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2001 Soap Box Archives A Nice Little Guy This past week the music community lost a talented, pace setting member when George Harrison died from cancer in Los Angeles. Of course George is best known for being one of the Beatles, but I sometimes wonder if the world really realizes what an important part of that super successful group he really was. Quiet and soft spoken and most often eclipsed by the phenomenal success of Lennon and Mc Cartney, he stood on stage and played his guitar, sang harmony and wrote his songs. A little less flamboyant than the other three, but with a tenderness and vulnerability which endeared him to so many around the world. But George’s contribution to the Beatles’ legend was to become apparent to the whole planet with his composition of “Something”, in my opinion one of the greatest of the Beatle’s songs. George had a way with melodies and chords which was quite unique, a tenderness of lyric and a very personal vocal delivery. His influence on the group is evident in their early work with George’s rockabilly guitar style. He was a big Carl Perkins fan and it really came out in those early days. I met George in New York on a happenstance. I just happened to be in town, and George and Bob Dylan wanted to spend some time in the studio together and Dylan’s producer, Bob Johnston called and asked if I’d like to come down to the studio and play bass with them. Well, of course I did and along with a drummer named Russ Kunkle we spent the biggest part of the afternoon just jamming and playing old and new Dylan songs and whatever else they decided to do. It was a great day in my life, not just because of working with one of the Beatles and Bob Dylan, but because the atmosphere was one of four guys, just having fun in a recording studio. It was shortly after Paul left the group and George laughingly asked me, "Do you want to be a Beatle?”. He was such a gentleman, congenial and conversational, just one of the boys with an English accent. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the day. I never saw George again until twenty some years later at a restaurant in Los Angeles where he was having dinner with some friends. I stopped by the table and paid my respects and was treated with the same warmth and friendliness as the last time I had seen him years before in New York. George truly cared for his fellow man and proved by organizing the concert for Bangladesh and then fighting it out with Capitol Records to have the Resultant album released. It’s hard to realize that it’s been nearly forty years since those mop tops from Liverpool set the entertainment world on its ear with their music and mystique. So many classic songs that it boggles the mind to try and remember them all. The Beatles as individuals were incredibly talented but as a group the combination of their talents was truly astounding. The right combination of people, the right mix of musical tastes and attitudes and temperaments to turn out music that will transcend their lifetimes by many years. A truly classic body of work and none was more classic nor classy than the thin, young man from Liverpool, George Harrison. What do you think? God
Bless America
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