George replaced it with a brown Chet Atkins “Tennessean” model Gretsch which he used during the 19 tours.
Sadly George’s original Gretsch Country Gentleman was destroyed when it fell off the roof of The Beatles touring van and was run over by passing motorists. Its twangy tone was typical of the era and provided the perfect sound for the style of music The Beatles performed in the early sixties.
Quite simply, the cacophony created by the screaming girls in the audience made changing guitars to suit the song unnecessary. Its tone was reliable and could fit in effortlessly on songs played live which had been recorded using other guitars. The Gretsch was also the guitar that George chose to tour with throughout the 1964, 19 tours. George was introduced to America playing this guitar on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 and the image of him with the sleek, black widebody guitar became something of a Beatles trademark, along with Ringo’s bass drum with the dropped-T logo, Paul’s Hofner violin-bass guitar and John’s black and white Rickenbacker. A prime example of the “Gentleman’s” distinctive tone can be found in the opening notes of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” and indeed in songs such as “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby” and “Honey Don’t”. As a devotee of rockabilly, and Carl Perkins in particular, it was natural that George would choose a guitar that symbolized the country and western sound of the period. George’s first guitar of choice was the Gretsch Chet Atkins “Country Gentleman” model (black) which he used throughout the early to mid 1960s. We begin at the beginning with what may be the guitar most commonly associated with George Harrison. It also influenced scores of guitar players who simply wanted to look or sound like the most famous lead guitar player on the planet from 1963-1966. The result of these experiments changed the way The Beatles sounded in significant ways and kept them fresh, while also laying the groundwork for more pronounced changes to the way they performed once they left the road and entered the studio full-time. Adding effects here, changing guitars there he was the first of The Beatles to alter their sound simply by switching guitars or adding effects to his overall sound. What one can discover when taking a look at The Beatles catalogue is that George went through several distinct phases in his approach to recording and playing. They did this through their musical curiosity, their songwriting talents, and, in the case of George Harrison through a lasting experimentation with his own sound. Rockabilly to R&B to ballad to all-out rocker all on the same album.Īnd once those songs became hits and the albums topped the charts they changed their sound for the next one. While lesser groups worked to create a signature sound that would define them (and all too often staying with that sound so long that it became tiresome) The Beatles switched musical genres from song to song. What made The Beatles great was their ability to change their sound -to keep moving. Musically, The Beatles as a whole were very good, but as individual instrumentalists they were never confused with the virtuosos of their respective instruments (Paul McCartney coming closest with his mastery of the bass guitar). They established the gold standard for the way that rock groups operated and then pushed the limits outward, setting them apart from all of the groups that sought to be just like them. The Beatles changed the way the rock group was viewed and charted a course for every rock group that followed them. Most of the guitar groups of the day, such as The Ventures or Dick Dale and the Deltones, were instrumentalists. Pop music was dominated by lavish Motown and Phil Spector productions as well as by Brill Building songwriting factories which churned out formula hits for personality driven acts like Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, and countless others. The early sixties were not known for an abundance of guitar driven groups.
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