ANOTHER WEEK WE HAVE CONQUERED!!! My mental health is tanking, but recently something reignited my Beatles fixation and I figured since it's George Harrison's 80th birthday tomorrow! I'd write about him. I mean he is my favorite Beatle, contrary to popular beliefs and some evidence that points elsewhere.
HAPPY 80TH, GEORGIE!
LOOK! Before you say anything I KNOW Paul McCartney is my ride or die, the love of my life. HOWEVER, he's not my favorite Beatle. He was when I first got into them as a teenager. But as an adult, I've found a new appreciation for George Harrison.
I believe George Harrison is the superior Beatle. I think he's written better music while in the Beatles and in his solo career. When I originally made the decision to write this post for this week specifically I figured there were plenty of ways to go about it. I could write about my favorite George moments when he was in the Beatles. I could list my favorite songs of his. But I think I'll just tell you my fan journey with the man as is the norm with these kinds of posts.
If you've been a follower of the blog, you may know a little about my journey as a self-proclaimed Beatlemaniac. I've always been a casual fan of The Beatles since I was a kid. Memories of listening to their music on the radio in the backseat of my dad's old Honda Civic are some of my most cherished childhood memories. However, I didn't become the die-hard fan I am now until 2013.
My love for George didn't evolve to the level it is now until much later. I was blindly solely a Paul fan for so long and when I finally broke out of that to form my unbiased opinions on the other 3 Beatles.
It became apparent very quickly that I vibed with George's music. The man dropped bop out of bop. While he was in the Beatles the man wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "I, Me, Mine". And that's WITH him being held back by his bandmates. Yes, I do believe that George and Ringo were held back a lot by Lennon-McCartney, but that's for another post.
When he went solo, he continued dropping bops. Personally his 1970s album, All Things Must Pass is my favorite album of his with Thirty Three & 1/3 in close second.
However, despite my hyping up his solo career, my favorite song of his is actually a cover of "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea". It's probably one of my most played song in general. It scratches my brain. But since we're talking about songs he wrote, I love "Crackerbox Palace". Don't ask. Even I don't know why that song is one of my favorites.
I think is the first solo song of his that I heard was "My Sweet Lord" and it's got real sentimental value to me for that reason. Other solo songs of his that I love include "Here Comes the Moon", "Woman Don't You Cry For Me", "All Those Years Ago" and "Got My Mind Set On You",
Besides George being an amazing artist, I bet you didn't know that when he released the first ever pop charity single with "Bangla Desh". It was in response to the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the Bangladesh Liberation War. But that wasn't his only charity single. He also organized a few charity concerts to raise money for causes he was passionate about. He worked frequently with UNICEF and they named the George Harrison Humanitarian Award after him in 2009.
We sadly lost George in 2001. I was 4 years old. He's one of those celebrities that I have gained such a deep parasocial relationship with who never knew I existed, but I will miss the man for the rest of my life. He's survived by his wife, Olivia, and their son Dhani who has been doing a great job of keeping his legacy alive.
SO I figured why not end this post with the "new" music video for "My Sweet Lord" that was released in 2021. See if you can catch all the cameos because I couldn't.
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