Entertainment Weekly's Ty Burr: Remembering George Harrison

Beatle guitarist George Harrison, who died of cancer at age 58

Fans are mourning the death of Beatle guitarist George Harrison, who died of cancer at age 58. Known as "The Quiet Beatle," Harrison shaped the group's influential sound, melded eastern sounds with western pop, and penned such hits as "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun."

Entertainment Weekly writer Ty Burr joined the CNN.com chat room to discuss the passing of George Harrison. Ty Burr has been with Entertainment Weekly since 1990, and is now a Writer-At-Large. He was instrumental in inaugurating EW's Multimedia review section. In recent years, Burr extended EW's coverage of the Internet while editing the magazine's weekly Internet section.

CNN: Where does Harrison rank in the pantheon of rock and roll guitarists?

BURR: George Harrison is an interesting case, in that he started out quite self-effacingly, modeling his guitar style after the Sun Records greats; he loved Carl Perkins. But I think partially because he got into a rivalry with other musicians of his generation, particularly Eric Clapton. He established a guitar style that was a very distinctive voice. He was one of the first to do so, to take a guitar song out of a pop song, and turn it into its own voice. When you listen to "Abbey Road," George's guitar work basically set the tone for guitar work in pop music over the next 15 years. I don't think he was a guitar god the way Clapton was, but in ways he was as important, if not more so.

EXTRA INFORMATION In-Depth: George Harrison - the quiet Beatle     VIDEO A look back at the life and music of George Harrison (November 30) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   RESOURCES Message Board: Remembering George Harrison

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Wasn't everything George did somewhat understated and therefore under-appreciated until his later years?

BURR: He was self-effacing, sure, but then look at the first solo thing he did after the Beatles broke up. It's hardly understated; it's a three-LP set, called "All Things Must Pass," which is a pretty ambitious title. I think that really actually announced that George was a Beatle with great ambition, wanting to make great statements. He followed that up with the concert for Bangladesh, and the album that came from it. He showed that rockers could at least try to change the world as well. I do think his music is underrated, but only because it stands next to Lennon's and McCartney's.

CNN: What did he provide to the Beatles chemistry that helped them become one of the greatest bands of all time?

BURR: I think his guitar work, especially in the early years, rooted the Beatles sound in the rock and roll that had led up to them, the music of Sun Records and early rock and roll. I think you can't listen to a Beatles sound without hearing George's guitar sounds, and also his singing. It wasn't just Lennon and McCartney singing. You had incredible three-part harmonies. I also think that what was really important about the Beatles -- and this has been said before -- was that they were the first group where each member was essential, where each member brought something musically, and in terms of personality to the mix. You can't imagine the Beatles without one of those four. I think his personality, which was smart, but silent, was crucial. It grounded the Beatles, and you could see it even in the movie "A Hard Day's Night." The scene where George wanders into the office of a teen TV show, and they think he's just another "grotty" teenager, and he very quietly, very intelligently pokes merciless fun at them.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Any nugget of info on George that we didn't know about him, something not in the press?

BURR: One thing that's not well known to music fans was that he was directly responsible for a small renaissance in British film-making in the 1980's. He started a company called "Hand-Made Films," because nobody wanted to make his friend's movie, "Monty Python's Life of Brian." He also went on to executive produce Terry Gilliam's first movie, "Time Bandits," as well as "Mona Lisa," and "Shanghai Surprise," with Madonna, which was a flop that eventually brought the company down.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Was George Harrison active in the politics of helping Bangladesh or just fundraising?

BURR: My understanding is that he used his Beatles clout to raise money, but I think that he was an apolitical person in just about everything he did, including the politics of being a Beatle. I think he saw himself as a spiritual man, not a political man, unlike John Lennon, for example.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: Mr. Burr, have the plans for a funeral been disclosed yet?

BURR: I don't know about that. I do know that he was exquisitely private about everything leading up to his death. A British newspaper published comments by Beatles producer George Martin several months ago that suggested that George had months to live, and George responded very, very angrily to that article, and to all press inquiries in the whole matter. He wanted his death to be a private matter. I think his wife and son wanted that as well.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What do you think George thought was one of his greatest accomplishments?

BURR: I would say that probably his bringing Indian music to the West, which really opened the door for the world music boom of the last 20 years. I also think that he was proud of his work in trying to raise funds for the needy in Bangladesh, even though it took years for that money to get out of court, and to people that needed it.

CHAT PARTICIPANT: What can you tell us about Harrison's relationship with fellow musician, Eric Clapton?

BURR: George's relationship with Eric Clapton is long and complicated. If Clapton hadn't fallen in love with George's wife, there would have been no "Layla." They stimulated each other and competed with each other personally and musically throughout their lives.

CNN: What gave Harrison the distinction of being the "quiet" Beatle? Was this distinction correct?

BURR: When the Beatles first hit, nobody had ever seen an act like them, a group. You were used to one person, like Elvis, or Jerry Lee Lewis. For Americans especially, here were four young men, all with long black hair, and if you were over 18 years old, there was no way you could tell the difference between them at first. And so, they each got tagged with nicknames. Paul was "the cute one," because he was the cute one. John was "the smart one," because he'd written a book. Ringo was "the funny one," because he was the funny one, and George got called "the quiet one," partially from default, and partially because he WAS quiet, in the face of Beatlemania. In person, he was quite chatty, and very funny.

CNN: Do you have any closing comments?

BURR: It's funny to see the responses of my friends and myself in that he is one of the first of the musical gods of our generation to be taken from us, not by violence, but through the ravages of time, through disease and age. I think a lot of people, myself included, are going to be saddened in years to come that these gods, and we don't expect gods to die, do age and pass away. That said, it's remarkable and really, really quite wonderful, that even in my own office place, all I'm hearing as I walk down the hall is George Harrison music coming out of people's computers. It's music that runs a lot deeper than he got much credit for, which I think makes it not only perfect for these times, but perfect to remember him in the long run.

CNN: Thank you for joining us today

BURR: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Ty Burr joined the chat room via telephone from New York and CNN.com provided a typist. The above is an edited transcript of the interview on Friday, November 30, 2001 at 4:15 p.m. EST.