George

[jonpaul]

Being a Beatles fan since I was a wee little fella, I have always been so impressed with the combined talent of the 4 lads from Liverpool. Lately I've been listen to the Anthology set and have been curious as to how George developed his style. Was he a basic guitar natural or was he more of a technical player? In very early songs like Cry for a Shadow & My Bonnie his style seemed very fluid and smooth. But as I listened to the complete Anthology set there seemed to be a lot of their(Beatles)earlier songs and some later songs were he seemed to be fighting the tempo of the songs (almost a 1/4 beat off time). His leads seemed to be less fliud and more forced. By no means am I being critical of his style. I'm just curious as to why on some songs he seems so smooth and in the pocket and other songs a bit late or slow. Anyone have any thoughts?

[maccaguy]

I have always thought that George was the most technical guitarist of the Beatles. Technical as in he spent so many hours when young studying the different -ways- you can play each guitar chord. This helped him learn the fretboard, and then he got tons of practice doing 12 hours per day in Hamburg and later on 2-3 shows per day in Liverpool. But as the years progressed, George took more interest in learning Indian instruments than practicing guitar, and the practice from the odd timing in traditional Indian music influenced his guitar playing greatly. His 'off the cuff' soloing became better, and his timing became a thing of it's own.

My over-generalised theory of George's guitar playing goes like this:
Early years-lots of guitar practice, great at 'repeated' solos- listen to any 'live' track versus the 'studio' track-almost exactly the same.
Later years-less guitar practice, more interest in 'world' musical styles, guitar soloing influenced by the sounds and timing of odd-metered music. I don't think there are 2 Let It Be solos that sound remotely alike.

That's just my opinion.

[rictified]

Could have something to do with what we talked about in the other thread, he had to come up with leads that fit in other's songs and felt like a session musician sometimes. It's hard to come up with parts on demand sometimes especially if it is not a natural feel for you.

[brammy]

I've always loved George's playing but it's interesting to note that he himself said that he was "embarrased" to listen to some of his early solos. And I guess you'd sometimes have to agree when you listen to some of the stuff on the BBC tapes.

One think I always noticed was how apparently long and skinny and flexible his fingers were. When extending the pinky up 2 or 3 frets from a bar chord other players seemed to strain while it looked like George's pinky actually wanted to go farther!

[kog]

I would agree with you, Brian. A couple of things have struck me: his rsrly lead breaks were - usually - very structured. When he does the lead break on songs like "All My Loving" or "Til There Was You" live (on Sullivan or the BBC disks), they are usually exactly the same as on the record. It never seemed that there was a lot of spontaniety to them. They were gorgeous, well structured and technically difficult, and part of what has made him one of my favorites. But, for the most part they were the "same".

One of my favorite solos is the middle break in the released version of "I Saw Her Standing There". Interestingly, though, I never saw him play it the same way as the record on any of the radio and TV appearances. On those appearances, he DID play it the same way, though -- just not the same as the record. I've always wondered if he "winged it" on the record, but couldn't duplicate it later, so came up with a pretty standard lead break that he used for live performances.

Another interesting note is the very early recording of "One After 909" on Anthology where his lead is fairly awful. And then 6 years later he does the completely excellent version on "Let It Be". The first version again sounds like it was ad-libbed ... and the so does the "Let It Be" version -- but as you said, Brian, by now he's got more experience and more comfortable just letting it flow... and not worrying about repeating it note-for-note.

IMHO, anyway.

[brammy]

[jonpaul]

Just finished listening to My Bonnie on the Anthology set again. Is that George on the lead or is it Tony Sheridan? It sure seems a bit quick for George at that point in his career. Jerry, I also dig the middle break in ISHST. That is definately one of my faves. They really are kicking some arse during that one. That's one tune that must have been a blast to develop, you can just feel the excitement & energy resonating off the record. I also agree that on the live versions of that song that I have heard he does'nt really come close to what's on the record, not say that is bad, just a bit different. In a way it kind changes the dynamics of the song. I guess what was done on the record was one of those gems you crank out, and have trouble reproducing. He definately nailed it on the record.

[brammy]

I always thought Cry For A Shadow was really cool. Both George and John got som good sounds on that one.

(and poor old Pete Best aint bad on it neither!)

[jonpaul]

Yea, I agree, all the lads sounded good on that one. I'm also impressed with the quality of the recording for that period of time. Speaking of Pete Best, how far into the Anthology recordings is he playing the drums. I figure he was still playing with the boys through the early Decca recordings. Quite honestly, he does'nt sound half bad. Good job Pete - poor guy, man can you imagine what he must of gone through emotionally, especially after the Fabs made it BIG.

[brammy]

Cry For A Shadow (along with My Bonnie, The Saints, Why, Nobody's Child, Take Out Some Insurance On Me Baby and Aint She Sweet) were recorded on June 22-24 1961 on the stage of a school hall in Hamburg. Paul played bass for this session (Paul had gotten his new Hofner violin bass that spring in Hamburg). Stu Sutcliffe has already left the band and was there but only watched.

The Beatles auditioned for Decca on Jan 1st, 1962 and Ringo came into the group in August of '62.

Pete's last gig with the Beatles was at the Cavern on Aug 15th. On the 16th and 17th Johnny "Hutch" Hutchinson (drummer for The Big Three) filled in. Ringo's debut was on Aug 18th.

.... and I knew all that WITHOUT having to check "The Beatles, a Diary" by Barry Miles!.... not.

[roadrunners]

According to The compleat beatles vhs...."george wasnt a natural like his friends paul and john, but he spent hours picking out songs with his mother"

[rictified]

George's early leads weren't the type you could really change all that much, he made them so perfect if you tried to play them differently they probably would have suffered in comparison with the original. I think he really worked on them a lot as opposed to some else who would just play off the cuff all the time.

[brammy]

George playing the last Beatles' concert in Candlestick Park Aug 29th 1966. This guitar (360 "new" style) was stolen shortly after this performance. It has not been found yet....... I wonder if George preferred this styling to the older 360 (ie: 330) style. I guess not since he could easily have replaced the stolen guitar.

[apollo11]

I think his guitar playing developed and got better towards the end of the 60's, with soaring solos like those in The End, Something, Let It Be, etc. He was a true pioneer in this kind of guitar playing that would dominate the late 60's through the 70's.

He also started perfecting his slide playing around this time, which he concentrated on through the rest of his recording career. He was one of the most notable players of this style. His slide work is instantly recognizeable and very capable.

All Things Must Pass also has some blazing guitar work by George, and could well be his best guitar work for an entire album---hugely inspired guitar playing throughout.

[wmthor]

George was one of the most technical players of his era. In addition, I don't think The Beatles would have been the band that they became without George adding his guitar licks to the Lennon/McCarthy songs.