"George Harrison: Living in the Material World" (Abrams Books, also available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.ca in Canada) is a very personal look into one Beatle's life. It features photos taken from his camera and from his family and added quotes from himself and friends.
You'll likely find there are several "awww" moments when the pictures of his life close-up touch you. The cover photo of Beatle George in the water. A young George having a smoke in 1960. George visiting the Empire State Building in 1963 pre-Beatlemania. In 1968 in Rishikesh. A 1997 photo of George, Dhani and their dog Winston.
And that's only scratching the surface. The book is generous in its pictures of his friends, especially, of course, the other Beatles, but also the Traveling Wilburys, members of Monty Python and Ravi Shankar.
The pictures feature a running narrative with lengthy quotes from George and friends. In one, Paul McCartney says, "George was the best guitarist in the group ... The nice thing was he really didn't emulate anyone. There wasn't the Jimi Hendrixes and the Claptons to emulate, there was just a lot of people. Eddie Cochran was great, we loved Eddie; Buddy Holly was great; so we had a few heroes. But George built a style of his own."
You'll wish this book, which is a companion to the Scorsese film which comes next week, could go on forever. "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" is a too-brief peek into his world.
But that's the way he would have probably wanted it.
(This story was written from a promotional copy of the book.)
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Steve Marinucci is the author of the Beatles Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner), Paul McCartney Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-34954-Paul-McCartney-Examiner), Vintage Rock 'n' Roll Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-19248-Vintage-Rock-n-Roll-Examiner) and TV on DVD Examiner columns on Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/x-10254-TV-on-DVD-Examiner).
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