WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.960 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, our mission 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.179 is, well, I think it's pretty straightforward. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.300 We are taking a really deep, comprehensive look 00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:12.500 at the life and the, frankly, staggering cultural 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:15.460 impact of George Harrison. We're going to try 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:18.260 and move past that simple, often really misleading 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.260 label of the quiet Beatle. It's so reductive, 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.359 isn't it? It is. We want to explore his revolutionary 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:27.660 contributions as a musician, a spiritual seeker, 00:00:27.739 --> 00:00:30.500 and something people often forget, an expert 00:00:30.500 --> 00:00:32.859 film producer. You absolutely have to challenge 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:34.840 that quiet Beatle label. I mean, when you actually 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:38.020 stack up his achievements, the sheer volume of 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:39.859 his songwriting, the whole Handmade Films catalog, 00:00:40.100 --> 00:00:44.369 his media... post -Beater success and his spiritual 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:46.670 advocacy. He was, without a doubt, one of the 00:00:46.670 --> 00:00:48.490 most proactive and culturally transformative 00:00:48.490 --> 00:00:50.570 figures of the last half of the 20th century. 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:52.609 We're looking at an architect, someone who didn't 00:00:52.609 --> 00:00:55.049 just play in the band. He actually redefined 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:58.109 the philosophical and the instrumental boundaries 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:00.170 of popular music. Okay, so let's establish the 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:02.729 scope of that. At his core, George Harrison was 00:01:02.729 --> 00:01:05.769 a musician, a masterful singer, a songwriter. 00:01:05.890 --> 00:01:08.950 Yes. Of course. And a prolific music and film 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:11.689 producer. But the thing that really separates 00:01:11.689 --> 00:01:14.230 him, the seismic shift he brought to pop music, 00:01:14.450 --> 00:01:18.569 was his deep, profound incorporation of Indian 00:01:18.569 --> 00:01:21.349 instrumentation and Hindu -aligned spirituality 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:24.060 into the Western mainstream. And this wasn't 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:26.739 just a fad for him. This was a revolution driven 00:01:26.739 --> 00:01:29.560 by genuine belief. Exactly. And, you know, the 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:31.579 roots of that revolution, they go back before 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:34.560 he even picked up a guitar. George was born February 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:38.920 25, 1943, in Liverpool, youngest of four kids. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:42.280 And the atmosphere his mother, Louise, created 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:44.900 is just so revealing. She was this exuberant, 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:47.540 music -loving woman, always singing loudly around 00:01:47.540 --> 00:01:50.180 the house. But here's the fascinating detail. 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:52.560 This is the part I love. Right. While she was 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.359 pregnant, with George, she made a point of listening 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:56.519 to this weekly broadcast called Radio India. 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:59.700 And her specific hope was that the, quote, exotic 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:02.579 music would bring peace and calm to her unborn 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:04.620 child. I mean, that's the ultimate foreshadowing, 00:02:04.620 --> 00:02:06.939 isn't it? Yeah. His mother, years before the 00:02:06.939 --> 00:02:09.919 Beatles even existed, was unknowingly priming 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:12.599 him for the sitar for all that Eastern influence. 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:14.900 It's incredible. His first musical interests 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:18.219 were... A bit closer to home, though. He was 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:20.759 drawn to English performers like George Formby, 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:24.020 the jazz genius Django Reinhardt. But his real 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:27.599 rock and roll epiphany, as the sources call it, 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.819 that happened in early 1956. He was just riding 00:02:30.819 --> 00:02:33.099 his bicycle past a house in Liverpool and he 00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:36.419 heard Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel. And that 00:02:36.419 --> 00:02:39.020 was it. That was it. That raw sound, that energy, 00:02:39.219 --> 00:02:41.379 it just completely captivated him. He said he 00:02:41.379 --> 00:02:43.400 was totally into guitars from that moment on. 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:45.840 And his mother, seeing this passion, she supported 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:48.139 it completely. She helped him buy his first guitar, 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.960 an inexpensive one, but so significant. Right. 00:02:51.080 --> 00:02:53.120 It cost about what would be 110 pounds today. 00:02:53.550 --> 00:02:56.710 And by age 14, he's not just obsessed, he's getting 00:02:56.710 --> 00:02:58.909 good. He's learning songs from a friend of his 00:02:58.909 --> 00:03:01.509 father's, getting into those rockabilly and country 00:03:01.509 --> 00:03:04.210 sounds of Carl Perkins and Lonnie Dunnigan. And 00:03:04.210 --> 00:03:06.449 that's really what established his solid, country 00:03:06.449 --> 00:03:08.710 -tinged rhythm style that you hear all over the 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:10.849 early Beatles stuff. Before we jump into the 00:03:10.849 --> 00:03:12.069 band, because that's where his story usually 00:03:12.069 --> 00:03:14.430 starts, it's so important to tease the other 00:03:14.430 --> 00:03:17.180 paths he carved out. Absolutely. We reduce him 00:03:17.180 --> 00:03:19.819 to a band member, but his later identity, I mean, 00:03:19.819 --> 00:03:22.599 he co -founds Handmade Films, a major production 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.659 company, by mortgaging his own magnificent estate, 00:03:25.960 --> 00:03:29.020 Friar Park, just to fund Monty Python's Life 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:31.460 of Brian. Incredible. And maybe most historically 00:03:31.460 --> 00:03:34.199 significant, he organizes the concert for Bangladesh 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:38.199 in 1971. He basically creates the blueprint for 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:41.340 the modern celebrity charity rock show. This 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:44.240 guy was many things, but Quiet just wasn't one 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.650 of them. That obsession with rock and roll, it 00:03:46.650 --> 00:03:48.389 pretty quickly led him to the early Beatles. 00:03:48.669 --> 00:03:51.009 He met Paul McCartney on the school bus. They 00:03:51.009 --> 00:03:54.009 lived near each other, bonded over music. And 00:03:54.009 --> 00:03:56.050 Paul's the one who suggested George audition 00:03:56.050 --> 00:03:58.830 for John Lennon and the Quarrymen in March 1958. 00:03:59.370 --> 00:04:01.229 And that story, the anecdote about how he got 00:04:01.229 --> 00:04:03.150 in, it really highlights the power dynamic of 00:04:03.150 --> 00:04:05.229 the early band, doesn't it? Lennon initially 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:07.009 just dismissed him, thought the 15 -year -old 00:04:07.009 --> 00:04:08.590 was just too young to keep up. He thought he 00:04:08.590 --> 00:04:11.259 was just a kid. Exactly. The sources detail this 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:13.800 slightly awkward but decisive moment where Harrison 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:15.979 basically had to prove himself on pure technical 00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:18.699 skill. He had to show he was way beyond his years. 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:22.019 So Paul arranges a second meeting. And there, 00:04:22.139 --> 00:04:25.000 on the upper deck of a Liverpool bus in all places, 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:28.000 Harrison plays the lead guitar part for the instrumental 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.899 raunchy. And that specific performance, sharing 00:04:30.899 --> 00:04:33.860 he knew this complex, influential rockabilly 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:37.720 piece that sealed the deal he was in. It shows 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:40.120 that even though Lennon saw him as a disciple, 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.959 Harrison was a skilled, professional -level guitarist 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:45.759 from the very start. It's a crucial distinction. 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:48.480 Now let's talk about that famous, really misleading 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.199 nickname, the Quiet Beetle. Ah, yes. Our sources 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:54.860 confirm the origin is wonderfully anticlimactic. 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.120 It's totally circumstantial. It had nothing to 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.860 do with him being shy or introverted. Not at 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:02.139 all. When the Beatles first landed in the United 00:05:02.139 --> 00:05:05.959 States, February 1964, for their big debut, George 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:08.740 was really sick. He had strep throat, high fever. 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:10.819 Yeah, and his doctor basically ordered him to 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:13.139 limit all unnecessary speaking until after the 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:16.379 Ed Sullivan show performance. So the press, seeing 00:05:16.379 --> 00:05:18.139 him being reluctant to talk during all those 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:20.540 chaotic appearances, they just labeled him laconic. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.420 And the nickname, born from a medical necessity, 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:27.079 it just stuck instantly. much to his you know 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:30.100 rye amusement later in life it became this identity 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:32.899 just forced on him by circumstance not by his 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:36.439 actual character and as the band matured so did 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.439 his contributions his songwriting though it started 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:42.620 pretty tentatively his very first solo writing 00:05:42.620 --> 00:05:45.240 credit was don't bother me which is on the 1963 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.399 album with the beatles and he recalled writing 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:50.740 that song while he was sick in bed in the hotel 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:53.660 he saw it mostly as an exercise just to see if 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:55.680 he could write a song But even that early attempt, 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:58.379 it showed his instinct for unusual sounds, right? 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:00.819 The track's written almost entirely in the Dorian 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:03.560 mode, which gives it this exotic, minor key feel 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.920 that really hints at the deeper musical explorations 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.259 that were coming later. That interest just explodes 00:06:09.259 --> 00:06:12.040 in 1965. By the time they're recording Rubber 00:06:12.040 --> 00:06:14.600 Soul, Harrison is acting as this crucial creative 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.439 pivot for the whole band. He really is. He spearheads 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.500 two massive genre shifts. First, he pulls the 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:22.759 band towards folk rock, influenced heavily by 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.740 Bob Dylan and the Burt. And second, he introduces 00:06:25.740 --> 00:06:28.899 Indian classical music to the Western pop world 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:31.939 with his use of the sitar on John Lennon's Norwegian 00:06:31.939 --> 00:06:35.019 Wood. He called Rubber Soul his favorite Beatles 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:38.139 album. And that sitar moment. which he said he 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:40.620 just played initially to suggest a drone. It 00:06:40.620 --> 00:06:43.139 was seismic. It was the flashpoint. It started 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:45.279 what Ravi Shankar later called the great sitar 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.319 explosion in rock music. Harrison is universally 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:50.879 credited for that. And his commitment wasn't 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.259 casual. It was academic. After he personally 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:56.800 met the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar in London 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.139 in June of 66, Harrison asked to become his formal 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:03.360 student. And Shankar accepted, recognizing this 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:05.819 was his sincere desire to learn. It really was. 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:07.939 That same year, There, right after the Beatles' 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.779 final tour, Harrison traveled to India for six 00:07:10.779 --> 00:07:13.459 weeks. He started his study in Bombay, but, I 00:07:13.459 --> 00:07:15.500 mean, having a Beatle there was just too distracting. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.839 Totally. So he had to retreat completely. He 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.019 moved to a secluded houseboat on a remote lake 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:22.480 in Kashmir to continue his intensive sitar study 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:25.459 in private. This was a serious, disciplined pursuit 00:07:25.459 --> 00:07:27.800 of knowledge. You know, it went way beyond simple 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.319 cultural appropriation. You see the results of 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.720 that immersion immediately on Revolver in 1966. 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:35.939 He contributes three compositions. The opener. 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:38.980 The Politically Sharp Taxman. Great track. I 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:42.019 Want to Tell You. And the real landmark, Love 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:45.199 You Too. Love You Too is the key here. The sources 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:48.220 describe it as the Beatles' first genuine full 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:51.100 immersion into Indian music. It's got sitar, 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:54.180 tabla, a complete embrace of Hindustani classical 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:56.689 structure. And it was so pivotal because it set 00:07:56.689 --> 00:07:59.949 this critical precedent in pop music for a respectful, 00:08:00.129 --> 00:08:02.910 detailed, and non -parodying representation of 00:08:02.910 --> 00:08:05.750 Asian musical culture. It emphasized the philosophy 00:08:05.750 --> 00:08:07.870 over just the novelty of the sound. And that 00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:10.069 commitment just got deeper. By the time of Steep 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:13.290 My Peppers in 67, his only contribution, Within 00:08:13.290 --> 00:08:16.529 You, Without You, was a fully formed Indian -inspired 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:19.189 piece. It used sitar, tambura, and musicians 00:08:19.189 --> 00:08:21.529 from the London Asian Music Circle playing instruments 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:24.759 like the daruba and the swar mandal. Crucially, 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:26.860 no other Beatle played on the track. Right, which 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:29.220 really emphasizes that creative divergence. He 00:08:29.220 --> 00:08:31.279 was charting a completely independent course, 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.659 spiritually and musically, while still being 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.179 a full member of the band. And later, looking 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:38.440 back on Sprite Pepper, he said it was both a 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.519 millstone and a milestone. A milestone for its 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:44.629 innovation? but maybe a creative millstone for 00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:47.129 him personally. Because his vision was so often 00:08:47.129 --> 00:08:49.529 restricted to just one or two tracks per album. 00:08:49.710 --> 00:08:52.009 Exactly. What's so fascinating is that while 00:08:52.009 --> 00:08:54.629 he's diving deep into Eastern concepts, he's 00:08:54.629 --> 00:08:58.120 also evolving his rock songwriting. This is where 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.399 Bob Dylan and the band become critical in late 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.580 68. Mm -hmm. Harrison visited Dylan in Woodstock, 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.220 and he was just so drawn to the band's ethos 00:09:06.220 --> 00:09:08.720 of communal, supportive music making. Which was 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.740 the complete opposite of what he was experiencing. 00:09:10.740 --> 00:09:13.879 It stood in stark contrast to the stifling Lennon 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:15.840 -McCartney dominance he felt trapped by in the 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:18.000 Beatles. And that feeling of being creatively 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.440 caged, it led to this explosion of material. 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.379 This period of frustration was also his most 00:09:23.379 --> 00:09:25.700 prolific writing phase. Which culminates in his 00:09:25.700 --> 00:09:28.419 masterful contributions to Abbey Road in 1969. 00:09:29.059 --> 00:09:32.179 Here comes the sun and something. He had finally, 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:34.740 undeniably, achieved equal songwriting status. 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:37.559 Something, in particular, is just iconic. It 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:40.000 was his first A -side single for the band, a 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.840 worldwide chart topper. And its quality is proven 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.460 by Frank Sinatra, of all people, calling it the 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:48.100 greatest love song of the past 50 years. And 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:49.980 it's still the Beatles' second most covered song, 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:52.600 only after Yesterday. Even John Lennon said it 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:54.600 was the best song on the album. I mean, that 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:57.860 level of validation after years of creative restriction 00:09:57.860 --> 00:10:00.419 must have been overwhelming. It was undeniable 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:03.100 proof. But by the time of his final session with 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:06.059 the band in early 1970, that frustration had 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:09.139 become irreversible. The limitation of only two 00:10:09.139 --> 00:10:11.759 or three songs per album had created this immense 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.700 stockpile of unreleased, high -quality compositions. 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.639 And that immense stockpile didn't just lead to 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.379 an album. It led to one of the most remarkable 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:23.480 and really artistically daring debuts of the 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.399 whole post -Beatles era. The triple album, All 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:29.679 Things Must Pass, in 1970. A triple album. I 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:31.440 mean, it wasn't just two discs of songs. There 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.379 was a third disc of just extended jams with his 00:10:33.379 --> 00:10:36.039 friends, the Apple Jam. The sheer audacity and 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:38.370 the volume of it. a direct statement that he 00:10:38.370 --> 00:10:40.350 had been holding back monumental material for 00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:43.210 years. Oh, for sure. The release topped charts 00:10:43.210 --> 00:10:46.289 everywhere and instantly established his signature 00:10:46.289 --> 00:10:49.149 solo identity. And the sound was just massive. 00:10:49.429 --> 00:10:51.750 It really was. The album was co -produced by 00:10:51.750 --> 00:10:55.210 Phil Spector using his famous wall of sound technique. 00:10:55.529 --> 00:10:58.870 So you have this heavy reverb, lush orchestration, 00:10:58.889 --> 00:11:01.789 dense layering of instruments. It created this 00:11:01.789 --> 00:11:04.649 sort of sonic cathedral for Harrison's songs. 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:07.490 And the lineup of musicians was stellar. Eric 00:11:07.490 --> 00:11:11.039 Clapton, Ringo Starr. Billy Preston. Members 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.460 of Delaney and Bonnie's band. Critics got it. 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:15.879 Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone described it as being 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:19.059 Wagnerian, Bricknerian, the music of mountaintops 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.679 and vast horizons. That sounds absolutely enormous. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.240 The album gave him his big and hit single, The 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.059 Spiritually Charged My Sweet Lord, and critically, 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.379 it cemented his trademark instrument for the 00:11:29.379 --> 00:11:32.039 rest of his career, the slide guitar. A technique 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:33.840 he had only just picked up while he was briefly 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:35.879 touring with Delaney and Bonnie and Friends in 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.000 late 1969. And that introduction to slide was 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.139 truly transformational for him. It was. The slide 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:44.600 guitar let him effortlessly blend his spiritual 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.529 identity with his musical one. By moving that 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:50.269 metallic slide, he could mimic the sustained 00:11:50.269 --> 00:11:53.370 vocal -like tones of traditional Indian instruments 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:56.970 like the bode sarangi and the dilruba. It created 00:11:56.970 --> 00:11:59.389 a signature sound that was instantly recognizable 00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:02.309 and just profoundly unique in rock music. But 00:12:02.309 --> 00:12:05.330 the massive success of this spiritual album also 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.169 brought an unexpected and very material shadow. 00:12:08.370 --> 00:12:13.169 The 1976 legal loss over... My sweet lord. A 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:15.409 really painful affair. Bright Tunes Music sued 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:17.690 him, claiming the melody was too similar to the 00:12:17.690 --> 00:12:20.649 1963 hit He's So Fine by the Chiffons. And he 00:12:20.649 --> 00:12:22.289 denied any deliberate copying, right? He said 00:12:22.289 --> 00:12:24.789 the melody just came to him. He did, emphatically. 00:12:25.070 --> 00:12:27.090 But the judge ultimately ruled that while he 00:12:27.090 --> 00:12:29.269 hadn't intentionally copied the song, he was 00:12:29.269 --> 00:12:32.230 guilty of subconscious plagiarism. It was a crippling 00:12:32.230 --> 00:12:34.250 financial and emotional blow for him. It just 00:12:34.250 --> 00:12:37.149 reinforced his skepticism towards the music business 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:39.889 and, you know, the material world. Moving from 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:42.330 that individual creative pain to this act of 00:12:42.330 --> 00:12:45.769 massive compassion, 1971 saw one of the defining 00:12:45.769 --> 00:12:48.190 moments of his life, the concert for Bangladesh. 00:12:48.509 --> 00:12:51.350 This huge event was organized at the direct request 00:12:51.350 --> 00:12:53.950 of Ravi Shankar, who was urgently seeking aid 00:12:53.950 --> 00:12:56.490 for the starving refugees of the Bangladesh liberation 00:12:56.490 --> 00:12:59.350 war. And Harrison just took up the mantle with 00:12:59.350 --> 00:13:02.370 incredible energy. His primary goal wasn't even 00:13:02.370 --> 00:13:04.950 just fundraising. He said it was to attract attention 00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:08.659 to the situation. He understood celebrity power 00:13:08.659 --> 00:13:11.679 could force global media awareness. And the event 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:14.419 was at Madison Square Garden, over 40 ,000 people 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:18.019 across two shows and a historic lineup. Bob Dylan's 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:21.200 first major concert in years, Ringo Starr, Leon 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:24.000 Russell, Eric Clapton. Who was battling a heroin 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.460 addiction at the time. A colossal undertaking. 00:13:26.990 --> 00:13:29.149 They released pop music's first charity single, 00:13:29.330 --> 00:13:32.309 Bangladesh, immediately raising awareness. And 00:13:32.309 --> 00:13:34.169 the triple live album that came out of it, The 00:13:34.169 --> 00:13:36.330 Concept for Bangladesh, went on to win the Grammy 00:13:36.330 --> 00:13:39.389 for Album of the Year in 1973. Its legacy is 00:13:39.389 --> 00:13:41.649 just monumental. It is. I mean, it generated 00:13:41.649 --> 00:13:44.870 about $13 .5 million, but the funds were initially 00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:47.769 delayed for a decade because of tax issues, a 00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:50.230 serious blunder by his business manager, Alan 00:13:50.230 --> 00:13:53.230 Klein, who failed to properly register it as 00:13:53.230 --> 00:13:55.909 a UNICEF benefit. But despite that financial 00:13:55.909 --> 00:13:58.960 holdup, The cultural impact was immediate and 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.179 long -lasting. It fundamentally created the template, 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:05.139 the structure, the celebrity appeal, the live 00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:08.019 album for every major charity rock show that 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:11.000 came after it, from Band -Aid to Live Aid. Looking 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.559 at the mid-'70s, his albums really reflected 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:16.820 his increasing spiritual focus, sometimes, you 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:19.679 know, at the expense of accessibility. His 73 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.789 album... Living in the material world was a huge 00:14:22.789 --> 00:14:24.710 commercial success, though. Oh, yeah. Number 00:14:24.710 --> 00:14:27.490 one for five weeks. It produced the U .S. number 00:14:27.490 --> 00:14:29.909 one single, Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth. 00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:32.529 But that album was just saturated with Hindu 00:14:32.529 --> 00:14:35.529 concepts and critics were split. Some praised 00:14:35.529 --> 00:14:37.789 it as profoundly seductive, a unique article 00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:39.990 of faith. Others, though, started to find his 00:14:39.990 --> 00:14:42.470 work a bit too didactic, maybe even sanctimonious. 00:14:42.490 --> 00:14:45.230 They criticized his tendency to preach. And that 00:14:45.230 --> 00:14:47.470 critique really came to a head during his 1974 00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:49.909 Dark Horse tour. This was his first North American 00:14:49.909 --> 00:14:52.110 tour as an ex -Beatle. And it featured Billy 00:14:52.110 --> 00:14:54.809 Preston and controversially a huge segment dedicated 00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:57.409 to traditional Indian music led by Ravi Shankar. 00:14:57.509 --> 00:14:59.799 And the tour was a critical disaster. It really 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:02.659 was. Fans who were expecting a Beatles hit show 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:05.299 were often affronted by the lengthy Indian music 00:15:05.299 --> 00:15:08.720 sets and Harrison's onstage sermonizing about 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:11.299 God and philosophy. And to make matters worse, 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.840 he was battling severe laryngitis, which led 00:15:14.840 --> 00:15:18.100 critics to infamously dub it the Dark Horse Tour. 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:21.679 That's rough. But it highlights the clash between 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.220 his artistic vision and what the audience expected. 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:27.019 He wasn't giving them nostalgia. He was giving 00:15:27.019 --> 00:15:29.539 them his spiritual truth. And, you know, while 00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:31.419 many reviews were negative, some people there 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:33.700 did see it as a groundbreaking presentation of 00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:36.639 serious non -Western music in a major rock context. 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:39.179 It was an uncompromised artistic stand, for sure. 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:41.539 And that spiritual journey was just non -negotiable 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:43.379 for him, regardless of what the critics said. 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:45.860 Harrison was a lifelong advocate of the teachings 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:48.879 of Swami Vivekananda and especially Paramahansa 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:51.659 Yogananda, the author of Autobiography of a Yogi. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.519 And his commitment to the Hare Krishna movement 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:57.460 was tangible and deeply practical. In 69, he 00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:00.240 produced the hit single Hare Krishna mantra for 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.799 the London devotees. And even more significantly, 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:07.419 in 1972, he donated his sprawling Letchmore Heath 00:16:07.419 --> 00:16:10.659 mansion and its 17 acres of land to the movement. 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.059 It was renamed Bhaktivedanta Manor. I mean, that's 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:16.360 an immense act of spiritual dedication. He was 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:18.720 a serious practitioner. He embraced the discipline 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.259 of japa yoga, which is the meditative chanting 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.940 of mantras with prayer beads. This is the discipline 00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:26.240 that connects the individual to the divine. And 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.360 his philosophical understanding is just perfectly 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:31.059 captured in his chariot analogy. That analogy, 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:33.580 it so perfectly illustrates his struggle with 00:16:33.580 --> 00:16:36.159 fame and the material world. Yeah, he explained 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.100 that the body is like a chariot and the five 00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:40.600 senses are the five horses pulling it. If you 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.139 let the senses, the horses run wild, the chariot 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:45.679 will crash. So you need Christ or Krishna or 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:47.980 Buddha or whichever of our spiritual guides to 00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:50.559 drive the chariot, asserting spiritual control 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.139 over physical desire. It's a disciplined effort 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:56.519 to impose inner order on outer chaos. And that 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.620 discipline extended to his lifestyle. In keeping 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:01.799 with his Hindu yoga traditions, Harrison became 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.660 a committed vegetarian from the late 1960s onward, 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:06.599 and he stuck with it for religious reasons his 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:09.299 entire life. So following that intense, highly 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:12.440 spiritual, but commercially inconsistent period 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:15.440 of the mid to late 70s, which saw some low -performing 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:18.839 albums like Gon Trappo in 82, Harrison engineered 00:17:18.839 --> 00:17:21.339 this massive commercial return in the late 80s. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:25.690 The comeback album, Cloud Nine, 1987. He was 00:17:25.690 --> 00:17:28.009 co -produced with Jeff Lynn of ELO, a brilliant 00:17:28.009 --> 00:17:30.950 choice. Lynn was known for his melodic sensibilities 00:17:30.950 --> 00:17:33.710 in creating these big, polished commercial sounds. 00:17:33.950 --> 00:17:36.529 Lynn was exactly the right partner to bring Heresy's 00:17:36.529 --> 00:17:39.410 melodic gifts back to the mainstream. Cloud Nine 00:17:39.410 --> 00:17:41.950 yielded the global smash Got My Mind Set On You, 00:17:42.029 --> 00:17:44.529 which became a U .S. number one. It just signaled 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:46.690 this profound resurgence for him after nearly 00:17:46.690 --> 00:17:49.089 five years away from the spotlight. This successful 00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:51.309 return to music wasn't the only area where he 00:17:51.309 --> 00:17:53.900 was innovating, though. His influence in film 00:17:53.900 --> 00:17:55.980 production just completely shreds any trace of 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:58.619 that quiet Beatles stereotype. He became a vital 00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:00.680 figure in sustaining the entire British film 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:03.440 industry during a lean period. The origin story 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.220 of handmade films is legendary. He co -founded 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:08.079 it with his business partner, Dennis O 'Brien, 00:18:08.180 --> 00:18:11.640 in 1978. And the motivation wasn't profit. It 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.940 was friendship. It was a desire to see art get 00:18:13.940 --> 00:18:16.720 made. Specifically, they wanted to produce Monty 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.319 Python's Life of Brian. Right. They stepped in 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:21.890 because EMI Films, the original backer. pulled 00:18:21.890 --> 00:18:24.190 out just days before production was set to start. 00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:27.029 Their chief executive read the scripts and just 00:18:27.029 --> 00:18:28.849 thought it was too controversial. So Harrison, 00:18:29.029 --> 00:18:31.210 faced with his friends not being able to make 00:18:31.210 --> 00:18:33.329 their movie, just put up the entire production 00:18:33.329 --> 00:18:36.250 cost himself. By mortgaging his home, Friar Park. 00:18:36.609 --> 00:18:39.690 Famously, Eric Idle later immortalized it, saying 00:18:39.690 --> 00:18:42.029 Harrison had paid the most anybody's ever paid 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:44.390 for a cinema ticket in history. It was an act 00:18:44.390 --> 00:18:47.170 of pure, financially reckless idealism, and it 00:18:47.170 --> 00:18:49.960 paid off immediately. That cinema ticket? earned 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:53.940 $21 million at the U .S. box office alone. And 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.019 Harrison went on to be executive producer for 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:58.910 23 films through Handmade. We're talking about 00:18:58.910 --> 00:19:01.410 massive hits like the fantasy adventure Time 00:19:01.410 --> 00:19:04.930 Bandits in 1981, as well as the critically acclaimed 00:19:04.930 --> 00:19:07.470 Mona Lisa and the cult classic Withnail and I. 00:19:07.910 --> 00:19:10.809 His role was crucial. He was credited with helping 00:19:10.809 --> 00:19:12.970 to stabilize and sustain the British film industry 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:15.210 during a period of real financial insecurity. 00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:19.210 But again, that chaos of the material world intruded. 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:22.069 While Handmaid produced these classics, the business 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:24.789 began to suffer in the late 80s due to some box 00:19:24.789 --> 00:19:27.230 office flops and significant debt incurred by 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:29.950 O 'Brien. And the aftermath was brutal. Harrison 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:32.289 eventually sued O 'Brien for fraud and negligence, 00:19:32.369 --> 00:19:35.990 winning a highly publicized $11 .6 million judgment 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:39.690 in 1996. This sequence, great spiritual impulse 00:19:39.690 --> 00:19:42.190 leading to extraordinary creative success, followed 00:19:42.190 --> 00:19:44.529 by betrayal and entanglement and ugly material 00:19:44.529 --> 00:19:46.910 legal battles. That's a profound theme that runs 00:19:46.910 --> 00:19:48.869 through his whole adult life. Let's pivot back 00:19:48.869 --> 00:19:51.049 to music. The late 80s, which brought one of 00:19:51.049 --> 00:19:53.089 the most organic and just unexpected creative 00:19:53.089 --> 00:19:55.690 alliances in rock history, the Traveling Wilburys. 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:58.009 The formation of this platinum -selling supergroup 00:19:58.009 --> 00:20:01.990 was quite literally an accident. In 1988, Harrison, 00:20:02.309 --> 00:20:05.710 Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty 00:20:05.710 --> 00:20:08.829 all gather in Bob Dylan's garage studio to record 00:20:08.829 --> 00:20:11.450 a single track. Harrison just needed a B -side 00:20:11.450 --> 00:20:14.369 for a European single. Exactly. And the song 00:20:14.369 --> 00:20:16.789 they recorded, Handle With Care, was so good 00:20:16.789 --> 00:20:19.089 that his record company recognized it was way 00:20:19.089 --> 00:20:21.529 too strong for a B -side, and they demanded a 00:20:21.529 --> 00:20:24.069 full album. So under the guise of being these 00:20:24.069 --> 00:20:27.029 related half -brothers, all named Wilbury, the 00:20:27.029 --> 00:20:30.210 group recorded Traveling Wilburys Volume 1. Harrison 00:20:30.210 --> 00:20:32.490 adopted the pseudonym Nelson Wilbury for the 00:20:32.490 --> 00:20:35.410 first album, and then Spike Wilbury for the second. 00:20:35.569 --> 00:20:37.549 Their whole project was just marked by this easy 00:20:37.549 --> 00:20:40.559 collaboration and playful wit. After the tragic 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:42.980 death of Roy Orbison in late 88, the remaining 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:45.960 four recorded a second album in 1990, which they 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.259 deliberately titled Traveling Wilburys, Volume 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:50.460 3. Which was Harrison's idea, wasn't it? It was. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.380 Jeff Flynn confirmed it. He said, let's confuse 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:55.920 the buggers. It's a perfect example of his dry, 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:58.480 self -effacing humor. And it's also worth noting 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:00.859 this supergroup, despite its immense success, 00:21:01.220 --> 00:21:04.240 never performed live. In the mid -90s, Harrison 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.359 returned to his original bandmates for the Beatles' 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.710 Anthology Project. This saw him, McCartney, and 00:21:09.710 --> 00:21:13.069 Starr reuniting with producer Jeff Lynn to finish 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:16.569 two incomplete John Lennon demos, Free as a Bird 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:20.839 and Real Love. It was a monumental, painstaking 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:23.359 task, his final collaboration with the surviving 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:26.099 members of the Beatles. But the process was, 00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:28.880 uh, complicated. When they tried a third Lennon 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:31.880 song, now and then, Harrison immediately objected. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.200 He found the audio quality of Lennon's cassette 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.960 demo completely unacceptable, and he vetoed its 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:39.559 completion. Declaring the raw track fucking rubbish. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:42.559 Exactly, a blunt assessment that perfectly encapsulates 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.940 his creative standards and his honesty. Now we 00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:47.299 have to turn to his final years, which were marked 00:21:47.299 --> 00:21:49.460 by immense physical... challenges, starting with 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:51.859 health issues related to his past. Soon after 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:53.740 the anthology sessions, Harrison was diagnosed 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:56.119 with throat cancer, which he publicly attributed 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:58.779 to years of smoking. He received treatment, but 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:00.859 his health was severely compromised when, in 00:22:00.859 --> 00:22:04.119 1999, he faced a truly life -threatening encounter. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:07.259 This was the horrific knife attack at his Friar 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:12.200 Park estate on December 30, 1999. A 34 -year 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:15.339 -old paranoid schizophrenic, Michael Abram, broke 00:22:15.339 --> 00:22:17.220 in and violently attacked him with a kitchen 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:20.329 knife. Harrison fought back fiercely, but he 00:22:20.329 --> 00:22:22.630 sustained over 40 stab wounds and a punctured 00:22:22.630 --> 00:22:26.809 lung. His wife, Olivia, saved his life. She intervened 00:22:26.809 --> 00:22:28.650 and physically struck the intruder repeatedly 00:22:28.650 --> 00:22:31.390 with a heavy fireplace poker and a lamp until 00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.289 Abram was subdued. Harrison later recalled the 00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:36.369 moment vividly, thinking he'd been fatally stabbed. 00:22:36.609 --> 00:22:42.579 He said, Wow. And his philosophical response 00:22:42.579 --> 00:22:45.599 in the aftermath was just so profound. He quoted 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.259 the 8th century Indian sage Adi Shankara saying, 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.799 Life is fragile like a raindrop on a lotus leaf, 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:54.079 and you'd better believe it. Tragically, his 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:56.240 close circle, including McCartney, later said 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.039 they believed the severe trauma of that attack 00:22:58.039 --> 00:22:59.960 likely triggered the return and spread of his 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:02.519 cancer. The wounds and the emotional shock were 00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:05.000 just immense. Again, cancer had metastasized, 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:06.859 which led to treatment in Switzerland and later 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:10.140 New York. His dry wit, though, it remained intact 00:23:10.140 --> 00:23:12.819 to the very end. Ringo Starr visited him in New 00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:15.019 York, and when Ringo had to leave abruptly because 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:17.140 his own daughter needed emergency brain surgery, 00:23:17.420 --> 00:23:19.920 Harrison, despite being so frail and weak, quipped, 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.400 Do you want me to come with you? He died on November 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:26.119 29, 2001, at the age of 58, at a property in 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:28.720 Los Angeles belonging to Paul McCartney. He was 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:30.779 surrounded by his family and Hare Krishna devotees 00:23:30.779 --> 00:23:33.859 who were chanting verses from Bhagavad Gita as 00:23:33.859 --> 00:23:36.259 he passed. And his final communicated message, 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:39.460 relayed by his family, it just beautifully synthesized 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:42.279 his entire life's philosophy. Everything else 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:44.480 can wait, but the search for God cannot wait 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:47.700 and love one another. After his death, his body 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:49.720 was cremated and his ashes were scattered according 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.119 to Hindu tradition in the Ganges and Yamuna rivers 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:54.920 in India. His final, truly posthumous album, 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:57.740 Brainwashed, was completed by his son Donnie 00:23:57.740 --> 00:24:00.619 and Jeff Lynn in 2002. Brainwashed had a quotation 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.019 in the liner notes from the Bhagavad Gita emphasizing 00:24:03.019 --> 00:24:05.759 the immortal nature of the soul. There never 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:08.660 was a time when you or I did not exist, nor will 00:24:08.660 --> 00:24:10.759 there be any future when we shall cease to be. 00:24:11.210 --> 00:24:13.430 And musically, it featured the Grammy -winning 00:24:13.430 --> 00:24:17.130 instrumental Marwa Blues, which perfectly synthesized 00:24:17.130 --> 00:24:20.250 his signature slide, playing by blending Hawaiian 00:24:20.250 --> 00:24:22.950 slack -key guitar influences with traditional 00:24:22.950 --> 00:24:25.950 Indian modal structures. Now we really need to 00:24:25.950 --> 00:24:28.690 dive deep into the technical skill that underpinned 00:24:28.690 --> 00:24:32.069 all of this cultural innovation, his guitar playing. 00:24:32.309 --> 00:24:35.230 Eric Clapton, his lifelong friend and collaborator, 00:24:35.289 --> 00:24:38.579 called Harrison clearly an innovator. He wasn't 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:41.299 a flashy virtuoso, but his melodic intuition 00:24:41.299 --> 00:24:44.019 was unmatched. His guitar worked during the Beatles 00:24:44.019 --> 00:24:46.519 era. It was characterized by flexibility and 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:49.140 elegance, not showmanship. He was known for a 00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:52.200 non -showy but incredibly solid, supportive lead 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:54.740 guitar style. You can hear his influences, Chet 00:24:54.740 --> 00:24:56.900 Atkins, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, and his rhythm 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:59.299 playing. His melodic lead solos are the key difference. 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:01.839 Where his contemporaries like Clapton or Beck 00:25:01.839 --> 00:25:04.559 focused on speed and blues bombast, Harrison 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:07.000 focused on fitting the song structurally. Right. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.059 Take his iconic solo on something. It's highly 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:12.619 controlled, beautifully phrased. It sounds almost 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:14.839 like a vocal line, a perfect counterpoint to 00:25:14.839 --> 00:25:17.039 the song's melody, not a distraction from it. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.539 Or the solo on Taxman, which is so angular and 00:25:20.539 --> 00:25:23.059 punchy. Exactly. It's structurally unique and 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:25.079 provides a direct counterpoint to the political 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:27.880 lyrics. But he was also a technical innovator 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:30.440 on rhythm guitar. During the Rubber Soul and 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:32.900 Revolver eras, and prominently on Here Comes 00:25:32.900 --> 00:25:36.880 the Sun, he pioneered using a capo high up on 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.819 the acoustic guitar neck. Which gives that really 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:41.279 bright chiming sound. It does. It shortened the 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:43.920 strings and created this distinctive, sweet sound 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.039 that helped define the acoustic textures of those 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:48.519 albums. He was also so instrumental in popularizing 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.740 specific instruments. That 12 -string Rickenbacker 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:55.900 36012 he used heavily between 64 and 65. Which 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:58.339 Melody Maker famously called the Beatles' secret 00:25:58.339 --> 00:26:01.900 weapon. It provided that instant iconic jangly 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:04.259 sound that characterized their entry into the 00:26:04.259 --> 00:26:07.359 mid -60s. That guitar's unique wiring created 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:09.740 a texture that launched a thousand imitators. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:11.740 Okay, but here is where his musical innovation 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:15.759 gets truly profound. The slide guitar. We mentioned 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.559 he picked it up in 1969. This wasn't just a new 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.299 effect for him. It was the ultimate tool for 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:22.900 merging East and West. It was a conscious artistic 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:26.380 synthesis. By using the slide, he could achieve 00:26:26.380 --> 00:26:29.519 the sustained microtonal inflections that define 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:32.640 Indian bowed instruments, like the saranji, which 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:35.019 is known for its voice -like quality, or the 00:26:35.019 --> 00:26:37.890 dilruba. He took a country and blues technique 00:26:37.890 --> 00:26:40.650 and repurposed it to speak the language of classical 00:26:40.650 --> 00:26:43.069 Indian music. And that established his entire 00:26:43.069 --> 00:26:45.250 post -Beatles identity, didn't it? It defined 00:26:45.250 --> 00:26:48.390 the sonic space of all things must pass and everything 00:26:48.390 --> 00:26:50.990 that came after. Absolutely. And he was proficient 00:26:50.990 --> 00:26:53.670 beyond the guitar, too. He played bass on several 00:26:53.670 --> 00:26:56.589 Beatles tracks like She Said, She Said, and was 00:26:56.589 --> 00:26:58.809 also a devoted ukulele player later in life. 00:26:58.970 --> 00:27:00.950 And beyond his own playing, his production and 00:27:00.950 --> 00:27:03.539 collaboration credits are staggering. He wasn't 00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:06.140 just creating his own work. He was actively fostering 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:09.079 the careers of other people. He produced early 00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:11.500 Apple Records artists like Doris Troy and the 00:27:11.500 --> 00:27:13.720 keyboardist Billy Preston. And he didn't stop 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:16.859 there. He founded Dark Horse Records in 74, trying 00:27:16.859 --> 00:27:19.380 to recapture that collaborative idealism of early 00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:22.559 Apple. He signed diverse acts, most notably his 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:25.420 mentor Ravi Shankar and the British duo Splinter. 00:27:25.789 --> 00:27:28.470 And he personally produced and played multiple 00:27:28.470 --> 00:27:31.289 instruments on Splinter's debut album, helping 00:27:31.289 --> 00:27:34.170 them get the label's first hit. It really reflected 00:27:34.170 --> 00:27:36.529 that generosity Eric Idle talked about, saying 00:27:36.529 --> 00:27:39.430 Harrison was extremely generous and he backs 00:27:39.430 --> 00:27:41.309 and supports all sorts of people that you'll 00:27:41.309 --> 00:27:43.829 never, ever hear of. His collaborations with 00:27:43.829 --> 00:27:45.970 his former bandmates were also really fruitful, 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:49.839 especially with Ringo Starr. Between 71 and 73, 00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.559 Harrison co -wrote or produced three top 10 hits 00:27:53.559 --> 00:27:56.500 for Ringo. It don't come easy, back off Boogaloo 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:59.759 and photograph. He was often the musical backbone 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.720 for Ringo's early solo success. And of course, 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.859 his slide guitar is all over John Lennon's Imagine 00:28:04.859 --> 00:28:07.440 album. What's truly fascinating about his legacy 00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:09.500 is the complexity of those relationships with 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:11.960 his bandmates. With John Lennon, the dynamic 00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:14.799 evolved from him being the young follower to 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:18.130 sharing a spiritual bond first over. LSD and 00:28:18.130 --> 00:28:20.150 later through their pursuit of spiritual guides. 00:28:20.369 --> 00:28:23.369 That bond was tested, but it endured. Harrison, 00:28:23.490 --> 00:28:26.529 reflecting on Lennon in 1974, gave that incredibly 00:28:26.529 --> 00:28:29.190 honest, nuanced description. It's amazing. John 00:28:29.190 --> 00:28:32.130 Lennon is a saint and he's heavy duty and he's 00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:34.970 great and I love him. But at the same time, he's 00:28:34.970 --> 00:28:37.430 such a bastard. But that's the great thing about 00:28:37.430 --> 00:28:41.309 him, you see. It reflects a deep, complex relationship 00:28:41.309 --> 00:28:44.730 where intense friction coexisted with profound 00:28:44.730 --> 00:28:47.910 affection. And the relationship with Paul McCartney 00:28:47.910 --> 00:28:50.710 was maybe even more volatile. They met first 00:28:50.710 --> 00:28:52.809 on the school bus, shared a bedroom on those 00:28:52.809 --> 00:28:56.269 early Hamburg tours. Paul genuinely saw him as 00:28:56.269 --> 00:28:59.630 his baby brother. But the creative friction intensified 00:28:59.630 --> 00:29:02.410 dramatically when McCartney began exerting dominant 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:04.990 creative control in the mid to late 60s. And 00:29:04.990 --> 00:29:07.390 that friction is why that, quote, Paul ruined 00:29:07.390 --> 00:29:10.170 me as a guitar player is so astonishing. But 00:29:10.170 --> 00:29:12.400 you know why he felt that way. Paul, as the director, 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:14.680 would often dictate Harrison's guitar parts or 00:29:14.680 --> 00:29:17.200 sometimes just play them himself. You can feel 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:19.680 the tension in the Get Back film footage. Absolutely. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:24.039 Yet even in 1974, after the split, Harrison admitted, 00:29:24.259 --> 00:29:26.099 I just know that whatever we've been through, 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:27.819 there's always been something that's tied us 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:30.819 together. That profound shared history and creative 00:29:30.819 --> 00:29:33.140 friction. It was the central tension that both 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:35.460 powered their work and complicated things later. 00:29:35.640 --> 00:29:38.519 But they maintained that complex, distant closeness 00:29:38.519 --> 00:29:41.509 right up to the end. I mean, the fact that Harrison 00:29:41.509 --> 00:29:43.809 passed away on a McCartney property says a lot. 00:29:43.890 --> 00:29:46.289 It does. His solo career earned him profound 00:29:46.289 --> 00:29:49.029 recognition. He was inducted into the Rock and 00:29:49.029 --> 00:29:51.529 Roll Hall of Fame twice, with the Beatles in 00:29:51.529 --> 00:29:54.910 88, and posthumously as a solo artist in 2004. 00:29:55.710 --> 00:29:58.309 He also got the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 00:29:58.309 --> 00:30:02.069 in 2015. And beyond the Standard Awards, the 00:30:02.069 --> 00:30:05.710 Billboard Century Award he got in 1992, it specifically 00:30:05.710 --> 00:30:08.970 recognized his critical role in laying the groundwork 00:30:08.970 --> 00:30:11.769 for the modern concept of world music and advancing 00:30:11.769 --> 00:30:14.250 society's comprehension of the spiritual power 00:30:14.250 --> 00:30:17.609 inherent in popular music. That, I think, summarizes 00:30:17.609 --> 00:30:19.890 his ultimate contribution. So if we synthesize 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:22.450 this entire deep dive, the musician, the seeker, 00:30:22.509 --> 00:30:24.390 the film producer, the philanthropist, Harrison's 00:30:24.390 --> 00:30:27.130 ultimate role was not that of a quiet side player. 00:30:27.269 --> 00:30:30.069 Not at all. Far from it. He was in fact the intellectual 00:30:30.069 --> 00:30:32.049 and spiritual engine that constantly demanded 00:30:32.049 --> 00:30:34.690 popular music look outward beyond its traditional 00:30:34.690 --> 00:30:37.329 pop structure toward global consciousness and 00:30:37.329 --> 00:30:39.930 deeper personal meaning. He was ironically one 00:30:39.930 --> 00:30:41.430 of the most culturally active and influential 00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:44.049 figures of the 20th century. And his life was 00:30:44.049 --> 00:30:47.150 this constant tug of war between his innate idealism 00:30:47.150 --> 00:30:49.329 and the chaos and pain of the material world, 00:30:49.470 --> 00:30:52.190 the plagiarism suits, the betrayal by his film 00:30:52.190 --> 00:30:54.430 partner, the violence of the attack, the cancer 00:30:54.430 --> 00:30:56.890 that followed. This tension drove him toward 00:30:56.890 --> 00:30:59.279 physical acts of creation. that doubled as spiritual 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:01.539 refuges. Which brings us to his relationship 00:31:01.539 --> 00:31:05.119 with his estate, Friar Park. It was 36 acres, 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:08.259 and he spent decades meticulously renovating 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:11.480 and cultivating the elaborate grounds. He saw 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:15.019 the work as therapy, as a form of devotion. His 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:18.460 autobiography, I May Mine, is famously dedicated 00:31:18.460 --> 00:31:21.339 to gardeners everywhere. He saw gardening as 00:31:21.339 --> 00:31:24.200 an explicit necessary escape. He was so clear 00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:27.200 about why he retreated there. He once said, sometimes 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:28.799 I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet, 00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:30.400 and it's great when I'm in my garden, but the 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:32.440 minute I go out the gate, I think, what the hell 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.099 am I doing here? The garden was his attempt to 00:31:35.099 --> 00:31:37.500 physically manifest inner peace. It was. So that 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:39.779 raises an important question for you, the listener, 00:31:39.940 --> 00:31:42.599 to mull over. We know he was a prolific artist, 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:45.839 but his final communicated message was, everything 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.160 else can wait, but the search for God cannot 00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.700 wait. Given this, was his meticulous, disciplined 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:54.240 dedication to cultivating the sanctuary of Friar 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:56.880 Park, maintaining that vast manor and fighting 00:31:56.880 --> 00:31:59.480 back against the chaos of nature, was that as 00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:01.839 central to his life's ultimate work as the songs 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:03.869 he created there? The connection suggests that 00:32:03.869 --> 00:32:06.069 for George Harrison, the disciplined pursuit 00:32:06.069 --> 00:32:08.450 of creating and maintaining inner spiritual peace 00:32:08.450 --> 00:32:12.509 was, itself, an act of creation, an act equivalent 00:32:12.509 --> 00:32:14.849 in significance to writing a masterpiece like 00:32:14.849 --> 00:32:17.750 something or organizing the first massive benefit 00:32:17.750 --> 00:32:20.470 concert. His inner landscape needed cultivation 00:32:20.470 --> 00:32:22.970 just as much as his physical gardens and his 00:32:22.970 --> 00:32:25.250 musical genius. Something to think about long 00:32:25.250 --> 00:32:27.750 after the music fades. Thank you for joining 00:32:27.750 --> 00:32:30.230 us for this deep dive into the magnificent world 00:32:30.230 --> 00:32:30.950 of George Harrison.