A new George Harrison tribute album by gypsy jazz guitarist Robin Nolan, sanctioned by the late Beatle’s family, was released on February 25 to coincide with what would’ve been Harrison’s 82nd birthday. The instrumental album, titled For the Love of George, was recorded at Harrison’s Friar Park estate in Henley-on-Thames, U.K.
Nolan was given access to three guitars belonging to Harrison to use during the making of the record.
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The 11-track collection features gypsy jazz interpretations of nine Harrison compositions, as well as the Beatles gem “And I Love Her,” which was co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Perhaps most exciting, the album’s title track is an original song that Nolan composed based on chords Harrison had written on an envelope that George’s widow, Olivia, discovered after his death.
Other songs on the album include renditions of The Beatles’ “I Want to Tell You,” “Something,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and the Harrison solo tunes “My Sweet Lord,” “All Things Must Pass,” and “Dark Sweet Lady.”
For the Love of George is available now as a digital download and via streaming services.
How the Album Came About
Nolan developed a relationship with Harrison in 1990s, when the ex-Beatles guitarist publicly praised Robin’s musical talents. Since then, Nolan has remained part of the Harrison family’s musical sphere.
According to Nolan, the idea for the album came together when he was invited to Friar Park to play guitar on Olivia Harrison’s birthday.
“We were all talking and then George’s Ramirez acoustic guitar appeared and I played ‘And I Love Her’ on it,” Robin recalled. “It was a massive thrill to play the song on the same guitar George originally recorded it on with Olivia and everyone watching.”
He continued, “I had already been thinking about how cool it would be to do an album of George’s songs, but then to actually be playing one of his songs on that guitar … that’s another layer of awesomeness. So that was where the inspiration for the album was born.”
About the Writing of the Song “For the Love of George”
Nolan also shared how “For the Love of George,” the song he penned with chords written by Harrison, was created.
As he recalled, “I was working on the arrangements of how [the various Harrison] songs could sound in the Gypsy Jazz style and Olivia texted me this picture of an envelope with some chords that George had written on it and said, ‘Check it out. I wonder if George ever did anything with that? Maybe you can look at the chords and tell?’”
Nolan said he “studied the chords intently … and started to feel the magic.” He then noted, “It was like unraveling a mystery, trying to imagine what George might have meant.”
As he strummed the chords, Robin said, “[a]t a certain moment I felt that [they] started to make sense and came alive.”
Soon, Nolan started to develop a melody to accompany the chords.
“In my mind I could hear George humming a tune that sounded really beautiful,” Robin shared. “That’s when it all came together.”
Nolan then sent a version of the song he’d recorded on his phone to Olivia to get her feedback.
“She responded, ‘Wow it sounds so much like George!’” Robin recalled. “And, of course, it does sound like George, because there’s a few chord changes in there which are really unique to him, and then the melody I wrote is so inspired by him.”
About the Recording of “For the Love of George”
Nolan reported that “For the Love of George” features all three Harrison guitars he was given access to for the album project.
“The intro is the 12-string Rickenbacker used on the bulk of the Hard Day’s Night album, and it’s just got that sound, you know?” Robin shared. So, I made the intro with that guitar, and some fills.”
He continued, “The main melody is played on the Gibson J160, which is the guitar with a lot of history. It’s the only guitar that was used on every Beatles album. It’s tough to play, but it has so much character.”
Lastly, Nolan said he played “some backing lines” on the aforementioned Ramirez acoustic guitar.
For the Love of George Track List:
- “For the Love of George”
- “Wah-Wah”
- “Marwa Blues”
- “I Want to Tell You”
- “And I Love Her”
- “My Sweet Lord”
- “All Things Must Pass”
- “Dark Sweet Lady”
- “The Inner Light”
- “Something”
- “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”