The Concert For George was photographed by renowned rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky and by famous celebrity photographer Richard Young. Behind the scenes photographs were taken by Oliver Hecks, Nick Roylance and Brian Roylance. Archival images depicting George's life are included from a selection of the world's most respected photographers. The majority of the 450 images in this book are previously unseen.
OLIVIA HARRISON: Eric and I both had ideas about who should and could be there. Obviously George had a great time recording with Tom and Jeff with the Wilburys. Bob wasn't able to make it but Tom and Jeff definitely wanted to participate. This was going to be the definitive musical tribute to George.
ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW: Nobody else managed to grab hold of that kind of cultural thing and put it into music like 'The Inner Light' for example. The sitar didn't exist. George single-handedly brought it in and made it part of the whole culture, certainly of '68 and '69. Suddenly you couldn't walk up or down Carnaby Street or the Kings Road without hearing sitar music playing from somewhere.
JEFF LYNNE: It was thrilling to play with Anoushka (Shankar) and the other Indian musicians, they really helped me. They're much more rock 'n' roll in their approach to music than the western classical musicians. I mean they can play be ear and improvise, they're just great. Anoushka is amazing.
RINGO STARR: It's the first time we've played together in a hundred years.
DHANI HARRISON: Eric said, 'Oh, you can't just come on and go off, you've got to stay. If you're going to do it, you've got to be in the house band or nothing.' So I said, 'Well, I guess I'm going to be in the band then.'
RINGO STARR: Backstage after the show we were laughing because that's not a bad band to do your first live gig with.
ERIC CLAPTON: Brian Roylance and I were having dinner; I'd been away in Japan and I'd come back to get the latest news. George's death was still a recent thing and I wanted to know what was going to happen. I asked him, 'Is there going to be a benefit or is anyone going to play?' and he said, 'No, not unless you do.' I thought, 'Oh my God, nothing's going to happen unless we do something.' And then I immediately thought, 'If this was me what would I want?' and I suppose in a selfish way I thought, 'Well, what goes around comes around and I'd like to be remembered in this way - with a bunch of people that I love, playing songs.' Not necessarily my songs in my case because I don't really like my songs as much, but George's songs, they're evergreens.
MICHAEL PALIN: There was this little narrow room, and there we spent most of the afternoon; we just had to because it wasn't really possible to get out of The Albert Hall and take a walk around the park in the middle of the day because it was surrounded by people. Word of the concert had got out and people were getting very excited about it. So there we were, in the room together and it was really very, very nice. One of the best Python experiences. There was a real feeling that it was going to be a special evening.
DAVID LELAND: Python had to be there. George would have sent messages. There would have been a definite sign, There'd have been a Terry Gilliam hand coming through into The Albert Hall.
DAVID LELAND: I first met George in a doctor’s surgery – a homeopathic doctor – and I arrived with a lemonade bottle containing a urine sample. They were very strict about what you brought your piss in. As I was handing my lemonade bottle through the hatch, George arrived and handed his in in a cut glass wine decanter. We both got told off for bringing our piss samples in these, so George said, ‘That was all that was to hand.’
After that, Dr Sharma used to fill up a big drip bag full of vitamins and minerals and you’d have to go and lie down upstairs to have this big golden bag of liquid intravenously pumped into your arm. By the time you’d finished, you’d need to go to the loo and your pee would be the bright golden colour that had just gone straight into your arm. George said that it was the most expensive piss he’d ever taken.
MIKE CAMPBELL: One of my favourite memories of the day of the show, is going to the soundcheck and sitting out in the hall while Paul was rehearsing 'All Things Must Pass' in an empty room; it was so emotional. I was sitting next to Olivia and it was quite moving. I think my favourite moment of the actual show was in the middle of 'Something' when Paul and Eric sang the harmony on the bridge. Paul hits that high note that is just so powerful.
OLIVIA HARRISON: Everyone on that stage would agree that there was no-one more lovable or mystical as George. He was as rare as lightening striking the same place twice, flashing into our lives with intensity, lighting them up with a million candlepower and returning to the ether all too soon.
GEORGE HARRISON: I could do something like that some day. That was the perfect idea. You get a little audience, you record it, so that you can do it good and mix it later. You have all your best pals on there being groovy and making it interesting. I mean if I had a 'special', I'd like to, you know, have a few people who mean something to me.
