it, but then again I was the same way when I was little, totally obsessed and I wasn't even born when they were around!

Their work is forever enduring, always relevant, always fresh and up to date......and George's subtle, enigmatic contribution to it is absolutely undeniable. I mean, my own personal favorite Beatles album (Revolver) opens with Taxman! What a song! His guitar playing was always tasteful, always COMPOSITIONAL as opposed to show-offy tricks and indulgent acrobatics......one of my favorite guitar solos George played was on his own song "Something"....so deep. Or how about that amazing solo in "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Can't Buy Me Love"....those solos are ingrained into the song! You can sing the solos like you can sing the words! (Ringo's drums were that way too!). His slide guitar playing....what a pure tone! He actually had his own distinctive touch on slide guitar that is 1.) not easy to reproduce and 2.) not especially rooted in the blues, unlike most players, that's a real rarity. A true distinctive style.

I believe one of the Beatles most influential elements on today's music scene is in the current dance music, trance music, any hypnotic popular music set around a drone or using world music elements....if you trace that back, you land (as usual) with the Beatles and their fusion of Indian music.....and that came from George more than anyone.
And of course every band is still writing in the vocabulary first developed by the Beatles. They are simply the building so much music is STILL living in! And George stayed such a dignified man, of such principles and intelligence and wit and cut through all the bullshit, real rare in the entertainment world.


Oops! I feel like I just turned into a raving maniac.... I guess anyone who is on this thread doesn't need to pontificated at-sorry! As usual, my zeal gets the best of me.

George Harrison. A great and gentle man. I already miss him.

Not much more I can add to this, but I'll try, 'cuz ol' George has it coming. He was the one who never really quit being a Beatle, adding his magic to Lennon's and Ringo's solo efforts...It Don't Come Easy has some of most beautiful guitar work ever recorded. And it was George who brought the surviving Beatles together for Harrison Remembers, the tribute to Lennon.

They've said he was at peace when he passed...That's what I wish for him.

Rxx

Damn

Shook Me Up......Rest In Peace, You Will Be Missed

:

"I met a girl who sang the blues,
and I asked her for some happy news

She just smiled and turned away.

I went down to the sacred store,
where I heard the music years before

But the man there said the music wouldn't play.

In the streets the children screamed,the lovers cried and the poets dreamed;

But not a word was spoken,
the church bells all were broken.

The three men I admired most,
The Father, Son and The Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast...

...the Day the Music Died...."

I Heard the news today...

There's not much else to add; but being the Fan I was/am, I feel The urge to comment:

1) The VERY FIRST Benefit Concert to help those in trouble was put on by George Harrison...The Concert for Bangla Desh.

2) When ALL the Religious Furor erupted over Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN and the original Movie company reneiged & Backed out of the project...George Harrison PUT UP THE $$$ & assured the release of a classic film.

3) AND just when you thought he was done,George Harrison Surprised us ALL w. The Traveling Wilburys

4) When asked at the Tail-end of the 6 part beatle Documentary on ABC; "Really, is Love REALLY all you need?" George responded;"ABSOLTELY"

For this & countless other times when Backing out gracefully would've sufficed; George Harrison ALWAYS put His name, Talent, Heart & His Money where his mouth was & he did it with a style that was his alone.

When John got killed in 1980, Bruce Springsteen & the E st. Band carried on & did their show that night. Springsteen Told the crowd,"There's a whole lot of us that would be doing something Else tonight if it weren't for John Lennon."...he then launched into a Searing version of Born to Run. Y'Know he was right then & he's right today.All of us would be somewhere, somebody & something ELSE ....
Thanks George

How old am I? 19. And I just came out of nappies when I first when first listened to and liked the Beatles. That's how good their music is. My ex is an even bigger fan of them than me, and she even begged to buy a special edition Beatles vinyl collection from me belonging to my parents.
I found out Friday morning on a newspaper placard and I thought... what the... It was sad, considering he was still getting over his knife attack a couple of years back. But at least he died peacefully. He's probably up there with John and winding each other up like the good ol' days!

On a side note, I have the same sort of qualities as George: A shy, quiet guitarist with a sharp sense of humour...

Our George... gonna miss him...

another musical perspective on George Harrison

George Harrison had a writing style which was, at times, easy to identify. He chose harmonys and wrote melodys from which his peers shyed away. His musical personality and influence were much more strongly felt as the Beatles progressed musically. Come Revolver (my favorite Beatles album as well, nt!), he was a huge part of their sound and concept. I believe he contributed four tunes to the album, including “Taxman” (the opener) and a great tune called “Love You Too.” As nontkl pointed out, he was responsible for the Middle Eastern influence in the Beatles. George plays Sitar very prevalently throughout Revolver, and on "Love You Too," he intregrates the Beatles pop thing almost seamlessly with the Sitar and middle eastern textures. Also, listen to his guitar solo on "Taxman-" a middle eastern mode being used, almost defiantly so. This was all new to rock at the time and a rather radical departure. I doubt if “Tomorrow Never Knows,” the last tune on Revolver and the clarion call for Sgt. Peppers and their great psychedelic stuff, would have been possible without George’s influence, despite the fact that he has no writing credit on the tune. Additionally, I’m not sure if he didn’t come up with some of the classic Beatles riffs (like the one on "Day Tripper"). His writing collaboration with Eric Clapton on “Badge” (on Cream’s Goodbye Cream) turned out a great tune, and the haunting harmonys in the verse of Badge have to be George’s. Clapton’s excellent “Better Make It Through Today” (off Clapton’s There’s One in Every Crowd) bears George’s stamp; just listen to the strong George Harrison/Ron Wood tune (I think it’s called “Far East Man”) on Ron Wood’s album, I’ve Got My Own Album To Do, and you’ll hear the similarities.

As a person, I think the fact that Eric Clapton very publicly stole George’s wife Patti (the tune “Layla” was Clapton’s appeal to her) and yet George did not hold a grudge and remained friends with him says it all. There’s a friend for ya. You have to love George Harrison.

I'll miss the man and his music, 'cause it was all over my childhood, and influenced how I studied music. He's also a good part of where I got the habit of sayin', "It's all about the love."

I'm glad to have his influences, his music, and to know that so many respected him.

Dave2112 pulled the ideal quote, too. Props to you for that, sir.

dvnc

daves quote....

Yes...and no. The music never dies, thank goodness. But, your guitar may indeed gently weep... Q

True, Q.....true.

City of Mica, I'm listening to Far East Man right this second as I type this!!! How weird is that?!!! (George recorded it on the Dark Horse album....I'd love to hear the Ron Wood version!).

Gripped Chimp, lightninbug, City of Mica et al....what beautiful, astute things you guys said. I logged on just to check this thread and I'm really happy I did. Right on for pointing out the Monty Python connection and the first one to do these mega benefit concerts.

I went over to Strawberry Fields in Central Park today to pay my respects and I'm playing every single Harrison album in order....of course, there isn't one lyric that doesn't resonate so strongly because everything he wrote since the Beatles has been so spiritual and, in a way, about confronting death. I've been getting alot of comfort from these songs.....alot of these records I've kind of ignored most of my life because they can be a bit uneven, but they all sound great to me today.....alot of gems that you don't ever hear on the radio, even now. "Far East Man" is one! "Blood From A Clone" (from "Somewhere in England") is one of the best songs ever written about the music business!

And then of course, the Beatle stuff......Old Brown Shoe! It's All Too Much! Only A Northen Song! Within You Without You! I Want to Tell You! The Inner Light! I jammed yesterday and we played I Need You. We also played I'd Have You Anytime (from All Things Must Pass).
It's so funny...I'm pretty good about playing by ear but just about every time I start playing a Beatles song off the cuff I'll get to some chord that I just can't find!.....complex writing and they always made it sound easy. (in yesterday's case, it was the chord at the end of the bridge of I Need You..."and feeling like this, I just can't go on anymore!")

It's really inspiring to see all the great musicians paying tribute to him in the press; I saw great statements by James Brown, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan(!), Keith Richards, Ravi Shankar, Dr. John, Michael Jackson (who actually DOESN'T own alot of the Harrison Beatle songs since he had a seperate publishing agreement in the later years), and of course, Paul and Ringo.


I see I'm writing too much again. Clearly I'm not the quiet one! City of Mica, I'm pulling out my copy of "There's One In Every Crowd" next!