BBC Radio Merseyside legend, Roger Phillips will be joined by Beatles expert, Dr Mike Jones and Olivia Harrison – award winning film producer and widow of George – for a special, live, online event to celebrate 50 years since the release of George’s album, All Things Must Pass.
Part of the University of Liverpool’s Yoko Series of events, George Harrison: Transcending The Beatles, is free and takes place from 1pm on Friday November 27.
The series, which looks towards the opening of the University’s new Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, began with a panel discussion around the art of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, held to coincide with what would have been the former’s 80th birthday.
On Friday, Dr Mike Jones, a Senior Lecturer in the University’s Department of Music, Roger and Olivia will discuss George’s career both as a Beatle and as a solo artist, as well as discussing George’s interest in Indian classical music and his fascination for the culture and spirituality of the Indian subcontinent.
All Things Must Pass – George’s most successful solo album – was released on November 27 1970.
Olivia Harrison said: “I’m delighted to be joining Mike and Roger to talk about George and his career.
“George’s love of Indian classical music influenced not only his own song-writing, but the way he saw the world. The concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic a few years ago was a wonderful celebration of the Indian musicians who played on Sgt Pepper.“
In 2017, Dr Mike Jones tracked down the two surviving Indian musicians – Buddhadev Kansara and Natwar Soni – from the original Sgt Pepper recording, before bringing them to Liverpool for a special celebration of George Harrison’s links with, and love of, the subcontinent, under the heading Within You Without You: The Story of The Beatles and Indian Music.
George Harrison died, aged 58, on November 29 2001.
George Harrison: Transcending The Beatles, forms part of the Yoko Series of online events specially commissioned to mark the highly-anticipated opening of the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre in 2021, as well as the launch of the MA in ‘The Beatles, Music and Heritage’ in Autumn 2021.
Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel at the end of the event.
The event is free to attend and places can be booked here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/george-harrison-transcending-the-beatles-tickets-127169305817
More information about the Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, the University’s new state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility, can be found here: www.liverpool.ac.uk/yoko/
More information about the MA in ‘The Beatles, Music and Heritage’, which launches in 2021, is available here: www.liverpool.ac.uk/music/study/postgraduate-taught/the-beatles-ma/