In Tribute: George Harrison

Today, Feb. 25, 2009, would’ve been George Harrison’s 66th birthday. He was the lead guitarist of The Beatles and crafted some of the group’s songs, including While My Guitar Gently Weeps, the love song Something, the psychedelic Blue Jay Way, Within You Without You (no other Beatle performs on this song; George plays the sitar), and the gem Here’s Comes The Sun.

His solo work showed off his song writing skills and his stellar guitar talent. His triple album masterpiece All Things Must Pass includes such hits as My Sweet Lord, If Not For You, What Is Life, Isn’t It A Pity, and the title track.

Other notable songs from his solo catalog include All Those Years Ago (dedicated to Lennon after his murder), Give Me Love, When We Was Fab, I Got My Mind Set On You.

His posthumously-released album Brainwashed and his work as part of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys are highly recommended as well.

George: The Quiet Beatle

George Harrison, born February 25, 1943, was the youngest of The Beatles and the composer of the group’s Here Comes The Sun, Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Blue Jay Way, among others.

His first solo album, the majestic All Things Must Pass – a triple LP – was made up mostly of songs he had written during his time with The Beatles. It was remastered and expanded in 2001, making it even easier to appreciate the talent of Harrison. My Sweet Lord, What is Life, Isn’t It a Pity, If Not For You and the title track are his greatest songs and all appear on this highly recommended album.

George died of cancer on November 29, 2001, but spent most of his life trying to reach spiritual fulfillment and writing songs with deeply personal sentiments.

Click here for a tribute to George Harrison with All Things Must Pass as the backdrop.

For George’s acoustic version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, click here.