Since nobody else on this board has mentioned it yet, I thought I'd start a thread. In case you've been in a cave with the al-Qaida, George Harrison died last night, after a long battle with cancer.
I don't know how effected the younger generations of fans will be by this, but this is one of those celebrity passings that truly makes me sad. He was a great musician and songwriter, a really cool guy with a conscience, and I just plain liked the man. It's certainly better to have lived into his late fifties, even fighting disease, than to have been assassinated at 40 like John. But it's sad just the same.
Out of the four Beatles, I thought his musical output after the group disbanded was the best overall and most consistent. And the stuff with the Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne), seemed like pure fun and I enjoyed the whole idea. I have lots of post-Beatle Harrison favorites, including "My Sweet Lord", "Cheer Down", "Cockamamie Business", "What Is Life?", "Blow Away", "Give Me Love", "Handle with Care", "Bangla Desh" and "Poor Little Girl".
We all know as a Beatle he was never allowed to contribute as a songwriter the way John and Paul were, but he still managed to pen some of their best tunes: "Something", "For You Blue", "Here Comes the Sun" and of course "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
Harrison was also a supporter of Film in the U.K. He was one of the driving forces behind the independent company Handmade Films, which produced such modern classics as Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, Withnail & I, The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
I loved him in The Beatle movies too. In A Hard Day's Night John gets all the Groucho Marx-type lines, Ringo gets all the pathos, and the running bit with Paul's 'Grandfather' ("He's so clean") is classic stuff, but my favorite scene after all these years is when George is pulled into the advertising office to get an average teenager's opinion about the next fashion trend. He's so good in that scene and it's so deadpan funny, it's always the part that I remember most fondly.
He will definitely be missed, obviously.
This is one of my favorite Harrison songs...
I don't know how effected the younger generations of fans will be by this, but this is one of those celebrity passings that truly makes me sad. He was a great musician and songwriter, a really cool guy with a conscience, and I just plain liked the man. It's certainly better to have lived into his late fifties, even fighting disease, than to have been assassinated at 40 like John. But it's sad just the same.
Out of the four Beatles, I thought his musical output after the group disbanded was the best overall and most consistent. And the stuff with the Traveling Wilburys (Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne), seemed like pure fun and I enjoyed the whole idea. I have lots of post-Beatle Harrison favorites, including "My Sweet Lord", "Cheer Down", "Cockamamie Business", "What Is Life?", "Blow Away", "Give Me Love", "Handle with Care", "Bangla Desh" and "Poor Little Girl".
We all know as a Beatle he was never allowed to contribute as a songwriter the way John and Paul were, but he still managed to pen some of their best tunes: "Something", "For You Blue", "Here Comes the Sun" and of course "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".
Harrison was also a supporter of Film in the U.K. He was one of the driving forces behind the independent company Handmade Films, which produced such modern classics as Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, Withnail & I, The Long Good Friday, Mona Lisa, and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
I loved him in The Beatle movies too. In A Hard Day's Night John gets all the Groucho Marx-type lines, Ringo gets all the pathos, and the running bit with Paul's 'Grandfather' ("He's so clean") is classic stuff, but my favorite scene after all these years is when George is pulled into the advertising office to get an average teenager's opinion about the next fashion trend. He's so good in that scene and it's so deadpan funny, it's always the part that I remember most fondly.
He will definitely be missed, obviously.
This is one of my favorite Harrison songs...
I can see by your grin
That you're trembling within
It's all over town, Cheer Down
And the smile on your face
Is sometimes out of place
don't mind no frowns, Cheer Down
If your head should fall
If your shares should crash
You'll get by even without getting a rash
There's no tears to be shed,
I'm gonna love you instead
I want you around, Cheer Down
When your teeth drop out
You'll get by even without taking a bite
If your dog should be dead
I'm gonna love you instead
the world loves a clown, Cheer Down
I want you around, Cheer Down
- "Cheer Down" (1989), George Harrison
That you're trembling within
It's all over town, Cheer Down
And the smile on your face
Is sometimes out of place
don't mind no frowns, Cheer Down
If your head should fall
If your shares should crash
You'll get by even without getting a rash
There's no tears to be shed,
I'm gonna love you instead
I want you around, Cheer Down
When your teeth drop out
You'll get by even without taking a bite
If your dog should be dead
I'm gonna love you instead
the world loves a clown, Cheer Down
I want you around, Cheer Down
- "Cheer Down" (1989), George Harrison
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
Last edited by Holden Pike; 11-30-01 at 06:09 PM.