Sunday, November 29, 2009

Two playlists for a sad anniversary.

Well, it's been eight years now since we lost George Harrison to cancer. On this day in 2001, I remember being in my still-fairly-new Boston apartment, pacing around the bedroom and trying to get some writing done (I was in a grad program for creative writing) and just being completely blocked, so I turned on the radio to procrastinate a little and suddenly it was all George all the time. There was not much hope of getting any writing done once I heard the news.

Remember George however you wish today. I'm offering two playlists to help you out. Here's a playlist of what I feel to be some of the happiest performances of a not-always-totally-happy guy: George at his youngest, cutest, and liveliest. Most alive, if you'd like.











But I thought I should also do a playlist of some of my favorite George guitar moments. If it hadn't been for George, all these Lennon-McCartney songs would have been vastly inferior to what they turned out to be. If these seem obvious, it's because they largely ARE-- but still, they're fun to listen to.



3. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) **(okay, not strictly a guitar moment. sue me.)








And finally, because I cannot help myself (and because I secretly have sometimes questionable taste), the video for the first song by George I ever remember liking. You could not stop my eight-year-old self from dancing around to this one. Yeah, it's a cover, but who even remembers the original anymore? George's version rules. Enjoy!




3 comments:

  1. I think my first 'George' song was All Those Years Ago. And while I respect your decision to not go solo George on the playlists, and while I am nowhere near a big solo George guy, if I were observing the day, there's no way I could not listen to Isn't It a Pity. Sometimes I think it's his most beautiful; I like it more than Something.

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  2. There is something to this. If I wasn't at my in-laws, I would have put on the whole All Things Must Pass album, really. That feels the most complete statement of George-ness somehow. It's an album to kind of meditate on your couch to. "Isn't It a Pity" fits well into that.

    I wish my first taste of a Beatle hadn't been 80s weirdness, but I was born in weird times. "All Those Years Ago" is a good one.

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  3. Thanks for including Don't Ever Change. I just listened to it on YouTube. It was the first time I ever heard it and I love it. I have been listening to the Beatles since late 1963 and thought I had heard everything. I love watching live performances of All My Loving when George sings with Paul. I wish Paul would have had George sing with him on the recording instead of double tracking it.

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