George Harrison is remembered as the quiet
Beatle, but he was so much more than that. From a successful solo career, to holding
a major benefit concert, to becoming a movie producer, he accomplished quite a lot during
his life and career. This is the untold truth of George Harrison. Most Beatles songs were written by John Lennon
and Paul McCartney, but Harrison managed to chime in with his own efforts every once in
a while. The first song he penned for the band was
"Don't Bother Me," which was featured on their sophomore LP With the Beatles. This track has an interesting backstory, as
it was written during a bout of illness. During a tour in 1963, Harrison came down
with a bug. While quarantining himself in his hotel room,
he lay in bed with his guitar and started strumming to pass the time. He then decided that he would write a song
as an exercise to find out if he could pull it off. And sure enough, he accomplished his goal. In retrospect, Harrison doesn't exactly hold
"Don't Bother Me" in the highest esteem. As he later recalled, "I didn't think it was a particularly good
song." Nevertheless, it was an important step in
his musical journey, as he also noted, "But at least it showed me that all I needed
to do was keep on writing and maybe eventually I would write something good." Harrison is well-known for his affinity for
the sitar, a stringed instrument that originated in the Indian subcontinent. He first picked it up after seeing one on
the set of the Beatles' 1965 film Help! He famously played it in the Beatles' 1965
song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," off their album Rubber Soul. The song did well on the charts, but famous
sitar player Ravi Shankar was unimpressed with Harrison's simplistic playing, which
just echoed the main melody. As he reportedly said, "If George Harrison wants to play the sitar,
why does he not learn it properly?" Harrison and Shankar eventually crossed paths,
and the two of them hit it off immediately. Shankar offered to instruct Harrison, who
gladly accepted. Soon enough, he was learning not only about
the proper playing techniques but also the instrument's spiritual significance in Indian
culture. When the rest of the world moved past the
fad of Indian influences on Western music, Harrison remained invested in Eastern music. He even helped to finance and distribute Raga,
a 1971 documentary about Shankar's life. "The thing that really blew me away was, 'cause
I thought he's just such an amazing player." George Harrison's interest in the sitar developed
during a time of great strife in South Asia. After a long period of British colonialism,
the Indian subcontinent was divided into the two independent nations of India and Pakistan
in 1947. Subsequently, Pakistan was split into two
territories, one on each side of India: East Pakistan and West Pakistan, the latter of
which was where the government was based. In March 1971, East Pakistan declared independence
as the nation Bangladesh. In response, West Pakistan began a vicious
military genocide, killing between 300,000 and 3 million Bengalis and forcing millions
of refugees to migrate to India. Ravi Shankar, a Bengali, was eager to help
with the situation. He asked Harrison if he would be interested
in planning a concert to raise funds for the refugees, and Harrison jumped onboard. The Concert for Bangladesh, which was held
at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971, was the first-ever benefit concert of its
scale. It was a star-studded affair, featuring such
acts as Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Badfinger, and
of course, Shankar and Harrison. The show raised almost $250,000, all of which
was donated to UNICEF. When asked afterward why he'd gotten involved
with the Bengali cause, Harrison answered simply, "Because I was asked by a friend if I would
help." "Everybody knew the name of Bangladesh all
over the world." George Harrison wasn't just a musician; he
also founded a production company, HandMade Films, along with his business manager Denis
O'Brien. The company got its start with quite the iconic
project: the 1979 comedy classic Monty Python's Life of Brian. Harrison wasn't involved with the movie from
its very beginning, though. At first it was an EMI production, but that
company's chairman, Lord Delfont, was reportedly so appalled by the screenplay that he completely
removed himself from the endeavor, leaving the Pythons to finance the film themselves. So Python member Eric Idle called up Harrison,
a friend of his, to see if he would be interested in helping out. Harrison was a major fan of the Pythons' comedy,
so he then consulted with O'Brien, who was all for it. Harrison had to remortgage his mansion to
make the film, but that was a small price to pay in order to be able to watch a new
Monty Python movie on the big screen. HandMade also released several films that
are now considered British cinema classics, including The Long Good Friday, Time Bandits,
and Withnail and I. Many of these movies featured first-time directors
or actors who were just starting out, and many who had also been dropped by other studios. As Harrison once professed, "If something's really good, it deserves to
be made." He seemed truly committed to this philosophy,
as he produced 23 titles during his time with the company. Even before his production work on Life of
Brian, Harrison was close with the Monty Python crew. In fact, he even made a cameo on the 1975
Christmas special of Eric Idle's TV program Rutland Weekend Television. In the episode, he played himself, but with
a twist. He sports a pirate hat, an eyepatch, a parrot
on his shoulder, and a peg leg, insisting that his name is "Pirate Bob." Throughout the show, he interrupts various
sketches with the intention of showing off his marvelous acting skills. But time and again, Idle emphasizes that he
just wants Harrison to be himself. "No pirate sketch down here, see?" "No pirate sketch?" "No." "Oh, well up you then." At the end of the episode, Harrison finally
appears without the pirate garb, guitar in hand. He strums out the beginning of his hit single
"My Sweet Lord," but then over the song's gentle opening chords, he barks, "I like to be a pirate, a pirate's life for
me!" And then what follows is a rousing performance
of an original sea shanty written by Harrison and Idle. George Harrison's recording contract with
EMI, which had been orchestrated by Brian Epstein during his time with the Beatles,
ended in 1976. Harrison prepared for the next chapter in
his musical career in advance by creating his own label, Dark Horse Records, in 1974. The artists that Harrison signed to the label
included the likes of Ravi Shankar, the band Attitudes, the vocal duo Splinter, and R&B
group The Stairsteps. Harrison himself also recorded six albums
on Dark Horse from 1976 to 1992. Many of the songs on these albums were also
featured in movie productions by HandMade Films. Today, Dark Horse has made a full circle journey,
having merged with EMI/Parlophone in 2002. It's now led by George's son Dhani as well
as manager David Zonshin. It recently teamed up with BMG to release
new recordings from George Harrison's back catalogues, as well as the back catalogues
of Joe Strummer and Tom Petty. You might know that George Harrison played
on the Beatles song "Drive My Car," but did you know that he was also a massive auto enthusiast? It's true, as he bought and sold his cars
with such enthusiasm that nobody knows exactly how many he ever owned. According to a 2020 GQ profile, his most notable
automobiles included a green Ford Anglia 105E that served as his first car, a black Jaguar
E-Type that Brian Epstein reportedly gave him for his 21st birthday, a white 1964 Aston
Martin DB5, and last but not least, the psychedelically decorated Austin Mini Cooper S that was featured
in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. Harrison didn't just show off his vehicular
love by collecting cars; he was also a fan of Formula One racing, to the extent that
he once spent months following the Formula One World Championship across the globe. He even wrote a song about his passion for
racing: 1979's "Faster," whose title he took from the diary of race car driver Jackie Stewart. The song features a recording of the engines
at the start of the 1979 British Grand Prix. It was released as a single to raise money
for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Fund, which was founded in honor of a Swedish driver who
passed away from cancer in 1978. George Harrison was often referred to as "the
Quiet Beatle," but true fans know that he was no shrinking violet. In fact, he was known for his silly sense
of humor, including his knack for clever one-liners. During the Beatles' early days, producer George
Martin made some criticisms and asked the band if there was anything they didn't like
about a particular track. So Harrison quipped, "Well, for a start, I don't like your tie." Harrison was also fond of pranks, and perhaps
his most legendary exploit occurred when he decided to pull one over on Phil Collins. When the former Genesis frontman was 19, he
was invited to play conga drums for Harrison's 1970 album All Things Must Pass. But upon the album's release, Collins realized
that none of his tracks were incorporated into the final product. Twenty years later, Collins ran into Harrison
and asked him why he hadn't been featured. Harrison cast the blame onto his producer
Phil Spector but offered to send Collins the master tapes of the session. When Collins received them, he was shocked
to hear terrible drum playing, along with Harrison's voice saying, "Get rid of the lad on the congas, he's crap!" Collins called Harrison to say that he hadn't
realized he'd played so poorly at the time. He also noted that the tape revealed that
Harrison, not Spector, had rejected his drumming. Harrison apologized, and the two moved on,
swiftly changing the topic. But Harrison eventually burst out laughing
and admitted that he'd fooled Collins. In actuality, the tapes were fake, as Harrison
had hired a band to re-record the song with the deliberate inclusion of some truly terrible
conga playing. The moment ended in good spirits, with Harrison
assuring Collins that the real sessions had "sounded great." George Harrison and his family had quite the scare when an intruder named Michael Abram broke into their mansion
in Oxfordshire. At around 3:20 A.M., Harrison's wife Olivia
was awakened by the sound of glass shattering. Upon realizing that someone had entered the
premises, she phoned the police while George went downstairs to investigate. He discovered that a kitchen window had been
broken, as had his statue of St. George and the Dragon. He then came face-to-face with Abram, who
was carrying both a knife and a sword taken from the statue. Harrison chanted "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna"
as a distraction tactic, but that didn't stop Abrams from charging at him and stabbing him
in the chest. Abram apparently believed that Harrison had
possessed him and that he was on a mission from God to kill the musician. Despite the significant wounds, Harrison managed
to survive. "I've got a son who needs a father, so I have
to stick around for him as long as I can." George Harrison loved his family, music, Eastern
spirituality, and fast cars. Unfortunately, he was also fond of smoking
cigarettes, which may have cut his life short. In 1998, he developed throat cancer, which
initially went into remission after he underwent treatment. But then in 2001 the cancer recurred. Harrison then went in for lung surgery, but
doctors soon discovered that the cancer had spread to his brain. On November 29 of that year, he passed away
at the age of 58 in the home of a friend, with his wife Olivia and son Dhani by his
side. His family released a statement that read, "We are deeply touched by the outpouring of
love and compassion from around the world. The profound beauty of George's passing — of
his awakening from this dream — was no surprise to those of us who knew how he longed to be
with God." Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite
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