George Harrison Documentary Produced by Martin Scorsese to Debut on HBO

Written by Robin Tourtellotte Sunday, 06 May 2012 00:57

LOS ANGELES, CA - A new George Harrison documentary featuring home movies, interviews and never before seen material will make its debut in October on HBO, the cable channel said. Produced by Oscar-winner Martin Scorsese and Harrison's widow Olivia, "George Harrison: Living in the Material World", traces the life of the late Beatle from his musical beginnings in Liverpool to his fame with the Fab Four in the 1960s as well as his work as a philanthropist and filmmaker. Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001 in Los Angeles at the age of 58. Although often referred to as the quiet Beatle, he wrote hit songs like "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" for The Beatles before playing with the 1980's supergroup, Traveling Wilburys.

Harrison became part of The Beatles when they were still a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. McCartney told Lennon about his friend George Harrison, who could play "Raunchy" on his guitar.[23] Although Lennon considered him too young to join the band, Harrison hung out with them and filled in as needed.[ By the time Harrison was 15, Lennon and the others had accepted him as one of the band. Since Harrison was the youngest member of the group, he was looked upon as a kid by the others for another few years.

Relations among The Beatles were more cordial (though still strained) during recordings for the album Abbey Road. The album included "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", "Something" was later recorded by Frank Sinatra, who considered it "one of the greatest songs of the last twenty years". Harrison's increasing productivity, coupled with his difficulties in getting The Beatles to record his music, meant that by the end of the group's career he had amassed a considerable stockpile of unreleased material.  Harrison's last recording session with The Beatles was on 4 January 1970. John Lennon, who had left the group the previous September, did not attend the session


The 3-1/2 hour documentary includes interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Eric Clapton, Yoko Ono, Phil Spector and record producer George Martin, among others. It will air in two parts on HBO on October 5 and 6, and be released in Britain on October 10 on DVD and Blu-Ray through Lionsgate, Lionsgate UK said.

Scorsese, whose music projects include "The Last Waltz" in 1978 about the final concert of The Band, and the Rolling Stones documentary "Shine a light", said he had long been a fan of Harrison.

"So when I was offered the chance to make this picture, I jumped at it. Spending time with Olivia (Harrison), interviewing so many of George's closest friends, reviewing all that footage, some of it never seen before, and listening to all of that magnificent music -- it was a joy, and an experience I'll always treasure," Scorsese said in a statement.

A book accompanying the documentary will be published in late September featuring photos, letters, diaries and other memorabilia from the personal archives of Olivia and George Harrison.

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