Living in the Material World: The George Harrison Documentary Worth Getting HBO For

I’m actually thinking about starting a subscription to HBO tonight, just so I can watch George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Martin Scorcese’s three or four-hour, two-part documentary about the magical, mystical Beatle.
The film was created with the cooperation of George’s wife Olivia and son Dhani, and features a treasure trove of previously unseen footage, plus interviews with rock royalty including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, and wife-swapping buddy Eric Clapton.



The following preview clip recalls the history of perhaps his greatest song, “Here Comes the Sun,” which he wrote whilst strolling around Slowhand’s country estate. Interestingly, "Here Comes the Sun" is the most downloaded Beatles song on iTunes. Take that, Macca!



Harrison was an interesting cat, perhaps the most interesting of The Beatles, and a documentary devoted solely to him is more than justified. He helped define the school of modern rock guitar playing, was one of the first to merge Eastern and Western music, and wrote several of the Beatles most beloved tracks. He was also the coolest-looking Beatle. Amazingly, he was only a wee 26 years old by the time The Beatles broke up. 


At the same time, Mr. Within-You-Without -You was also a devotee of recreational drugs, a lifelong womanizer, a race-car driver and a devoted gardener. And only through the quick thinking of his wife and a nearby lamp was he not the second Beatle to be assassinated. So there is much to chew on here.


Living in the Material World won’t be available on DVD until the spring of 2012, which sounds like a long time from now. Bad Karma on the part of on the Harrison organization  for holding me hostage to premium cable. Very un-George-like.

As long as we’re on the subject of “Here Comes the Sun,” let’s go out with a lovely version of that optimistic Abbey Road ditty from the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. I believe the guy accompanying him on guitar is the late Pete Ham from Badfinger.



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