Line #74 Music/GeorgeHarrison


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Magazine/TimeMagazine https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/George_Harrison_8819.jpg]]]]
2	->''I'm a dark horse\
3	Running on a dark race course\
4	I'm a blue moon\
5	Since I stepped from out of the womb\
6	I've been a cool jerk\
7	Cooking at the source\
8	I'm a dark horse.''
9	-->-- "Dark Horse"
10
11	George Harrison [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever MBE]] (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was the lead guitarist for Music/TheBeatles, and a musical legend in his own right.
12
13	For instance, not only was Harrison great with the guitar, but he also introduced the band to new instruments like the sitar that gave the band whole new sounds to use. He endeavoured to write his own songs, but he found that his efforts weren't being taken seriously by Music/JohnLennon and Music/PaulMcCartney, or their producer George Martin either, and he was usually relegated to one or two tracks on each album (although he got three on ''Music/{{Revolver\|Beatles Album}}'', including the opening track, and four on ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum''). However, he persisted and by the time of the band's final produced album, ''Music/AbbeyRoad'', he firmly proved that he was their equal with the classic songs, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun".
14
15	Harrison finally got to fully stretch his wings post-breakup with his solo album ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'', the biggest-selling solo album by an ex-Beatle to date.[[note]]Although George got dinged when he was sued for plagiarism for his biggest hit, "My Sweet Lord", for supposedly subconsciously copying the Chiffon's "He's So Fine" and ''lost''.[[/note]] In addition to his artistic rise, he also used music to do direct social good, most famously by creating the first rock benefit concert, ''The Concert for UsefulNotes/{{Bangladesh}}'', in 1971 to help that country -- which besides being poverty-stricken was not only still fighting for its independence from UsefulNotes/{{Pakistan}} but also had to deal with the effects of a massive cyclone. He also was a member of the late-1980s supergroup Music/TheTravelingWilburys.
16
17	In addition, he became a film producer by founding Creator/HandMadeFilms to produce ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' when Creator/{{EMI}} (who also owned the Beatles catalog) suddenly withdrew funding over its subject matter. The company continued on after he left it in the late 1980s.
18
19	In 1997, Harrison was diagnosed with throat cancer. He publicly blamed years of smoking for the illness. He underwent radiotherapy treatment, which was initially believed to have been successful. However, after a knife attack in December 1999 that required the removal of part of his lung, the cancer returned. In May 2001, Harrison was operated for lung cancer, and in November of the same year, it was revealed that his cancer had metastasized, as he underwent treatment for a brain tumor as well. On 29 November 2001, Harrison passed away from complications related to his illness, in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, at a property belonging to [=McCartney=], surrounded by friends and family, at the age of 58. His final album, ''Brainwashed'', released the following year, having been completed after a 15-year production by his son and prior collaborators.
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21	A documentary directed by Creator/MartinScorsese, ''George Harrison: Living in the Material World'', was released in October 2011.
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23	He ended at #62 in ''Series/OneHundredGreatestBritons'', and ''Magazine/RollingStone'' recognizes him as the eleventh greatest guitarist of all time on their list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
24
25	----
26	!!Solo studio and live discography:
27	* ''Music/WonderwallMusic'' (1968)
28	* ''Electronic Sound'' (1969)
29	* ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'' (1970)
30	* ''Music/TheConcertForBangladesh'' (1971)
31	* ''Living in the Material World'' (1973)
32	* ''Dark Horse'' (1974)
33	* ''Extra Texture (Read All About It)'' (1975)
34	* ''Thirty Three & 1/ॐ'' (1976)
35	* ''George Harrison'' (1979)
36	* ''Somewhere in England'' (1981)
37	* ''Gone Troppo'' (1982)
38	* ''Cloud Nine'' (1987)
39	* ''Live in Japan'' (1992)
40	* ''Brainwashed'' (2002)
41
42	----
43	!!George Harrison provides examples of:
44	* AgeProgressionSong: "Crackerbox Palace" is an elliptical example.
45	* [[AloofDarkHairedGirl Aloof Dark Haired Guy]]: Definetely played this persona in Beatlemania.
46	* AlternateMusicVideo: "Got My Mind Set on You" has two clips. The first one features a guy deciding to draw a girl's attention by trying to WinHerAPrize at the arcade, intercut with the girl watching Harrison and co-producer [[Music/ElectricLightOrchestra Jeff Lynne]] perform the song in a mechanical viewing booth. The second depicts Harrison performing alone in a fancy den where the surrounding furniture comes to life and starts dancing.
47	* BreakoutCharacter: His diminished role in the early years with the Fab Four grew in the later years.
48	* CallBack:
49	** "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)" and "Here Comes the Moon" were obviously tips-of-the-hat to a couple beloved songs he did with The Beatles.
50	** The fadeout of "Isn't It a Pity" sounds intentionally very similar to "Hey Jude".
51	** A non-Beatles example: The Creator/EricIdle-directed video for "Crackerbox Palace" has a brief cameo by the Pantomime Princess Margaret from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
52	** The music video for "When We Was Fab" shows scenes of George in his [[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Sgt. Pepper]] uniform playing guitar, while another scene shows him and two other figures as the Beatles (minus John) with their "[[Music/MagicalMysteryTour I Am The Walrus]]" outfits/instrumentation.
53	* CoverVersion: Although his version of "Got My Mind Set on You" is considered the definitive version, it was originally written by Rudy Clark as a James Ray song. Additionally, George covered Music/BobDylan's "If Not for You" on ''Music/AllThingsMustPass''.
54	* DistinctDoubleAlbum: ''Music/AllThingsMustPass'' was a distinct ''triple'' album. The first two records were filled with songs (including the title track) that George had originally offered to the Beatles but didn't get recorded because Lennon and [=McCartney=] were unwilling to let him have more than his two-songs-per-record quota. The third record is mostly jam-session recordings.
55	* DoubleMeaningTitle: The title of ''Thirty Three & 1/ॐ'' refers to both George's age at the time of recording and the playing speed of a 12-inch vinyl record (the size of a typical album).
56	* TheEeyore: While he had a droll personality himself, a fair number of his songs feature a pessimistic lyrical tone, all the way back to "Don't Bother Me". "Within You, Without You", "Circles" and "Isn't It a Pity" are also good examples.
57	* ForeignCultureFetish: His interest in UsefulNotes/{{India}}, although it was a good deal deeper than the usual level of this; he studied the sitar (a ferociously difficult instrument to play well), he managed to incorporate Indian classical music into his own songwriting without making it sound like exotic local colour, and he organised the Concert for Bangladesh, which helped raise consciousness in the West of the refugee crisis caused by the Bangladesh Liberation War.
58	* GarnishingTheStory: Harrison's guest appearance on ''Series/RutlandWeekendTelevision'' as Bob the Pirate (including [[TalkLikeAPirate speaking the lingo]]), culminating in him performing a sea shanty instead of "My Sweet Lord".
59	* GodIsLoveSongs: Several. "Long, Long, Long" from ''Music/TheWhiteAlbum'' is the most well-known example. "The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)" from ''Living in the Material World'' takes it even more literally.
60	* GriefSong: [[Music/JohnLennon "You said it all/Though not many had ears/All those years ago".]]
61	* InterfaithSmoothie: The backing vocals of "My Sweet Lord" transition effortlessly from chanting "Hallelujah" to chanting "Hare Krishna", and eventually become a Vedic prayer to Vishnu.
62	* ItsBeenDone: The TropeNamer thanks to his [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E1HomersBarbershopQuartet guest appearance]] on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
63	* LeadSingerPlaysLeadGuitar: The Beatles' lead guitarist took center stage as a vocalist for his solo career, and developed his iconic slide guitar sound.
64	* LuckyCharmsTitle: ''Thirty Three & 1/ॐ'', read as "thirty three and a third", uses a Devanagari Om symbol (ॐ) in place of a three.
65	* MrFanservice: Like all the Beatles in ''Film/{{Help}}'', George's shirt being blown by the dryer has got the most recognition.
66	* NewYearHasCome: "Ding Dong, Ding Dong".
67	* PaperThinDisguise: "L'Angelo Misterioso" plays guitar on several albums by George's friends, even writing the last big Music/{{Cream}} hit.
68	* PosthumousCollaboration: Harrison was working on ''Brainwashed'' since 1988, but was never able to finish it before his death in 2001. It was eventually completed by his son and prior collaborators Jim Keltner and [[Music/ElectricLightOrchestra Jeff Lynne]].
69	* ProperlyParanoid: He claimed in 'Music/TheBeatlesAnthology' that when going on an American tour, he refused to ride in a TickerTapeParade, citing the proximity of the tour to the assassination of President Kennedy.
70	* ProtestSong: "Bangladesh". It may not sound like one today, but at the time, merely ''calling'' the country Bangladesh (instead of "East Pakistan") was a political statement that directly went against U.S. policy.
71	* RearrangeTheSong: When he re-recorded the [[Music/TheWhiteAlbum White Album]] outtake "Not Guilty" eleven years later on 1979's ''George Harrison'', he changed it from a strident rock song to a jazzy, moody ballad, and transferred its EpicRiff from electric to acoustic guitar.
72	* RenaissanceMan: Specifically as musician, George could play 26 instruments: guitar, sitar, 4-string guitar, bass guitar, arp bass, violin, tanpura, dobro, swarmandal, tabla, organ, piano, Moog synthesiser, harmonica, autoharp, glockenspiel, vibraphone, xylophone, claves, African drum, conga drum, tympani, ukulele, mandolin, marimba, and Jal-Tarang.
73	** That of course doesn't include his work, as a composer, actor, and film producer.
74	* SelfTitledAlbum: Harrison's eighth studio album is simply called ''George Harrison''.
75	* SeparatedByTheWall: The cover to his album ''Music/WonderwallMusic'' (note the hole in the wall).
76	* ShoutOut: "Crackerbox Palace" is an extended one to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Buckley Lord Buckley]], and Harrison also says [[Film/BlazingSaddles "It's twue! It's twue!"]]
77	* SoloSideProject: ''Music/WonderwallMusic'' and "Electronic Sound", both released while he still was a member of the Beatles.
78	* SuperGroup: Not just any Super Group: [[TropeCodifier THE Super Group]]. Harrison founded Music/TheTravelingWilburys, consisting of Music/RoyOrbison, Music/TomPetty, [[Music/ElectricLightOrchestra Jeff Lynne]], Music/BobDylan, Jim Keltner and Harrison himself. The group came about because Harrison had called up his friends to record a B-Side for his single "This Is Love", but his record company saw the potential in the song and encouraged the group to do more with it than make it "filler".
79	* SurrealMusicVideo:
80	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVu6nPTVbBQ The music video for "When We Was Fab"]] starts off simple enough, with George playing the song in question against a wall on a street full of people. Then, a truck comes along and drops off Ringo Starr. And then comes the extra arms...
81	** And of course, the dancing furniture from the second "Got My Mind Set on You" video.
82	* TakeThat:
83	** "Taxman" from ''Music/{{Revolver\|Beatles Album}}'' was quite the shot against the British tax system of the time.
84	** "This Song" was written about the "unconscious plagiarism" George allegedly committed against Bright Music and the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" in writing "My Sweet Lord", complete with interjections from Creator/EricIdle that facetiously accuse Harrison of plagiarizing even more '60s tunes.
85	** "Sue Me, Sue You Blues" was one to the judicial system he had to put up with during the lawsuits filed through the Beatles' breakup.
86	** "Blood from a Clone" is a jab at Creator/WarnerBrosRecords, who distributed the album the song is from (''Somewhere in England'') and rejected multiple songs, at least partially because they were "too laid-back". The song itself references the company's apparent dislike of laid-back music, and says that they'd rather have music made by beating one's head on a brick wall, while George says he's beating his own head on a brick wall out of frustration.
87	* ThisIsASong: "This Song"
88	* UnclePennybags[=/=]PromotedFanboy: Financed ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' after the original producers got freaked out by the "religiously offensive" content and backed out. For no reason except that he was a massive Creator/MontyPython fanboy (and friend of them) and just wanted to see the movie. Creator/EricIdle called it "the most expensive movie ticket ever purchased", at ''least'' $4 million.[[note]]Which is nearly ''twice'' what they charge at the average multiplex these days.[[/note]]
89	** More importantly, this led to the start of Harrison's film production company "Handmade Films".
90	* UnpluggedVersion: Harrison recorded a well-known acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". It finally got released with ''Music/TheBeatlesAnthology''.
91	* WinHerAPrize: The first "Got My Mind Set on You" video is centered around a boy trying to draw a girl's attention by winning her a toy ballerina she wants.
92	* WorldMusic: Harrison was the Beatle most interested in Indian culture, and as such is well known for experimenting with traditional Indian music in his songs. Two of the three Beatles songs with sitar music, "Love You To" (''Music/{{Revolver\|BeatlesAlbum}}'') and "Within You Without You" (''Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand'') were written by him ("Norwegian Wood" (''Music/RubberSoul''), composed by Music/JohnLennon, is the exception). "The Inner Light" (''Music/PastMasters''), another heavily Indian-influenced piece (though it does not contain any sitar), was also composed by Harrison. Music/RaviShankar taught him to play the instrument. Harrison's first solo album ''Music/WonderwallMusic'' is almost entirely full of Indian music.

Context Music / GeorgeHarrison