George Harrison: Behind The Locked Door

WARNING: IF GEORGE IS YOUR FAVORITE BEATLE AND YOU THINK YOU KNOW HIS TRUE CHARACTER, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. I'm nearing my 70th birthday, and was 15 when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in February 1964. I immediately took up the guitar and was forever more a loyal and devoted fan. To this day, I love all their work, have all the music, in all the originals, re-issues, re-masters, and 50-year anniversary editions. My go-to station on Sirius-XM is Channel 18, the Beatles Channel. I have read at least a dozen books on the band, including two biographies (John and George). I can honestly say that I wasn't surprised by anything I read about John Lennon. But the George Harrison book just blew my mind. I thought he was "the Quiet Beatle." I thought he shunned drugs and alcohol due to his spiritual beliefs. I thought he had been married a couple of times but was basically a devoted husband. I thought he just wanted some peace and quiet, and wouldn't use his celebrity status to get things he wanted. After all, "things he wanted" went against his beliefs; he hated living in the material world. Right? NO, NO, NO, and NO!!! The real George was not someone in the middle, like one reviewer of this book claimed the author's premise was. The real George wanted to have his cake, and eat it too!! He wanted peace and quiet, unless he wanted to record something and would make phone calls to musicians in Los Angeles and tell them to come to London immediately, and bring whatever special equipment he wanted. He lost his taste for LSD early on, but he used Cocaine until the end of his life, because, well, he was George, and he could always get it. And he could drink anyone under the table, and was a mean drunk as well, letting people know exactly what he thought of them. And don't even get me started on his womanizing; ANYONE was fair game to him whether he or they were married.I absolutely loved this book because the real George I now know is NOT a paragon of spirituality. He's a flawed person, like all of us, and acts pretty much the way you'd expect normal people to act. He was a great guitar player, and some of his hooks and riffs will live forever. But he wasn't the best at anything; his fate was that he got on a rocket ship of fame, when all he really wanted was to play guitar in a band.

This book is good, but I find there are several things about it which I dislike. The best biographies are those written with a detached perspective on the subject, and in that regard Graeme Thomson is on track...although perhaps he is a little too detached. He seems to vacillate between great and open admiration and unconcealed contempt for George Harrison. His point, if I have read his book correctly, is that the proper view of George Harrison's talent, importance and impact lies somewhere in between. I have much more respect for George than this book would inspire in a less casual fan, I think. Towards the end there were quite a few errors in editing which likewise dimmed my view. For example, referring to the Beatles anthology CDs as three triple albums (they were 3 double albums) and misspelling in several places the acronym for ISKCON, which, if you are a George fan, (or biographer) is an amateur mistake.Mr. Thomson seems to hold the view, as most critics do, that George's best work was within 2 years of the end of the Beatles. I don't completely dispute that...but I am still holding out hope that a biographer (who is a little more detached than Simon Leng) will step up to the plate to argue for the rest of George's career. Thomson states plainly his belief that George Harrison's career reached its absolute pinnacle of greatness on August 1st, 1971, the Concert for Bangladesh. He goes on to argue that its all downhill from there.Obviously, I am biased, and a huge George fan, and there is no way that I could write a biography that wasn't overly slanted...so with this knowledge I have to look at Thomson's book for what it is...and I conclude that it is mostly pretty well written (much better written than Simon Leng's George love fest), and I appreciate the detail it does go into. I think he was very fair to George over the whole of the 1974-1975 period.....and in general my distaste for his views on George really only clash towards the last decade of George's life in these pages.I think this is a good read, and it was enjoyable to read. I feel like I learned more about George as a person. Unfortunately it doesn't always make George into the person I like to think he was, but maybe thats a good thing because it shows that he was as human as the rest of us. I think this book succeeds in really fleshing out the sometimes hard to penetrate life of George Harrison. I would recommend for the George fan who isn't afraid of the warts...but for those just starting to be interested in George, I think they should start with Simon Leng and therefore get a fuller picture of George's strengths before reading about some of the dark times.

Bravo. Writing this book must have been tough and, as you’ll see from the polarised fan responses, it’s treading on what for many is sacred ground. This book is unflinching in documenting a complex, vexed creative life and person, who was trapped and troubled by his extraordinary fame and fortune as a young person and struggled to find a way forward. His response was all too human, understandable and familiar: a sincere quest for self understanding, generosity and love, fraught with pain, contradiction, inertia and selfishness. Thomson captures its claustrophobia and a profound sadness. It is very well written and, as if anticipating the backlash, annotated and referenced thoroughly. Thomson pulls together surprisingly candid views of George’s partners, friends, musicians and business colleagues. He spares no judgements, especially about some of George’s later recordings and his relations - but I found his commentary of George’s guitar playing and his culturally significant engagement with Indian music and Ravi to be valuable. Retrospectively, Harrison was probably the single most influential proponent of Indian music, religions and culture in the 1970s, a key post colonial moment. In all, this might just be the very best biography in Beatle lit to date. With all its triumphs and eccentricities, bitter disappointments - George Harrison’s life presented this candidly is a compelling, demanding read. RIP George.

A portrait of a man who had too much fame and money thrust upon him at an early age which far exceeded his (or anybody's) talent. An early example of the perils of celebrity culture. But the point is to review the book not the man, who has had far too many unsolicited opinions thrust upon him.An honest book which shuns Beatle hype and mania. Despite being the Beatles 'lead guitarist', the group's multi-instrumental skills meant that he didn't play guitar on some of their most notable tracks. Despite the religious front, he was seemingly a serial drug user and womaniser who slept with as many of his friends' partners as possible.Overall, a satisfyingly low-key book about a low-key man who led a high-profile life which was not his choice, and which avoids the name dropping which usually swells the index pages of rock biographies.His legacy remains, as an influential guitarist, who penned a small number of very successful songs, and a truly great (triple) solo album which will never account for his vast wealth, but is probably more personal success than most of us could wish for.

Being a bit of a Beatle buff I've read loads of books including a few on George. This is a fabulous read and I could not put it down. It is the best on George I've read, including I Me Mine. I'm not going into the ins and outs but I promise you, you won't be disappointed.

I enjoyed the book having said that I've always been a Harrison fan but even if your not this is a good companion to the the man's life and music

I would have liked to go deeper into the man himself.This is good as far as it goes but only scratches the surface.Probably too late far such a book to be written.

I'm about half way through this book really enjoying it, warts& all description of the life of an excellent musician and his struggles with fame & his faith.