Singer/Songwriters: Midstream and Renewal: George Harrison

Louis Rosen under the aegis of the 92Y

“The period after the Beatles broke up was for George Harrison, midstream. Renewal would follow. His 1970 solo album, All Things Will Pass, far surpassed Lennon and McCartney’s first solo efforts. It fully revealed something he’d been exploring since 1966, deepening interest in the spiritual, in particular Eastern religion.” In 1968, Harrison started studying with virtuoso sitar player, Ravi Shankar. “In those days,” Rosen points out, “there was not a single ad for a yoga teacher in The Village Voice.” The Beatles brought Eastern consciousness to the masses – but for George, it was personal.

“‘My Sweet Lord’ was the first #1 hit by a solo Beatle, all the more unusual as its pop groove and gospel inflection directly address God. In fact, he moves from praising God with Hallelujah to the entire Vedic prayer which in essence tells us it’s all one. Techniques developed playing bottleneck guitar (slide) allowed him to produce sounds similar to those of Indian instruments he loved creating a signature.”

In the process of recording, producer Phil Spector spun out on alcohol and drugs. Songs under his control are incredibly dense in comparison with Harrison’s approach. We listen to a stripped down version of “Awaiting You All” to show a song minus Spector’s overkill. “By chanting the names of the lord/ And you’ll be free/The lord is awaiting you all/ To awaken and see…”  Note the lack of Christian capitalization of “lord.”

Indicative of his awareness and commitment, Harrison then organized The Concert for Bangladesh (following the liberation war genocide) at Madison Square Garden. Leading artists participated without remuneration. Ex-band-mate Ringo Starr was among them. Paul McCartney initially agreed if John Lennon performed separately, but Lennon backed out when he discovered Harrison wanted him without Yoko Ono. With the addition of a record and film, the event raised $13.5 million, much of which, to the musician’s chagrin, didn’t reach those in need.  It was Harrison’s first live appearance before a paying audience since touring with the Beatles and established a precedent of enormous rock and roll charity concerts.

In 1973, the musician released Living in The Material World. Certified gold two days after release, it was Harrison’s second #1 album. Rolling Stone declared the effort a “pop classic,” a work that “stands alone as an article of faith, miraculous in its radiance.” In contrast to its predecessor, production was scaled down to core musicians. Much of what we listen to (and/or watch) tonight, beyond a few stand-alone hits, is a revelation to attendees. Lyrics focus on a spiritual journey often in direct conflict with superstar status/experience. Harrison was disciplined with words. He rarely fell into the trap of going for rhyme or image rather than saying what he meant.

The familiar “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” was an international hit. It arrives like a smiling, melodic mantra. Rosen points out the lyric “OM M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M My Lord…” encapsulates the word “OM.” Ultimate goal in the reincarnation cycle is to learn karmic lessons and shed the earthy plain. As the song says, “Give me life/Keep me free from birth…” (Go to the next level of existence.)

Harrison also had sharp wit. This is the same man who wrote “Tax Man” in response to Britain’s 90% tax rate and “Sue Me, Sue You Blues:” “You sue me/And I’ll sue you/Swing your partners, all get screwed…” in response to the Beatles crisscrossing law suits. “Sue Me” has electric lag and the rhythm of a western two-step.

Rosen points out the Beatles talked to one another in song when they went solo. McCartney wrote “Another Day” alluding to John Lennon. Lennon’s retort was “How Do You Sleep?” “Everyone was still talking to Ringo,” the host points out. In fact Harrison produced several songs for the drummer and wrote songs for him as well.

Also from Material World, we hear “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long,” a potentially melancholy love song with an upbeat groove. Then the title song which is head-bobbing, rhythmic rock with the addition of tabla and sitar. This song makes reference to John, Paul, and Ringo: “ …Met them all there in the material world/John and Paul here in the material world/Though we started out quite poor/We got ‘Richie’ on a tour…” (Richie is Richard Starkey= Ringo.)

Despite success, Harrison doubted himself. When he stopped partying, friends withdrew from his missionary zeal, many fans backed away. One of his arrangers at the time was quoted as saying, “Being viewed as a weirdo troubled him.” His personal life was a mess. Alcohol and drugs were omnipresent. John (and Yoko) were into hard drugs during 1973/74. It took Ringo until 1980 to clean up.

On top of this, Eric Clapton fell in love with Harrison’s wife Patty Boyd and Harrison had an affair with Ringo’s wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett. Astonishingly, friendships remained unbroken. When Clapton married Boyd, Harrison joked he was acting “husband-in-law.”  Ringo said the men had been raised with a “flat cap” attitude referring to a British working man’s cap. “We dug the coal, they cooked the dinner,” he said. “They bridled at that.”

In 1973, Harrison sought out Swami Srila Prabhupada looking for advice. “When one preaches, he must tell the truth. We must pay sometimes in this way,” the Swami said. “Your talent has a special purpose. Krishna will help you fulfill it.” (HERE COMES THE SUN – The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison by Joshua M. Greene)

The artist took his next album, Dark Horse, on tour. Each concert opened with Ravi Shankar and a roster of Indian musicians playing classical Indian music. The audience yawned. Harrison didn’t want to play any Beatles songs which also irked the audience. Both tour and album garnered the worst reviews of his career.” “The Beatles did short sets. Now Harrison had to carry a whole show. He lost his voice. Critics called it `the dark hoarse tour.'” He then met and married Olivia Trinidad who shared his spiritual inclination and is often credited with Harrison’s turnaround. She eventually became his widow. After this, though he continued to record, the musician didn’t tour for 20 years.

Next we delve into the more mellow recording Thirty-Three and 1/3. Two videos show another, now flexing side of Harrison. “Crackerbox Palace,” which only sounds like nonsense and “This Song” (a reference to his being sued for plagiarism which was deemed unconscious by the court) are both a hoot, rather like Monty Python on steroids. Rosen is laughing on camera.

The Beatles declared they’d been influenced by Monty Python forerunner, The Goon Show. Just as the band was breaking up, Python emerged. Harrison appreciated the group’s absurdist sense of humor and wrote songs for the show like “The Lumberjack Song”: I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK/I sleep all night and I work all day/I cut down trees, I skip and jump/I like to press wild flowers/I put on women’s clothing and hang around in bars…” Later, he financed their film, The Life of Brian.

Lastly tonight, there’s 1979’s George Harrison. The eminently catchy “Blow Away” could almost be a lullaby. We conclude with a song Rosen observes “took a lot of guts for an artist who had such a big hit with `Here Comes the Sun.’” “Here Comes the Moon”: “Looks like a little brother to the sun/Or mother to the stars at night…” It’s lovely.

Louis Rosen

“So this gives you a glimpse of George Harrison 1973-1979, a period where he begins at the top of popularity, suffers setbacks and finds ways to renew, then pursuing a quieter, more varied life…” Attendee opinions veer towards feeling the period was less successful than Harrison’s output with the Beatles. Our host disagrees, “In my opinion, though uneven as a songwriter, he has a distinctive voice. I like what he’s writing about and that he put it out into popular culture.”

Listen for yourself.

All unattributed quotes are Louis Rosen

Louis Rosen at the Y

About Alix Cohen (1707 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.