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George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle
£19.16£25.00 (-23%)
From the author of the million-copy selling Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation and the bestselling John Lennon: The Life comes a revealing portrait of George Harrison, the most undervalued and mysterious Beatle.
Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote.
Now, acclaimed Beatles biographer Philip Norman examines Harrison through the lens of his numerous self-contradictions. Compared to songwriting luminaries John Lennon and Paul McCartney he was considered a minor talent, yet he composed such masterpieces as ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun’, and his solo debut album ‘All Things Must Pass’ achieved enormous success, appearing on many lists of the 100 best rock albums ever. Modern music critics place him in the pantheon of Sixties guitar gods alongside Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page.
Harrison railed against the material world yet wrote the first pop song complaining about income tax. He spent years lovingly restoring his Friar Park estate as a spiritual journey, but quickly mortgaged the property to help rescue a film project that would be widely banned as sacrilegious, Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Harrison could be fiercely jealous, but not only did he stay friends with Eric Clapton when Clapton fell in love with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd, the two men grew even closer after Clapton walked away with her.
Unprecedented in scope and filled with numerous colour photos, this rich biography captures George Harrison at his most multi-faceted: devoted friend, loyal son, master guitar-player, brilliant songwriter, cocaine addict, serial philanderer, global philanthropist, student of Indian mysticism, self-deprecating comedian and, ultimately, iconic artist and man beloved by millions.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster UK (24 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 560 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1398513407 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1398513402 |
| Dimensions | 15.3 x 3.75 x 23.4 cm |
by jayaitch
A decent introduction for a reader who knows little about GH and his life, but that’s about it.
by Beatlesaint
So Mr Norman turns his attention to his third Beatle after biographies on John and Paul. This one isnt great by any means, we spend an age on the Beatle years (over 300 pages) meaning the remaining 31 years of George’s life are given short shrift.
Norma wrote a quite frankly nasty obituary when George passed away. He hasnt made amends. Dont bother with this book.
by Fiona Brown
I can’t believe the author wasted my time on a book that could have been so much more interesting, given the subject. Philip Norman could have produced a great book, had he given some time to exploring why and how George Harrison was able to gather so many diverse people around him, and keep them wanting to be around him, instead of just rehashing well-known stories (and a lot of them were just stories). I was actually bored reading this pretty lightweight book, and irritated by the typos.
by E. Russell
A lazy book. Norman gives us nothing new. Many glaring errors. Rehashes well known stories. There are better books on the subject out there. Much much better
by DT
There’s nothing new in here so can only be recommended to those who know very little about George and the Beatles in general.
There are no sources for the quotes in the book. There is a brief run down of further reading for each chapter, and most of the books referenced are the authors’ previous works on The Beatles, and on Lennon, and McCartney. There are also spelling and grammatical errors that are inexcusable.
The problem with any George biography is that, post-Beatles, he lived a rather private life, and no one close to him at that time is going to talk to the likes of this author. When the author does say something I haven’t heard before (i.e. George employing a prostitute whilst playing a ukulele), there is no references to a source, so it carried as much weight as if I’d said it.
There is still a glaring gap for a decent George biography that isn’t a cut and paste job of what is already known. I’m not holding my breath for that to happen.
by Bookends
Having read Philip Norman’s other Beatles biographies, I was looking forward to reading his next book on the Fab Four, and it didn’t disappoint, and was a pleasant enough read.
It’s the next two Beatles biographies on the conveyer belt that I’m really looking forward to reading- Kenneth Womack’s Mal Evans biography, and the oral biography out next year, All You Need Is Love, that I’m really waiting for. But in saying that, this Philip Norman book filled a gap.
by LolaWelly
I have read most of the decent books and biographies around the Beatles (including Norman’s work) and always longed to know more about George who I felt was treated very unfairly by many critics. I have especially liked his body of music which had truly held up and was intrigued by his complex and contradictory character.
He comes to life in what I feel is a fair and comprehensive portrait; in fact Norman apologies for his obituary of George. He has been too soft on Lennon and too hard on McCartney and I think he genuinely does try to redress the balance with George.
Both his wives Patti and Olivia come across as very decent people in their own right coping with his numerous infidelities and addictions. His relationships with the other Fab Four and Eric Clapton are fascinating and also his film producing career.
I am left with a feeling of sadness for his early death but a man who was at peace and had the most extraordinary life, bravery, and respect for other cultures, a great sense of humour, while remaining down to earth and flawed as a human being, just like the rest of us.
Please could we have Ringo next?
by rick
Great read, well written and kept me interested from the first page. A comprehensive biography of a great guitarist. And, post Beatles, his solo All Things Must Pass album remains the best solo release by any of the band.