The Beatles star, who died in 2001, would have turned 75 today.
George Harrison, singer, and songwriter, achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles.
During the mid-1960s, He became interested in the Hare Krishna movement, and over time became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles and to their Western audience. His songs with the band include “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Here Comes the Sun”, and “Something”, which became the second most-covered Beatles song.
George Harrison, singer, and songwriter, achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles.
During the mid-1960s, He became interested in the Hare Krishna movement, and over time became an admirer of Indian culture and mysticism, introducing it to the other Beatles and to their Western audience. His songs with the band include “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Here Comes the Sun”, and “Something”, which became the second most-covered Beatles song.
12 Arnold Grove |
George Harrison was born in Liverpool, on 25 February 1943, the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise (née French). He had one sister, Louise, and two brothers, Harry and Peter.
His mother was a Liverpool shop assistant, and his father
was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line.
His mother's family had Irish roots and were Roman Catholic. George was born
and lived for the first six years of his life at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree,
Liverpool, in a terraced house in a cul-de-sac. The home had an outdoor toilet
and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In 1949, the family were
offered a council house, and they moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke. In 1948, at
the age of five, he was enrolled at Dovedale Primary School. He passed his
11-plus examination and attended the prestigious Liverpool Institute from 1954
to 1959.
In March 1958, George auditioned for the Quarrymen at Rory
Storm's Morgue Skiffle Club, playing "Guitar Boogie Shuffle". Lennon
felt that Harrison, then 14, was too young to join the band. During a second
meeting, arranged by McCartney, Harrison performed the lead guitar part for the
instrumental "Raunchy" on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus.George
Harrison soon began socializing with the group, and filled in on guitar as
needed. By the time he turned 15, they had accepted him as a member of the
group.
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Norman Smith, center, in 1963 with the Beatles: from left,
Ringo Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney. Mr. Smith
engineered “Rubber Soul” (1965) and earlier albums
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By the time the Rubber Soul album was released on December
3, 1965, Harrison had begun to lead the other Beatles into folk rock through
his interest in the Byrds and Bob Dylan, and towards Indian classical music
through his use of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has
Flown)". The 1966 album Revolver included three of his compositions:
"Taxman", "Love You To" and "I Want to Tell You".
His introduction of the drone-like tambura part on Lennon's "Tomorrow
Never Knows" exemplified the band's ongoing exploration of non-Western
instruments. The tabla-driven "Love You To" was the Beatles' first
genuine foray into Indian music; Harrison played sitar and tambura on the
recording. According to ethnomusicologist David Reck, the song set a precedent
in popular music as an example of Asian culture being represented by Westerners
respectfully and without parody. Harrison contributed other musical ideas to
Revolver, including the addition of backwards guitar on the Lennon composition
"I'm Only Sleeping".
George Harrison was appointed Member of the Order of the
British Empire (MBE) along with the other Beatles in 1965. They received their
insignia from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace on 26 October.
In 1971, the Beatles received an Academy Award for the best Original Song Score
for the film Let It Be. He became the first recipient of the Billboard Century
Award , an honour presented to music artists for significant bodies of work.
George is listed at number 11 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100
Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
George was diagnosed with throat cancer in mid-1997. He was
treated with radiotherapy, which was thought at the time to be successful.
On 30 December 1999, 36-year-old Michael Abram broke into
the Harrisons' Friar Park home and attacked Harrison with a kitchen knife,
puncturing a lung and causing head injuries before Olivia Harrison
incapacitated the assailant by striking him repeatedly with a poker and a
lamp. The investigation determined that
this was not a simple burglary gone wrong, but a planned attack on Harrison.
The prosecutor said that Abram “believed that The Beatles were witches who flew
around on broomsticks. Subsequently, George Harrison possessed him and that he
had been sent on a mission by God to kill him. He saw George as a sorcerer and
a devil.”
Following the attack, Harrison was hospitalised with more
than forty stab wounds. He released a statement soon after stating that his
assailant, "wasn't a burglar, and he certainly wasn't auditioning for the
Traveling Wilburys".
In May 2001, it was revealed that he had undergone an
operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and in July, it
was reported that he was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in
Switzerland. George died on 29 November 2001, aged 58, from lung cancer, he was
cremated at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
George’s ashes were scattered at Varanasi, India, in the Ganges,
Saraswati and Yamuna Rivers by his close family in a private ceremony according
to Hindu tradition.
George Harrison was posthumously inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist on 15 March 2004 by his former bandmates
Lynne and Petty, and into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame on 1 August
2006 for the Concert for Bangladesh. On 14 April 2009, the Hollywood Chamber of
Commerce awarded Harrison a star on the Walk of Fame in front of the Capitol
Records Building. McCartney, Lynne and Petty were present when the star was
unveiled. Harrison's widow Olivia, actor Tom Hanks and comedian Eric Idle made
speeches at the ceremony, and Harrison's son Dhani uttered the Hare Krishna
mantra.

Georges older sister, Louse Harrison, who lives in Branson, a
city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri has been asked many times to
write a book about her famous younger brother, George. Now she has finally
relented. The 80-year-old former Sarasota resident scanned
never-before-published photos, letters and documents that will fill the pages
of the book. Louise is running the 'Liverpool Legends Show' in Branson,
Missouri.
Louise Harrison published her book 'My Kid Brother's Band... a.k.a. The Beatles' on September 1st 2014.
Final Image caveofknowledge.com
Source Wikipedia
With Thanks to David McNulty for additional information
By Robert F Edwards
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