George Harrison Loved Talking to People: ‘It Takes a Long Time for Them to Bore Me’
George Harrison loved talking to people and revealed that it took a long time for anyone to bore him. The former Beatle enjoyed hearing people’s stories and perspectives, especially if they had interesting opinions about religion.
George Harrison said he loved talking to people
In a November 1964 issue of The Beatles Book Monthly (per Beatles Interviews), George interviewed himself. He asked the questions he thought reporters missed, including if he made friends easily.
George replied that he was “extremely” interested in people. “I think I make an easy target for folk who like to talk about themselves,” he added. “It takes a long time for them to bore me because I enjoy listening to new ideas and different opinions. That’s what life is for– to find out fresh things and learn new facts.”
George asked himself if his life as a Beatle had put a stop to that. He replied no because he hates rushing. The pace of things was one drawback to being a Beatle for him. However, The Beatles knew each other inside and out. George said their individual characteristics balanced against one another well. “It is because our personalities work at different pressures that we get on so well together as a team,” he said.
The press labeled George the ‘quiet Beatle’ even though he liked talking to people
Even though George liked talking to people, the press still labeled him the “quiet Beatle.” In 1965, George spoke with Larry Kane (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters) about the “tags” the press gave him and The Beatles when they first came to the U.S.
“I did talk about the same amount on the last tour,” George said. “It’s just that, you know, first of all, when we first came over here they didn’t know us all that well. People, like, hang tags on you.
“Ringo was the cuddly one or something. Paul was the lovely one and I was the quiet one, and John was the shouting one. I’ve been the same all along. I talk when I feel like it. I shut up when I don’t feel like talking.”
The “quiet” tag remained tied to George for the rest of his life. Today, people still referred to him as such. However, one of George’s closest friends, Tom Petty, said it was far from the truth. “He never shut up,” Petty told Rolling Stone. “He was the best hang you could imagine.”
George’s wife said he liked talking to people about religion
The former Beatle’s wife, Olivia, thinks his knack for speaking with people comes from his gift to “see” the true person within. In her forward in Harrison, Olivia wrote that her husband had an “ability to ‘see’ the true person inside the bodily form.”
“He always went straight to the heart of a person, and that ability extended to any subject or matter or work before him,” she said. “His ability to penetrate to the core gave him, as he put it, ‘a different slant, a different patter,’ than anyone I ever knew.”
Olivia agreed with George that he could talk to anyone for hours, especially about religion. She said he embraced the essence of all religions. Olivia added, “For George, there was no mystery, and he would gladly spend hours discussing God with an interested person–and some not so interested!”
George loved talking with people about everything, though. He craved knowledge. By talking to so many people with different stories and backgrounds, he learned from every conversation.
George was right about his self-assessment. He did make friends easily and had many by his death in 2001. There were his musical friends, including Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne. Then, there were his comedy buddies, including Michael Palin and Eric Idle. There were also all of George’s spiritual friends.
George believed having great relationships with people brought him closer to God.
