ELO’s Jeff Lynne Shared His Thoughts on Beatle George Harrison’s Guitar Skills
Before Beatles star George Harrison died in 2001, he had many friends and collaborators outside of the Fab Four. ELO’s Jeff Lynne was one of them; they worked together on several projects, including Harrison’s final album Brainwashed, which was released posthumously. Lynne recently shared his thoughts on Harrison’s guitar skills, and showed respect for the late star.
A video featured on Harrison’s social media pages shared commentary from Lynne about how he believed Harrison was the best slide guitar player he had ever heard. “He’s so accurate on it, and he makes it sing, and he makes it cry, and he makes it do anything, really,” he said. “And he can hold out a pure note with just beautiful vibrato that is so even. And it’s that style, it’s the melodic aspect of it, but it’s also … soulful, bluesy. He can do it all.”
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The commentary was accompanied by a clip of Harrison playing the 1973 song “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June of that same year. An updated mix of the song was released on the 50th anniversary reissue of the album Living in the Material World, produced by George’s widow and son, Olivia and Dhani Harrison.
Lynne and Harrison began working together in the late ’80s, and their friendship and collaborations led them to form the band the Traveling Wilburys, which also featured Tom Petty, Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan. The band released two albums in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Lynne and Harrison continued to work together until Harrison’s death.
Reminisce and listen to the Traveling Wilburys below:
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