If George Harrison were still alive today, he would have been an age never imagined by the youth of his day. The Beatles and the sixties were all about youth culture and revolution. A shaggy haired rocking youth bug turning an age above 70?  Ha!

It doesn’t matter how old George’s earth age would have been. Like Bowie and Lennon and many artistic chameleons, he really wasn’t of this earth. His soul borrowed an impish body with an ear for Carl Perkins and rockabilly music to take this earthly  journey, touching down to add to the creative pile and leave something behind before getting the call back home.

As a child, it’s been reported that he hated convention and bullshit. He got into fights at school, flipped off his teachers – but he loved guitar and practiced and practiced and practiced.

Then, he met a doe eyed boy named Paul who introduced him to a tough boy named John and thus he played a bit of “Raunchy” on the top of a bus. And the rest is history. A history that was a magic ride nothing short of miraculous.

In 1966, he and his Beatle buddies and wives went to dinner at their dentist’s house, where droplets of LSD were mixed into their coffee. Their world changed.

The illusion of this world was pulled back for George in ways differently interpreted by the other three. The others punched holes in the musical ozone layer that took the form of endless experimentation.

For George, he saw a universe beyond the veil.

George embraced a spiritual path that lead the way for a new age of enlightenment. We may see it as New Age, but what’s so new about this aspect of God Consciousness if it was always there?

He was known to be a lovely man – giving, sweet, naughty. He was also known to be a cranky bugger on a bad day.

Yet, George brought so much to the table.

He helped bring world music to ears used to hearing Top 40. Western and eastern music melded together as a new force in sound thanks to his work and friendship with Ravi Shankar.

He was the first to raise money by bringing his friends together at ‘The Concert for Bangladesh’, which inspired other rock stars to band together for charity.

He was the first to publicly establish a charitable organization “The Material World Foundation” so proceeds of “Bangladesh” and various other work would be donated to the poor.

He rocked the slide guitar, producing a sound so unique, it’s been emulated many times over by other artists.

He created a production company called “Hand Made Productions” for the sole purpose of raising money to help his Monty Python friends to film “Life of Brian”, which went on to produce ground breaking films like “Withnail and I”, “The Long Good Friday”,  and “Time Bandits”.

He founded a super group comprised of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynn and Rob Orbison named “The Traveling Wilburys” which produced insanely well known songs.

He was a gardener who wanted to plant more trees and beautiful living things on this planet.

He wasn’t a perfect husband, but he had the lovely Olivia to stand by his side.

He was a terrific father to a talented and giving son.

He was also damn sexy.

I could go on.

The man was beyond the Beatle we all knew. He was the so-called “quiet Beatle” likely due to the fact he used his words only when he had something substantial to say.

And yes, sometimes he’d put his foot in his mouth. But he didn’t care because this all doesn’t matter.

Happy Birthday to George Harrison, who’s earth age is meaningless. May your continuing journey be as bold and as magical as the jewels you’ve left behind.