George Harrison, the 'quiet' Beatle, comes alive in new bio
The mild 2023 version of Beatlemania hardly compares to the wild 1964 version, but it has brought new musical products.
“Now and Then,” the “last” song from the band, was released Nov. 2 to promote the Nov. 10 release of expanded versions of two collections, “The Beatles 1962-1966” and “The Beatles 1967-1970.”
Fewer people noticed the Oct. 24 release of George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle, Philip Norman’s new 510-page deep-dive bio of the so-called “quiet” Beatle.
Norman, the author of four previous Beatles books, including biographies of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, helps readers understand Harrison’s musicianship, songwriting, Hindu spirituality and essential role in forming the Beatles from the ashes of the Quarrymen.
Norman paints a portrait of an “endlessly self-contradictory” artist who: “railed against ‘the material world,’ yet wrote the first pop song complaining about income tax; who spent years lovingly restoring Friar Park, his 30-room Gothic mansion, yet mortgaged it in a heartbeat to finance his friends the Monty Python team’s Life of Brian film; who, paradoxically, became more uptight and moody after he learned to meditate; who could touch both the height of nobility with his Concert for Bangladesh and the depths of disloyalty in his casual seduction of Ringo’s wife.”
Source: Steve Rabey/baptistnews.com
