George Harrison on Life

It is perhaps the biggest question of them all: What is the purpose of life? 

It led Fyodor Dostoyevsky to proclaim that it is about “finding something to live for,” it prompted Kurt Vonnegut to say, “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different,” and it called for Karl Pilkington to posit, “There isn’t a meaning of life, or if there is don’t worry about it, you’re here now, get on with it! It does my head in!” 

All of which are valid, but the more opinions you can get on this sort of thing, the better.

With that in mind, what exactly did the ‘Quiet One’ have to say about it all? George Harrison’s spiritual journey began, at least in earnest, in very peculiar circumstances. 

As it turned out, it started while filming the oddball movie Help! back in 1965. 

The band spent most of their time on set smoking copious marijuana and gorging on cheeseburgers; however, there was one profound moment foisted upon Harrison by the universe’s fateful happenstance division in amongst it.  READ MORE

1967 Rock

 From Far Out Magazine...

1967 is the year that the ‘Summer of Love’ fully blossomed into a psychedelic flower. The epicentre of the golden age of counter-cultural psychedelic rock began in San Francisco but found its influence spreading all over the world like wildfire.

The heart of the movement found its perfect symbolic representation on March 31st when Jimi Hendrix burnt his guitar on the stage for the first time. Setting yourself apart in 1967 was no easy feat, perhaps Hendrix knew this and decided to go through with an outrageous act, or perhaps he knew he was teetering on the precipice of greatness, and needed that extra nudge to free-fall with the gods and goddesses of rock.

In March, Jimi Hendrix was on a British tour with an eclectic mix of acts, including The Walker Brothers, Englebert Humperdinck, and Cat Stevens. The tour had made a stop at Finsbury Park Astoria in London and Hendrix was hanging out backstage with his manager and ex-Animals bass player, Chas Chandler, along with music journalist, Keith Altham. After Altham had suggested to Hendrix that he include his song ‘Fire’ in his setlist that night, a roadie was sent out to fetch lighter fluid according to Ultimate Classic Rock; Chandler had suggested to the fledgeling rock god that he literally set fire to his guitar.

After Jimi Hendrix and his fellow Experience band mates, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding burnt through an electrifying set of ‘Fire’, Hendrix distracted the crowd while Chandler doused his white Fender Stratocaster with butane. Shortly thereafter, Hendrix knelt beside the sodden axe and performed his timeless act. The stunt wasn’t without consequences, however. Hendrix burnt his hands, as well as burning the emcee who went to extinguish the fire.

More than that, however, the most defining consequence was that rock ‘n’ roll had witnessed an apex of rock perfection, a stunt that was truly hard to outdo at that point.

Perhaps it was because of impassioned acts like this that incentivised the best musicians of the time to create their masterpieces. Jefferson Airplane had released their sophomore Alice-in-wonderland esque masterpiece, Surrealistic Pillow; Jim Morrison and The Doors changed the musical landscape by allowing people the means to expand their minds; The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were going at it head to head to see who could create the worlds greatest ‘summer of love’ paragon. 

Ultimately, it was unanimously decided that The Beatles won that title, with their defining record, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, beating out Pink Floyd’s kaleidoscopic debut, and Love’s dystopic yet liberating message of Earth’s imminent demise in two years; an album whose title defies the boundaries of time and space, called Forever Changes.

It was no easy task creating this definitive list of the six best albums released in 1967, and by no means will everyone agree with it, simply because there are too many great albums from this year. Nevertheless, below you’ll find the list.  TO SEE THE TOP 6 ALBUMS FOR 1967, CLICK HERE...