reading a lot of post 1970 interviews the beatles gave, i kind of get the impression that george's ego was out of proportion compared to what he actually contributed to the band, in as much to say that john and paul being the main ingredients if you like.

One thing I would like to get opinions on, it seemed that throughout the 70's John seemed to recount the most accurate retelling of the beatles myth, with paul and george basically corroborating most of his claims in the beatles anthology book. Is it fair to say that paul and george didn't really publically talk smack about john and how "Paul was the creative, hip one" until much after John died? I haven't read a lot of hard hitting interviews Paul gave from the 70's

I think that the beatles were a lot more than Paul or John, a hell of a lot more.

Neither released anything worthwhile as a solo artist. Mcartney did some good stuff with wings. That was about it.

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No no and no

Read the book "Here, There, and Everywhere" by Geoff Emerick. He was their engineer for pretty much everything from Revolver on and he tells it like it was. It may surprise you to learn how much Paul was doing on so many songs, playing Bass, drums and guitar leads. George was not the greatest guitar player nor was Ringo the greatest drummer, but together as a group it worked, it was amazing. I do think George became one of the greatest slide players ever. The 70's era articles I've read on George sound less ego-centric than they do someone who's just tired of hearing/talking about the Fab four and wants to move on. I can't blame him. Check out the book, I bet you'll love it.

Hi KPI: first time I've ever heard George described in terms of a big ego. Not the impression I have ever had of the fella. Modest, unassuming, unsure of his instrumental talent and a little over-awed in the face of the song writing juggernaut that was the other two, is the way he's always come across to me.

Far as things Paul has said since John died: I suspect most of that has been in the face of the tsunami publicity machine that Yoko has run ever since Lennon's murder, re-inventing him as the sole creative force in The Beatles. I think Paul eventually got a bit narked at that - and I don't blame him.

As a result he let himself get drawn into behaviors that didn't really become him. For example, relisting all the numbers he in fact wrote as "McCartney-Lennon" instead of the customary "Lennon-McCartney". That was just petty; but I think he was lured into it by Yoko's antics.

I never had the down on Linda that became the public habit, but Yoko deserves all the criticism that comes her way, far as I can see. A few decades of reclusiveness on her part would be no bad thing. Being the Keeper of the Flame is one thing: shoving up everyone's nose is another.

Cheers - C

Take Emerick's book with a grain of salt. It might surprise you how much of this book is fabricated or exagerrated. Check out fellow Beatles engineer Ken Scott's rebuttal to some of the proposed errors in the book: http://www.royalgenes.biz/rec.music.bea ... ad499.html
"Now, after reading his book, I KNOW how little he remembers. It
appears we, the interviewees, didn't give enough, because much is
clearly fabricated stories, something made up to fill out the book.

This book is NOT accurate, it is not "the truth" and does not deserve
to be supported. It is very damaging to the good reputations of such
people as George Harrison, George Martin, John Lennon, Chris Thomas,
Ringo Starr, Phil McDonald and the list goes on. The only one who is
rarely mentioned negatively is Paul McCartney, the only one to have
employed Geoff after the Beatles."

As for Emerick's bias towards Paul and trashing the other three...well Emerick wouldn't want to bite the hand that feeds him, right?

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

George's ego "out of proportion"? Define "out of proportion". As in too small or too big? I never heard of George having a big ego. After he found eastern religion and meditation it seemed he was always striving to rid himself of ego. He was very charitable, his Concert for Bangladesh being a good example. The first all-star charity concert and the model for Live-Aid, Farm-Aid, and every other charity concert.

I always remember reading that George would always tell interviewers that he was a gardener. He never said he was a guitarist, or musician, or movie producer, or race car driver (he really was), or rock icon. He was most happy being at home in his garden. Doesn't sound like a big ego to me.

As far as how George's (non)ego relates to his time with the Beatles, well he was always the "kid" of the group and just settled for his usual 2 songs per album. Wouldn't you also be intimidated to suggest your original songs to the Lennon/McCartney team? By the time the band split, George had a huge backlog of great songs that became the triple album All Things Must Pass.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

And Harrison wrote arguably the best song Clapton ever played.

Talent<ego, quite the opposite.

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No no and no

McCartney's stuff with Wings was IMO garbage. Just stupid Pop fluff. He knows how to write songs that make money.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Seems to me he made a significant contribution to another group of very talented musicians, Travelling Willburys.

I recall Clapton spoke kindly of George in his book. Patti also spoke kindly of George in her book as well.


Funny, just found this quot from the Willburys site;

The group was born: five guys with star stature in their own rights, but it was George who created this Wilbury environment where five stars could enjoy an ego-free collaboration. Everybody sang, everybody wrote, everybody produced - and had great fun doing so.

It's strange that someone comment on George having an inflated ego when he was famous for his quiet dignity and reverence.He was always described as being humilty personified and I just read a couple of days ago in a Guitar World article that George was very uncomfortable with fame and if anything resented it for keeping him under a microscope yet taking away his freedom to do the things he enjoyed as going out in public had been made impossible.I've always loved Georges playing,his wonderful overdubbed guitar harmonies on And Your Bird Can Sing were absolutely flawless and expertly executed.Paul always seemed to be pushing his wishes on George even to the point that he play the lead on Taxman even though it was Georges song.It made me urge when after George died Paul said he looked at George as his"little baby brother" yet while in the Beatles Paul was patronizing and tried to lord over him.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Indeed, I'm no Beatles historian but i fully agree. Some of my favorite Beatles songs were George's "actual contribution" like 'Blue Jay Way' and 'Do you want to know a secret'. As for Paul's pushing his wishes, you can totally see George trying to keep his cool in the 'Let it Be' film... one of my favorite quotes of all time "look I'll play what ever you want me to play or i won't play anything at all... what ever you want me to do" i think most of us... myself included would have just told Paul to go eff himself.

RIP Mr. Harrison.

Each of the Beatles were and are talented. I have to respectfully disagree with those that claim that John and Paul's solo work is not worthwhile or that Wings stuff was garbage.

I am surprised that all of them seem to have rather normal healthy egos considering how big the Beatles became.

Ego.. funny I did not read about any such thing in Tom Petty's Running Down A Dream where he recalls the Traveling Wiburys and how George was skillful in drawing him into a comfort zone where it became just about the music.
Seriously, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. If any one including our subject George harrison had an over-riding Egotistical issue, we would have never been treated to those all too short great recordings.
The photo's of the group illuminate 5 musicians who enjoyed each other's company.

However I can "imagine" George Harrison being at times a bit strident if you consider having to deal with the screaming banshee Yoko..
To this day, Yoko is the reason as to why I find it extremely difficult and painful to listen to any of Lennon's work where she is unfortunately featured.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I think his ego is out of proportion to his talent. It should have been bigger.

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Rated "M" for meaty.

The only thing I ever saw from George that could be misconstrued as "ego" was the fact he didn't want to talk "Beatles" during his solo career. He acknowledged the group, he never shied away or dissed his fellow Beatles, he just seemed to be "over it" way before the rest of the world was.

He always allowed others to shine, even on his own compositions and records. He even remained friends with Eric Clapton after Clapton stole his wife away! That doesn't sound egotistical to me.

Also, put yourself in his shoes--Paul & John treated him like a little brother and downplayed his contributions to the point that he has THREE ALBUMS WORTH OF MATERIAL waiting to be recorded when he made his first solo album. John and Paul laughed at "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" until Slowhand showed up and made them realize how good the song was...I would be so ticked off I wouldn't talk about them, either.

As far as George not being the best in the group--says who? He was as good of a guitarist as anyone in the group, and was admired by people as talented and varied as Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, and a million other guitarists. Yes, Paul could play more instruments--very well--and John had more of a frontman presence on-stage, but George was doing a lot of those fills, riffs and leads that we all think about and copy today. Plus he could sing, he could write, and he had other interests outside of music...the dude was a genius.

Look at this--I ranted for four paragraphs and I'm not even the hugest of Beatles fans...IMHO, I think the original poster was incorrect...

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



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