EXCLUSIVE!: Warren Zanes talks about George Harrison and the Quiet Beatle's new CD

July 11, 5:20 PMBeatles ExaminerSteve Marinucci

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   (Copyright EMI/Capitol Records)

(Warren Zanes, a former member of Boston's The Del Fuegos who released his second solo album, "People That I'm Wrong For," in 2006,  is the author of the liner notes for "Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison." The following interview was conducted by email. Our thanks to Capitol/EMI for arranging it.)

Q:  Did you have any contact with George Harrison before writing the liner notes to the album?

Warren Zanes: Though I didn't realize it was happening as it unfolded, I did have an encounter with George Harrison. It was around the time the Traveling Wilburys were coming together. An unlikely castaway in Hollywood, I happened to be at a Christmas party at Tom Petty's house. As a gift, Tom had given me a Beatles magazine from 1965. Not one for autograph seeking -- I just don't have the tenacity -- I nonetheless mentioned to a party guest that it would be strange to have an artifact so fine and not get it signed should the chance arise. Little did I know, George had come into the house around that same time. So, the person with whom I shared my desire to have my magazine signed actually pushed me into a room where George, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Mike Campbell -- just the four of them -- were launching into a hootenany. Though I was pushed into the room, it appeared that I ran in, holding my magazine out in front of me like a Beatle's nightmare. The music ground to a halt. George said, "Look! It's Brian Jones, back from the dead." He then, very quickly, proceeded to play a song about a dandy (I wish I knew what song it was) that brought much laughter from everyone in the room. I was speechless, without any social skills to buoy me in that moment. At the song's end, George grabbed my magazine and proceeded to sign every Beatle's signature. When the magazine was handed back to me, Tom Petty -- seeing that the wind had been sucked from my body -- gently asked if I wanted to hang out. I declined. It was all too much for a young man raised on George Harrison music. But I have my magazine, just as a reminder that it all happened.

Q: How did you become a fan of his music?

Warren Zanes: I was lucky to be raised in a home with a good record collection. My mother had a lot of great vinyl that informed my tastes from early on. She had Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Ian and Sylvia, the Band, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, in addition to some early rock and roll and folk music that helped me and my siblings understand where all of these sounds came from. But the Beatles were the Beatles and held a special place. There was no hesitation in following George's solo work in the wake of the band's breakup. In fact, I can even recall the day my mother packed us all into the car to go see The Concert for Bangladesh in a theater in Manchester, New Hampshire. Please understand that Manchester was not--and is not--the center of cosmopolitan culture. George Harrison and Bob Dylan and Ravi Shankar were high (almost unreachable) culture in that particular wasteland. The theater was very near empty. But, though quite young, we had been raised to know a good thing when we saw it. We all sat up front, and the movie got us so fired up that you couldn't have convinced us it wasn't the actual show at Madison Square Garden. Had they been selling Leon Russell wigs outside the theater, I'm sure we would have been buying. We loved George, and we loved his music.

Q: What was the philosophy behind the track listing for the album? Was it originally meant to be all-inclusive or what it is, an introduction to George's music?

Warren Zanes: As I didn't have anything to do with the sequencing process, I can only speak to my reaction to the track listing. And, honestly, I found it very effective. In particular, I like the fact that it wasn't driven by chronology. In my listening, I felt that mood and narrative--narrative in a loose sense--were the factors determining the song order. I want "albums" to feel like whole pieces. Let It Roll succeeds in that regard. I also feel that the chronological sequence is a very Western conception, and, obviously, George was a man who was thirsty for ideas that ran counter to those we receive in the West. Finally--to add another free-ranging thought--I loved that "Isn't It A Pity" ended the CD. Here's a song that is at once so dark and so hopeful. From a place of deep sadness comes this message that we can, it seems, do things differently. I find that song as spiritual as anything George ever wrote. It's a beautiful closer.

Q: What do you think was George's musical turning point in his songwriting?

Warren Zanes: I'm not sure that I would say there was a turning point. George Harrison came out of the gates strong. My sons, four and six years old, are keen in their perceptions and somehow zero in on George's work, both as Beatle and as a solo performer. But the songs of George's that they love the most come from across George's career. And, frankly, I'm in full agreement with their selections. They would argue--if they felt the need -- that "Don't Bother Me" and "What Is Life" and "Rising Sun" are all written by exactly the same man, not one who had a turning point in his creative process. These boys are so self-possessed and confident in their taste choices that I am reminded anew of George's remarkable abilities as a writer. They draw crayon pictures of George -- and this was well before I was writing the notes! I say, let the children speak.

Q: Your favorite Harrison songs?

Warren Zanes: That's a hard one. Right now, I'm loving "Any Road," "Blow Away," all the "Revolver" contributions, and "What Is Life." This last song, featured in the film "Away We Go," jumped from the screen while I was in my seat. I wasn't prepared for it, so I had one of those moments when I got to hear with fresh ears. At the risk of engaging a cliche, there is simply so much life to George's songs. Watching that film, I really connected with that in a visceral way.

Q: When the David Lynch benefit news was around, we wondered if George was still alive if he'd have participated. Do you think he would have?

Warren Zanes: I was lucky enough to be in the audience that night. And George did participate. He was obviously on the minds of all the artists, many of whom talked about George directly. As much as the night was dedicated to meditation and David Lynch's commitment to bringing meditation into the lives of young people who deeply and desperately need some peace in their lives, it was also about the people who have practiced meditation and advocated on behalf of its powers. No one more than George Harrison made him or herself a public advocate of the practice. Who knew that Jerry Seinfeld and Howard Stern meditate? Who knew, really? But we all knew that George did -- because he let us know. And he let us know not so that we could admire him for it but so that we could, maybe, try to use meditation to find peace in our own lives. It was a remarkable night.