Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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HARRISON, George

Singer, guitarist, songwriter (see Beatles). Wrote several memorable songs as a Beatle ('If I Needed Someone', etc), often piqued at not being allowed to shine more on LPs; his interest in Eastern religion, study of the sitar was an infl. on pop in late '60s. The release of Beatle archival material in the '90s seemed to reveal that at the end Harrison was the only one doing any serious work. He released the first solo LP by a Beatle, Wonderwall '68, followed by similar Electronic Sounds '69, both on their experimental Zapple label. Proper solo debut was All Things Must Pass '70: three-disc set prod. by Phil Spector incl. Bob Dylan songs, guests Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker, Ginger Baker, strong selection of Harrison material incl. 'My Sweet Lord', no. 1 UK/USA. Inspired by hit 'Oh Happy Day' '69 (gospel group Edwin Hawkins Singers), the hit's similarity to '63 no. 1 'He's So Fine' by the Chiffons (written by Ronald Mack) caused a lawsuit. It was a case of a composer pulling a tune out of his subconscious, similar to 'Hello Dolly' sounding like 'Sunflower' (see Jerry Herman). The case was not settled until '90, a New York federal court ruling that Harrison could buy the UK and North American rights to 'He's So Fine' from Allen Klein's ABKCO for $270,000: Klein had pursued 20 years of litigation for a relatively small amount of money.

Meanwhile Harrison oversaw the Bangladesh benefit concert and film '71 and appeared in fine form on three-disc Concert For Bangla Desh '72 (prod. by Spector), with Dylan, Clapton, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell; tax bureaucrats tied up the money for years, providing lessons for future charity gigs. Living In The Material World '73 incl. strong Harrison songs 'Give Me Love' and 'Try Some, Buy Some' (latter originally written for Ronnie Spector); limp Dark Horse '74 was also the name of his label; Extra Texture '75, 33-1/3 '76 (incl. 'This Song', about 'Sweet Lord' fiasco), George Harrison '79 seemed to indicate a decline of imagination. Best Of '76 collected best work, solo and with the Beatles. Sessioned on LPs by John Lennon, Starr, Nilsson, Peter Skellern; Somewhere In England '81 incl. 'All Those Years Ago', a tribute to the murdered Lennon. Gone Troppo '82 was widely regarded as his last solo album, but Cloud Nine '87 prod. by ELO's Jeff Lynne, with guests Eric Clapton, Ringo and Elton John, incl. transatlantic no. 1 'Got My Mind Set On You', single 'When We Was Fab' about the Beatles making records: with Clapton, whose August '87 was hailed as his best, Harrison (the 'mysterious' Beatle) was among the few of that generation to keep the flame alive. He also worked with the Monty Python crowd: seen in Eric Idle's parody Beatle documentary The Rutles '77, helped finance Python film The Life Of Brian '79, leading to formation of his HandMade Films (A Private Function '85, etc; prod. Madonna film Shanghai Surprise '86 for first flop). Appeared on Mike Batt's The Hunting Of The Snark '86 and on a Duane Eddy comeback album; was Nelson of the Traveling Wilburys: Volume One '88 and Volume Three '90 (see Roy Orbison); appeared on Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever and Clapton's Journeyman '89; released Best Of Dark Horse 1976--1989. Gary Moore and Clapton recorded Harrison's 'That Kind Of Woman'. He appeared on Jimmy Nail album Growing Up In Public '92, released Live In Japan from '91 tour.