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I, Me, Mine
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Cherished by fans and collectors since its first publication in 1980, I, Me, Mine is now available in paperback. The closest we will come to George Harrison's autobiography, it features George in conversation with The Beatles' spokesperson Derek Taylor, discussing everything from early Beatlemania to his love of gardening. The lyrics to over 80 of his songs, many in his ow
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Paperback, 456 pages
Published
March 8th 2007
by Chronicle Books
(first published December 1st 1980)
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I've read this book countless times. It isn't a typical autobiography. Anyone who wants the intimate details of George's personal relations, some scuttlebutt on Paul McCartney, or other types of ankle deep nit picking won't find it here. Instead, "I, Me, Mine" is like a fireside chat with a classy, fascinating, witty, and dignified friend. We read about George's history and interests, brief mentions of his enormous cast of friends, and details on each song.
Derek Taylor's editorials are delightf ...more
Derek Taylor's editorials are delightf ...more
This is not an autobiography by George Harrison. I repeat: This is *not* an autobiography by George Harrison. It even says on the back of the book, that "I Me Mine is the closest we will come to George Harrison's autobiography".
If you open this book expecting an autobiography, you are in for certain disappointment. If you, on the other hand, expect to get a little closer to Harrison, understand him at little better and learn more about his views of life, other people and death while he also lift ...more
If you open this book expecting an autobiography, you are in for certain disappointment. If you, on the other hand, expect to get a little closer to Harrison, understand him at little better and learn more about his views of life, other people and death while he also lift ...more
Beatle George was a mere 36 when this was “written”. As autobiography, this being the only attempt at the form by any of the fabs, it’s terribly disappointing. The first section is comprised of ‘anecdotes’, some of them interesting, recalled by George in taped conversations with Derek Taylor, the Beatles’ publicist and apologist. Then there is a lengthy section of pictures, followed by an even lengthier collection of reproductions of scribbled-on sheets of paper, mostly hotel letterhead, torn s ...more
George Harrison tells in his own words about his life with and after the Beatles. He takes his music seriously, but is not afraid to parody himself and the Beatles as his collaboration on the Rutles with members of Monty Python proves. Harrison had to fight for his space on the Beatles records. Two of the Beatles biggest songs, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" were Harrison tunes. After the breakup of the group his songwriting skills flourished on the classic album "All Things Must Pass". Hi
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Immersed in the middle of In Search of Lost Time (about 2/3 into my second reading of The Guermantes Way) and stuck at the beginning of Robert Fagle’s translation of The Iliad: that pretty much sums up my reading life for the past two months. Not to get too personal, but 2016 has been a rather trying year and it has been difficult finding the desire or concentration to read lately, and I’ve found Homer and Proust to be particularly challenging to continue on with at this time. I felt I needed to
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I am a huge fan of George Harrison and was so excited to read this book. I was so disappointed. I found the first third of the book difficult to follow. Attimes it was unclear if it was George speaking or Derek Taylor. It was seemed to jump back and forth in time, so it was confusing. There were also printed sketches in this first section, with out any captions. It wasn't until I got to the second and middle section of photos that I was able to figure it out....none of these pictures had any cap
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The first half of the book is a strange mélange of commentary from George Harrison's second wife Olivia, a friend named Derek Taylor who conducted a number of tape recorded interviews with George from which he quotes, and those quotes from George Harrison himself. Olivia's and Derek's commentary are in italics, and George's own words are in plain text, but it's still hard to follow sometimes whose commentary you're reading. I would have expected things to be arranged chronologically, but they're
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This is a true story. Last month I bought myself a copy of George Harrison's Concert for Bangla Desh, coz I had never bought this on c.d. + it was a Unicef donation, which was cool.
Anyway, the other day I lift this book off the library shelf to read. Only half a dozen chapters of recorded George, talking about his childhood, Liverpool, Beatles, his soul and racing cars.
The book contains a photo section, mainly pics I've not seen before, and a section on his song lyrics, with some explanations of ...more
Anyway, the other day I lift this book off the library shelf to read. Only half a dozen chapters of recorded George, talking about his childhood, Liverpool, Beatles, his soul and racing cars.
The book contains a photo section, mainly pics I've not seen before, and a section on his song lyrics, with some explanations of ...more
I was a bit apprehensive about reading this because of the reviews I saw on Goodreads, but in my insatiable quest to soak up as much information about the Beatles (and my favorite Beatle) as possible, it was obvious I had to read this.
Anyone who knows anything about George "the quiet Beatle that never shut up" is that he wasn't one to talk about himself too much so of course this was bound to be hilarious, straight to the point, and more about the music than him.
Whatever this book is, I loved ...more
Anyone who knows anything about George "the quiet Beatle that never shut up" is that he wasn't one to talk about himself too much so of course this was bound to be hilarious, straight to the point, and more about the music than him.
Whatever this book is, I loved ...more
Not your typical memoir, "I, Me, Mine" is comprised of some anecdotes and then, for 3/4 of the book, lyrics (handwritten and printed) and brief descriptions of Harrison's songs.
If you aren't well-versed on Beatles lore, you might be disappointed. I am, therefore I'm not. I wouldn't mind owning a copy of this book for the lyrics alone. ...more
If you aren't well-versed on Beatles lore, you might be disappointed. I am, therefore I'm not. I wouldn't mind owning a copy of this book for the lyrics alone. ...more
I read the first half of this book some time back and read the second half today although there wasn’t much to read: a paragraph or so on each of Harrison’s songs every few pages. You really have to be a Harrison fan to enjoy this book. The first half is his autobiography and apparently his friend recorded him talking and typed it up verbatim while adding his own thoughts in whatever Harrison is talking about. Booooorrrrrring......
“I look at the world and I notice it’s turning… with every mistake we must surely be learning.” -George Harrison
I have been a fan of the Beatles for a while now, and getting to learn more about my favorite Beatle, George Harrison, was great. Not only did I get to learn about his life from the start of the Beatlemania all the way to his love for gardening, I got to learn his thought processes and all the stories behind most of the songs he wrote and co-wrote. Some of the stories behind his songs ...more
I have been a fan of the Beatles for a while now, and getting to learn more about my favorite Beatle, George Harrison, was great. Not only did I get to learn about his life from the start of the Beatlemania all the way to his love for gardening, I got to learn his thought processes and all the stories behind most of the songs he wrote and co-wrote. Some of the stories behind his songs ...more
Found this between the shelves at the public library, and wondered why it didn't actually have a spot in the book shelf but hey, I got to see and to read it. George Harrison a former beatle, shows his life through his own words, pictures and summaries of what his songs actually mean. I really enjoyed that part of the book, seeing where a lot of the meanings came from. I didn't really like the fact that he wrote songs for other people fairly quickly, as to ponder. Did they mean anything? But they
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I decided to read this book after I read A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song by Steve Turner. Most of the quotes Turner used from George in his comments on songs came from Harrison's autobiography, I Me Mine. If I had to describe Harrison's autobiography in one word I would say it's artsy. The reason I think it's artsy is because it doesn't read like a normal autobiography in that there's an ordered sequence of events. Harrison talks about his family and his schooling and h
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The first third of this book is spectacular and really incorporates Harrison's love for spirituality, India, songwriting and life. The second third is mainly photos. I guess if you have a crush on George -- these pages can be interesting, but did little for me. I like the photo on the cover of "ATMP", visually, I don't need any more of George. I'd rather hear his voice or listen to his fingers. The last third acts as a reference library for his catalog of songs. It's helpful to flip through, if
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What can't you learn from George Harrison? This is his self proclaimed "little ego detour", neat perspective on an amazing life. Awesome to read his background on all of the songs he wrote and the handwritten pieces of paper they were all written on. All in all a really cool read. I have heard there is a limited edition, leather bound edition of this book that is hard to come by; it is officially on my list of expensive gifts I would never ask for.
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This was a pleasantly surprising "quick read." The first part of the book (about 75 pages) was Harrison's recollections from childhood, Beatlemania, and his spirituality, with help from Dereck Taylor. Then some photos and then reprints of Harrison's lyrics and the stories behind those lyrics for about 80 songs. ...Now excuse me while I go give "All Things Must Pass" another listen!
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Sweet George, in his own words. I especially loved the careful recollections of his songwriting...how the lyrics emerged and took shape.
I miss George... more than I have ever missed John.
I feel somewhat guilty about that, but I rated his solo work and his more unasuming personality.
I feel somewhat guilty about that, but I rated his solo work and his more unasuming personality.
very interesting to read about the "real" George who considers himself a gardener aboe all things.
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I loved this book when I first read it - some 20 years ago - and I really enjoyed revisiting it in "Extended Edition" form. Such a great, and understated concept.
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Short bio, a collection of picture, song lyrics and the stories behind the songs.
If you like the Beatles, this books for you.
nuff said.
If you like the Beatles, this books for you.
nuff said.
“This book is the closest we will come to George Harrison’s autobiography,” a reviewer writes on the flyleaf of the book. Since this memoir was published originally in 1980 when Harrison still had 21more years of songwriting, performing, and recording left in his life, one cannot help but wish he had also given us a later written overview with a more complete portrait. But this funky memoire is a treasure in its own way. The title, taken from one of George’s original songs, refers to his decades
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Probably the closest thing there will ever be to an autobiography by Harrison, the book basically consists of 3 parts - the first approximately 100 pages which is autobiographical, followed by a rather lengthy section of black-and-white photos followed by copies of handwritten song lyrics and a short commentary by Harrison about each one. If you're into his rambling on about Krishna and his Indian philosophy and religious outlook (based on that Indian philosophy) on life, you'll probably think h
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I was a bit disappointed by this book. There was a small section of discussions with Derek Taylor that covered much of his life, but very briefly at best. This was followed by a group of pictures, which were interesting. The last, and largest sections were his song lyrics - typed out, and copies of the original scribblings, and a brief commentary on the songs themselves. While the song commentary was interesting, there was not much of it and the majority were the scribbles and typed lyrics which
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George was very cool. The book is written in the form of conversations with its real author Derek Taylor, journalist and Beatles press officer/inner circler since their Britain days. George discusses his childhood and complains about Beatlemania, offering a few good stories taking place during the latter. As the youngest Beatle, it's amazing what George experienced at such a young age. Considering he could have contributed 100000 pages worth of material to this section, it's cool that he kept it
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I'd read the original, but my lovely wife got me the Extended Edition for Christmas. Now, if you're looking for a good George Harrison biography, this is not the book for you. It opens with Hari musing on a few topics with friend Derek Taylor, but you're not really going to get any organized sort of history here. If, however, you want a lovely volume that reproduces George's hand-written lyrics, all the way to the end of his life (thus "extended"), along with a lot of commentary on the songs, I
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Very cool book if you are a fan of George.It has three basic sections.
The autobiography section is very short and not what most people will hope it would be. It is basically George reminiscing guided and supplemented by long time associate Derek Taylor. Ironically, back when the 4 mop tops were fab, George had a column for the Daily Express that was mostly written by Derek.
The Photo section is nice, but also not really what it could have been.
Where this book shines is the third section. The b ...more
The autobiography section is very short and not what most people will hope it would be. It is basically George reminiscing guided and supplemented by long time associate Derek Taylor. Ironically, back when the 4 mop tops were fab, George had a column for the Daily Express that was mostly written by Derek.
The Photo section is nice, but also not really what it could have been.
Where this book shines is the third section. The b ...more
Wow, this was a stunningly weak read. Physically, the book weighs a ton, its page count is inaccurate because of a big , unnumbered photo section. What’s worse is that it should be two books. After reading about 35% of the pages, I was shocked to find that the autobiography ended. The latter 65% is a song by song commentary and lyrics section which should’ve been an entirely different book. I’m not a big Beatles or George Harrison fan, so that part meant almost nothing to me. The autobiographica
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Although Harrison was in the most famous rock band of all time, he was known for being reclusive. So he's not a likely candidate for a tell-all-autobiography. This is more of an effort from a professional writer who combined an interview with personal recollections in section two. Prior to this is a touching tribute from his wife. The third section is photos with credits at the end for some reason. The bulk of the book is song lyrics in Harrison's own hand and type written. This is accompanied b
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George Harrison, MBE, was an award-winning English rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, author and sitarist best known as the lead guitarist for The Beatles. Following the band's breakup, Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys super group where he was known as both Nelson Wilbury and Spike Wilbury. He was also a film producer, with his producti
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“Most people's reality is an illusion, a great big illusion. You automatically have to succumb to the illusion that 'I am this body'. I am not George. I am not really George. I am this living thing that goes on, always has been, always will be, but at
this time I happen to be in 'this' body. The body has changed; was a baby, was a young man, will
soon be an old man, and I'll be dead. The
physical body will pass but this bit in the middle,
that's the only reality. All the rest is the illusion,
so to say that somebody thinks we are, the ex-
Beatles are removed from reality in their personal concept. It does not have any truth to it just because somebody thinks it. They are the concepts which become layer upon layer of illusion. Why live in the darkness all your life? Why, if you are unhappy, if you are having a miserable time, why not just look at it. Why are you in the darkness? Look for the light. The light is within. That is the big message”
—
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More quotes…
this time I happen to be in 'this' body. The body has changed; was a baby, was a young man, will
soon be an old man, and I'll be dead. The
physical body will pass but this bit in the middle,
that's the only reality. All the rest is the illusion,
so to say that somebody thinks we are, the ex-
Beatles are removed from reality in their personal concept. It does not have any truth to it just because somebody thinks it. They are the concepts which become layer upon layer of illusion. Why live in the darkness all your life? Why, if you are unhappy, if you are having a miserable time, why not just look at it. Why are you in the darkness? Look for the light. The light is within. That is the big message”
