I saw "A Concert for George" on the local PBS a month ago and was pretty impressed. Although I am not a Beatles fan or a George Harrison fan, he had some great songs.

After listening to Paul McCartney/Eric Clapton's solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and comparing it to the one I have on DVD from the RnR Hall Of Fame (with Prince & Tom Petty), I have this song in my all time top 10 favorites. What was the inspiration behind the song?

I would like to be introduced to his (Harrison's ) music. Any suggestions about where to start?

Thanks

You can read about the inspiration for the track here in the songs o-y section.
http://www.beatles-discography.com/

Although it's not too complimentary.

Cloudbuster said:

Just read the review. It was pretty harsh, but the song is not overrated.

Prior to the RRHOF performance, I knew of the Lennon/McCartney works, but nothing by George Harrison outside of Here Comes The Sun. The song is very melancholy and soothing at the same time if that makes sense. Any ideas about where to start with George?

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

The review is right, imo, in relation to the acoustic version on the Anthologies - much nicer than the white album version.

Oh, and start with All Things Must Pass.

Brilliant album.

probably end there too.

Oh, and if you only knew of 'Here Comes The Sun', i'm assuming that you need to get all the Beatles albums too.

Harrison wrote lots of cool songs there too (such as For You Blue, Something, Taxman etc.)


[Edited 7/12/05 6:34am]

TheFrog said:

I like Within You Without You from Sgt. Pepper. One of his best.

I always was into the mainstream Beatles recordings (heavy airplay on the oldies stations), but never could bring myself to buy an album of theirs. George always seemed to make more introspective music (IMO).

Regarding the Beatles: I do not doubt their contribution to music on a whole, but can someone tell me why they were considered so innovative (albums, tracks,?) It seems as if everyone from Hendrix to Prince from Dylan to the Doors were said to have been influenced by these guys.

I am not versed on the world of musicology as a whole, but it seems as if rock music as we know began with them in 1964. Also, for purely selfish reasons , I need to bring some new ideas into the classroom for the upcoming school year. I would like to do a couple of lessons on compare & contrasting musical styles by decade and have them debate the merits of their choices.

Any info would be valuable.

Thanks,

4 give my ignorance, I am only 28

Cloudbuster said:

Thanks Cloudy, that was a good read.
I need to go ahead and finally snag All Things Must Pass.

COMPUTERBLUE1984 said:

I think what it comes down to is how much they achieved both commercially and artistically in just seven years. You really need to listen to their work from beginning to end to fully grasp the enormity of their gift and contribution to music. They pretty much turned pop into an art form and broke all the rules along the way. People will have bands they favour over the Beatles, which is fair enough. But no other band was ever more important.

Something

Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson were just performing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", backed by a string quartet, on Conan O'Brien last night! (BTW, that's 80's Pop Joe Jackson, not Michael's Pop Joe Jackson, ...they're both known for Steppin' Out, but that's another story, ....)



...
[Edited 7/12/05 11:28am]

i didn't even know that the song existed until the RHOF performance with prince..