George Harrison Discography

George Harrison Discography

The discography of the English singer-songwriter George Harrison consists of eleven studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, thirty-two singles, one soundtrack album and two video albums. Harrison's career began with skiffle group "The Rebels", which he formed with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly. Around this time he was invited by his friend Paul McCartney to watch the skiffle band The Quarrymen playing, of which he became a member in 1958. The band was renamed The Beatles two years later, with Harrison as the lead guitarist. John Lennon's impulsive rhythm guitar playing and McCartney and Lennon's ability for writing and composing songs led Harrison to his nickname of the "quiet Beatle".

Harrison's songwriting skills progressed considerably in the last Beatles years. After a meeting with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, Harrison was introduced to the sitar, which was used in songs like "Within You Without You" and "The Inner Light". Later he also tested with the slide guitar, which he used on the last three Beatles albums. Harrison's wrote such successful and influential tracks as "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something".

George Harrison's debut album was Wonderwall Music, the soundtrack album for Wonderwall. It was the first official solo album by one of the Beatles and Apple Records' first LP release. The album peaked at number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart. After the official announcement of the Beatles' break-up on 31 December 1970 in a McCartney press release, all four members remained active, either as solo artists or as members of other bands. Harrison's next album was the experimental Electronic Sound, which was the second and last album released by the short-lived recording label Zapple Records His first album after the Beatles' break-up, All Things Must Pass, was released by Apple Records on 27 November 1970. It was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and became the best-selling album by any of the former Beatles. The album produced chart-topper "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life".

His subsequent albums were moderately successful, receiving silver, gold and platinum certifications by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and RIAA. The live album The Concert for Bangladesh was recorded on 1 August 1971 at New York City's Madison Square Garden, and consists of tracks played at the charity event The Concert for Bangladesh. After the release of the single "All Those Years Ago" from the album Somewhere in England, Harrison had a run of six singles between 1981 and 1986 that did not chart. Harrison wanted to work with other musicians and as such joined the supergroup Traveling Wilburys in 1988, consisting of Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jim Keltner and his son Dhani Harrison. On 18 October 1988, the group released its debut album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, which was certified three-times platinum and reached the top 10 of several music charts around the world.