concert for george

Maggie LePique speaks with celebrating author, and educator Ashley Khan about the enduring legacy of George Harrison,  a British guitarist, singer, songwriter and film producer. As a member of the Beatles, he achieved international fame and renown. During his career, he developed as a songwriter in his own right and wrote many best selling songs. In addition to music, Harrison was interested in Hindu spirituality and was a devotee of the Hare Krishna movement. George also founded the Material World Charitable Foundation, or MWF, on 26 April 1973, close to two years after he had organised the Concert for Bangladesh in New York as a benefit for refugees of the Bangladesh Liberation War. MWF is still active and Olivia Harrison (George's widow) is Director of the Charitable Organization.

My guest Ashley Kahn,  is a Grammy-winning author, educator, music journalist, and concert producer. His books include A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album and Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. He teaches at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music.​

Ashley also edited the book: George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison’s most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1962 to 2001. Though known as the “Quiet Beatle,” Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four. This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a  celebrity, as well as a sense of deep commitment and humor.



Source: https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/clive-davis-institute/1417614318

Source: https://www.materialworldfoundation.com

Source: https://www.amazon.com/George-Harrison-Interviews-Encounters-Musicians/dp/1641600519


This episode is from an archive from the KPFK program Profiles adapted for podcast.

Host Maggie LePique, a radio veteran since the 1980's at NPR in Kansas City Mo. She began her radio career in Los Angeles in the early 1990's and has worked for Pacifica station KPFK Radio in Los Angeles since 1994.