Here comes the Sun - George Harrison at the Bob Dylan Tribute

I recall this George performance from 1992 because it occurred when I was early in my years as a Beatles fan.   The late 1980-early 1990's was a strange time to get into the Beatles, because not a whole lot was going on in their lives at that time.  So this George appearance was pretty cool to learn about! 

Now looking back on this, I think it is a shame that the concert for George was held in his memory and not as a tribute like the one for Bob Dylan.   The Concert for George was amazing, but how much more amazing would it have been if George was actually there?    Why did that not happen?

Anyhow this story was written by MaryAnn Borgon and was published in Issue #6 from 1993 of the Tokyo Beatles Fan Club Magazine.

Here Comes the Sun

George Harrison at the Bob Dylan Tribute

October 16 , 1992

By Maryann Borgon

Having heard rumors that George was going to be one of the performers at the Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden, I was keeping my ears and eyes open for any information on this event.  When the New York Times ran a full page ad for the event listing George WAS going to be there, my husband immediately got on the phone to New York.  Ticketmaster sold out in 22 minutes.  We then called MSG directly to find out if there were any wheelchair sections seats left, as my husband is a wheelchair user.  To our delight, there were seats available. 

We arrived in New York about noon on Friday, the day of the concert.  We were so excited to see George in the States after so many years.

The Carnegie Deli beckoned us for lunch, and we hung out.  We heard from Joy P. who had gone to see George and Eric in Japan, who was staying at another hotel.  When I went over to see her, we ran into Roger Forrester, Eric Clapton’s manager, and also his tour manager, Viv Gibson.  We chatted awhile, and I showed him some of the photos I brought from the Japan tour to give to George.  He told me that security was very, very tight. 

Later, we accidentally ran into George’s bodyguard at another hotel.  I showed him my “bag of tricks” for George, which contained a small photo album with some pictures from Japan, and he was in a couple of them.  He couldn’t believe that we went to Japan to see George!  I asked him if he would deliver the bag to George, and he said, sure.  I didn’t even think to ask him where George was staying.  He did say, ‘Are you going to the show?”  And I said, “Yes!.”  He said, “Okay see you after the show!” and off he went in his limo.  Unfortunately, I forgot to ask where…so much for that!

We visited with Rick Danko’s girlfriend, who told us how strict they were with the passes and tickets.  She didn’t even have a ticket!  There were many limos in front of the hotel with signs saying “Bob Dylan Tribute.”  Musicians were everywhere!

I had decided that I would not have any high expectations about meeting George, that if I was lucky enough to meet him, great.  I feel fortunate to have met his body guard and of course, Olivia and Dhani while in Japan.  At least I know he got my package of surprises!

The night of the show, our seats were really quite good.  The wheelchair section is usually the worst possible area, but these seats were up one section, to stage left.  We had an exceptional view of the entire stage.

Before George came on, my husband urged me to get closer!  So I walked down behind the stage where a tarp covered some of the seating.  As soon as I heard Chrissie Hynde start to announce “another guitar superstar” I headed down to the front of that section.  I made it all the way to the end of that section – there were no more rows directly in front of me, but to my right, four or five rows then the stage.

George came out of a doorway that looked like a little tent and I was so close I could see his wrinkles.  Now that how I want to see him!  He moved center stage to perform, however, so I wasn’t able to watch him closely playing the guitar.  He sang two songs, including “If not for you.”  Interesting to note that the stage was like a karaoke stage - There were monitors all over with the words to the songs being displayed.  George was dressed in a beautiful purple jacket, appeared to be velvet, with a white shirt with black lines on the collar.  He had black shoes and blank pants.  He played only one acoustic guitar.  His hair had grown a little since “The making of Sgt. Pepper” and he had a moustache.  His voice didn’t sound as strong as it did in Japan, but it still sounded very good.

George did the introduction for Bob Dylan, he stating something like “Some of you may call him Bobby, some of you may call him Zimmie.  I call him Lucky…”  

For the show’s finale, every performer joined Bob to sing two songs, the final one was “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

You could tell George really was enjoying being a part of this tribute to bob Dylan and I was thrilled to be able to be in the audience.

Note from the editor:  George sang two Dylan songs, “if Not for you” and “Absolutely Sweet Mary.”  He later joined other artists singing “My Pack Pages” and “Knocking on Heaven’s door.”