All Things Must Pass (George Harrison in general)

Member Name: kfingleton

Product:	George Harrison in general
Date:	30/11/01 (61 review reads)
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The death of George Harrison this morning was not unexpected, but all the same, it did come as a shock. At this moment in time, tributes are pouring in from all over the world. He was the youngest Beatle, the quiet one with a dry sense of humour and an easy charm. It’s easy to be cynical now and say that people don’t really mean what they say in their tributes to those who pass away, but people did truly take the Beatles to their hearts, not just those who were around 35 years ago, but younger generations too.

“I really want to see you Lord / And it won’t take long / My Lord!”

His musical ability and quality as a songwriter cannot be put into question. Although he will always be somewhat over-shadowed by Lennon and McCartney, maybe people will now realise just how good a lot of his material was. Love You Too, My Sweet Lord and While My Guitar Gently Weeps are three of the greatest songs of all time, yet they were penned by a man who rarely was allowed to put his material on Beatles albums. But he showed his frustration too, when speaking of his lack of contribution, "It was like having diarrhoea and not being allowed to go to the toilet. I think a lot of people were surprised to see, 'Oh, he writes songs, too." He lent vocals to a few early tracks, Do You Want To Know a secret appeared on the Beatles debut record and it showcased a charming voice, devoid of any Americanised impressions.

As a guitarist, he was certainly not technically in a league with the best, but as Guitar Magazine recently stated, he is probably the most influential lead guitarist in the world. His style was distinctive and understated, allowing it not to detract from the songs themselves. I Feel Fine is the perfect example of this and listen too, to the superb opening riff of Drive My Car.

He had a profound influence too on bringing different musical cultures into Western music. While he can be forgiven for
inventing Kula Shaker, his dabblings with Eastern Theology and music allowed the masses access to a musical culture that we had been ignorant of for long enough. He showed that Eastern traditional music has the same strengths as our own and in a way he taught us.

His financial power also made sure that one of the greatest movies of all time was finished. Monty Python’s The Life Of Brian is possibly the funniest movie ever and he bankrolled it. He even made a cameo appearance!

One thing that his death serves to underline is that the Beatles, despite being possibly the finest band ever, are only human beings. Rock stars are not exalted above us and can succumb to the same evils like cancer that we can. That is not to say that Harrison ever acted as if he was above us in the way that the more vile people in rock do (i.e. Michael Jackson). His humility is a lesson to the pretentious rock establishment. Yes, you may have great talent, but you are no better or worse than the rest of us.

Like I have said, we may now have a public re-evaluation of Harrison’s work, posthumously he may get the critical acclaim he really deserved. The classic album All Things Must Pass is a gem and should be treasured and played with gusto by those who appreciate the delights of superb craftsmanship. Harrison, like all great artists, had the ability to evoke feelings from inside you simply with a change of key or a slide of his guitar. He certainly had an artist’s touch.

Already poignant tributes from his nearest and dearest are appearing. Paul McCartney has said “he is really just my baby brother”, a quote that could almost bring a tear to my eye. More will follow, in their thousands and we await what they say. I personally apologise for the roughness of this, but I just felt the need to pay tribute to a man of immense talent. Music is an emotive force that I believe really can do good for people. George Harriso
n will be sorely missed by us all, but more so by his family. I only hope they can find strength from his own words.

“Life goes on within you and without you”

George Harrison, 1943-2001

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