New George Harrison Bio Stretches Well Past the Beatle Years
Recent years have seen plenty of new and “definitive” bios — some doorstop size — on John, Paul and even Ringo. Now, George gets his own entry with this U.S. paperback reissue of a recent UK effort by music journo Thomson, who also conducted dozens of fresh interviews with friends, collaborators and exes.
Outside of the music, compellingly, the reader can’t help but come away realizing what a….sourpuss George Harrison was. No member was more reluctant and perturbed by Beatlemania than the group’s youngest member (who – in one of many dichotomies – nonetheless enjoyed and pursued all the perks that being a mega celebrity had to offer). And it often came across in his songwriting. After all, just look at even his early efforts: “Don’t Bother Me,” “If I Needed Someone,” “You Like Me Too Much.”
Later, he could also be especially pious (other Beatles came to call him mockingly “His Holiness”) and cruel to underlings and employees, often to wife Pattie Boyd. Dishearteningly, readers find out that “Something” – perhaps the Beatles’ greatest love song and one of rock’s finest – was written not for Boyd but for God! Harrison purportedly altered the lyrics for “he” to “she” lest anybody think him a poof.
By: Bob Ruggiero
Source: Houston Press
