Philip Norman - George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle (2023)

Until Mark Lewisohn came out with his massive and magnificent tome, All The Years: Volume 1 - Tune In, in 2013 Philip Norman released the best Beatles biography, Shout! The Beatles In Their Generation way back in 1981.

Lewisohn's book is a must read for all Beatle fanatics but Norman is a Beatles scholar too. In addition to Shout! and his brand new George Harrison biography he has also written separate books about the lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Is Ringo Starr next?

Norman's George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle starts off slowly for anyone who has read earlier, more detailed histories of the world's most famous band. To me, the first half is mostly a collection of warmed-over facts that are only marginally pointed in Harrison's direction. If you've never read a Beatles biography before this book serves as a good introduction to their story, but for a full dose of Fab Four history you'd be better off reading Lewisohn's book first or Shout! if you prefer something shorter.

The legendary band's break-up enabled Harrison to lead a more private life, and that is exactly what he wanted. The man was never an anti-social recluse. He just never sought out the press that hounded his daily existence for so long.

Unfortunately, Norman spends less time on George's post-Beatles life and career presumably under the assumption that his group's formative years and the crazy decade of superstardom that followed are what readers are mostly interested in even though his later years are far less documented.

The Reluctant Beatle covers Harrison's hardscrabble, early life when he lived in a home with both parents, two brothers, and a sister that did not include an indoor bathroom. Even though he grew up the poorest of the four future legends he had the most stable home life. His mother, Louise Harrison, was the antithesis of John's Aunt Mimi. She actually embraced his Beatledom and encouraged his career. Louise even helped promote the band when she could.

Post-Beatles, Harrison acquired a varied list of accomplishments including All Things Must Pass; his famous charity event, the Concert For Bangladesh; and organizing The Traveling Wilburys. He became a movie producer who worked with Monty Python and Madonna. He also loved Formula One and Grand Prix auto racing and actually got behind the wheel of a fast car to drive a few high speed laps.

The guitarist's dark side is not glossed over. We learn that despite his devotion to Hinduism he was a "serial philanderer."  Among his conquests were Ringo Starr's first wife, Maureen, yet the two ex-Beatles remained steadfast friends. He meditated but partook in copious amounts of illicit drugs. He also suffered from bouts of moodiness that appeared to increase the more he meditated.

One of the recurring themes throughout the book is Harrison's relationship with the other Beatles. During most of their conjoined lives a warm friendship existed. Like The Three Musketeers, they were "One for all and all for one," but at the same time the youngest of the group often felt he was treated like a little brother, a seemingly condescending term McCartney actually used to describe their friendship.

It wasn't just his bandmates. Others close to the foursome also gave Harrison less respect than he deserved. Even producer George Martin later admitted that he was rather "beastly" to George.

To further prove how underappreciated Harrison was, Frank Sinatra recorded "Something" in 1970 and often performed it live. He said it was "the greatest love song of the last fifty years"  but he mistakenly credited it to Lennon-McCartney. It took Ol' Blue Eyes until 1978 to rectify his mistake.

Sadly, the book inevitably ends with the rocker's depressing last few years that saw declining health and a sickening, murderous attempt on his life.

Norman never asked for the cooperation of Harrison's immediate family - his widow, Olivia, or their son, Dhani - because of a scathingly negative obituary he wrote in the Sunday Times of London after the Beatle's passing in 2001 that he willingly discusses at the end of the narrative and that he now very much regrets. However, many other important figures - including Harrison's first wife, an unselfishly cooperative Patti Boyd - gave the author their time.

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle is a fine book even if it's not the best Beatles biography ever written - there are numerous typographical errors that editors never corrected - but if you want to dig deeper into the life of the man who wrote the magnificent "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and other Beatles classics like "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" you may want to pick up Norman's new new book.