There isn’t much that can be stated about George Harrison, even though the audience has been exposed to a vast array of publications, images, interviews, forums, films, and other media since The Beatles’ dissolution and his death in 2001. But there is still a lot to recall and understand once again.
A Vox amplifier and a Fender Telecaster were sufficient to achieve “the fine sound,” in the words of Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist, during an interview back in 2004. Harrison continued to play in this eccentric manner after The Beatles broke up.
Although neither quick nor flashy, Harrison’s guitar playing with the Beatles was varied and mellow. His lead guitar was also thick and typified in the early 1960s in style. He was as inventive as a rhythm guitarist, using a capo to shorten the strings of an acoustic guitar to create a clear, rich sound, as heard on the Rubber Soul album and “Here Comes the Sun”.
Harrison was aware that Eric Clapton was “clearly an innovator. Taking certain elements of R&B and rock and rockabilly and creating something unique.”
Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine, described Harrison as, “a guitarist who was never showy but who had an innate, eloquent melodic sense. He played exquisitely in the service of the song.”
Tom Petty, a close friend of Harrison’s and a former bandmate, remarked: “He just had a way of getting right to the business, of finding the right thing to play.”
