While the Beatles are acknowledged by almost everyone as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, John Lennon and Paul McCartney tend to get the most glory, and are credited a little bit more than the others with the band’s success – if you hear someone list the members of the Beatles, you will probably hear them say, “John, Paul, George, and Ringo,” George and Ringo coming after John and Paul. Both George and Ringo brought their essential talents to the band, but here I would like to focus on George.
First of all, he is responsible for some of the great Beatles songs. Two of the classics he is responsible for writing are “Here Comes the Sun” and “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” – two of my absolute favorites. Harrison was a solid, fundamental guitar player, and deserves credit for his own incredible riffs, and for executing to perfection the ones written by McCartney and Lennon.
After the Beatles, Harrison had a very successful solo career, including big tours, hit albums, and Billboard chart topping songs. One of my favorite performances of his was on Saturday Night Live during the second season of the show, when he performed “Here Comes the Sun” with Paul Simon. I think this performance of a song he originally recorded with the Beatles sums something up very well – George’s heyday was definitely with the Beatles, but the influence of that period of his career was something he was able to carry on to further success and more big performances. I suppose you could say this about all of the Beatles.
One quick thing to note: George Harrison is responsible for recording one of the catchiest, guaranteed to get stuck in your head songs I am personally aware of – his cover of the song Got My Mind Set On You , originally by Rudy Clark and James Ray.