Log In
Register
6.35am
6 December 2012
Offline
Take a moment to think about the 1963 George, the one who wrote Don’t Bother Me and sang songs such as Chains and Do You Want To Know A Secret .
Now, consider the 1968-69 George, the one who wrote songs such as While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Something .
Seems like an entirely different person, right?
Why do you think this is? Is it just because of the Indian influence… or was there something else?
Also known as Egg-Rock, Egg-Roll, E-George, Eggy, Ravioli, Eggroll Eggrolli...
~witty quote~
10.18am
26 March 2012
Offline
It’s an astonishing transition, isn’t it? While John, Paul and Ringo generally stayed the same in their characteristics, sensibilities and creative priorities, George did become “an entirely different person.” I sometimes wonder if he was just a little too young to be experiencing what the Beatles went through at the height of their fame – Beatlemania kicked off when George was 20, and I think it’s to his credit that he wasn’t destroyed by it. I certainly would have been. I think George’s radical transformation over those four or five years occurred as a reaction to that madness, as an attempt to find some outlet that wasn’t tied to being a “pop star.” A kind of frustration.
There’s certainly some foreshadowing, though; if you look at Don’t Bother Me , George’s first ever song, he’s demanding solitude. Many ensuing ones have a similar theme.
The following people thank Ben Ramon for this post:
BeatlebugSHUT UP - Paulie's talkin'
3.48pm
25 January 2013
Offline Well, as they say, he was ‘the Beatle that changed the most’. On the surface it appears that this is so. The factors in this, I think and from what I have read and gleaned from interviews are:
Maturing from a 20 year old to a 25-26 year old (a 20 year old man is pretty much a child…at least I was)
The result of the immense influence of Lennon-McCartney – Imagine being so up close to their songwriting process
His immersion into meditation/spirituality etc. – This certainly changed his whole perspective on the world and opened up the creative doors
McCartney & George Martin seem to intimate that George woke up to the rewards of songwriting and had pretty much gone along for the ride until this awakening.
Lennon seemed to initimate that this was simply George’s gradual progression and it came with practicing his songwriting.
I don’t have any particular references for the above. Personally though, I think the heaviest influence came from George’s immersion into spirituality etc. It was such a massive part of his life and a LOT of his writing was based upon it. Within you and Without you, Something , My Sweet Lord etc. etc.
The following people thank Mocker for this post:
Beatlebug4.04pm
14 December 2009
Offline
I don’t see that George’s evolution was any more profound than John or Paul’s, myself. They started out writing silly (or otherwise) love songs, and so did he, except that he wrote a lot fewer of them, and no really noteworthy ones until Rubber Soul imo. But I guess the fact that he had to learn to write them all by himself, without any J&P-style give-and-take from a creative partner, makes his development failrly noteworthy.
Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.
5.40pm
Reviewers
29 November 2012
Offline
That and the fact that, as he said in the Anthology doc, “they had all those years before we were recording to get their bad songs worked out…I had to compete with their classics when I began writing” (I’m paraphrasing here)
"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"
Please Visit My Website, The Rock and Roll Chemist
Twitter: @rocknrollchem
Facebook: rnrchemist
5.54pm
20 December 2010
Offline DrBeatle said
That and the fact that, as he said in the Anthology doc, “they had all those years before we were recording to get their bad songs worked out…I had to compete with their classics when I began writing” (I’m paraphrasing here)
Von Bontee said
I don’t see that George’s evolution was any more profound than John or Paul’s, myself. They started out writing silly (or otherwise) love songs, and so did he, except that he wrote a lot fewer of them, and no really noteworthy ones until Rubber Soul imo. But I guess the fact that he had to learn to write them all by himself, without any J&P-style give-and-take from a creative partner, makes his development failrly noteworthy.
I agree with both of these points. Everyone always forgets about all the bad songs that Lennon and McCartney wrote to get to were they were at. George wrote his first song with Lyrics in ’63. As far as I’m concerned, George was just as talented as a musician as John and Paul. They all had there own input and style and that is what made them who they were. They needed each other. When George got into spirituality and meditation, this added a whole new dimension into the Beatles sound and production. I think a key to their long success with the period from ’67 to their final album ‘Abbey Road ‘
The further one travels, the less one knows
7.02pm
12 November 2012
Offline Mocker said
Maturing from a 20 year old to a 25-26 year old (a 20 year old man is pretty much a child…at least I was)
His immersion into meditation/spirituality etc. – This certainly changed his whole perspective on the world and opened up the creative doors
These two factors are the biggest ones, and you can’t have one without the other. George matured when he realized that people could still be unhappy despite being rich, famous, and adored around the world. This got him into spirituality and the sitar, which made him mature as a songwriter.
"The world is a very serious and, at times, very sad place - but at other times it is all such a joke."-George Harrison
8.51pm
6 December 2012
Offline Von Bontee said
I don’t see that George’s evolution was any more profound than John or Paul’s, myself.
I never said that. I just decided to focus on George.
Also known as Egg-Rock, Egg-Roll, E-George, Eggy, Ravioli, Eggroll Eggrolli...
~witty quote~
1.29am
18 December 2012
Offline I agree that part of it was a reaction to the madness around him as well as the effect LSD had on him. George was apparently a very private person even as a young boy, so aside from being the youngest I imagine that made Beatlemania extra difficult for him. It’s a good thing he ended up discovering spirituality because otherwise I think he might have gone down a much darker path.
9.58am
27 December 2012
Offline Von Bontee said
I don’t see that George’s evolution was any more profound than John or Paul’s, myself. They started out writing silly (or otherwise) love songs, and so did he, except that he wrote a lot fewer of them, and no really noteworthy ones until Rubber Soul imo. But I guess the fact that he had to learn to write them all by himself, without any J&P-style give-and-take from a creative partner, makes his development failrly noteworthy.
A proper love song must always be silly in my opinion.
Silly actually means holy, the English borrowed the German word: “selig” which means the same thing.
If you go to the deeper meaning of love then you could say it is “holy” and thus silly.
The following people thank Gerard for this post:
Beatlebug4.35pm
3 May 2012
Offline This is something I think about a lot, and have been thinking about particularly recently so it’s funny that this has come up now.
Everyone that has contributed has practically said everything there is to say in terms of the reasons why he ”changed”. I don’t think he liked people saying that, did he?
I think the main difference between 1962/63 George and 1968/69 George is that he grew up in that time. He went from being a 20 year old man to a 26 year old man. He matured.
Plus, there were other factors which have already been mentioned (learning from J&P, discovering God , etc.). Something that hasn’t been said though is living away from home and having to support himself. When Beatlemania shocked the world, George hadn’t been on his own two feet for very long, and then there were a few years of Brian and his office doing a lot of their work for them (by work, I mean paying bills and things like that). By 1969, he was a full-grown man with his own house, wife, etc. Of course he isn’t going to write or think in the same way as somebody much younger who is still new to lot’s of life experiences.
Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.
(Passover - I. Curtis)
6.04pm
6 December 2012
Offline Gerell said
Von Bontee said
I don’t see that George’s evolution was any more profound than John or Paul’s, myself. They started out writing silly (or otherwise) love songs, and so did he, except that he wrote a lot fewer of them, and no really noteworthy ones until Rubber Soul imo. But I guess the fact that he had to learn to write them all by himself, without any J&P-style give-and-take from a creative partner, makes his development failrly noteworthy.A proper love song must always be silly in my opinion.
Silly actually means holy, the English borrowed the German word: “selig” which means the same thing.
If you go to the deeper meaning of love then you could say it is “holy” and thus silly.
Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. What’s wrong with that? I’d like to know…
fabfouremily said
Something that hasn’t been said though is living away from home and having to support himself. When Beatlemania shocked the world, George hadn’t been on his own two feet for very long, and then there were a few years of Brian and his office doing a lot of their work for them (by work, I mean paying bills and things like that). By 1969, he was a full-grown man with his own house, wife, etc. Of course he isn’t going to write or think in the same way as somebody much younger who is still new to lot’s of life experiences.
I hadn’t thought of that. Very true.
Also known as Egg-Rock, Egg-Roll, E-George, Eggy, Ravioli, Eggroll Eggrolli...
~witty quote~
4.12am
2 July 2014
Offline Egroeg Evoli said
Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. What’s wrong with that? I’d like to know…
‘Cause here I go . . . . AGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!
IIIIIIIIIIII LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry.
"Something in the way she moves . . . attracts me like a pomegranate" - George Harrison
12.59pm
23 June 2014
Offline It’s a combination of factors. He was growing up and much more mature in the late sixties. His experience with meditation and LSD had a profound inspiration in his life as far as he saw the world. Plus the whole Beatlemania circus affected him in ways of wanting to be left alone and the craziness of stardom.
1 Guest(s)