15 years ago yesterday

[T_Bone0806]

Y'know, every year when December 8th rolls around, I immediately think of the day we lost John Lennon. That date is equally etched in my mind as the date, 16 years earlier, that I lost my beloved grandfather. But I am ashamed, as a so-called Beatle fanatic, to admit that I don't always recall the significance of November 29th...the date in 2001 that George Harrison passed away. Such was the case yesterday when it did not dawn on me that it was the 15th anniversary of his passing. Maybe it was because dear George left us in a quiet way (he was "the quiet Beatle, after all), whereas John's was a brutal shock, one of those "remember exactly where you were and what you were doing" events. Nevertheless, here's my tribute to George, a day late but no less fondly presented. I could post one or two of the more obvious choices, but instead I'm going with these First up is this amiable Top 20 hit from 1979..




My other George Harrison tribute tune is a Top 30 entry from 1976 that showcases George's sly sense of humor. He may have been "The Quiet Beatle", but he was also a very funny one (he was the only ex-group member to appear in the Beatle parody "The Rutles", playing a reporter), whose love for absurd humor led to friendship with the Monty Python gang. This song, called..er..."This Song", is a poke at the situation George found himself in when the copyright owner of the song "He's So Fine", published by Bright Tunes, sued him over the similarities in George's "My Sweet Lord". Hence the line, "This tune has nothing Bright about it". Look for a cameo by Ronnie Wood of the Stones, in drag, lip-synching a line uttered by Python's Eric Idle on the record.

[jaybee]

I think you are correct - it's a combination of dying young or dying violently that give us that "gone before their time" impact. Even though GH was fairly young at 58, dying a natural death at that age is not that unusual. It just doesn't make it as memorable.

I too, remember exactly where I was when I learned that JL died. Not so much for GH.

[littlebeast13]

The George Harrison RIP (Along with a similar thread for Carroll O'Connor) were the two big topics I remember from the last day of the old ABC Bored..... which unexpectedly had the plug pulled on it 15 years ago this evening (the 30th, for clarification, since it's currently after midnight here)...

lb13

[kroxquo]

I remember the day George died. Our cat had gone in for some overnight surgery and I stopped at the vet on the way home from work to pick her up. As I drove home, our NPR station announced George was dead and was playing orchestral arrangements of some of his songs. I was in tears by the time I got home. I got out of the car, my wife came out of the house and took one look at me and broke down herself until I told her it was George Harrison who had died and not the cat. Then she was annoyed at me. One of the reasons she's not my wife anymore.

[TheConfessor]

Thanks for posting this, T_Bone. This board still needs a "like" button.

[Bob78164]

I'd almost forgotten how much migrating we did before TubaDave provide us with this home. --Bob

[jaybee]

I remember the day George died. Our cat had gone in for some overnight surgery and I stopped at the vet on the way home from work to pick her up. As I drove home, our NPR station announced George was dead and was playing orchestral arrangements of some of his songs. I was in tears by the time I got home. I got out of the car, my wife came out of the house and took one look at me and broke down herself until I told her it was George Harrison who had died and not the cat. Then she was annoyed at me. One of the reasons she's not my wife anymore.

So who got the cat?

[BackInTex]

I remember the day George died. Our cat had gone in for some overnight surgery and I stopped at the vet on the way home from work to pick her up. As I drove home, our NPR station announced George was dead and was playing orchestral arrangements of some of his songs. I was in tears by the time I got home. I got out of the car, my wife came out of the house and took one look at me and broke down herself until I told her it was George Harrison who had died and not the cat. Then she was annoyed at me. One of the reasons she's not my wife anymore.

So who got the cat?

Opps! Possibly another reason she is not his wife anymore.

[kroxquo]

I remember the day George died. Our cat had gone in for some overnight surgery and I stopped at the vet on the way home from work to pick her up. As I drove home, our NPR station announced George was dead and was playing orchestral arrangements of some of his songs. I was in tears by the time I got home. I got out of the car, my wife came out of the house and took one look at me and broke down herself until I told her it was George Harrison who had died and not the cat. Then she was annoyed at me. One of the reasons she's not my wife anymore.

So who got the cat?

lol. The cat lived another 5 years before she died. The marriage died six months later. The two deaths were unrelated