**George Harrison
(b. 25 Feb ’43, Liverpool, UK, Bass guitarist) **
At one point in time, George was not allowed to perform with the Beatles because he was just a little boy!
He is best known as the guitarist who took to the Hindu philosophy in a big way.
After the band broke up, Harrison worked with Eric Clapton several times, in ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ and with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne (who produced Free As A Bird and Real Love) as the members of the phenomenally successful super group The Traveling Wilburys.
Through his wife Patti’s interest in Eastern religion, George began studying meditation and the sitar, which first appeared on the song ‘Norwegian Wood’ and later on George’s own songs.
**Ravi Shankar Teaches A Beatle **
Harrison took the sitar very seriously after he started learning it from Pt. Ravi Shankar. He says, ‘after Norwegian Wood, I met Ravi Shankar at a friend’s house in London, for dinner. He offered to give me instructions in the basics of the sitar, like how to sit, how to hold it, and the basic exercises. It was the first time I had ever really learned music with a bit of discipline. Then I started to listen to Indian music for the next two years, and hardly touched the guitar, except for recordings.’
The one cause that he’s most known for is the Hare Ram Hare Krishna culture that he tried to expand through his actions. He says, ‘having all these material things, I wanted something more. And it happened that at just the time I wanted it, it came to me in the form of Ravi Shankar, Indian music, and the whole Indian philosophy.’