WRITING about the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr) is never easy because of their expansive legacy; some 13 albums, 27 number 1 hits, somewhere between 160-200 self-written, published songs in a short 6-7 years (1964-1970). But I would like to remember one of them in particular, George Harrison, who passed away last month, for his role in expanding the presence of Eastern music and religion in the West.

George Harrison and The Beatles: Their “magnum opus,” the unmatchable “Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967), touched a nerve ending in the US-UK pop culture conscience, forcing stubborn, aged classically and traditionally crooner-oriented music fans to regard “rock” music as “serious” music, besides its heavy influence in music, art, and fashion. It was the first album to have the lyrics posted on the jacket, to have all songs run in continuity, one into the other, first to seriously use “studio” tricks and natural animal sounds; dogs barking, bubbling water, and even the whirling sound of ripped tape (pulled out of cassettes) falling to the floor. One song even incorporated a particular sound that aggravates dogs (John’s attempt to disrupt the calm of rich people chilling out on their lawns!). According to Smokey Robinson, the schism that exited between “white” and “black” America, also exited in the selection of music, and black music fans previously estranged with “white” rock, began tuning in when the Beatles came on the scene.

The baby of the group who was dwarfed by the staggering talents of Lennon and McCartney during Beatles reign, it is during their mid to final years that Harrison’s maturity as an accomplished musician (one of the best guitarist ever, he taught John to play) and powerful songwriter surfaced. In the company of this most successful composing duet, post World War II, as the Beatles diverted from “pop” music via experimental growth, beginning with the album “Rubber Soul,” George’s guitar prowess, superior to John or Paul, webbed outwards into a range of instruments. We hear an “eastern” sound (sitar) for the first time in a popular rock ballad (in John’s “Norwegian Wood”), and this experiment is upgraded on George’s own “Love You Too” (“Revolver” LP), which is lyrically worthless, but musically, the beautifully crafted composition cannot “not” rank among the Beatles’ best, ever.

George Harrison, Concert for Bangladesh, and Indian Mysticism: By 1967, Ravi Shankar (sitar maestro) was schooling George on the sitar, and his interest in Hinduism intensified. As usual, where one goes, the other three Beatles follow; they all journeyed to India on a trip of spiritual explorations, which flopped when the Guru (Mahesh Yogi) was discovered to be attracted to one of the females in the entourage. Still, this search continued for George and John, leading up to the Hare Krsna Movement. They conducted interviews with its founder, Srila Prabhupada, and began chanting, meditation, readings of Vedic philosophy, and vegetarianism. On “Sgt. Pepper,” George pushed the boundaries further with “Within You Without You,” a song not only steeped in Indian sounds, but with lyrics that reflected the tone and sensibility to be found everywhere in the Bhagvad Gita. By the time of the Beatles demise, three of the most impressive Beatles songs of all time, “Something,” “Here Comes the Sun,” and the poignant “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” were written by George.

Together, George and John began a serious intake of Hindi film songs; Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi (who actually covered “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in Hindi), Mukesh, etcetera. Their readings in transcendental philosophies intensified, and on John’s “Tomorrow Never Knows,” their producer, George Martin, had to improvise to create distorted sounds that mimicked Tibetan long horns, courtesy of John reading the “Tibetan Book of the Dead.” In his most “poetical” song, “Across the Universe,” he invokes a Hindu deity in singing, “Jai Guru Deva…” The group’s second film, “Help,” partially filmed in the Bahamas, has a plot built around the Fab Four who are on the run from a group of worshippers of Mother Kali.

But the influence of George Harrison extends beyond the recording studio, to a now well rooted, cross channeling of Eastern and Western cultures. Before the Beatles, Indian music had found its way over the continents, but to small off-public venues. But by late sixties, it had become acceptable. Shankar played at sprawling rock festivals, and in 1968, his LP, “East Meets West” won a Grammy. Indian music hit Hollywood in movies like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Additionally, “East West” collaboration between musicians like Philip Glass and Shankar increased. Meanwhile, Harrison produced some of Shankar’s LPs, including “Family and Friends,” on which appeared the English version of the famed “I am Missing You,” a call to Lord Krishna, sung by Shankar’s wife.

George’s involvement with Indian mysticism flourished until his recent death, concluding with his request that he be cremated and his ashes scattered in India. Today, thousands of Westerners have become more interested and involved with Eastern spirituality; yoga, meditation, religion (Harrison Ford etc. with Buddhism, Cat Steven with Islam), courtesy of this one man’s venture into spiritual territories considered taboo and “pagan” in Anglican England. These days, the major record labels produce musicians from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East much more readily. The influx of African music has helped stimulate many black artists in the West, such as Sade and Erykah Badu, to incorporate a stronger sense of their African musical heritage in their works. While shops across Europe and North America now stock cultural and religious artifacts from these regions, a song as recent as Sting’s “Desert Rose,” which featured the Arabic vocal of Lebanon’s Chab Mami, demonstrated that the cultural mixture of musical genres still rocks on.

Not long after the Beatles disbanded in 1970, George produced a double LP (“All Things Must Pass”), from which came his post-Beatle staple song, “My Sweet Lord,” obviously another rendition to God. The difference here is the unity he creates by juxtaposing both Christian and Vedic chant words. It was unprecedented music, this mix of religions; surprisingly, the song with its chorus line of “Hare Krsna, Halleluiah, Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu,” made it to number one. But more importantly, in August of 1971, George organized and fronted the first-ever benefit show, the Concert for Bangladesh, to aid the war-razed new nation, Bangladesh.

We have come a long way with using rock and roll to bring awareness and raise money, passing Live Aid to the Concert to Free Tibet. This is not the Beatles’ legacy, but George Harrison’s. A simple, humble man despite the fame, money, and success, who survived a stabbing by a “deranged” man, he said that he found as much pleasure planting trees in his garden. According to Hindu philosophy, the atma (soul) never dies, and can be connected via the combination of meditation and mantra. In gratitude to the "Dark Horse," I remember the man and the musician.