George Harrison's songwriting evolution: The Quiet Beatle's considerable impact on

Sunday, February 26, 2023

This weekend marked George Harrison's 80th birthday, a milestone that he would never glimpse. In the spirit of remembrance, I much prefer to dwell on the outcomes that he did manage to realize. And chief among those, of course, were his musical attainments, which, in many ways, remain unparalleled.

During my recent interview with Harrison's first wife Pattie Boyd, we discussed her memories of George, especially his "slow burn" as a songwriter toiling in the shadows of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. We also made time to reflect on the couple's March 1964 "meet-cute" on a railway car during the film shoot for "A Hard Day's Night," the Beatles' first feature film.

For Pattie, meeting George was a revelation. An aspiring model, she accepted a walk-on part in "A Hard Day's Night," which placed her in George's orbit for a day-long shoot on their mobile film set. "He was so delicious," she recalled. "He was so good-looking and had the most beautiful, velvety brown eyes."

Source: Kenneth Womack/salon.com