Coming into to college, I didn't listen to The Beatles at all -- I didn't know all of the members' names or what most of their songs sounded like. But then I met my roommate, who is quite possibly the most dedicated fan I have ever met. She exclusively plays The Beatles when she drives, so after many car rides to the grocery store and back, I've learned a lot of songs and lyrics, and have even grown to like The Beatles. In honor of the late George Harrison's 74th birthday, here are 11 facts you may not have known about the genius behind "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something."
1. In 1963, when The Beatles' released "Please Please Me", their first record, George was only 20 years old.
2. George met his first wife, Pattie Boyd, on the set of "A Hard Day's Night."
3. In 1957, he auditioned for John and Paul for The Quarrymen on the top of a double-decker bus.
4. He went to Woodstock on August 15th-18th, 1969 as a fan but did not play.
5. George's best friend, Eric Clapton, who played lead guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", married Pattie Boyd and she and George got divorced in 1977.
6. For most of his life, George thought his birthday was February 25th, but when he was older, he changed his story and said he was actually born on the 24th at 11:50 PM.
7. George and Paul knew each other in middle school before joining The Quarrymen together.
8. He played 26 different instruments including the sitar, glockenspiel, and the marimba.
9. Richard Lester, the director of "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!", said that George was the best actor of the four.
10. In "A Hard Day's Night", George added a word to the national vocabulary. He was the first person to use the slang term "groty" as in grotesque while describing a new line of shirts.
11. When The Beatles broke up in 1970, George was 27 years old.
If you're not a Beatles fan, I would highly recommend listening to them for a few hours because you'll come out of that time with a newfound love and appreciation for them. I'm thankful for my roommate's love for The Beatles and for never listening to anyone other than them in the car (and everywhere else). Now, I don't want to listen to anything but The Beatles in the car, and I have no problem with that.
