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Oct 13, 2017 George Harrison By Steve Matteo

For some time now the rock musician memoir or autobiography has become a cottage industry, producing critically acclaimed books and publishing bestsellers. One of the first truly significant rock musician memoirs was I Me Mine written by George Harrison and published in 1980. It was essential reading as it was the first book to provide first-hand insight into the story of The Beatles from one of the four members of the group. Though John Lennon had published books while a member of the group, they were more prose extensions of Lennon’s wit and love of wordplay. Harrison’s book was a hybrid memoir, photo scrapbook, collection of lyrics and memorabilia. It was also one of the first books to be published by Genesis Publications, which would go on to publish many music-related books of high quality and limited edition print runs.

By eschewing writing a linear narrative, Harrison created a book that gave a variety of insights into not only The Beatles, but into his creative songwriting process as a Beatle and a solo artist, his hobbies, passions, and spiritual journey as well as his life in England. The handwritten lyrics allowed songwriters and those who loved Harrison’s songs to peek into his composing style by seeing the actual ink (or pencil) on paper. Harrison’s source of paper sometimes provides a travelogue of his music business life and vacation destinations and even includes the kind of random hotel stationary and various kinds of notepaper that anyone who writes lyrics or poetry is all too familiar with.

Harrison’s prose reveals much about his years growing up in Liverpool and his interests and maybe not as much about The Beatles as many fans might have hoped. John Lennon seems curiously absent from the book and it’s clear that for all The Beatles meant to him, he definitely had many bitter memories of often being overlooked and diminished in the shadow of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Regardless, the book is very insightful, often funny, very honest, and filled with illustrations and photographs that evoke Harrison’s childhood; The Beatles years; his home in Friar Park in England and many people that he loved or were important to his life such as Mal Evans, Neil Aspinall, Pattie Boyd, and especially his wife Olivia.

This new extended edition is 632 pages long and has been reissued in an oversize format. It is packed with 141 song lyrics, some reproduced in color for the first time and now including songs composed up to 2001.

The book is a must for Beatles fans and Harrison fans and, considering how beautifully it’s produced, reasonably priced. (www.genesis-publications.com)

Author rating: 8/10