Having New Music on Record Store Shelves Wasn’t George Harrison’s Biggest Priority
George Harrison never did anything he didn’t want to do, including making new music. Record companies and fans’ expectations turned George off most of the time. He couldn’t be bothered to give them what they wanted just because they demanded it. So, having his music out on the record store shelves wasn’t George’s highest priority.
George Harrison sometimes didn’t enjoy making new music
In 1979, George told Rolling Stone that he’d not written a single song in 1977 because he’d been “turned off from the music business altogether.”
“I am a bit out of touch with the other music,” he said. “Everybody else doesn’t notice, because if your past records still get played on the radio, people don’t notice that you’re not really there. But I just got sick of all that…”
George said he’d grown sick of everything that came with releasing a new album. Everyone was “trading papers” and record companies. After being in the business since 1961, the “novelty” had worn off for him.
“Really, it comes down to ego,” George explained. “You have to have a big ego in order to keep plodding on being in the public eye. If you want to be popular and famous, you can do it; it’s dead easy if you have that ego desire. But most of my ego desires as far as being famous and successful were fulfilled a long time ago.”
That didn’t mean that he disliked writing music. However, he hated the “whole thing of when you put it out, you become a part of the overall framework of the business.” He continued, “And I was a bit bored with that. If I write a tune and people think it’s nice then that’s fine by me; but I hate having to compete and promote the thing. I really don’t like promotion.”
“In the Sixties we overdosed on that, and then I consciously went out of my way at the end of the Sixties, early Seventies, to try and be a bit more obscure. What you find is that you have a hit and suddenly everybody’s knocking on your door and bugging you again. I enjoy being low profile and having a peaceful sort of life.”
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. When Dhani would talk to his father about putting something out, 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!”
Dhani is also careful of not “scraping the barrel” with his father’s work. “My dad was always very conscious of scraping the bottom of the barrel, you know,” he said. “He’d say, ‘Well, if you make my new album you’ll have to call it Scraping the Barrel.’ It’s a real thing.
“People do scrape the barrel too much. We’re very conscious of not doing that. Everything released since my father has passed away has been of the highest quality. There are no throwaway things.”
Tom Petty also said his friend didn’t care about releasing music
George’s friend and bandmate Tom Petty saw how much George disliked releasing music too. He said George had an unbridled enthusiasm for playing music, but that enthusiasm didn’t extend to putting it out there for fans.
In a special edition of Rolling Stone called “Remembering George,” Petty said, “His enthusiasm was very contagious in a recording session, in a writing session. He just had unbridled enthusiasm. One of the things I’ll miss most is when he used to drop by and he would always have a guitar or a ukulele in his hands most of the evening.
“He was never far from music. The last time he came over here, which wasn’t that long ago, he was playing the guitar and singing, singing me new songs that he had written, which were just so beautiful. I said, ‘I wish you would just put a mike up, and let’s tape you just like this.’ He didn’t want to do it — ‘Maybe later.’
“But 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. 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 fun was jamming with his friends late into the night. If they got around to it, they recorded their music. Otherwise, George wasn’t too fussed about making an album most of the time. Thankfully, he recorded an impressive discography. With all that Dhani is doing to keep his father’s legacy alive, we can undoubtedly expect to hear all his unreleased music as well.
