Heavens Wail, Guitars Weep, Ode to George

The only regret I carry from childhood is the lack of skills or patience to play a musical instrument. Its raining outside. Dark, grey, gloomy, a hint of mist hanging in the air and woeful strings of George Harrison. 'While my guitar gently weeps'. The strings twang in succession, one slowly dragging into the focus the next. Such is the song, written by Harrison scoffed aside by Lennon.

Harrison went ahead and recorded the track with another legend and friend Eric Clapton. Clapton and other artists have covered this track in later years.The gentle and quaint Harrison referred by most as the quiet Beatle was the more spiritual amongst the fab four, converted to Hinduism later in his life. He was often overshadowed by the more flamboyant and lively Lennon and McCartney throughout most of his career. Fallouts between McCartney, Harrison and Lennon towards the end of the 70s sealed the deal for the legendary band. He was also very much into Indian classical music and introduced it to western mainstream music. He was introduced to Pandit Ravi Shankar in '65 and soon both went on to become good friends. The Beatles through George had been introduced to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and was introduced to Transcendental Meditation.

After their breakup in '69, Harrison was the first Beatle to have a Solo No#1 hit. A heavy smoker, he battled lung cancer throughout the 90s. Survived a knife attack in '99 which left him with a punctured lung. He succumbed to cancer, that re-emerged and was found to be terminal. He passed away on November 29, 2001. Location was kept secret to avoid avid fans scrambling for memorabilia. In the last few months, he and McCartney had made peace after years of hurt and pain.

Originally from Liverpool, the Beatles broke into the music scene in the early '60s to forever change the face of the music industry. So powerful was their success and achievement, the history of the music industry is divided into two eras.. Before-the-Beatles and After-the-Beatles. In no time they swept the charts in the UK and eventually Beatlemania creeped up across the pond and took over America by storm. At one point in '64 they held the top 5 spots on the Billboard top 100 list, a feat that has never been matched since. "Can't Buy Me Love," #2 - "Twist and Shout," #3 - "She Loves You," #4 - "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and #5 - "Please Please Me,"

Everything came to an end with the Album 'The Beatles' or the White Album as it is popularly known. Their last commercial album Let it be, was released in 1969.

Okay, what started with the weather ended up being a rather detailed piece on George Harrison. Hmm such be the muses with smokes. I better get back inside and dry up.