The guitarist that never disappointed George Harrison: “He is capable of playing almost every type of music”
It’s unfortunate that George Harrison often gets overlooked as being an incredible guitarist, despite the fact that many people can agree that he was an important member of one of the biggest bands of all time. Much like his former Beatles bandmates John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and to a lesser extent, Paul McCartney, the general public tends to overlook their instrumental ability in favour of celebrating them for their songwriting skills.
While people might turn their heads towards the likes of Harrison’s close friend and collaborator Eric Clapton as having been more important to the world of guitar innovation during the 1960s, there are still many reasons to appreciate the Beatles’ lead player for his work on the six (and 12) string. His solo on ‘Something’ is one to die for, his intricate finger-picking on ‘Here Comes the Sun’ is sumptuous, and the bluesiness of a song like ‘One After 909’ is a tremendous if underrated moment in his oeuvre.
However, Harrison’s influences had to have come from somewhere, as one can hardly say that any of the aforementioned contributions were revolutionary in their presentation. You can credit him for having performed and written exceptionally, but nothing he did was exactly treading ground that other guitarists before him hadn’t already demonstrated. This is far from a criticism but an honest truth reflective of his ability.
Along with the rest of his bandmates, Harrison was largely influenced by the rock and roll explosion of the 1950s. He cited performers such as Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley as being hugely influential in his early years, as well as other players such as George Formby and Django Reinhardt, who covered the country and jazz-oriented aspects of his tastes.
Above all of these, one of the main influences on Harrison’s playing, and one that never failed to impress him, was the American guitarist Chet Atkins. Often referred to as ‘The Country Gentleman’, Atkins boasted a distinctive picking style that helped shape country music throughout the 1950s and continued to be a prominent figure within the genre until his death in 2001. His performances on tracks such as ‘Mister Sandman’ and ‘Black Mountain Rag’ are indicative of his talent, and Harrison was convinced that the conviction he had in his performances was one of his greatest assets.
In the liner notes for the 1966 album Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles, where he performed a number of Beatles covers in his own unique style, Harrison commented on the long-lasting love he has for the guitarist. “I have appreciated Chet Atkins as a musician since long before the tracks on this album were written,” he stated. “In fact, since I was the ripe young age of 17. Since then, I have lost count of the number of Chet’s albums I have acquired, but I have not been disappointed with any of them.”
Picking out his renditions of ‘Yesterday’, ‘I’ll Cry Instead’ and ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ as being among the highlights of his covers record, Harrison went on to state that the way he added harmonies and harmonics in “unexpected places” was able to bring out “that crystal-clear sound of the guitar to his audience’s benefit”.
In his final commendation to Atkins, Harrison believes that the reason he became so successful was because of “years of devoted practice on the instrument he so obviously loves”. This clearly heartfelt tribute to a musical hero is indicative of Atkins’ talents, and also of how important his contributions to country music were to Harrison becoming the exceptional guitarist he went on to be.
