December 30, 1999

THE BEATLE GEORGE: WHILE HIS GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

George Harrison's musical talents are superlative. He's a remarkable songwriter, a sensitive and original guitarist, a great all-around rocker, and a pretty good singer. Stack him up against the musicians of his time and he will come out head and shoulders above them - unless the musicians you're stacking him up against are Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Still, the chief edge Harrison's two fellow Beatles have over their lead guitarist is their singing. After all, those two guys from working-class England somehow managed to obtain voices comparable with those of great all-time belters like Ray Charles and Jerry Lee Lewis. Harrison's pipes aren't nearly so grandiose.

But when it comes to songwrlting, the three mop tops are all gifted to the point of disbelief.

And while Lennon could play rocking guitar that wouldn't quit, Harrison went him at least one better with a lyrical, fine-grained guitar style of astounding expressive range.

Almost from the beginning, every Beatles album basically consisted of a whole slew of Lennon-McCartney songs plus a couple of Harrison tunes thrown in for good measure. And although the stereotype is that Harrison's tracks always featured wispy sitar and finger-drum motifs, the truth is that he could rock with the best of them (i.e., John and Paul).

Here's a look at some of Harrison's contributions to great Beatles discs:

- TAXMAN: A bitter diatribe against Britain's tax system by a rich rock star, over crunching electric guitar chords, it opens "Revolver."

- I WANT TO TELL YOU: Discordant guitars and desperate vocals, it out-Lennons Lennon. Also on "Revolver."

- LOVE YOU TO: Sitar and finger drums form a piquant context for angry mutterings about the falseness of life, on "Revolver."

- WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU: The quintessential George Harrison song. Sitars and mysticism opening the second side of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" while an entire generation inhales.

- OLD BROWN SHOE: The B-side of Lennon's "The Ballad of John and Yoko," later a track on "Hey Jude." A fast-moving thriller with an elusive retro feel. Crank it up.

- BLUE JAY WAY: The Ravi Shankar-style Eastern mysticism takes a deep blue turn into murkiness and fear on "Magical Mystery Tour."

- LONG LONG LONG: On "The Beatles," a.k.a. The White Album, one of the prettiest, saddest songs of lost love ever recorded.

- WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS: Another White Album track, probably it's his finest hour. A lot of hokiness about how badly he feels for us spiritually bereft peons, but the wall-of-sound combination of piano and guitars is passionate and moving. His best turn as a vocalist, and guest artist Eric Clapton's most unforgettable guitar work.

- SAVOY TRUFFLE: Stray signals from some 1930s radio broadcast, complete with producer George Martin's urbane horn arrangement, on The White Album.

- HERE COMES THE SUN: A theme song of the hippie '60s, from "Abbey Road," with chiming acoustic guitar and hopeful lyrics.

- SOMETHING: Also on "Abbey Road," reportedly it was Frank Sinatra's favorite Beatles song.

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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