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George
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Born on February 24 1943, George was one of the four children of Harold, a busdriver, and Louise, a housewife. George attended Dovendale Primary School, years behind John Lennon, and then he attended Liverpool Institute, one year behind Paul. George was the youngest Beatle and the only Beatle whose childhood was not marred by divorce or death.

His interest in music started at an early age. When he was thirteen, his mother bought him his first guitar for three pounds from a classmate. He formed a group of his own called "The Rebels". When this band broke up, George was able to find a spot in the "Les Stewart Quartet". Paul introduced George to the Quarrymen when he was only fourteen. George idolised John and would often stand at the back of the room at their shows with his guitar. He even filled in for the regular guitarist when he failed to show up. John eventually asked George to join the band

In 1960, the Quarrymen had changed their name to The Beatles and were performing in Hamburg. The had been regular performers in the Indra Club, but when they appeared in the Top Ten Club, a rival club, the owner of the Indra Club informed the authorities of George's age. He was only 17, too young to have a work permit. He was forced to return to England. By the time they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show", American polls showed George as the most popular Beatle.

George's songwriting was often ignored by the band which annoyed him. Although his efforts were no match in number to the group's Lennon/McCartney efforts, his hits included "Something", "Taxman", "Here Comes The Sun","I Need You" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Ravi Shanker and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi both had a profound influence on George. Shanker was responsible for George's love of Indian music while the Maharishi helped him to understand Transcendental Meditation. George introduced the Beatles to the Maharishi.

He married Pattie Boyd on January 21 1966. At the same time, he met Eric Clapton and they both became good friends despite Clapton's obvious longing for Pattie. Eric wrote songs such as "Layla" for her. After the break up of the Beatles, George's solo concerts in America in 1974 were severely criticised because of his failure to play Beatles songs and his overly experimental music. This tour drained George physically and mentally, causing him to lapse into a depression. In 1977, he divorced Pattie who soon married Eric Clapton. George then met, fell in love with and married Olivia Arrias. They had one son, Dhani, born on August 1 1978.

For the last 20 years of his life, George lived in Friar Park in an enormous Victorian Gothic Mansion. At the end of 1999, he was attacked in his home and stabbed numerous times by a thief that had managed to get through the expensive security at his home. George recovered from this attack but the years that followed involved a struggle against cancer that eventually took his life on the 29th of November 2001. He is remembered by those that were lucky enough to know him for his unique personality and sense of humour. He left us with amazing music that will live on.

I heard a quote of George's that was on a newspaper the day of his death. It told a story of the first time the Beatles were recording in the studio and the producer told them that if there was anything that they didn't like they should tell him so that he could sort it out. George promptly said "Firstly, I don't like your tie". It's this sharp humour that contributed to his popularity. If you would like to see more of his phrases, have a look at the quotes page. There's a link on the left hand side of this page.