Customer Reviews

Behind That Locked Door: George Harrison - After the Break-up of the Beatles

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I assume that when someone writes a biography about someone else, it is because they have a certain fascination with that person and wishes to highlight certain aspects of their topic's personality, achievements (good and bad), views on life, etc.
Although the author of this book is clearly an unconditional fan of George Harrison, I can't help but wonder whether he wrote the book to make George shine or to slag off everybody else in the world. Whatever the case may be, the result is a book which has no criticism of George at all and ridicules just about everybody else (Eric Clapton, Elton John, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, John, Paul, Ringo and the list goes on...) and as such should have had the subtitle `A strictly personal view' in bold lettering.
Admittedly, it would be hard not to put down your own opinion in some form or other, but in this book it seems that history is re-written to tie in with the author's opinions.
The book deals with George's career after The Beatles, but does start with a section on the break-up itself and then traces George's life until his untimely death in November 2001.
I won't go into too much detail about the contents as it seems too twisted to warrant an in depth review. I just provide 2 examples that could serve to illustrate what you can expect from this book:
1) Chapter Three deals with the Bangla Desh concert (August 1, 1971) and describes the failed attempts of getting John and Paul involved (Ringo of course did play). As John and Paul didn't play, the author then describes the rest of the performers as the Bangla Desh B-list, calls Dylan nothing more than a nervous wreck, swears that if he ever hears Billy Preston's "That's The Way God Planned It" again, it will be too soon for him, claims Clapton got the biggest round of applause during the introduction because people were convinced he was killing himself on smack and this was their last chance to say goodbye, calls Leon Russell's singing "redneck hillbilly drawl", lists Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" as two songs and somehow even manages to include his opinion that Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young were an ill conceived super group! Phew! If however, you'd be interested to know that there were in fact two concerts on the day and would like to know what the different set lists for the 2 shows were, you won't find it here! (e.g. Hear Me Lord and Dylan's Love Minus Zero weren't included on the album).
2) Chapter sixteen deals with the events on December 30th, 1999, when a man broke into Friar Park and tried to kill George and Olivia who had to fight for their lives! George, as we know, did receive stab wounds and had to be admitted to hospital where it turned out that he had been extremely lucky to survive the attack! There's a lot of detail in this chapter about what the press wrote about the man that committed this crime and how he was obsessed by The Beatles and thought them all to be devils. There is of course every justification for the author to be shocked at what happened to George, but he then writes about the fact that the burglar's mother told the press that a few weeks before the attack, her son had been obsessed by Oasis. The author then adds the comment "if he had a beef with Oasis, why didn't he take a pop at them? That I could have understood!" Enough said.
Finally, to show the level of care that has been taken in producing this book: just before the introduction there is a page that states that Elliot J. Huntley is a 27 year-old writer and musician based in Sheffield, England. On the back of the book he is suddenly a 30 year-old.
I could think of better books to spend my money on.

There is very little I can add to the reviews already given, except to state that very little, if any, research seems to have been undertaken by the author. He has written a potted history of George whilst at the same time denigrating any of his friends/associates (eg Eric Clapton). The best piece of advice to anyone thinking of buying this book is "don't" - I only wish I had taken that advice....

Well, Elliot J. Huntley must not be interested in telling a concise history of George. His work sounds and feels like an editorial, with his personal thoughts all mixed in. If you just want to read more about the solo years of George then this book will infuriate you. He personally criticises most other artists George ever came into contact with or thought of as friends. Has he even listened to their music? He puts down Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and many others. Now, this gets exhausting and stupid about two chapters in. I found myself getting very annoyed. However, it has loads of information hard to find on George's solo years. That is the only reason I gave this book two stars. One should think Mr. Huntley should stop writing books and actually go and sit down and listen to some decent music.

As an inveterate fan of George Harrison, it was only natural that I would want to read this book. I was extremely disappointed and highly displeased not only with the overall content, but with the author's treatment of other artists mentioned in the book. I didn't like the way other artists such as Eric Clapton, Elton John, Billy Preston, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney and others appear to be casually dismissed at best and lampooned at worst. Although the book does come with the disclaimer "a strictly personal view," it still raises the question of whether or not there were axes to grinde in the way it was written.

The book follows a somewhat choppy sequence; it starts with George's post-Beatles career, tracks his life and untimely death in November, 2001. I also disliked the way the author appeared to dismiss Eastern philosophy, which does a great disservice to George's core beliefs and ideologies.

The song reviews appear to be sadly shallow and lacking; the chief complaint here is that the songs do not appear to have been researched. The digs at other artists are hearsay; the sycophantic tone used where George Harrison is concerned stands in almost ludicrous contrast to this.

This book is a complete waste of time and a major disappointment. Read "Harrison" by Jason Fine instead.

According to the cover, Mr. Huntley has been a Harrison collector for over twenty years. Since he's 28 now (not 30 as the cover says) that would make him all of 5 or 6 when he started. So what we have here is a story based on hearsay, unless All Things Must Pass and Bangla Desh were pre-natal experiences for Mr. Huntley. That this freely interpreted series of newspaper clippings is glued together with Mr. Huntleys putting down virtually everyone save for George Harrison himself (Clapton an "uninteresting guitar player", to name but one) fails to make the book interesting.
This is another book that would never have seen the light of day had George Harrison not died, along the lines of the mountains of trash that were released after John Lennon's death.
So, alas, only one star for Mr. Huntley for the effort, and a warning to others to stay away from this one. Find another book, or better still, be content with the memory of George Harrison and the tons of great music he left behind. That's what his life was about!

It's not that I cannot see the obvious admiration Huntley has for George Harrison. Some of the sentiments expressed in the book have echoed my own throughout the years being an absolute Harrison defender and loyalist. At the same time I do not claim ignorance or open disregard for Harrison's beliefs as dismissively as Huntley seems to want to put across. His jibes at Lennon, McCartney, Ono, Clapton and others I have often and mostly agree with the comments, because these people have been overrated and vilified well beyond human need.
At the same time, taking potshots at people to raise another over them doesn't do your argument justice, and after awhile this comedy writer didn't seem all that funny to me. But mostly, as a Harrison fan, Huntley's trampling of Hindu concepts and idealogy was pretty insulting after awhile, showing the man in his ignorance of other cultures to be totally at home being so. In my mind that's not helpful in giving insight into Harrison's character or drives, it merely states you don't understand them, so you don't know him, therefore don't bother writing. Its a simple thing to look up what 'Maya' means, if you don't, you're just denying seeing any reference of it in any of the depth in which the person is trying to tell you in its use. Thats just ignorant. Huntley has done Harrison a disservice in all his zealot style ramblings. Shame really.

His song by song analysis sometimes borders on the infantile in this ignorance, totally disregarding any songs merits based on his understanding of whats being said. Whether a song holds interest for you based on if it uses terms you can understand, regardless if you may have to do some actual 'RESEARCH' to open your head up to its ideas, just shows pure laziness and unwillingness to accept other concepts than the ones that make you feel 'safe'. This total denial of aspects of a songwriter's craft and composition renders any argument had in favour of the person's skills moot. No point should be made. Harrison's works has been underrated for years by those at Rolling Stone, Q, actually across nations, and the lofty but mindless music of Lennon & McCartney held in great esteem. Mindless being that McCartney & Lennon have rarely said anything in their songs that isn't derived from them BEING Lennon & McCartney, making any statement made more ego than truth. Huntley's observations about Harrison's work try and raise its standards, but in the end only reinforce all the criticisms hurled at Harrison for his views.
Total waste of time this book, other than some of the jibes at his 'friends' though caustic, have rarely been said by the populace at large, so in my mind, its good that in print somebody has said things that maybe need to be said to knock some people off pedestals.

I was very disappointed with this book. As a long time fan, I learned nothing new here. In fact, probably any average fan could write a similar book. In additon,the author has an annoying habit of trying to be funny by insulting practically everyone George ever worked with continuously throughout the book. I'm still waiting for a good biography on George.

to date, the rollong stone book titled "Harrison" still remains the best Harrison book available at the moment; shapiro's "behind sad eyes" is one of the worst...this book however is somewhere between; it concentrates on Harrison's career after the beatles which i think is a plus...his beatles story has been too often repeated...and in the Anthology book we have his story in his own words...this book, however, gives a thorough look at Harrison's solo work, which made this volume a pleasure to read.
it is a book written by a fan, and it shows; i don't think the author even hides that-he is witty throughout the text and doesn't hide his opinions...there are some minor errors in research such as the author stating that the Live in Japan album was co-produced by Jeff Lynne-it wasn't...and that may bring the rating down a notch or two; but i must confess that i found myself eagerly reading through the album reviews contained herein...that is the real meat of the book....i found it consoling that someone else enjoyed such obscure harrison songs from now out of print albums as much as i did...and even more so, this book led me to re-listen to harrison's solo work with renewed appreciation-so i would have to say that this book is worth the purchase...hopefully later editions will correct some of the errors from the first printing, as well as include new sections if more harrison materiel ever makes it out of the vaults...

As a Beatles fan and in particular an admirer of The Quiet One, I have usually had to rely on the likes of 'Beatles Monthly' to produce any sort of half decent story of George's life.

Fortunately, amidst a cluster of less than well researched bios, emerges this gem. Elliot J Huntley clearly has a lot of respect for Harrison, and this shows in the carefully written pages. As well as showing good knowledge of Harrison's life after the Beatles, Huntley seems to know a lot about the other characters orbiting around George.

I like the style in which it's written - very easy to read, and with great humour at the right times. For me, the most interesting parts of the book involved George's film company 'Handmade Films', of which I knew very little before. Even the chapters that I was more familiar with (the solo albums) threw up many interesting stories.

This is a great book about a great man.

I couldn't get past his spiteful, sarcastic writing style. Too many attacks on other people. Is this the truth or incredibly biased reporting?