Post by wingsj0 on Feb 10, 2006 21:55:14 GMT
1970’s Special – Tribute To the late great George Harrison - By Allison Devine
The 1970s were something of a tempestuous decade for George Harrison. He moved house, lost both parents, escaped serious injury in a car crash, divorced, suffered a serious illness, was sued, married and fathered a son. Despite all this he still found time to release 8 albums and 13 singles in the UK alone. He also organised the world’s first charity rock concert, set up a charitable foundation, a publishing company, a record label, and a film company, undertook a tour of Canada and North America, made several television appearances, performed a couple of impromptu concerts was invited to the White House to meet President Ford, and appeared in or worked on the soundtrack of 6 films. Not content with just working on his own projects he appeared as a guest musician no less than 44 times, and produced 25 albums or singles for other artists and wrote 13 songs which he gave away and never officially released himself. Not bad for someone known as the quiet one!
In April 1970 it was front page news that The Beatles were to go their separate ways. By May of that year George had begun recording what would in fact be his third solo project (Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound having been released in 1968 and 1969 respectively). The sessions began at The Abbey Road Studios in North London on May 26th before moving to Trident Studios. In July George won an Ivor Novello award for the song ‘Something’, unfortunately the triumph was overshadowed by the deterioration in Louise Harrison’s health. George stopped the recording sessions on July the 4th to return to Liverpool to see his mother. She passed away on 7th of July with George at her bedside.
George finally returned to the recording studio and early October found him at Abbey Road, before he travelled to New York to complete work on the ‘All Things Must Pass’ album. The sheer volume of material George had written resulted in his taking the bold step of releasing what would be the first ever triple album. ‘All Things Must Pass’ was released on 30th November 1970 in the UK – ironically the date 31years later when the news broke of George’s passing. When ‘My Sweet Lord’ the first single from the album was released in England it sold at a rate of 30,000 copies a day. By the end of January 1971 George held the top slots on both the UK singles and Album Charts a feat he had already achieved in America – The first ‘Beatle’ to achieve a solo number one.
In July when George was putting together the soundtrack for the Apple film Raga, a film about Ravi Shankar, which contained a brief clip of George learning to play sitar, Ravi told George of the plight of the people of Bangladesh. George was saddened by what he learnt and when Ravi asked George if he would help with the promotion of a recital of Indian music to raise money for the relief effort George was more than willing. The Indian Music recital evolved into The Concert For Bangladesh. Having taken advice from an Indian astrologer regarding the best date to perform the concert Madison Square Garden was finally booked for 1st August. In the space of a few short weeks George put together the world’s first Rock benefit Concert. Two concerts took place to raise money for the relief fund and NME described it as ‘The Greatest Rock Spectacle of the Decade’. The receipts from the concert were sent to UNICEF and a total of $243,418.50 was raised.
In September with George’s latest single at number 10 in the British charts. Rumours began to circulate that George wanted to repeat the success of the New York shows by performing two concerts at Wembley. Unfortunately there were problems looming which ultimately resulted in the Wembley concerts never being played. There were already bootleg copies of the album of the concert circulating in America and in an attempt to prevent these detracting from the official release in the UK George announced the official album would be released a month early. In an attempt to maximise the money donated to the relief fund George met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to try and get the purchase tax lifted. George was told that it was all very well for his high ideas but Britain equally needed the money. A delay in the release of the album in America whilst Capitol and Columbia argued about their cut further frustrated George. He eventually publicly blasted the head of Capitol Bashkar Menon during an interview on the thingy Cavert show in November. Finally on 20th of December the Concert for Bangladesh triple album box set was released in America. There were advanced sales of $3,750,000, unfortunately these became tied up in escrow whilst the American government insisted on tax being paid because George had failed to register the concert as a charity. Years later when Bob Geldof sought advice from George prior to organising the ‘Live Aid’ concerts George told him ‘whatever else you do Bob register it as a charity’
Despite the problems with the monies for the relief fund George finished 1971 on a high note when My Sweet Lord was announced as single of the year on radio Luxembourg, and in Record and Tape retailer magazine. In addition The American publication ‘Record World’ voted My Sweet Lord as best single and George as best Male vocalist. More honours were heaped on ‘My Sweet Lord’ the following June when it won two Ivor Novello awards.
In June 1972 George and Ravi Shankar were presented with ‘The Child is the father of man award’ by UNICEF for their humanitarian efforts in raising funds for the refugees in Bangladesh. Finally on 26th July a year to the day since the first rehearsal ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’ film had a special preview at the rialto cinema in Coventry Street London with the premier on the following evening. The advertising bills read ‘The greatest concert of the decade. Now you can see it and hear it as if you were there’. The Rialto organised special round the clock screenings and box office takings rose to £12,979.00 in the first 12 days.
On April 26th 1973 George founded the charity, ‘The Material World Foundation’ with the intention that royalties from the album would be used via the charity to help those in need. The new single from George was released in May and ‘Give Me Love (give Me Peace On Earth) replaced My Love at number 1 in the US Charts. Living In The Material World was released in the US on 30th May and within 2 days it had received the RIAA gold award for copies sold, and by the 23rd of June it was the number 1 album in the US.
The album was released on the 22nd of June in the UK and the reviews were somewhat disappointing after the acclaim George had received for All Things Must Pass. In the 23rd June addition of Disc the review read thus ‘Well it’s been a long wait – just over two years and a lot of people expecting another ‘All Things Must Pass’ will be disappointed. The album isn’t instantly catchy the melodies whilst unmistakably George Harrison do not have that immediate hook line’ Maybe that was the problem the album was not obviously a commercial ‘pop’ album it contained thought provoking lyrics about wide ranging subjects, set to beautiful melodies.
In 1974 George threw himself into his work following the break-up of his marriage to Patti. In March George announced he was to tour Canada and America. He launched a new publishing company called Oops publishing, and made a guest appearance on the sound track album for the film ‘Son of Dracula’ playing the cow bell on the track Day Break.
In May George signed a worldwide distribution deal with A and M records for his own label, Dark Horse. the first signings on the new label was Ravi Shankar and a band called Splinter. The latter featured on the soundtrack of the Apple film ‘Little Malcolm and his struggle against the Eunuchs’. It was premiered at the Berlin film festival in June and went on to win the Silver Bear Award, before going on to win a gold medal at The Atlanta Film Festival in August. Despite this success when it was released to Cinemas in the UK a year later it did not do well.
In July George began recording tracks for his forthcoming album at Friar Park. Having established offices for Dark Horse in Los Angeles, London and Rotterdam, The Dark Horse label was finally launched on 6th September when the first release was ‘The Place I Love’ by Splinter. Work continued on the ‘Darkhorse’ album during September and October despite George suffering from severe laryngitis. George’s voice was so badly affected that the US tour scheduled for November and December was beginning to look doubtful. The ‘Darkhorse Tour’ or ‘Dark Hoarse’ as George would later refer to it began on November 2nd in Vancouver. The first of 43 shows, that would see George make his entrance to the Lumber Jack Song wearing a variety of different outfits including at one point dressed as a cowboy complete with 10 gallon hat and chaps. On the 6th and 7th of November the box office takings of $66,000 were donated to the Haight Ashbury free clinic, and the monies from the Madison Square Gardens shows were donated to UNICEF to help with the relief of children in drought stricken areas of Africa. George was also spotted with a new companion – Olivia Trinidad Arias.
George received much criticism during the tour. His voice was still weakened by the laryngitis, he had included an Indian music section at the beginning of the concert and when the audience reaction was less than enthusiastic he would tell them to look for God. This was a far cry from the cheeky moptop who had last toured America with The Beatles in 1966. He tried to keep Beatles songs to a minimum in the set list and when he did perform them he was criticised for changing the lyrics. Despite all this the ‘Darkhorse’ album gained a RIAA gold disc in the US. George and Olivia spent Christmas of 1974 in Hawaii and George finding inspiration penned the beautiful song ‘This Guitar Can’t Keep From Crying.’
By May 1975 George was back in the studio recording the tracks for ‘Extra Texture’ the first single from the Album ‘You/World of Stone’ became David Hamilton’s record of the week on national radio for week ending 12th September and the Album was released on 3rd October. It once again received the RIAA gold award within weeks of being released. He also began what would be a long and productive working relationship with his friend Eric Idle – producing the ‘Lumberjack Song’ before helping with the recording of the Rutles first hit ‘I Must be in Love’
In January 1976 George’s contract with EMI expired and he announced that his next album would be released on The Dark Horse label. He continued his support for the whole Monty Python team when on 20th April he appeared as part of the Mountie Choir during the ‘Lumberjack Song’ at New York’s city centre. The Python’s repaid the favour by performing the ‘Lumberjack Song’ at The Concert For George at London’s Royal Albert Hall in November 2002.
In May George returned to Friar Park and the recording studio, to begin work on what was to be the first of George’s albums to be released on the Dark Horse label. Unfortunately George was suffering from a severe case of hepatitis and found himself hospitalised, he continued to lose weight and doctors became increasingly concerned about him. George eventualy consulted an acupuncturist in America he discovered that the treatment worked and he began to recover but the completion of the album was unavoidably delayed. A and M threatened to sue. George took the album package to WEA and offered it to them on condition they pay A and M to allow George out if his contract with them. WEA were only too happy to agree.
1976 wasn’t a particularly great year for George when he found himself in court over ‘My Sweet Lord’. George was eventually found guilty of unconscious plagiarism, and ordered to pay $587,000 compensation to Bright Tunes. The monies were finally handed over in 1981 to of all people Alan Klein who’s company ABKCO had acquired the rights in 1980. Although things came full circle when during a web chat in 2001 George revealed he now owned the publishing rights of ‘He’s So Fine’.
In October and November George was working with the Monty Python team once again when Eric Idle directed the Promo films for ‘This Song’ ‘Crackerbox Palace’ and ‘True Love’ The promo for ‘This Song’ was a comic take on George’s recent experiences in court. It featured him the dock defending ‘this song’ with lines such as ‘This Tune has nothing Bright about it’
On November 8th EMI released ‘The Best of George Harrison’ an album that George was not particularly enthusiastic about as he felt it concentrated too much on the songs he had recorded with The Beatles. George’s own 'Thirty Three and a Third' album was finally released in the UK on 19th November and in the States on 24th November. One month later in the UK 'My Sweet Lord' was re-released with 'What is Life' on the B-side. The album was greeted with far better reviews than his previous 3 solo albums, possibly because it was more upbeat.
1977 started with George and Olivia visiting India it was the year that George would later describe as the year he took off from music and claims he didn’t write a single song during that period. Although two singles from the 'Thirty Three and a Third' album were released. George did in fact write one song towards the end of the year ‘Faster’ dedicated to Nicki Lauda and Jackie Stewart the formula one drivers. He spent much of the year travelling around various racetracks to watch formula 1 and motor bike racing. The Motor Bike racer Barry Sheene interviewed George for his own magazine. In June George and Olivia were in Monaco for the annual Formula one Grand Prix. Even though he was taking the year off from music he, still managed to help his old friend Eric Idle when on 2nd of August George filmed a cameo appearance for inclusion in the Rutles documentary. George was so impressed with the sound track that had been written for the spoof on the Beatles story that he persuaded Warner Brothers to become involved. The film was finally finished in October.
George and Olivia spent Christmas and the beginning of 1978 in Hawaii whilst there George began to compose tracks for his next album. Having returned home on the 4th of April George was obviously keen to get back to work and recording on his new project began on 11th April. Another new project was also in the pipeline, Olivia had discovered she was expecting George’s child. The couple intended to marry in May but the sad death of Harold Harrison, George’s father lead to them postponing their plans.
During the spring George was once again approached by Eric Idle for help, Eric gave George a script for a film called at the time ‘Jesus Christ Lust For Glory’. George loved it and agreed to help with the financing. HandMade films was born and George Harrison had just bought what he later described as the most expensive cinema ticket in history. Having mortgaged Friar Park to raise the money he saved the Python project that was later known as ‘Life of Brian’
On 1st August Olivia gave birth to a 5lb baby boy at the Royal Windsor Hospital in Berkshire. George and Olivia called their son Dhani (pronounced Danny) a name derived from two notes on the Indian music scale, two notes which were preceded by the notes Ma and Pa – another example of George’s wit. On the 2nd of September George and Olivia married at Henley on Thames registry office with only two witnesses present. The press were not informed until the 8th of September.
On 20th of October George was filmed in a sequence for Life of Brian he uttered a solitary word ‘Hello’ as Mr Papadopoulos – ‘the bloke who was lending them the mount on Sunday’. George had refused to appear as ‘Jesus’ in the ‘blessed are the cheesemakers’ scene.
In February 1979 a week or so before George’s 36th birthday the self titled George Harrison album was released, as was the first single off the album. The A-side ‘Blow Away’ was accompanied by a video which contained some of George’s strangest ever co-stars one of which was a giant pink duck. In April the second single ‘Love Comes to Everyone’ was released.
On July 14th George took part in a celebrity motor race at Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire during the British Grand Prix weekend and on the 30th of the month the single ‘Faster’ was released to raise money for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer fund. The video received it’s television debut on ‘World of Sport’ featuring footage of formula one racing and cut with footage of George playing the guitar in the back of a chauffeur driven limmo. Towards the end of the video the chauffeur turns to the camera to reveal himself as none other than Jackie Stewart, it is of course a bit of a give-away that he has a Stewart tartan hat band on his chauffeur’s cap.
Later that year Life of Brian was released to cinemas under a cloud of controversy. Church leaders branded the film blasphemous and it was banned in several towns. The publicity generated for the film was phenomenal and many people went to see it to find out what all the fuss was about. HandMade was hailed as a success and was ready to move into the 1980’s when it became known as the saviour of the British Film Industry.
1979 closed with George working on the ‘Somewhere In England’ album which would not be completed until 1980.
So all in all ‘The Quiet Beatle’ made quite a noise in the 1970’s.
Allison Devine
Official Site: www.georgeharrison.com
Please note all articles on this site are (C) to The Beat Goes On And On Fanzine and may not be used without permission.
The 1970s were something of a tempestuous decade for George Harrison. He moved house, lost both parents, escaped serious injury in a car crash, divorced, suffered a serious illness, was sued, married and fathered a son. Despite all this he still found time to release 8 albums and 13 singles in the UK alone. He also organised the world’s first charity rock concert, set up a charitable foundation, a publishing company, a record label, and a film company, undertook a tour of Canada and North America, made several television appearances, performed a couple of impromptu concerts was invited to the White House to meet President Ford, and appeared in or worked on the soundtrack of 6 films. Not content with just working on his own projects he appeared as a guest musician no less than 44 times, and produced 25 albums or singles for other artists and wrote 13 songs which he gave away and never officially released himself. Not bad for someone known as the quiet one!
In April 1970 it was front page news that The Beatles were to go their separate ways. By May of that year George had begun recording what would in fact be his third solo project (Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound having been released in 1968 and 1969 respectively). The sessions began at The Abbey Road Studios in North London on May 26th before moving to Trident Studios. In July George won an Ivor Novello award for the song ‘Something’, unfortunately the triumph was overshadowed by the deterioration in Louise Harrison’s health. George stopped the recording sessions on July the 4th to return to Liverpool to see his mother. She passed away on 7th of July with George at her bedside.
George finally returned to the recording studio and early October found him at Abbey Road, before he travelled to New York to complete work on the ‘All Things Must Pass’ album. The sheer volume of material George had written resulted in his taking the bold step of releasing what would be the first ever triple album. ‘All Things Must Pass’ was released on 30th November 1970 in the UK – ironically the date 31years later when the news broke of George’s passing. When ‘My Sweet Lord’ the first single from the album was released in England it sold at a rate of 30,000 copies a day. By the end of January 1971 George held the top slots on both the UK singles and Album Charts a feat he had already achieved in America – The first ‘Beatle’ to achieve a solo number one.
In July when George was putting together the soundtrack for the Apple film Raga, a film about Ravi Shankar, which contained a brief clip of George learning to play sitar, Ravi told George of the plight of the people of Bangladesh. George was saddened by what he learnt and when Ravi asked George if he would help with the promotion of a recital of Indian music to raise money for the relief effort George was more than willing. The Indian Music recital evolved into The Concert For Bangladesh. Having taken advice from an Indian astrologer regarding the best date to perform the concert Madison Square Garden was finally booked for 1st August. In the space of a few short weeks George put together the world’s first Rock benefit Concert. Two concerts took place to raise money for the relief fund and NME described it as ‘The Greatest Rock Spectacle of the Decade’. The receipts from the concert were sent to UNICEF and a total of $243,418.50 was raised.
In September with George’s latest single at number 10 in the British charts. Rumours began to circulate that George wanted to repeat the success of the New York shows by performing two concerts at Wembley. Unfortunately there were problems looming which ultimately resulted in the Wembley concerts never being played. There were already bootleg copies of the album of the concert circulating in America and in an attempt to prevent these detracting from the official release in the UK George announced the official album would be released a month early. In an attempt to maximise the money donated to the relief fund George met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to try and get the purchase tax lifted. George was told that it was all very well for his high ideas but Britain equally needed the money. A delay in the release of the album in America whilst Capitol and Columbia argued about their cut further frustrated George. He eventually publicly blasted the head of Capitol Bashkar Menon during an interview on the thingy Cavert show in November. Finally on 20th of December the Concert for Bangladesh triple album box set was released in America. There were advanced sales of $3,750,000, unfortunately these became tied up in escrow whilst the American government insisted on tax being paid because George had failed to register the concert as a charity. Years later when Bob Geldof sought advice from George prior to organising the ‘Live Aid’ concerts George told him ‘whatever else you do Bob register it as a charity’
Despite the problems with the monies for the relief fund George finished 1971 on a high note when My Sweet Lord was announced as single of the year on radio Luxembourg, and in Record and Tape retailer magazine. In addition The American publication ‘Record World’ voted My Sweet Lord as best single and George as best Male vocalist. More honours were heaped on ‘My Sweet Lord’ the following June when it won two Ivor Novello awards.
In June 1972 George and Ravi Shankar were presented with ‘The Child is the father of man award’ by UNICEF for their humanitarian efforts in raising funds for the refugees in Bangladesh. Finally on 26th July a year to the day since the first rehearsal ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’ film had a special preview at the rialto cinema in Coventry Street London with the premier on the following evening. The advertising bills read ‘The greatest concert of the decade. Now you can see it and hear it as if you were there’. The Rialto organised special round the clock screenings and box office takings rose to £12,979.00 in the first 12 days.
On April 26th 1973 George founded the charity, ‘The Material World Foundation’ with the intention that royalties from the album would be used via the charity to help those in need. The new single from George was released in May and ‘Give Me Love (give Me Peace On Earth) replaced My Love at number 1 in the US Charts. Living In The Material World was released in the US on 30th May and within 2 days it had received the RIAA gold award for copies sold, and by the 23rd of June it was the number 1 album in the US.
The album was released on the 22nd of June in the UK and the reviews were somewhat disappointing after the acclaim George had received for All Things Must Pass. In the 23rd June addition of Disc the review read thus ‘Well it’s been a long wait – just over two years and a lot of people expecting another ‘All Things Must Pass’ will be disappointed. The album isn’t instantly catchy the melodies whilst unmistakably George Harrison do not have that immediate hook line’ Maybe that was the problem the album was not obviously a commercial ‘pop’ album it contained thought provoking lyrics about wide ranging subjects, set to beautiful melodies.
In 1974 George threw himself into his work following the break-up of his marriage to Patti. In March George announced he was to tour Canada and America. He launched a new publishing company called Oops publishing, and made a guest appearance on the sound track album for the film ‘Son of Dracula’ playing the cow bell on the track Day Break.
In May George signed a worldwide distribution deal with A and M records for his own label, Dark Horse. the first signings on the new label was Ravi Shankar and a band called Splinter. The latter featured on the soundtrack of the Apple film ‘Little Malcolm and his struggle against the Eunuchs’. It was premiered at the Berlin film festival in June and went on to win the Silver Bear Award, before going on to win a gold medal at The Atlanta Film Festival in August. Despite this success when it was released to Cinemas in the UK a year later it did not do well.
In July George began recording tracks for his forthcoming album at Friar Park. Having established offices for Dark Horse in Los Angeles, London and Rotterdam, The Dark Horse label was finally launched on 6th September when the first release was ‘The Place I Love’ by Splinter. Work continued on the ‘Darkhorse’ album during September and October despite George suffering from severe laryngitis. George’s voice was so badly affected that the US tour scheduled for November and December was beginning to look doubtful. The ‘Darkhorse Tour’ or ‘Dark Hoarse’ as George would later refer to it began on November 2nd in Vancouver. The first of 43 shows, that would see George make his entrance to the Lumber Jack Song wearing a variety of different outfits including at one point dressed as a cowboy complete with 10 gallon hat and chaps. On the 6th and 7th of November the box office takings of $66,000 were donated to the Haight Ashbury free clinic, and the monies from the Madison Square Gardens shows were donated to UNICEF to help with the relief of children in drought stricken areas of Africa. George was also spotted with a new companion – Olivia Trinidad Arias.
George received much criticism during the tour. His voice was still weakened by the laryngitis, he had included an Indian music section at the beginning of the concert and when the audience reaction was less than enthusiastic he would tell them to look for God. This was a far cry from the cheeky moptop who had last toured America with The Beatles in 1966. He tried to keep Beatles songs to a minimum in the set list and when he did perform them he was criticised for changing the lyrics. Despite all this the ‘Darkhorse’ album gained a RIAA gold disc in the US. George and Olivia spent Christmas of 1974 in Hawaii and George finding inspiration penned the beautiful song ‘This Guitar Can’t Keep From Crying.’
By May 1975 George was back in the studio recording the tracks for ‘Extra Texture’ the first single from the Album ‘You/World of Stone’ became David Hamilton’s record of the week on national radio for week ending 12th September and the Album was released on 3rd October. It once again received the RIAA gold award within weeks of being released. He also began what would be a long and productive working relationship with his friend Eric Idle – producing the ‘Lumberjack Song’ before helping with the recording of the Rutles first hit ‘I Must be in Love’
In January 1976 George’s contract with EMI expired and he announced that his next album would be released on The Dark Horse label. He continued his support for the whole Monty Python team when on 20th April he appeared as part of the Mountie Choir during the ‘Lumberjack Song’ at New York’s city centre. The Python’s repaid the favour by performing the ‘Lumberjack Song’ at The Concert For George at London’s Royal Albert Hall in November 2002.
In May George returned to Friar Park and the recording studio, to begin work on what was to be the first of George’s albums to be released on the Dark Horse label. Unfortunately George was suffering from a severe case of hepatitis and found himself hospitalised, he continued to lose weight and doctors became increasingly concerned about him. George eventualy consulted an acupuncturist in America he discovered that the treatment worked and he began to recover but the completion of the album was unavoidably delayed. A and M threatened to sue. George took the album package to WEA and offered it to them on condition they pay A and M to allow George out if his contract with them. WEA were only too happy to agree.
1976 wasn’t a particularly great year for George when he found himself in court over ‘My Sweet Lord’. George was eventually found guilty of unconscious plagiarism, and ordered to pay $587,000 compensation to Bright Tunes. The monies were finally handed over in 1981 to of all people Alan Klein who’s company ABKCO had acquired the rights in 1980. Although things came full circle when during a web chat in 2001 George revealed he now owned the publishing rights of ‘He’s So Fine’.
In October and November George was working with the Monty Python team once again when Eric Idle directed the Promo films for ‘This Song’ ‘Crackerbox Palace’ and ‘True Love’ The promo for ‘This Song’ was a comic take on George’s recent experiences in court. It featured him the dock defending ‘this song’ with lines such as ‘This Tune has nothing Bright about it’
On November 8th EMI released ‘The Best of George Harrison’ an album that George was not particularly enthusiastic about as he felt it concentrated too much on the songs he had recorded with The Beatles. George’s own 'Thirty Three and a Third' album was finally released in the UK on 19th November and in the States on 24th November. One month later in the UK 'My Sweet Lord' was re-released with 'What is Life' on the B-side. The album was greeted with far better reviews than his previous 3 solo albums, possibly because it was more upbeat.
1977 started with George and Olivia visiting India it was the year that George would later describe as the year he took off from music and claims he didn’t write a single song during that period. Although two singles from the 'Thirty Three and a Third' album were released. George did in fact write one song towards the end of the year ‘Faster’ dedicated to Nicki Lauda and Jackie Stewart the formula one drivers. He spent much of the year travelling around various racetracks to watch formula 1 and motor bike racing. The Motor Bike racer Barry Sheene interviewed George for his own magazine. In June George and Olivia were in Monaco for the annual Formula one Grand Prix. Even though he was taking the year off from music he, still managed to help his old friend Eric Idle when on 2nd of August George filmed a cameo appearance for inclusion in the Rutles documentary. George was so impressed with the sound track that had been written for the spoof on the Beatles story that he persuaded Warner Brothers to become involved. The film was finally finished in October.
George and Olivia spent Christmas and the beginning of 1978 in Hawaii whilst there George began to compose tracks for his next album. Having returned home on the 4th of April George was obviously keen to get back to work and recording on his new project began on 11th April. Another new project was also in the pipeline, Olivia had discovered she was expecting George’s child. The couple intended to marry in May but the sad death of Harold Harrison, George’s father lead to them postponing their plans.
During the spring George was once again approached by Eric Idle for help, Eric gave George a script for a film called at the time ‘Jesus Christ Lust For Glory’. George loved it and agreed to help with the financing. HandMade films was born and George Harrison had just bought what he later described as the most expensive cinema ticket in history. Having mortgaged Friar Park to raise the money he saved the Python project that was later known as ‘Life of Brian’
On 1st August Olivia gave birth to a 5lb baby boy at the Royal Windsor Hospital in Berkshire. George and Olivia called their son Dhani (pronounced Danny) a name derived from two notes on the Indian music scale, two notes which were preceded by the notes Ma and Pa – another example of George’s wit. On the 2nd of September George and Olivia married at Henley on Thames registry office with only two witnesses present. The press were not informed until the 8th of September.
On 20th of October George was filmed in a sequence for Life of Brian he uttered a solitary word ‘Hello’ as Mr Papadopoulos – ‘the bloke who was lending them the mount on Sunday’. George had refused to appear as ‘Jesus’ in the ‘blessed are the cheesemakers’ scene.
In February 1979 a week or so before George’s 36th birthday the self titled George Harrison album was released, as was the first single off the album. The A-side ‘Blow Away’ was accompanied by a video which contained some of George’s strangest ever co-stars one of which was a giant pink duck. In April the second single ‘Love Comes to Everyone’ was released.
On July 14th George took part in a celebrity motor race at Silverstone race track in Northamptonshire during the British Grand Prix weekend and on the 30th of the month the single ‘Faster’ was released to raise money for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer fund. The video received it’s television debut on ‘World of Sport’ featuring footage of formula one racing and cut with footage of George playing the guitar in the back of a chauffeur driven limmo. Towards the end of the video the chauffeur turns to the camera to reveal himself as none other than Jackie Stewart, it is of course a bit of a give-away that he has a Stewart tartan hat band on his chauffeur’s cap.
Later that year Life of Brian was released to cinemas under a cloud of controversy. Church leaders branded the film blasphemous and it was banned in several towns. The publicity generated for the film was phenomenal and many people went to see it to find out what all the fuss was about. HandMade was hailed as a success and was ready to move into the 1980’s when it became known as the saviour of the British Film Industry.
1979 closed with George working on the ‘Somewhere In England’ album which would not be completed until 1980.
So all in all ‘The Quiet Beatle’ made quite a noise in the 1970’s.
Allison Devine
Official Site: www.georgeharrison.com
Please note all articles on this site are (C) to The Beat Goes On And On Fanzine and may not be used without permission.