An ill-fated tour from George Harrison, which had him denounce The Beatles in a press conference, is because it “went above people’s heads”.
The so-called Quiet One of the Fab Four had little in the way of positivity for his time in The Beatles when promoting his solo tour. Harrison would be blunt in his reflections on both the tour and his time with The Beatles. Even those who attended the shows were in the firing line from Harrison, with the Something songwriter saying: “It’s a pity that a lot of people missed out on something that went above their heads.” But it’s the setlist choice which seems to have angered fans most of all, with Harrison only including four of The Beatles’ songs. The rest were originals and often featured Ravi Shankar in the forty-five concerts on the tour.
Harrison would, seemingly in the froth of anger that came from the difficulty of selling the show to crowds, hit out at his work in The Beatles. He said: “I don’t think the Beatles were that good. I think they’re fine, you know.
“Paul is a fine bass player, but he’s a bit overpowering at times. To tell the truth, I’d join a band with John Lennon any day, but I couldn’t join a band with Paul McCartney. It’s nothing personal; it’s just from a musical point of view.”
Harrison would also consider touring again, though says the end of the tour was far from what he had wanted. He added: “I either finish this tour ecstatically happy and want to go on tour everywhere. Or I’ll end up just going back to my cave for another five years.”
Harrison would not tour between 1974 and 1991, and the latter date was a co-headline tour with long-time friend Eric Clapton. The so-called quiet one of The Beatles had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew for the tour, performing two stadium shows a day in some instances. Footage of the tour had fans share their experience on the tour, with many noting Harrison had pushed himself too far.
One person wrote: “George struggled so with this tour, with his voice in tatters. But he pushed through, and the people who really loved him didn’t care. It was enough to see him and hear him as he was. What a man he was!”
Another added: “I saw this concert in Chicago 1974. It was great, Ravi’s music was beautiful, didn’t even notice George’s voice was hoarse. I had a blast, I’ve been to a lot of concerts since then, but I’ll never forget a second of that one. My sweet, soulful George, so underrated as an artist.
“But we all know how good he was, some of the songs on Brainwashed make me cry, Looking for my life, stuck inside a cloud. He was a beautiful person, and I’ll never forget how he rocked as good as Gibraltar, that wonderful night in 1974. Hari Krishna George, God Bless, missing you.”
A third added: “Sounds like he has strained the hell out of his voice performing too much.”
