Despite being famed as ‘The Quiet One’ in The Beatles, and celebrated as the muted, brooding lead guitarist of the world’s most important group, George Harrison was just as opinionated as his bandmates. He wasn’t afraid to air his takes, and if anything, he was a little more measured than the rest of the Fab Four. Broadly speaking, he would only open his mouth with thoughts that were fully considered.
Although Harrison is mostly revered for his pioneering guitar playing, which helped found everything from psychedelic rock to indie and alternative, as well as being the main driving force between The Beatles exploring Indian music, he, just like his bandmates, was also a lifelong lover of bluesy, soulful music. After all, blues and R&B were the forms that laid the foundations for rock ‘n’ roll, and paved the way for The Beatles and all who followed in their wake.
That was why, after the immense cultural explosion of the 1960s that The Beatles led, Harrison was a diehard fan of one of the era’s most respected outfits, The Band. While they had started off as The Hawks, the backing group for rockabilly hero Ronnie Hawkins, they eventually found fame supporting Bob Dylan as he went electric, and then during this era gradually started to hone their own roots rock sound drawing on blues, country, and R&B.
They released their debut, Music from Big Pink in 1968, and it remains one of the era’s ultimate offerings, drawing upon the sounds of years gone by that had inspired the rock generation. Given his love of American music from the first half of the 20th century, Harrison was drawn to The Band’s earthy authenticity.
“It was very kind of country, hillbilly. A little rhythm and blues, a little rock ‘n’ roll and a lot of that kind of country or hillbilly kind of feeling,“ Harrison told VH1 Classic Albums. “I’ve got a jukebox in my house, and their albums are on it. I only put music in there that I don’t wanna keep changing.”
Touching on the timeless nature of The Band’s music, he added: “I want stuff that there is a long life to it. That’s why I valued The Band’s music.“
Harrison was also rapt by the dulcet tones of The Band’s group harmonies. Of course, this was something The Beatles weaponised, so he was a big believer that group members linking up in harmonic abandon could be the making of an act. He certainly felt this was The Band’s secret to success, with each member doing their bit to construct a magical chorus and augment the soul of their instrumentation.
Harrison concluded: “I think, in that context, when you have all these different voices coming and going, it carries an album. It makes it hold the interest and I like that a lot. But I don’t think when I first heard it, I was really aware of what was really going on. I was just absorbing the sound. I was just being carried along by what I was hearing.”
