Our George
It was a year ago that I published my first post here, and the subject was George. His birthday was a few weeks ago, and as a Beatle-nut I'm always aware of one of the Fab's birthdays. All my life George's was Feb. 25th, but late in life he learned that he was actually born a little after midnight on the 26th. That would be odd, wouldn't it? To find out that your birthday was actually a day later after all those years?
But speaking of the Quiet One, I find that as time goes by, I find myself more and more interested in George. I think my girlfriend put it best after watching the Anthology show: "George is the one you'd want to know. The Beatle you'd like to have as a friend." And I think that's true. He had a wide range of interests (music, spirituality, auto-racing, gardening, films) and he seemed very comfortable with himself. John could be mean and Paul can come off as a self-promoting jerk. George, on the other hand, didn't really have any character flaws that jump out at me (neither does Ringo for that matter).
And the fact that he ended up in the most successful act in the history of showbiz, simply cuz he hooked up with Paul when he was about 14 years old, is a really interesting bit of karma. I'm sure John and Paul would've had success of some kind with their huge talents, but George wasn't born a creative or musical genius. He had to work hard to keep up with them. His biggest assets coming into the band was: Being a better than average singer, good looking, and smart enough for John and Paul to put up with. I don't think anyone thinks of him as a great guitar player. He was okay, but not really special considering his role as "lead guitarist" of the Beatles. What would've happened if he hadn't met Paul and joined the Beatles? It's impossible to say. But he took the opportunity to become an excellent writer and not only produced some super tunes with the Beatles, but All Things Must Pass is definitely one of the best rock albums of all time.
God bless you, George. Wherever you are.
But speaking of the Quiet One, I find that as time goes by, I find myself more and more interested in George. I think my girlfriend put it best after watching the Anthology show: "George is the one you'd want to know. The Beatle you'd like to have as a friend." And I think that's true. He had a wide range of interests (music, spirituality, auto-racing, gardening, films) and he seemed very comfortable with himself. John could be mean and Paul can come off as a self-promoting jerk. George, on the other hand, didn't really have any character flaws that jump out at me (neither does Ringo for that matter).
And the fact that he ended up in the most successful act in the history of showbiz, simply cuz he hooked up with Paul when he was about 14 years old, is a really interesting bit of karma. I'm sure John and Paul would've had success of some kind with their huge talents, but George wasn't born a creative or musical genius. He had to work hard to keep up with them. His biggest assets coming into the band was: Being a better than average singer, good looking, and smart enough for John and Paul to put up with. I don't think anyone thinks of him as a great guitar player. He was okay, but not really special considering his role as "lead guitarist" of the Beatles. What would've happened if he hadn't met Paul and joined the Beatles? It's impossible to say. But he took the opportunity to become an excellent writer and not only produced some super tunes with the Beatles, but All Things Must Pass is definitely one of the best rock albums of all time.
God bless you, George. Wherever you are.
posted by John Goins at 8:31 PM
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