Badfinger's Joey Molland Said George Harrison Would 'Close up and Walk Away' if Someone Treated Him
Badfinger’s Joey Molland was one of the many who experienced what happened when people treated George Harrison like a Beatle. It was quite awkward and always resulted in a closed-off George.
Badfinger’s Joey Molland said George Harrison hated when people treated him like a Beatle
Joey Molland and Badfinger were close with George. They turned out to be the most successful act that The Beatles signed to their record label Apple Records. They even played as session musicians on George’s triple album, All Things Must Pass. In 1971, George invited the group to perform at his benefit concert, the Concert for Bangladesh.
The Beatles hadn’t been separated for very long, but George had fallen headfirst into his solo career, even if he didn’t exactly pursue one, by 1971. He’d earned success with All Things Must Pass and made history by organizing the first benefit concert. George was also enjoying being a free agent immensely.
So, it’s no wonder George didn’t take kindly to being treated like a Beatle again.
In Joshua M. Greene’s Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Molland said, “One thing you’d learn about George very early was that if you talked to him like he was a Beatle, he would close up and walk away.
“If you talked to him like he was a regular bloke, about your car breaking down or your guitar not working properly or something, then he’d be all ears and get right into it with you. I remember only once when he did refer to the Beatles.
“Badfinger was going to represent Apple at a Capitol Records convention in Hawaii, and George said, ‘You know, I went to Hawaii once. It’s a fantastic, beautiful place. Of course, we couldn’t go out. I had to look at it from the hotel room or the inside of a car.’
“The moment passed, and we went on to talk about other things, but you got this impression that he was very sad about the whole affair. Being a Beatle wasn’t a great memory for him.”
‘Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening also said George became closed off when people treated him like a Beatle
In 1993, George voiced himself in an episode of The Simpsons, “Homer’s Barbershop Quartet.” The show’s creator, Matt Groening, said he witnessed something similar to Molland. George didn’t like it when people treated him like a Beatle.
“When you meet them and you don’t talk about the Beatles, they get really happy,” Groening said at Paley Festival in 2007 (per Harrison Archive). “We did talk about the Beatles, but I also mentioned one of [George Harrison’s] solo albums [Wonderwall Music], and his eyes lit up.”
In the episode commentary on the season 5 DVDs, Groening added that George was “pretty glum” and unenthusiastic regarding questions about The Beatles. However, Groening asked George about Wonderwall Music, and he “perked up.” George’s first solo album often fell under the radar.
Despite his uneasiness regarding questions about The Beatles, Groening said George was lovely and friendly to everyone.
However, it’s interesting that George would’ve still been annoyed by questions about The Beatles. By 1993, George had come to terms with being one of the Fab Four.
He eventually came to terms with being a Beatle
There are many reasons why George would’ve felt uncomfortable when people treated him like a Beatle. As Molland said, George didn’t enjoy most of his time in the band.
Between the exhausting and often frightful Beatlemania, being constantly set aside musically by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and hating fame, adulation, and craving something better, George didn’t have much to like. The only positive takeaways were that George liked playing with a band and loved his bandmates deep down.
However, George didn’t want only to be considered a Beatle. When a man recognized him on the streets of New York City, George denied his identity. He turned to his friend, Al Aronowitz, and said, “We’ve got to explain to them that we’re not these bodies.'”
George could’ve been referring to the fact that he wasn’t Beatle George. According to Rolling Stone, he said, “The Beatles exist apart from myself. I am not really Beatle George. Beatle George is like a suit or shirt that I once wore on occasion, and until the end of my life people may see that shirt and mistake it for me. I play a little guitar, write a few tunes, make a few movies, but none of that’s really me. The real me is something else.”
In Greene’s book, George said something similar. “I don’t want to die as ‘George Harrison record producer’ or ‘George Harrison lead guitarist’ or even just a Beatle,” George told New Musical Express in 1970. “They’re all me—but they’re not really me. The moment people start typecasting, then it’s time to move on. I’m unlimited. We’re all unlimited.”
However, George told Creem Magazine in 1987 that he’d come to terms with being a Beatle.
“As things have settled down I’ve come to terms with it and it’s sunk into the past. We’ve gotten older and new generations have come along,” George said. “I spent years avoiding interviews and going on TV to get to a point where I could go out, walk down the street and go in a shop and just do regular little things that ordinary people do. Everything’s cool and it’s quite enjoyable.
“And now, if somebody comes up and says, ‘Alright, George,’ and they just congratulate you and thank you for all the music you did in the past and what you’ve been doing–that’s nice. It’s the concentrated mania that would make anybody go crazy.”
Whatever feelings George had about being a Beatle, he didn’t like that people only thought of him as Beatle George and nothing else. He was much more, possibly someone who tried to show people they could be God-conscious through his songs. The Beatles didn’t define George’s life.
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