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George at a Liverpool racetrack in 1955. |
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George with his older brother Peter in the early '50s. |
Harrison self-portrait, circa 1960. |
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George, John Lennon and Paul McCartney on the roof of Hamburg's Top Ten Club in 1961; the band would play eight hours a day. "He came back [from Hamburg] with his hair spiked up, wearing leather and cowboy boots," said Harrison's sister-in-law Irene. "I just realized that nobody's ever going to tell him what to do anymore." |
George with John Lennon in 1962, picking up new guitars at Rushworth's Music House in Liverpool. "We were just cocky," Harrison said of the Beatles' early days. "There was no justification for it – [it was] just an inner feeling."
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On his first U.S. visit, 1963. "The nonstop change was amazing," said Harrison. "At the age of 17 I was in Hamburg, and by the time I was 23, we had done Sgt. Pepper. . . . We put in maybe 20 years in every year, just in experience." |
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In Tahiti, 1964, on one of his first real vacations. "We hadn't been hardly anywhere out of England," said Harrison. "It was incredible, a smooth lagoon with the island in the background with mountains and coconut palms. . . . It blissed me out." |
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Bob Dylan, playing tennis with Harrison on the Isle of Wight in 1969. |
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To Harrison, Dylan was both a friend and hero. "George used to hang over the balcony videoing Bob while Bob wasn't aware of it," said Tom Petty. "Bob would be sitting at the piano, playing, and George would tape it and listen to it all night." |
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Harrison with his head gardener, Maurice Milbourne, at his home, Friar Park, which he bought in 1970 and became the center of his post-Beatles life; the fairy-tale estate – which contained a 120-room mansion, caves, gargoyles and waterfalls – entranced visitors. "It's like Disneyland," Harrison said in 1987. |
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George at his estate, Friar Park, in England, 1974. |
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Pictured here in 1976; George first visited the country a decade earlier. |
PART II
George Harrison in the Words
of Friends and Family
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"If you had something like two million people screaming at you, I think it would take a long time to stop hearing that in your head. George was not suited to it." -Olivia Harrison |
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"He told me he really, really admired John. He probably wanted John's acceptance pretty bad, you know?" -Tom Petty |
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"George talked a lot about his nervous system, that he just didn't want to hear loud noise anymore. He didn't want to be startled. He didn't want to be stressed." -Olivia Harrison |
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"Sometimes I felt a thousand years old. It was aging me. It was a question of either stop or end up dead." -George Harrison |
"George wasn't seeking a career. He didn't really have a manager or an agent. He was doing what he wanted. I don't think he valued rock stardom at all." -Tom Petty |
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"Every time George had a joint and a few beers he would start talking about touring. I think once or twice we even had serious talks about it, but nobody would really commit to it. We never thought we were gonna run out of time." -Tom Petty |
"He didn't want to have any obligations. He kept writing and recording songs in his home studio, but turned down offers to appear on award shows, or to do almost anything." -Olivia Harrison |
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Harrison and Eric Clapton in 1999 at the Christie's Auction benefiting Clapton's Crossroads Centre in Antigua "He would say, 'Look, we're not these bodies, let's not get hung up on that. I just want to prepare myself so that I go the right way, and go to the right place.' I'm sure he's got that worked out." -Tom Petty |
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"George had a really curious mind, and when he got into something he wanted to know everything." -Olivia Harrison |
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Dhani and Olivia Harrison at the posthumous ceremony honoring George Harrison with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: April2009 "The only things I felt I had to do in my life are to be happy and meditate." -Dhani Harrison |
Bill
& Sue-On Hillman Musical Odyssey
www.hillmanweb.com/book/roots