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American Morning
Former Beatle George Harrison Passes Away
Aired November 30, 2001 - 07:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the news of George Harrison's death yesterday afternoon. Of course, it wasn't announced until early this morning that he had passed away.
Our own Sherri Sylvester is up early this morning outside Capitol Records in Los Angeles.
I imagine the reaction has been pretty swift there this morning -- good morning, Sherri.
SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Yes, we are outside Capitol Records. And George Harrison was known as the quiet Beatle and he did die much as he lived. He was, died very quietly, very peacefully at a friend's home here in Los Angeles. His wife was by his side, his wife Olivia that, you may remember, she was the one who helped kind of fight off those intruders who broke into his home a couple of years ago. He was also with his son Donny, who was born in 1978. Just a few family and close friends.
He had been treated here at UCLA Medical Center in recent weeks for cancer. And so we had just learned about his arriving here on the West Coast. Of course, the Beatles worked here at Capitol Records for many, many years.
At this time we don't know if there's going to be any kind of a public funeral for George Harrison. The family did release this statement, though. They said, "He left the world as he lived in it, conscious of god, fearless of death and at peace surrounded by family and friends." And also there was a statement today from John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. She said, "George has given so much to us in his lifetime and continues to do so even after his passing with his music, his wit and his wisdom."
George Harrison did talk occasionally about his time with the Beatles and he told a 1992 interviewer that they did have the time of their lives and they laughed and laughed for many, many years.
I'm Sherri Sylvester reporting from Hollywood.
Back to you, Paula.
ZAHN: Thanks so much, Sherri. Harrison's fellow Beatle Paul McCartney was on LARRY KING LIVE this past July. He talked about Harrison, his contribution to the Beatles and talked about then his ongoing battle with cancer. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST: You talk frequently?
PAUL MCCARTNEY: Yes. I saw him a couple of weeks ago.
KING: You don't ask about the cancer or anything?
MCCARTNEY: Well, I do, but I let him tell me and then I don't tell people on nationwide television in case he wants to keep it private, you know?
KING: Well, is he OK, though?
MCCARTNEY: Yes.
KING: I mean that's something...
MCCARTNEY: He's great. He's good just yet.
KING: Did you ever think of doing something, the three of you?
MCCARTNEY: We did the Beatles Anthology to kind of wrap it all up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: That, of course, was taped before George Harrison's condition turned much worse. The quiet lead guitarist for the Beatles died yesterday afternoon at a friend's house in Los Angeles surrounded by family and friends. His family issued a statement saying, "He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of god, fearless of death and at peace."
With me now is Alan Light, editor in chief of "Spin" magazine. Good morning. Welcome.
ALAN LIGHT "SPIN" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Paula.
ZAHN: What do you think is George Harrison's legacy musically?
LIGHT: Well, I think in addition to, you know, never being able to possibly overstate the importance of the Beatles musically, culturally, I think the single thing that George brought was his interest in and his introduction of Indian music, Eastern music into rock and roll. I think any exploration of non-Western music in pop was a direct result of George Harrison picking up a sitar and getting interested in Indian music and meditation and leading the Beatles to India in 1966-67.
That's a pretty revolutionary thing and though people think about Lennon and McCartney as sort of the A list Beatles and George as filling in a spot, I mean, he was a remarkable guitar player. He developed into a tremendous songwriter and he really shaped a lot of the direction of where the band went.
ZAHN: Did he ever get credit for that?
LIGHT: Well, I think he, you know, you can't say you were a Beatle and didn't get credit. Obviously, he was one of the most famous musicians in the world. But...
ZAHN: But the perception you just said was that Paul McCartney and John Lennon were sort of the A players...
LIGHT: Well, and...
ZAHN: ... and he was sort of back on the list.
LIGHT: And even it was a famous thing, his signature song "Something," it was a favorite song of Frank Sinatra's. Sinatra used to sing it and say, you know, this is one of the best pop songs of the last 25 years, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. And, you know, the assumption was if it's a Beatles song, you know, it must be a John and Paul song. And nobody ever thought, you know, that George would write some of the bigger songs, especially towards the end of the Beatles' career.
ZAHN: Tell us a little bit more about George Harrison as a man.
LIGHT: Well, he was a very private, very reclusive in the last 10 years. I mean even before his illness he had not released a solo record in over 10 years and public appearances were sporadic. And it was clear that he wasn't somebody who chased the spotlight. I think that more than any of the Beatles, he was really, I think, burnt out by Beatlemania and by the world's obsession with the band. And he got more interested in things like racing cars, sports cars, gardening. And though people...
ZAHN: In fact, that's when he said he was happiest, right...
LIGHT: That was...
ZAHN: ... sprinkling fertilizer in the garden.
LIGHT: That became, you know, what he did for fun. He didn't need to get up on a stage for fun anymore. And though people talk of him as the quiet, the shy Beatle, he was also very good friends and business partners with the Monty Python's Flying Circus team in England. He co-produced some of the Monty Python films and some of the Eric Idel (ph) projects. And everybody talks about this very droll and dry sense of humor that George had.
ZAHN: Did he ever talk publicly about what he thought his contribution to the Beatles was?
LIGHT: Well, I think, you know, the Beatles history got so worked over and reworked over and I think, you know, the anthology project that was supposed to be the official final statement, in the end, I think, was more sort of humble on everybody's part. I think that they all said we were, you know, it was the right group of people at the right time and we sort of fell into it.
But the fact that he brought what he brought, just as a guitar player, his own interests in rockabilly and country music, that were a different flavor, his introducing a 12 string guitar, a much more slide guitar player, just a lot of using different colors as a musician that are part of the reason that the Beatles really defined what a rock and roll band could be. There isn't a rock musician to this day and ever who's going to pick up a guitar and not be affected by what the Beatles did and what George Harrison did.
ZAHN: We at the top of the hour made mention of the various challenges George Harrison had in these last six months or year of his life. One was the fight, the battle with cancer, and, of course, his being attacked in his own home in England.
LIGHT: Well, it's been a horrible last couple of years, a seemingly endless parade of tragedy for George. And, you know, at a certain point it was clear that this end was inevitable and though they've been very, very quiet and very secret about his whereabouts and his conditions, it's also not a complete shock to anyone.
ZAHN: And I thought what his family said is what probably we all should be thinking about this morning. He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of god, fearless of death and at peace.
LIGHT: Well, a very spiritual, very involved in religion, in Eastern religion and, you know, I think that became much more important to him than being a pop star. I think trying to make his peace with the world was more valuable to him than trying to sell records.
ZAHN: Well, thank you very much for letting us all remember George Harrison this morning.
LIGHT: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: Alan Light, appreciate your time, the editor in chief of "Spin" magazine.
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