George Harrison was known as the ‘quiet one’ in the most successful and influential music group of all time and his post-Beatles story might be assumed by those not in the know as perhaps having had correspondingly less gravitas than his bandmates John and Paul. This show proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the George Harrison story deserved to be told, not just as a catalogue of some great music but as a very human story of a man who touched the lives of so many others in several ways beyond simply that of his music.
George Harrison was so much more than just the lead guitarist in the Beatles. His concert for Bangladesh in 1971 formed the blue-print for the all-star fund-raising rock concert and his own film company, created specifically so he could see ‘The Life of Brian’ happen, effectively saved the British industry. Harrison’s charitable work was part of his deep spirituality but he had his heartbreaks and personal issues alongside a remarkable music career, culminating with an extraordinary partnership with a quartet of other music greats, including Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. In short, this was a powerful and inspirational story which demonstrated once again how fact can often be not just stranger, but more remarkable than fiction.
Daniel Taylor sang all the songs with both feeling and gusto. There was no attempt to mimic Harrison’s actual voice but as a fellow Liverpudlian, Taylor’s natural twang gave an authenticity to the vocal sound that was reminiscent of Harrison. The story of George was told with a sincere feeling of both admiration and appreciation. A very effective device was the insertion of frequent quotes from Harrison, always delivered by Taylor in the same kind of exaggerated scouse accent which all the Beatles often used when talking to the media. From powerful rockers like ‘What is Life?’ to gentle love songs like ’Something’, Taylor demonstrated an impressive range doing full justice to Harrison’s music.
The band gave excellent renditions of twenty songs, for the most part sounding remarkably like the original records with a few deliberate variations. ‘Something’ was notably performed as a piano piece and the heavy acoustic guitar chords in ‘My Sweet Lord’ were dampened to give a more rounded band sound but in general there was close attention to detail in re-creating the sound of the original recordings. This was no mean feat considering that Harrison (no mediocre musician himself) had used many of the finest players of the time, such as Billy Preston and Eric Clapton. The guitar work from Joe Smithson was exceptional, with a lot of emphasis on the Wah-Wah peddle as well as regular slide, ably supported by bass from Tom Kinton, whose solid rhythm riffs allowed the lead guitar free reign. Kevin Pritchard used the keyboards to give some variation to certain songs as mentioned above but for the most part, alongside drumming from Callum Macmillan, completed the polished original sound of Harrison’s extensive back-catalogue.
The format for the show followed that of Something About’s previous production the John Lennon Story, with the George Harrison Story (essentially from the Beatles’ break-up in 1970 until his death in 2001) told through narration interspersed with many of George’s greatest solo compositions (plus a few of his own Beatle’s numbers). There were however were no back projections with this presentation; simply five musicians in front of a black curtain, but the music needed no visual support, although some back images could have helped set the scenes.
The show was a delight for any Beatles fan but it was also a very human story and a great insight for anyone not familiar with the quality of Harrison’s solo work. Only a musical and cultural philistine could not enjoy this show which had something to say to everyone.
Something About Productions - https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/something-about-george
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
On - 02.11.25
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