George Harrison

George Harold Harrison, the youngest Beatle, was born February 25, 1943. He had two brothers, Harold Jr. and Peter, and a sister, Louise. His mother, Louise, was a housewife, and his father, Harold, was a bus driver.George's initial interest in the guitar came about slowly. His mother remembers that she started finding paper covered in drawings of guitars among his school things. So, she bought George an old second hang guitar from one of his class mates for three pounds. George tried to teach himself to play, but his progresswas slow. He sometimes stayed up all night playing until his fingers bled.
George attended Dovendale Primary School, two forms behind John Lennon, and then he attended Liverpool Institute, one form behind Paul McCartney. George and Paul took the same bus to school, and soon found they had music and guitars in common.
George and his brother Peter had formed a Skiffle band, and because they were so young, they had to sneak out of the house to play their first engagement. Paul introduced the skinny and pimple-faced George to the Quarrymen, who was only 14 at the time. Not old enough to join the group, George hung around with the boys, and came to idolize John, doing everything he could to emulate him. George stood in the back of the room at all their shows with his guitar. A few times he filled in for the regular guitarist who didn't show up, and the boys were also welcomed in George's house by his mother to practice and for an occasional "jam buttie", encouragement which infuriated John's Aunt Mimi. Gradually, George became a member of the group, which by then had come to be called Johnny and the Moondogs."I never asked to be famous. I just wanted to be successful." That pretty much sums up George's outlook on the fame of the Beatles. Known as the "Quiet Beatle", the "Sad Beatle" and such, George was not happy with his lack of privacy as a Beatle. He acted up all the time, just so he wouldn't go insane.
George probably had the most normal life of the four Beatles. His mother remembers his childhood as him always wantng to help people, always giving away his money and such. George himself remembers his childhood as being in trouble most of the time, rebelling at school. Not as badly as John, but badly enough to be punished by being sat next to the smelly kid all the time in school. He got good grades, and was good at sports.
Every year, the day before his birthday, right up until his 13th birthday, George would develop tonsillitis. On the day before his 13th birthday, he woke up feeling perfectly healthy, but still demanded that his mother take him to the doctor. He was then put in the hospital with nephritis (an inflammation of the kidneys). He started playing the guitar that year, most likely copying his older brother Pete who had bought one. His first job was with his friends, at a dance, when the band that was supposed to perform had failed to show up. The only knew two songs, but they kept repeating them, and got paid the normal fee. His parents encouraged music for him, and he sometimes invited the Quarrymen (John and Paul) to come over and play together, and his parents approved. And while his parents encouraged his music, they didn't encourage his choice of clothes.
One day, out of the blue, he told his parents that he was going hitchhiking with Paul to the South of England. They were gone for 3 weeks, but they sent postcards along the way. George had gone to school with Paul, and it was Paul who introduced George to John. George once saw Lonnie Donegan (a somewhat famous singer then). After the concert, George went to his home, banged on the door and demanded Donegan's autograph, and, amazingly, got it. From that experience, George tries to give whoever asks an autograph whenever possible. A year later, his older brother Harry helped him buy his first electric guitar.
After the Beatles, George recorded many successful albums including All Things Must Pass and Cloud Nine. He was also a member of the Travelling Wilbury's in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He recently toured Japan with his good friend Eric Clapton. Also, he has helped the other boys add to two unfinished John Lennon demos for the Anthology project. On November 26th 2001 George died of cancer. He left behind his wife,and billions of fans around the world.