On November 29, 2001, George Harrison died aged 58. He was musician (guitar), singer, songwriter, and music and movie producer, lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Beatles. His interest in folk music and especially in Indian music had serious influence on the band’s Hindu-aligned spirituality in the later years. Some of his songs composed for the band include “Here Comes the Sun”, “Something”, “Taxman”, “Within You Without You”, and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. After The Beatles broke-up in 1970, Harrison released the album “All Things Must Pass” which included the track “My Sweet Lord”, his most successful single, and the first solo single by any member of The Beatles that sold over million copies. In 1971, together with Ravi Shankar he organized “Concert for Bangladesh”, the first big benefit concert in the music history. In 1974, Harrison founded the music label “Dark Horse Records”, and co-founded movie label “Hand Made Films” in 1978. In 1988, with Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison, he co-founded the supergroup The Travelling Wilburys. As a guitarist he recorded for Badfinger, Billy Preston, Bob Dylan, Duane Eddy, Randy Newman, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, and Tom Petty. “Rolling Stone” magazine ranked Harrison at number 11 in their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. In 1988, as a member of The Beatles he was inducted in the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame”, and in 2004, posthumously for his solo career. As leader, Harrison released twelve studio and two live albums.
Tag Archives: folk music
Woody Guthrie
On October 3, 1967, Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Guthrie died aged 55. He was musician (guitar), singer-songwriter, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional, children’s songs, along with ballads and improvised works. He performed with the slogan “This machine kills fascists” displayed on his guitar. His song “This Land Is Your Land” has become one of the most popular music pieces in the history of the American popular music, and is regularly sung in American schools Big number of famous musicians and authors have acknowledged Guthrie as their major influence, including:Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, and Tom Paxton.