George
BUY GEORGE SOLO CDS

Born
on February 24 1943, George was one of the four children of Harold,
a busdriver, and Louise, a housewife. George attended Dovendale Primary
School, years behind John Lennon, and then he attended Liverpool Institute,
one year behind Paul. George was the youngest Beatle and the only
Beatle whose childhood was not marred by divorce or death.
His
interest in music started at an early age. When he was thirteen, his
mother bought him his first guitar for three pounds from a classmate.
He formed a group of his own called "The Rebels". When this band broke
up, George was able to find a spot in the "Les Stewart Quartet". Paul
introduced George to the Quarrymen when he was only fourteen. George
idolised John and would often stand at the back of the room at their
shows with his guitar. He even filled in for the regular guitarist
when he failed to show up. John eventually asked George to join the
band
In 1960, the Quarrymen had changed their name to The
Beatles and were performing
in Hamburg. The had been regular performers in the Indra Club, but
when they appeared in the Top Ten Club, a rival club, the owner of
the Indra Club informed the authorities of George's age. He was only
17, too young to have a work permit. He was forced to return to England.
By the time they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show", American polls
showed George as the most popular Beatle.
George's
songwriting was often ignored by the band which annoyed him. Although
his efforts were no match in number to the group's Lennon/McCartney
efforts, his hits included "Something", "Taxman", "Here Comes The
Sun","I Need You" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Ravi Shanker
and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi both had a profound influence on George.
Shanker was responsible for George's love of Indian music while the
Maharishi helped him to understand Transcendental Meditation. George
introduced the Beatles to the Maharishi.
He
married Pattie Boyd on January 21 1966. At the same time, he met Eric
Clapton and they both became good friends despite Clapton's obvious
longing for Pattie. Eric wrote songs such as "Layla" for her. After
the break up of the Beatles, George's solo concerts in America in
1974 were severely criticised because of his failure to play Beatles
songs and his
overly experimental music. This tour drained George physically and
mentally, causing him to lapse into a depression. In 1977, he divorced
Pattie who soon married Eric Clapton. George then met, fell in love
with and married Olivia Arrias. They had one son, Dhani, born on August
1 1978.
For the last 20 years of his life, George lived in
Friar Park in an enormous Victorian Gothic Mansion. At the end of
1999,
he was attacked in his home and stabbed numerous times by a thief
that had managed to get through the expensive security at his home.
George recovered from this attack but the years that followed involved
a struggle against cancer that eventually took his life on the 29th
of November 2001. He is remembered by those that were lucky enough
to know him for his unique personality and sense of humour. He left
us with amazing music that will live on.
I heard a quote of George's that was on a newspaper
the day of his death. It told a story of the first time the Beatles
were recording in the studio and the producer told them that if there
was anything that they didn't like they should tell him so that he
could sort it out. George promptly said "Firstly, I don't like
your tie". It's this sharp humour that contributed to his popularity.
If you would like to see more of his phrases, have a look at the quotes
page. There's a link on the left hand side of this page.

