When a nine-year-old Dhani Harrison contributed to a Traveling Wilburys song in 1988
While his fellow former Beatles all entered the world of fatherhood while the band were still active, George Harrison remained childless until long into his solo career, with his only son, Dhani, having been born in 1978.
Even though each of the other members have produced at least one musical offspring, with it almost being inevitable that a group as talented as they were would be able to create miniature versions of themselves who would go on to have careers in music, none of the Beatles babies were old enough to have contributed to the band’s work in any meaningful way, save for perhaps being the inspiration behind some of their songs.
For example, despite having been performed by Ringo Starr, the song ‘Good Night’, which closes out the band’s epically ambitious double album, The White Album, was originally written as a lullaby by John Lennon for his eldest son, Julian. Having children is a life-altering experience, and something that can trigger huge emotions that lead to immense waves of inspiration, and for The Beatles who had their own kids, they would find this experience something that they could translate into songs.
Despite many of their progeny having developed an aptitude for musicianship later in life, none of them were really in the proximity of the band’s activity at the time, owing to the fact that it was perhaps too chaotic and hostile of an environment for a young child to be surrounded by. Zak Starkey may well have become an illustrious drummer like his father, but he wasn’t giving him tips in the studio as a youngster.
Dhani Harrison, on the other hand, while not having grown up around The Beatles in a physical sense, was still interested in the work of his father early on. Rather unsurprisingly, he would also go on to pursue a career as a guitarist and songwriter, and he was able to get a taste of life as a musician from a young age as he’d assist his father with the songs that eventually became Brainwashed, George’s final studio album which was released posthumously.
While George was unable to finish the album before his passing in 2001, Dhani eventually finished this project off with the help of Harrison’s former Traveling Wilbury’s bandmate Jeff Lynnem, having been around the songs since they were first written, and having accompanied his dad in the studio for parts of the production.
However, this wasn’t the first time that Dhani had worked with his father, nor was it the first time he’d worked alongside Lynne, and according to the latter, the young offspring proved to be more than just an inspirational figure to one of the Wilburys’ most beloved songs.
Speaking to Classic Vinyl in 2019, Lynne proclaimed that the youngster was even contributing ideas when they were recording their debut album in 1988. “I think the synthesiser on ‘Margarita’ was Dhani’s idea,” Lynne proclaimed, adding, “he would only be about seven or eight”. While Lynne’s dates are a little confused, with Dhani Harrison being nine years old at the time of the recording, it’s still preposterous to think that a song as successful as this could be written by a child, especially when there are five supremely talented songwriters already involved in the project.
This display of creative flair being nurtured from a young age only goes to show that if you’ve got the talent there from a young age and it feels right and natural, then you might as well show it off, even if the likes of Bob Dylan and Tom Petty are already there to provide their own songwriting input.
