George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters

by Ashley Kahn

Overview

• 2022 ASCAP Foundation Special Recognition Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Book Award in Pop Music

George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison’s most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1962 to 2001.

This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a celebrity, as well as a sense of deep commitment and humor.

Though known as the “Quiet Beatle,” Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641600514
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Series:	Musicians in Their Own Words , #17
Pages:	592
Sales rank:	1,100,217
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Grammy-winning author Ashley Kahn has received widespread critical acclaim for A Love Supreme: The Making of John Coltrane’s Signature Album and Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. His other books include The House That Trane Built and, as cowriter, The Universal Tone, Carlos Santana’s autobiography. He teaches at New York University, and his articles have appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and other publications.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Part I 1961-1966

Radio Interview Monty Lister October 28, 1962 | Sunday Spin, Radio Clatterbridge 3

Film and Radio Interviews The Beatles August-October 1963 | The Mersey Sound, The Public Ear, BBC Radio 5

High School Paper Article Marcia Schafer September 1963 | Redbird Notes (US) 11

Daily Express Columns George Harrison Derek Taylor January-August 1964 | Daily Express 14

Radio Interview Carroll James February 11, 1964 | WWDC 26

Tour Interviews Larry Kane February 1964-August 1965 | Ticket to Ride 29

Radio Interviews George Harrison March 22, 1964 | The Public Ear, BBC Radio 34

Teledate: Sylvia Stephen Talking to George Harrison Sylvia Stephen June 13, 1964 | Fabulous 37

Magazine Interview David Hull Derek Taylor April 7, 1965 | KRLA Beat 41

How a Beatle Lives Part 3: George Harrison Maureen Cleave March 18, 1966 | Evening Standard 51

Part II 1967-1970

The Way Out Is In: A George Harrison Interview Barry Miles May 19, 1967 | International Times 61

The George Harrison Interview Alan Walsh September 2, 1967 | Melody Maker 71

Television Interviews David Frost September 29 and October 4, 1967 | The Frost Programme, ITV 78

Beatle George and Where He's At Nick Jones December 16 and 30, 1967 | Melody Maker 109

Radio Interview David Wigg October 8, 1969 | Scene and Heard, BBC Radio 118

Room Conversation with Sri Prabhupada, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison September 11, 1969 | Original Transcription 128

George Harrison, May 1970 Howard Smith May 1, 1970 | The Smith Tapes 136

Part III 1971-1979

Television Interview Dick Cavett November 23, 1971 | The Dick Cavett Show 147

Conversation with George Harrison, Sri Prabhupada, and ISKCON Members July 22, 1973 | Conversation Transcript 175

Press Conference October 23, 1974 | Los Angeles 183

Radio Interview Dave Herman April 19 and 20, 1975 | WNEW-FM 191

The George Harrison Interview Mitchell Glazer February 1977 | Crawdaddy 215

Radio Interview with George Harrison and Michael Jackson David "Kid" Jensen February 9, 1979 | Roundtable, BBC Radio 1 235

A Conversation with George Harrison Mick Brown April 19, 1979 | Rolling Stone 266

Part IV 1982-1989

Magazine Interview Mukunda Goswami September 4, 1982 | Back to Godhead 287

Unpublished Interview Charles Bermant September 17, 1987 | Interview Transcript 309

Magazine Interview Anthony DeCurtis August 27 or 28, 1987 | Interview Transcript 317

Magazine Interview Elaine Dutka August 25, 1987 | Interview Transcript 347

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speech George Harrison January 21, 1988 | Speech Transcript 359

Television Interview Ray Martin February 10, 1988 | Midday with Ray Martin (Australia) 361

Television Interview Michael Aspel March 5, 1988 | Aspel & Company 370

Book Interview Dr. Jenny Boyd April-May 1988 | It's Not Only Rock 'n' Roll 389

Handmade Films Tenth Anniversary Toast George Harrison Michael Palin October 1, 1988 | Speech Transcript 395

Television Interview Kurt Loder October 18, 1988 | MTV News 397

Television Interview Audio and Television Promo January 1989 | Interview Transcript, MTV News 401

Magazine Interview Mark Rowland November 27, 1989 | Interview Transcript 415

Part V 1992-2001

Radio Interview Scott Muni July 21, 1992 | WNEW-FM 459

Radio Interview Bob Coburn August 24, 1992 | Rockline 469

Magazine Interview Timothy White November 15, 1992 | Interview Transcript 493

Television Interview John Fugelsang July 24, 1997 | VH1 514

Public Statement George Harrison Olivia Harrison January 2000 529

Online Q and A Sessions George Harrison February 2001 | Yahoo!, MSN 531

Last Words George Harrison November 2001 542

About The Contributors 545

Credits 553

Index 557

Editorial Reviews

05/18/2020

The so-called quiet Beatle speaks up in this sweeping collection of the guitarist’s words. Music writer Kahn (A Love Supreme) collects Harrison’s 1964 columns for the Daily Express, in which he wrote about the Beatles, noting, “we’ve years of life and great hopes as a foursome... there’s still a lot of work to be done and a lot of songs to sing.” In a 1974 radio interview, Harrison (1943–2001) names some of the contemporary artists he admires most: “I’m madly in love with Smokey Robinson... I think Ry Cooder is sensational.” During a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone’s Anthony DeCurtis, Harrison explains that he wrote the song “Devil’s Radio” after he saw a church sign that read “Gossip: the Devil’s Radio.” In a 1979 interview on BBC 1, Michael Jackson asks George Harrison if the Beatles wrote their own songs, wondering how they ever managed to do that; Harrison replies with laughter, “I don’t know, they were clever little fellas.” Also included are Harrison’s final words: “everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.” Perfect for Beatles fans, Kahn’s excellent collection revels in Harrison’s humor, spirituality, and his passion for songwriting. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"Despite all the pressures of fame, George Harrison managed to stay grounded, and real, and to live a life in full. In George Harrison on George Harrison, Ashley Kahn has summoned up a portrait of the artist as public figure, as friend, as husband, as spiritual devotee, through a kaleidoscopic assemblage of letters, interviews, broadcast transcripts, and more. Harri-son was thoughtful, sensitive, honest, warmly funny, kind, and very, very smart. It all shines through in this beautiful collection.”  —Tom Piazza, Author of Why New Orleans Matters


“No one does a better job than Ashley Kahn at bringing us behind the scenes into the inner workings of the music world. He’s done it again with this mind-expanding book on George Harrison and the Beatles.” —Ted Gioia, Author of Music: A Subversive History


“The quiet Beatle—Janis Joplin’s favorite Beatle, by the way—finally gets his say in this superb collection of Harrison’s letters, interviews, and writings. Ashley Kahn, super-sleuth, has unearthed some real gems. Experiencing the evolution of this amazing musician and human  being through his own words makes for an astounding journey.” —Holly George-Warren, Author of Janis: Her Life And Music


“Harrison’s humanity, thoughtfulness, and humor are on rich display throughout.” —Library Journal

“[O]ver 500 pages of wit and wisdom from the supposed ‘quiet Beatle.’” —Goldmine Magazine

From the Publisher

06/01/2020

In the latest installment of the "Musicians in Their Own Words" series, editor Kahn (Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece) curates a selection of Beatle George Harrison's conversations with print, television, and radio reporters, from a 1962 radio interview to his family's release of a brief final message after his death in 2001. The sources range from the near obscure to Rolling Stone interviews, and Kahn provides contextual notes, interviewer information, and other background detail. From Beatlemania-era interviews invoking the comic and caustic wordplay of the Fab Four to in-depth discussions on Harrison's interest in spirituality in the later 1960s, the book moves to the Seventies, with a notable appearance on The Dick Cavett Show and then to the late 1980s, when Harrison was more reflective and forthcoming on his past and his legacy. VERDICT Harrison's humanity, thoughtfulness, and humor are on rich display throughout, and a portrait of his entire life emerges. A fascinating addition to the voluminous catalog of Beatle-related literature.—James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ

Library Journal

2020-05-04
A literary playlist to the mind and music of the “Quiet Beatle.”

After writing about John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Carlos Santana, Kahn turns his attention to the second Beatle, after John Lennon, to be selected for the popular Musicians in Their Own Words series. Kahn has collected more than 40 interviews that span the period from 1962 to 2001, when Harrison died. They include interviews with magazines, newspapers, and TV and radio shows as well as a “number of never-published gems.” (Foremost among these are the columns he wrote for the Daily Express in 1964, “offering a peek inside the bubble of the band’s ascendancy.”) The collection reveals a humorous, witty, self-deprecating, guileless, spiritual man. In 1963, shortly after the group’s debut, Harrison joked, “we should have another two years at least, I think.” In an interview with Larry Kane, who covered their early American tours, Harrison opined on his band mates, noting how Paul was “the lovely one” and “Ringo was the cuddly one.” As early as 1967, Harrison called Ravi Shankar his “musical Guru.” Then bang, it’s 1970, and the Beatles have broken up, barely 100 pages into this 500-page collection. Harrison was hopeful for a reunion—“I think it’s very selfish if the Beatles don’t record together”—and he occasionally opened up about why so few of his songs were on the albums. In 1971, he told Dick Cavett that his band mates “very subtly” held him down. In 1974, after his wife left him for Eric Clapton, Harrison claimed he wasn’t sad. “Eric’s…been a close friend for years,” he said, and “I’d rather she was with him than with some dope.” In 1988, talking to Kurt Loder, Harrison enthusiastically discussed the Traveling Wilburys and his illustrious band mates, including Bob Dylan, and he was irked by McCartney’s decision to skip their 1988 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction: “Paul is a hypocrite sometimes.”

A terrific collection for Beatles fans to savor.

Kirkus Reviews