Today (February 25th) would have been George Harrison’s 77th birthday and I wanted to give a shout-out to my (and no doubt countless others) favourite Beatle on his special day. It’s a chance to give some worthy due to a musician that has been revered but also misunderstood and maligned throughout his life. I’m hoping others will use this day to give credit to the man by listening to some of his body of work that he left behind to keep his memory alive and perhaps appreciate some of the musical gifts that were overlooked by most fans when first released. By all means, pay tribute to him through the well known and loved songs from his Beatle days like “Here Comes The Sun”, “Something” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. But also dig deeper into his contributions to the Beatles legacy exposing fans to world music with songs like “Love You Too”, “Within You Without You” and “The Inner Light”.
Remember the effect he had on rock music for a social cause with the charity concerts and subsequent album as well as film for the hardship of the people of Bangladesh and how groundbreaking it was for its time. But please dig a bit deeper in his solo work beyond All Things Must Pass and Cloud Nine. There are many delights on his solo albums that were given the bum’s rush by most of the public when originally released. 1975’s Extra Texture’s “Ooh Baby” and “Tired Of Midnight Blue”. “Pure Smokey” and “Learning How To Love You” from 1976’s Thirty Three & A Third. “Stuck Inside A Cloud” from the 2002 posthumously released Brainwashed. And not to neglect; a great listen from start to finish and a personal favourite of mine-1979’s George Harrison LP, which I fondly refer to as his “Perm Album”!
I love you George. I hope others will show their love for you today as well by delving into some deep tracks you left behind for us to enjoy on this special day. Happy Birthday George!
Jim Harrison is an avid record collector, musician, writer, music historian, husband, father of 4 and the developer of Vinylcat Record Cleaner which you can buy here; http://bit.ly/vinylcat
