George Harrison performs November 6, 1974, at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Authors, journalists and bloggers of all shapes and sizes have dedicated millions of words...
George Harrison performs November 6, 1974, at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
Authors, journalists and bloggers of all shapes and sizes have dedicated millions of words to the merits and behind-the-scenes details of legendary albums such as the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. But how many books have you read about Mick Jagger’s 1985 solo debut, She’s the Boss? How about Bill Wyman’s 1974 album, Monkey Grip? Should we even bother asking about Charlie Watts’ Long Ago & Far Away?
Let’s face it, regardless of how great they might be, albums by individual members of iconic bands—from the Stones to the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to the Who—rarely, if ever, attain the same mythic status as the music released by the bands themselves.
For instance, let’s take this George Harrison fellow.
Guitar magazines (like this one) have slathered decades’ worth of praise on Harrison’s 1962-to-1970 guitar work with the Beatles. We’ve taught you how to play his “Something” solo and applauded his introduction of sitars and 12-string electric guitars to pop music. We’ve even dedicated a lesson or two to his late-Beatles-era acoustic work.
October 21, 1985: George Harrison—with a very nice vintage Gretsch—tapes the 1986 Carl Perkins rockabilly special at Limehouse Studios in London.
But what about his music and guitar playing after the Beatles?
The late Harrison, who would’ve turned 75 on February 25, started playing slide in the late Sixties while touring Europe with Delaney & Bonnie, suddenly inventing an entirely new guitar persona for himself. What he came up with was a unique, distinctive and often-imitated style that incorporated hints of Indian music and a few quirky things he picked up while learning sitar—all of which he