When Love Songs Reigned Supreme.

1965 ushered in a great year for the four Beatles and me, in addition the duration clearly signified as one of the best 365 days for each of us. Not only did ‘65’ champion the love of my life’s birth year, but these heroes with hairy heads through Capitol Records, also gave me and millions of loyal fans spread across the 50 United States, The Early Beatles (released March 22, 1965 – the love of my life was born March 24, 1965), Beatles VI (released June 14, 1965), the Help Original Soundtrack (released August 13, 1965), and Rubber Soul (released December 6, 1965). Fabulous music poured from all four issues like nothing we fans had ever heard before, which sounded so grandly spectacular, and each album never expressed the same resonance as the Beatles compositions continued to progress in entirely new directions still using the guitar as their main source. Here we find astounding gems like, “Boys”, “Do You Want To Know A Secret”, “Please Please Me”, and the mighty show-stopper “Twist and Shout” all found on the round disk inside The Early Beatles LP holder. Less than two months later, we fans got blown away with “Eight Days A Week”, also, one of my favorites by George––“You Like Me Too Much, “Words of Love”, the beautiful, “Yes it Is”, and what about the chilling guitar licks on “What You’re Doing” and “Every Little Thing”, marvelous, all from Beatles VI. Next, more treasures arrived from Help with the title song, plus, “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl”, “Ticket To Ride”, “I Need You”, and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”, all with great sounding guitars. Then, super sounding guitars flow through our speakers while listening to Rubber Soul and our Beatles once again knocked it out of the park with groundbreaking elegance like “Norwegian Wood”, “Michelle”, “Girl”, and “In My Life.” Such fanciful and intricate guitar movements effortlessly mastered by the brilliant self-taught determination of dear and respected George Harrison. Thank you, George, for giving us and the rest of the Beatles magnificent input on the many musical arrangements your teammates unleashed inside the studio.

And speaking of George, plus his talented instrumentation throughout the year 1965, I came across a single page article first published inside 16 Magazine during the same period titled, George Harrison’s Hates & Loves. Follow me back some 52 years and let’s delve inside the head of the youngest famous Beatle all those years ago and observe if by chance his personality quotes had softened or hardened with age. . . So, ladies and gentlemen here’s George at the ripe old age of twenty-one:

“I hate having my professional life get mixed up with my private life. It can spoil a night out at a club if there is a constant line of photographers and autograph hunters waiting to get close to our table.”

“I hate having to hurry past a crowd of fans without stopping for a chat, because we have to rush away for another appointment.”

“I hate tea or coffee without sugar.”

“I hate days when it never stops raining from dawn to dusk.”

“I hate days on tour when every hour is taken up with traveling and there’s no chance to relax quietly for a spell.”

“I hate the end of any recording session. I’m always ready to go on and on once I’m in a recording studio.”

“I hate having my hair cut. To me it’s like a major operation and I dread it, so I never plan my visits to the barber until the last minute, so I won’t have long to be bad tempered about the prospect.”

“I hate reporters who either turn up without any knowledge about pop music generally or about us, or who twist the things we say to make up whatever they write.”

“I hate being closed in theater dressing rooms for too long. In the end, I can’t stand it any longer and have to talk a walk around the building or watch the other acts from the wings.”

I hate snatching meals in a hurry. I think eating is a pleasure that should be enjoyed at leisure.”

“I hate stupid rumors and the people who delight in making themselves important by passing them on when they know very well there’s no real evidence for their claims. And I don’t just mean rumors about us––I mean guesswork and imagination presented as fact on any subject under the sun.”

“I hate getting up in the morning. I’m O.K. once I’m up and washed, but the bad bit is actually coming up from under the sheets.”

“I love seeing so many new places and meeting so many new people in our travels.”

“I love spending time with my guitars––just messing about with the strings, polishing the frames or trying out new sounds.”

“I love listening to all the Tamla-Motown artists live or on records.”

“I love finding time to be really lazy for a whole day every now and then. I did just lazing beside a pool or reading a book by a fire in the winter.”

“I love live concerts. It’s great to have the immediate response of an excited audience and know that what the group is doing is providing people with entertainment and enjoyment.”

“I love being with the rest of the boys. Although we spend so much time in our own company, there are never any serious rows between us and we’re all right on the same wavelength so far as a sense of humor is concerned.”

“I love fairly small parties with good music and good company.”

“I love listening to other people telling me about things they do and things they know, especially when these things are nothing to do with the life we know. I’ve always been very very interested in hearing new opinions and knowing about new subjects which are not part of our own everyday routine.”

“I love rehearsing new songs. There’s a terrific thrill for me in hearing a brand-new number brought to life.”

“I love making big-headed people look foolish.”

“I love getting home to England after a long spell abroad and catching up on all the news.”

“I love being serious now and again––and having a good sensible argument on some subject that a friend disagrees about.”

“I love trying to put the right name to a familiar face––I always make a point of trying to store up people’s names in my mind so I can remember to say, ‘Hello Bill’ or ‘Hi Joe’ even if I haven’t met them for about six months.”

“I love seeing good films or watching interesting plays on television.”

All right, what do you think? Same old George from the mid-sixties as into the early twenty-first century, or, based on your individual acquaintance, regardless from afar or close at hand, did he change? I guess what really matters is the kindness of heart, the patience of mind and respect for others Mr. Harrison adamantly showed the world. He was a giver, a true blessing to us all and what a prince of a guy! I miss him greatly.  

Such a fortunate joy, we fans are still able to pick, at the drop of a hat, a favorite CD right off the shelf and surround ourselves with the glorious memories those great songs dutifully hold our attentive admiration without fail, time and time again. Excellent, even perfect songs that in many ways fill our hearts yet break them at the same time victimizing us by the cursed seven-year itch that led up to the horrible, pathetic, divorce-like break-up of four brotherly friends. Paul was the first to go public, announcing he no longer had plans to participate in any capacity with the Beatles, dissolving his partnership, even though John tried to beat him to the punch but promised Manager Allen Klein mums the word. If only the other three pop-stars simply told McCartney, “Good Riddance”! Then phoned Klaus Voorman for a strategic sit-down meeting and requests he re-string his bass guitar to join the Beatles, what amazing music could have continued through the collaboration of Lennon & Harrison. This potential lineup of musician comradery showed promise. However, remove John, George or Ringo but leave Paul intact with a new drummer or new guitar player splicing the Beatles still points to a gloom and doom fiasco under the bossy dominance tendencies McCartney has in controlling a lineup of yes-men performers rather than merging everyone’s ideal creativity among the band’s equal artistic individuals.

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