everyone can argue his skills black and blue, but I really dig his early Beatles guitar tone/sound. I've heard all the complaints, not in tune, not played well, GM didn't record his guitar well...not this not that blah blah..... I wouldn't change a darn thing..... GH is OK in my book.
The guitar on those early rock and roll era covers is absolutely thrilling; of course, for all I know, it could’ve been John given their tendency to swap roles. I also think the guitar solo is the best thing on the Let It Be single.
Most Beatles fans can hum the guitar solos on "Till There Was You", "All My Loving", "A Hard Day's Night", "And I Love Her" and "Can't Buy Me Love" from memory. The motif that runs through "And I Love Her" defines the song and has become iconic. Lana Del Rey used it very effectively to transition to chorus on her hit "West Coast".
To dismiss Georges playing on the early Beatles is-imo-a bit out of context. Given the roots of the bands music and the general guitarsound of beat-bands of the era Georges playing makes perfectley sense. I think he mostly got a great sound and occasinally threw in different chords than the norm. Of course his skills grew and his trademark melodic slide is an instant recognicable sound. Georges playing was never about flash and technical brilliance but about serving the songs. In that regard I wiew him as one of the finest of the era. But that s me
There had been a lot of very good guitarists before George - the US ones are more well known (Chuck, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, Link Wray, Dick Dale, many of the old bluesers like Hubert Summon for example). In the UK, electric guitars were strictly rationed post-war )), Hank Marvin was the first "new" guitar god and he spawned a host of not well known but excellent players as well as influencing pretty much every 1960s British guitarist post-Apache. The Fentones guitarist was excellent and Joe Brown was a UK rock guitar pioneer and early idol of George's. He was the house guitarist in the band for the 1959-60 Jack Good show Boy Meets Girls backing people like Johnny Cash, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Ronnie Hawkins, Billy Fury etc.. Joe gave Hank his echo box which gave birth to the classic Shadows sound plus he was the main music man on The Sound Of Fury, Billy Fury's 1960 LP which is highly rated by Keef Riffhard among others. Of course, George's influence as a guitar player was massive, just by virtue of him being a Beatle and having a cool guitar. It doesn't really wash criticising him for not using fancy chords as someone mentioned - he played the chords for the songs they played - some of which actually had some pretty nifty chords (It Wont Be Long for example). It's not like he could go jazz during a song like Misery and not get punched out by Lennon. Often his solos seem to be a case of filling 8 bars on demand, sometimes apparently only having a few minutes to come up with an idea - witness the horrendous early solos on Cant Buy Me Love and A Hard Days Night. When his playing was planned he was much better - take 1 of Everybody's trying To Be My Baby is the keeper. All My Loving is another really good one he must have had time to work on. What I really like are all the little filly flourishes he does during a song - watch a video of She Loves You or I Want To Hold Your Hand. While Lennon pins down the rhythm guitar (just like Bruce Welch did in The Shadows), George is finding different places around the neck to fill out the sound with a bit here and a bit there. Sure, many of his solos aren't great and they practically stopped having solos after Paul nicked the lead guitar spot for the Help album, but George was hugely influential with his choice of guitars too - look what that 12 string Rickenbacker spawned and the change to the Strat, then the SG and Epiphone all made a big difference to the band's sound at different stages. Somewhere during 1968 he began to focus on the guitar again and by Shabby Road he's playing some excellent guitar. Someone once asked him what he'd have been if he hadn't been a Beatle and he said "a better guitarist". He may not have been Peter Green or Jimi Hendrix or Hank Marvin, but he was a good guitarist without being one ...er...if you know what I mean. The Beatles was all about the songs and the singing but when I'm playing a Beatles song with my band, I always enjoy playing George's parts. So in summary, George Harrison as a guitarist - without being one of the guitar greats, it turns out that he is actually one of the guitar greats.
I was listening to I Feel Fine and Day Tripper walking home from school today, The Beatles 2 main riff songs, and it really did strike me that to my ignorant ears that the playing was beautiful. It's pretty fast and quite smooth. Did he do both of those? Also the intro to Bungalow Bill is phenomenal and I've Just Seen a Face's intro is almost as brilliant. If both were done by him, instant respect. I'll check the Beatles Bible
Has anyone ever listed the songs featuring a guitar solo by The Beatles? I'd love to hear them all focusing on the solos.
This As a guitarist, no, George wasn't a showboater like a Hendrix or Clapton, but I suppose you could turn that around and say Jimi and Eric didn't always play simply to serve the song like George did. I think, of all people, Stephen King summed it up nicely in his introduction to The Bachman Books when he talks about Paul's desire to take The Beatles out on the road under an assumed name and playing small clubs. King basically says, "It never would have worked because everybody would have known who it really was even before they opened their mouths to sing- everybody would have recognized George's guitar licks." And he's right: George's guitar parts and melodies are as immediately recognizable as the songs themselves. I can't think of many other bands where the majority of the guitar solos themselves are totally hummable melodies in themselves. It's like hearing the intro to a Stones song: you know it's Keith right off the bat. Likewise with George Harrison, his guitar playing is always identifiable as being him, and he can say a lot with only a few notes, and sometimes, folks, that's all you need to be able to do.
I remember an 80's VHS with The Beatles documentary and it featured Let it Be with an absolutely ripping hard rock solo, totally different from the usual version. Don't know if I can find it anywhere, maybe some of the Beatles experts can help.
George Harrison was a guitarist with emphasis on the song. Technically speaking he was pretty average, but he had a great imagination of using his skills he had, creatively. He was great adding colours and texture to the song. But to compare him with 'the greats'... No. He is a legend because he was a Beatle, not because he was a great guitarist. And there lies the difference between him and guitar legends like Eric Clapton.
I'd rather listen to George Harrison than Eddie Van Halen or any of his many "followers" any day of the week.
If you put a gun to my head, "Fixing A Hole" probably is my favourite George Harrison guitar solo- actually his lead playing throughout the track
George did say himself in his 1987 interview with Michael Aspel that he would probably have been a better guitarist if he hadn't been a Beatle.
In my opinion, George was adequate at best on the early records. He was clearly influenced very heavily by Chet Atkins, Carl Perkins, and Chuck Berry. Much of his playing on Beatles records was serviceable, but nowhere near the touch, tone, timing, phrasing, and dexterity as the guys he was trying to emulate. The BBC radio sessions are wince inducing for me in many parts. Having said that, in the lead up to the Help album,he must have wood-shedded heavily as his playing really stepped up from that record onwards. You can really hear a big difference in his delivery on Help. Much more professional and mature. But there are still some real shockers late on such as the solo in All You Need Is Love. It was great to hear him finally find a unique voice with the slide on his solo material.
George may never have been a virtuoso, but he had incredibly good taste and, like the other Beatles, a natural ability to understand how his playing would best complement the song being performed. Listen (or watch) his playing on Dig A Pony. The arpeggios, the chunky, percussive riffs on the lower strings...it's all part of the essential fabric of that song. Points and counter-points. If Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck had played on it, the recording would never have been as good. George was a very special player.
I'm not always sure if it was John or George but I absolutely love the hard rock dirty tone he (or they) had in 1968-1970.
Let's face it all The Beatles was stuck in a rut of playing the same songs on tour not really inproving on their abilities.
Roger McGuinn said that he was actually influenced by Harrison's playing, not just his use of the 12 string Ric. But I'm not sure how.
I don't care if he was sometimes sloppy and couldn't play millions of note, as he had the most important qualities for a guitar player: he was curious and melodic. The intro lick, chord progression and solo of "Something" definitely make him a great guitarist - they are written by someone who totally understands the guitar and its technical, melodic and harmonic possibilities.
Being a good musician doesn't hinge on athletic ability. It's not a matter of how fast you can run, how many hurdles you can jump, how many twists and turns you can do off the springboard, etc. Too many people confuse musicianship and technique with that stuff. Technique isn't how many twists and turns you can do off the springboard. It's rather just how you walk slowly and shuffle your feet on the mat and bump into the springboard, as well as just how you twist and turn off the springboard. In other words, technique is simply the mechanics of just how you do what you do, with respect to anything and everything that you do. (And I'm not excluding people with great athletic ability; musicianship doesn't hinge on either the presence or absence of what I'm calling athletic ability. It's something other than athletic ability; it's rather the skill with which you construct and execute musical/artful sounds in a musical/artful context, so that they work in a given context, in a manner that resonates with listeners.) In my opinion George was an excellent guitarist, just like Ringo is an excellent drummer, and just like Lou Reed is an excellent guitarist and Phil Rudd is an excellent drummer (and just like Pat Metheny is an excellent guitarist and Jack DeJohnette is an excellent drummer for that matter) and they're all good technically, too.
If i remember correctly I,Me, Mine was recorded without John (and was the last song recorded by the Beatles?) Beatles George Harrison I Me Mine extra from Anthology Uncut
IMO George's Rockabilly-influenced style reached its peak in the Beatles For Sale period. I'd be inclined to think that Paul starting to play lead on Beatles records -mainly due to the fact that George couldn't in certain cases provide adequate solos to Paul and George Martin's satisfaction- lit a fire under Hari's ass. Not, mind ya, that it stopped Paul from continuing to play lead guitar on Beatles records... As The Beatles themselves admitted, and was a major factor in why they quit touring altogether. "Don't listen to us, we're really lousy these days!" - John Lennon, Germany, 1966.
