also appeared on the album. The Dylan influence is
even evident on the Abbey Road album cover, which
pictures George dressed head to toe in Nashville
skyline-blue denim.
The following year Harrison became the first
Beatle to move beyond activist messaging into ac-
tion. Responding to an emotional appeal from his
friend Ravi Shankar, he organized the Concert for
Bangladesh in New York City’s Madison Square
Garden, where he, along with Shankar, Starr, Dylan,
Eric Clapton and others raised funds for refu-
gees suffering a humanitarian crisis in the region.
Though legal troubles with the Allen Klein-pro-
duced concert and a plagiarism suit would mar his
very big year, for Harrison, the sudden high profile
finally allowed him to step out from the Lennon-
McCartney shadow. “By the time All Things Must
Pass came out,” he told Rolling Stone rather graphi-
But there were deeper resentments that rankled
him even decades later when he spoke bitterly of the
dismissive manner that Lennon and McCartney treat-
ed his songwriting efforts. “The usual thing was that
we’d do 14 of their tunes,” he said in 1989, “and then
they’d condescend to listen to one of mine.” Among
the songs Harrison brought with him to Twickenham
in 1969, “I Me Mine” and “For You Blue,” would ap-
pear on Let It Be. But four others that he auditioned,
including the Band-inspired ballad “All Things Must
Pass” did not make the cut. In November 1970 all four
would appear on one of the most extravagantly praised
and bestselling albums of the year. And it wouldn’t be
a Beatles record but Harrison’s post-Beatles breakup
solo debut, All Things Must Pass—a rare triple album.
That same year, thanks to “My Sweet Lord,” Harrison
became the first ex-Beatle to score a No. 1 single. The
song he wrote with Dylan, “I’d Have You Anytime,”
54 THE BEATLES 1969 PEOPLE
MYTHIC HISTORY, REAL AMERICANA
Above: Calling themselves Lucky (Bob Dylan, left), Otis (Jeff Lyne), Charlie T. Jr.
(Tom Petty), Nelson (George Harrison) and Lefty (Roy Orbison), the five members of
the fictional musical family the Traveling Wilburys was the brainchild of Harrison. The
group put out two albums, in 1988 and ’91: Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 and, yes, Vol. 3.
TRIBUTE TO GEORGE
Right: Having been inducted as part of the Beatles in 1988, George Harrison was
posthumously added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in a 2004 ceremony
at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria. During the all-star finale, Prince’s electrifying
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” solo wowed Tom Petty (left) and George’s son Dhani
(center) along with all gathered. “He just burned it up,” an awed Petty said.
