George Harrison Said He Didn’t Have a Career: ‘It’s All Just Been Haphazard’
George Harrison had a successful solo career but didn’t see it as a career. To him, he just did what he loved, which was making music. He couldn’t call it a job.
Once he was free of the constraints of being a Beatle, George did what he wanted. If he wanted to make music, he did. However, he never actively pursued a solo career. George went on tour and released albums here and there, but only as it pleased him. Nothing tied him down.
George Harrison said he didn’t have a career
It might’ve looked like George had a successful solo career, but he only saw it as doing something he loved. It wasn’t a profession.
In 1992, George told Timothy White (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters) that he didn’t have a career.
“You invented your own job with a freshness and a heartfelt originality that made it so much more rich than a mere career,” White said.
George replied, “See, I never really did much [as] far as a career. There’s a lot of people out there who really plan what they’re doing. They got their publicists and their managers and they plan their tours like a Desert Storm campaign. But mostly it’s just me…. It’s all just been haphazard.”
Tom Petty said George Harrison ‘never really pursued a solo career’
George’s good friend, Tom Petty, told Rolling Stone that George didn’t seek out a solo career. It just fell in his lap once his solo debut started dominating the charts.
“He told me something once like, ‘I never really pursued a solo career. All Things Must Pass was a reaction to leaving the Beatles. I had to do something.’ And when that went so well, he made another one,” Petty explained.
“But he never really had a manager or anybody to report to, and I don’t think he had any interest in touring. He told me many times he was very uncomfortable being the guy up front having to sing all the songs. It was just not his idea of fun.”
George’s idea of a good time was sitting around with his friends and jamming. If he recorded it, released it, and the fans enjoyed it, that was fine. However, George started having an issue with making music when it became a chore or when people demanded it.
It’s understandable, considering what he endured during his time with The Beatles. For 10 years, people planned his life for him. They organized interviews, press conferences, recording studio time, tours, and everything else one of the most famous bands in the world would need to satisfy fans.
However, once he left the band, George was done planning his life for other people. He did what he wanted.
George didn’t strive to have his music out on the record store shelves
The former Beatle’s attitude toward making new music didn’t change, and it often surprised George’s son Dhani. Dhani talked to his father about putting something out, but George never seemed overly excited.
“When my father passed, he didn’t have a record deal or any records in the stores,” Dhani told Guitar World. “He didn’t care. I said, ‘Dad, you know you really should get your record in stores. A.) How are you going to make any money? And B.) People should hear your music. People want to hear your music. You shouldn’t just leave the world hanging with no record.’ He was like, ‘Well, I suppose so….’
“And so I’ve taken that on as my job, from when he passed away. OK, let’s get everything back on the shelves, in perfect order. Obsessive compulsive. In the same-sized boxes, with the lyrics and the photographs. Then maybe in 20 years time I can go on being me, and carry on with my life. But it’s gonna take me 20 years!
“My dad was always very conscious of scraping the bottom of the barrel, you know. He’d say, ‘Well, if you make my new album you’ll have to call it Scraping the Barrel.’ It’s a real thing.”
George didn’t care much about the money either. He planned to fill his days with jamming, only if he felt like it, and release an album once in a while to be able to live. Nothing could pin George down. Making music filled his time until he was ready to leave this Earth for something better.
