Every musician, regardless of their stature, has influences, and the Beatles were no exception. While the Fab Four are celebrated as pioneers in music, they too had their idols. For George Harrison, that idol was Buddy Holly.
Holly’s impact was felt throughout the entire band. John Lennon and founding bassist Stuart Sutcliffe drew inspiration for the Beatles’ name from Holly’s group, the Crickets, while Holly’s songwriting style significantly influenced the early compositions of Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, it was Harrison, as the group’s lead guitarist, who experienced Holly’s influence most profoundly in his own playing.
“I think one of the greatest people for me was Buddy Holly,” Harrison stated in 1974. “He was very good — exceptionally good.”
Harrison recalled his early struggles with learning the guitar, aided by a book that left much to be desired. “A few months or a year later, I found, ‘Those stupid buggers have given me a manual that doesn’t show me all the notes!’” he lamented. “So then I had to start learning again.”
Holly’s influence was crucial in bridging the gaps in Harrison’s musical education. “Buddy Holly was the first time I ever heard A to F-sharp minor,” he revealed in a 1974 BBC interview. “Fantastic! He was opening up new worlds there. And then A to F, A, D, E, F and F# minor. He was sensational.”
In a 1987 interview for a magazine, Harrison’s admiration for Holly remained evident. He discussed how he crafted the emotive volume-swelling chords in the Beatles’ 1965 songs “Yes It Is,” “Wait,” and “I Need You.” Struggling to simultaneously strum and adjust his guitar’s volume control, Harrison enlisted Lennon’s help. “So some of those,” he explained, “I played the part, and John would kneel down in front of me and turn my guitar’s volume control.”
Writer Dan Forte pointed out that Holly had done something similar for his 1957 hit “Peggy Sue.” Unable to switch pickups in time for his solo, Holly had Crickets guitarist Niki Sullivan adjust the switch during critical moments.
“Yeah, that’s great stuff, isn’t it?” Harrison responded. “That’s still one of the greatest guitar solos of all time. Right till this day I could play you the ‘Peggy Sue’ solo any time, or ‘Think It Over’ or ‘It’s So Easy.’ I knew all them tunes.”
Additionally, Harrison’s connection to Holly went beyond admiration; he purchased his first electric guitar, a Futurama, in 1958 specifically because it resembled Holly’s Fender Stratocaster. Harrison played the Futurama during many of the Beatles’ early Hamburg gigs and on their first professional recordings with Tony Sheridan in June 1961. Though Harrison held little regard for the guitar, it is now expected to fetch between $600,000 and $800,000 at auction in November.
Even after retiring from music, Harrison’s admiration for fellow musicians never waned. Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore recounted a time in 1984 when Harrison shyly requested to jam with the band. They delighted an Australian audience with a rendition of a Little Richard classic, with Harrison so immersed in the moment that he failed to notice Blackmore was playing in the wrong key.
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