10 Years - Your Love Is Forever

As a very little girl my mother would play us The Beatles' music. Some of my earliest memories are watching segments from "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Help!". But it was not until 2002 that I first saw George Harrison as a person on his own.


I must have been about ten, eleven years old. My family had traveled up to my Grandma's for Christmas. I remember us all sitting down in the lounge room together, surrounding the television at night. And on the screen I saw many musicians, cast upon a warm yellow background. I recognized Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, but no one else. Watching it, it felt joyous, like a celebration, old friends gathered together and sharing something special. Then I remember seeing a picture of a man in black and white, at a microphone and holding a guitar. And upon seeing him I felt something strange within me. He looked so young and gentle, and I remember thinking he was beautiful.I could tell that this man was very special.
Little did I know then, that just a few years later this man would mean the world to me in so many different ways, and on so many different levels.

George, no matter what happens in my life, and no matter how much time passes, you will always be a living part of me. Always. The guiding light in all your love shines on...Your love is forever.

"Jayaraj (George) was in love with Krishna or Hari
He gave so many songs to this world
We are remembering that Great Soul
And we salute him with love and respect"

- Ravi Shankar

"So we tried not to be sad, but instead celebrated the life and music of a great artiste, the beautiful 'quiet' one from Liverpool who became a man of many words as well as worlds, a wise and coveted friend, father and seeker who transcended the distractions of success and fame to maintain a one-pointed focus upon his goal of spiritual awakening. He did all this while entertaining the world and having an equal measure of fun along the way."

- Olivia Harrison

Sunrise doesn't last all morning
A cloudburst doesn't last all day
Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
Its not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away

Sunset doesn't last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this, my love is up and must be leaving
Its not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
None of life's strings can last
So, I must be on my way
And face another day

Now the darkness only stays the night-time
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good at arriving at the right time
Its not always going to be this grey

All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away

"Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another"

(Title: "Your Love Is Forever" - George Harrison)

Rocky

George Harrison's beloved "Rocky" is perhaps one of the music world's most well known guitars.

"Rocky" began life as a 1961/2 solid body Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster, and was bought for George second hand, as his first Fender Stratocaster, by Beatles roadie Mal Evans in 1965. He first used it for a recording on "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" from "Help!" (1965). One was also bought for John Lennon, and the two guitars as brothers were used during the recording of "Rubber Soul"(1965), uniting for the eminent solo in "Nowhere Man". "Rocky" would also be used on following albums, such as "Revolver" (1966).


John Lennon and his Fender Stratocaster - what "Rocky" had originally looked like.

In April 1967, The Beatles had just finished recording their momentous album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". At this time psychedelia was blooming, influencing music, art, fashion, and even guitars. It was during this time that George decided to transform "Rocky".

“The paint started flaking off immediately... We were painting everything at that time: our houses, our clothes, our cars, our shop. Everything. In those days day-glo orange and lime paint were very rare, but I discovered where to buy them — very thick, rubbery stuff. I got a few different colors and painted the Strat, not very artistically because the paint was just too thick. I had also found out about cellulose paint, which came in a tube with a ball tip, so I filled in the scratch plate with that and drew on the head of the guitar with [wife] Pattie’s sparkly green nail varnish.” George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology.

Also featured on the guitar were the words "Be Bop A Lula", "Go Cat Go", and the guitar's name on the headstock. Despite the strong use of colour, the back of the guitar however, would remain in its original blue.




"Rocky" featured in Guitar Player magazine, November 1987.

The new and improved "Rocky" would then be seen by the greater portion of the world on June 25th 1967, during The Beatles performance of "All You Need Is Love" in black and white on "Our World", the world's first global television link. However, it would be most remembered and more clearly seen in The Beatles' self-directed, psychedelic film "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967), being played by Harrison during the "I Am The Walrus" sequence.

"Rocky" would then remain a very special guitar to Harrison. In approximately 1969 he began playing slide on it, and would use it for many, many years to come. To name a few, it would appear on the Dark Horse Tour of 1974, feature on "Free As A Bird", and make one of its last known public appearances at the Concert for George in 2002, being played by Andy Fairweather-Low.

Andy Fairweather-Low playing "Rocky" at the Concert for George, 2002.

George Harrison discusses "Rocky".

I myself personally honored "Rocky" by naming my first electric guitar after it: "Rocky George II".

(Sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. )