The youngest of the four, he was born on February 25, 1943 in Liverpool, England. Being the youngest of four siblings, he grew up in arguably the most wholesome family of the Beatles with his family staying together even into Beatlemania. His life began to change when he met a young boy named James "Paul" McCartney on the school bus to QuarryBank, their school. A year older, Paul helped George to come to the "Elvis epiphany" as LIFE magazine puts it. After 1956, all he could think about was guitar, guitar, and more guitar. He even, while taking notes on architecture in his textbook, would draw different models of guitars. (As a side note: I actually saw these notebooks in an exhibit going on at the Grammy Museum in LA Live right now. It's "George Harrison: Living in the Material World." You should definitely check it out) Paul and George would play guitar together at each others homes, mostly George's because his mom greatly encouraged George in guitar. In 1957, Paul met John Lennon, and then introduced him to George. He was three years younger than John, which showed at the time when John was 17 and George was barely 14. But George was an excellent guitar player and was invited, with Paul, to join John's band the Quarrymen. He took the role as lead guitarist because of a botched solo by Paul at one gig and stayed in the role until 1970 when the Beatles broke up. Along with John, Paul, Stu Sutcliffe (original bass player) and Pete Best (original drummer), George traveled to Hamburg, Germany to strengthen their act on stage as well as begin working on songwriting. Unfortunately, their trip was cut short when George, who was 17 at the time, was found to be underage. He was soon deported and it seemed that the dream of the Beatles (they had recently changed their name) would fade away.
But by 1962, Brian Epstein had come to see them perform in the Cavern Club back in Liverpool and they were signed up to make their first record Please Please Me at Abbey Road Studios in London. You can pretty much guess the rest of the story. Beatlemania hit in 1963 and girls would become violent trying to get so much as a glimpse at the four. Tired of the unrelentless screaming, the Beatles retired from the hectic schedule of touring and resolved to focus on composition. By 1967, such astounding albums like Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band had arrived. But in 1970, George had had enough of "The Fab Four" and he quit so that he could record songs that were discarded by John and Paul.
Despite the cheery atmosphere that George gave off to the thousands of girls who adored him, he hated everything that came with being one of the Beatles. It's been said that after the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, he told the other three "How [expletive] stupid it all is. All that big hassle to make it, only to end up as performing fleas." It is the initial hatred of the superficiality of the Beatles that caused him to turn to spiritual matters. After their second movie Help! in 1965, which contained a large amount of Indian elements, George became obsessed with anything Indian. He learned sitar, which he played on their song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." Following the Beatles excursion to India in 1968, George became devoted to finding God. The Beatles have said in numerous interviews that LSD opened their eyes to God. But after taking it in 1965, George became interested in God more than rock music, the Beatles, or anything else at all. He meditated all the time and it is partially this that ended his first marriage to Pattie Boyd in 1976.
George moved on from the Beatles to become a very successful solo artist, making such hits as My Sweet Lord, Isn't It a Pity, and All Those Years Ago. He re-married in 1978 to Olivia Arias, a South Californian who worked at A&M Records in LA. They remained married until his death. His son Dhani was born in 1978. They maintained a close relationship for the rest of George's life.
I'll end with the opening paragraph of LIFE Magazine's latest issue Remembering George Harrison: 10 Years Later: "He was the 'Quiet Beatle' only in that he was standing alongside two louder-than-life characters and in front of a guy playing the drums. He held many strong opinions-on Beatlemania, on global want, on his right to privacy, and on his God-and gave firm voice to most of them. As a visibly moved Paul McCartney said 10 years ago when his 'brother' passed away, George Harrison was a lovely person, possessed of a wicked sense of humor, but one who did not 'suffer fools gladly.' This man who would happily (and sometimes not so happily) goof around with his mates during the halcyon days, and would later come to embody the ideas of Flower Power and peace on earth, took life very, very seriously, and cherished the personal life deeply...Remembering George: Ten years ago and much to soon, we lost as second Beatle-a wonderful musician and a wonderful man. Here is George's life, in words and, then, in pictures."
GEORGE HARRISON: 1943-2001
