On This Day in 1980, George Harrison Became the First Beatle to Release

George Harrison, the late, great, and often underrated member of The Beatles, was arguably the most fearless. He was the first to release a solo album (the 1968 effort Wonderwall Music) among the Fab Four. And he was also the first to release his own autobiography.

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The autobiography in question was released on this day in 1980 and was titled I, Me, Mine. Published on August 15, 1980, this little memoir was clearly something very special to Harrison. In its original publication run, each book was hand-bound and considered a limited edition, with about 2,000 signed by Harrison himself.

But don’t expect to find any new Beatles lore in this book. Though, Harrison did talk about how much he loved Monty Python.
What George Harrison Revealed in ‘I, Me, Mine’

I, Me, Mine felt like a true published diary of Harrison’s, as well as a little piece of music history. The book, which you can still find today, is filled with copies of Harrison’s own handwritten song lyrics. It also features commentary from The Beatles’ press officer, Derek Taylor.

George Harrison revealed quite a bit in the book about himself. And while it is considered a vital piece of music history, the book didn’t reveal too much about The Beatles’ history. It wasn’t gossipy. Rather, Harrison talked about his life and creative processes from the perspective of a man, rather than a quarter of one of the biggest bands of the 20th century. Harrison was forthright about how his excitement to become famous quickly turned to fear following the boom of Beatlemania. But, outside of that, The Beatles isn’t a particularly hefty point of conversation in the book.

I, Me, Mine was also the subject of quite a bit of controversy. It was released several months before Harrison’s former bandmate, John Lennon, was murdered in December 1980. Lennon was pretty offended by what Harrison had written in his memoir, saying that he “was hurt by it” and that “my influence on his life is absolutely zilch and nil” because Lennon was not mentioned significantly in the book. Though, he was mentioned several times; just not as a major musical influence to Harrison.

Harrison would later comment on Lennon’s feelings toward the book several years after the latter Beatle had passed away. In a 1987 interview, Harrison said that Lennon was “annoyed” because Harrison “didn’t say that he’d written one line of this song ‘Taxman’.”

“But I also didn’t say how I wrote two lines of ‘Come Together’ or three lines of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, you know?” Harrison continued. “I wasn’t getting into any of that.”

Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena