George
HarrisonGeorge
Harrison
Schooling
The first school George was sent to was Dovedale Primary, the same one John Lennon was already at, but 3 classes ahead. He was then sent to the Liverpool Institute, where he tried fitting in and doing all the homework, but soon gave up and became totally uninterested in school. He started dressing much differently than everybody else and grew his hair long. Every time he got a new pair of pants, he would use his mom's machine to make them fit a lot tighter. For the first three years at the Institute, George always got in trouble, but in the fourth year or so, he found that it was easier to just shut up instead of arguing everything. Some of his teachers would let him sleep in the back of class so he wouldn't be causing any trouble.
"Because they were old and withered you
were supposed to believe they weren't ignorant."
---George, on teachers
Musical Beginnings
When he was about 14, Louise began finding little pieces of paper with guitars drawn on them in George's laundry. Soon after, George asked his mom if she would buy a guitar for him for 3 pounds, and she did. He tried to teach himself to play it, but found that he wasn't a "natural." His mom always encouraged him and told him that he would learn, even though he said he would never learn. Sometimes she would stay up with George until 2 or 3 in the morning while he practiced. Soon he said that he needed a new guitar because there were some notes you just couldn't get on the one he had, so his mom helped him guy a new guitar for 30 pounds.
Shortly after starting at the Institute, George met Paul McCartney, who was one form above George. The two rode the same bus to school, and they found that they both had guitars and became friends. By this time, Paul was already playing with John and the Quarrymen, and soon Paul introduced George to John. George, who was only 14 at the time, was too young by John's standards to join the group, but he stood at the back of their shows with his guitar, sometimes filling in for a guitarist that didn't show up. George gradually became a member of the group, which was now known as Johnny and the Moondogs.
John's Aunt Mimi totally disapproved of the whole idea of John and his friends having a group. She didn't allow Paul, George, or any other of the band members into her house - she didn't want any Teddy boys in a rock group in her house. John would go on and on about George, saying what a nice boy he was and all that, and Mimi finally let him in her house one day. He came in with a crew cut and a pink shirt - she threw him out. She didn't think school boys should be dressing that way. Even Paul, with his big eyes and natural charm, Mimi wouldn't allow him in the house.
"After we passed the scholarship, the teacher asked us who thought they had passed. Only one person put his hand up. He was a fat little lad who smelled. It was very sad, really. He turned out to be about the only kid who didn't pass."
"Smelly kids like that were the sort teachers
made you sit next to as a punishment. So the poor smelly kids really
did get screwed up."
---George
