“He knew he would get to something”
To hear Olivia Harrison tell it, it wasn't unusual for George Harrison to stroll through the house spouting words at random — a process that could cause an outsider to wonder whether the ex-Beatle had suddenly started speaking in tongues.
“George would throw out words one after another,” she said in a recent interview. “He knew he’d find the word. He was good at that. Sometimes he was quiet and just thought about it, sometimes he just kept writing down words that began with ‘S’ until he got the right one. … It didn’t matter what they were — he knew he would get to something.” In fact, that method is exactly what helped him get to Something — and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun, Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth, My Sweet Lord, Awaiting on You All, Brainwashed and so many other songs he wrote in the Beatles and as a solo artist.
Olivia Harrison had good reason to recall that detail. She’s been deep in her husband’s writing for months, culling scraps of paper, notebook entries, scribbles on hotel stationery, napkins and other bits of writing surfaces for the new “extended edition” of Harrison’s 1980 quasi-autobiography, I Me Mine.
The new version was published February 25 on what would have been “the quiet Beatle’s” 74th birthday.
And even after all these years, the project held at least one surprise for Harrison’s former bandmate and lifelong friend, Ringo Starr.
Source: Gulf Times
