Beatle Mania

He tells Tim Hughes all about it.

TEN years ago we lost one of the greatest and most influential musicians to have walked the Earth.

George Harrison, below, was not just guitarist with The Beatles, he was a polymath: singer-songwriter, experimentalist, innovator, film producer, charity fundraiser, poet, seeker and thinker. And he was one of ours. Well, kind of – living for many years in Henley.

Now the memory of ‘the quiet Beatle’ is being celebrated by a quite unlikely figure; a character known to many as the wide-eyed livewire of the Oxford music scene: Lee Christian, the driving force behind throbbing punk-rock act Smilex.

But to anyone who knows Lee, top right, it all makes perfect sense.

“It’s weird calling a Beatle underrated,” he says. “But as an individual, that’s exactly what he was. And now, on this 10th anniversary of his death, it is time to start talking about him again.”

He is doing this by celebrating some of the songs that inspired George, with a slimmed-down version of his other band, Prohibition Smokers Club – a super-talented collective of musicians from other bands, which, at its height numbers up to 10 members.

Lee’s own ‘fab four’, called The Rebels, will play songs covered by George throughout his life – from his early days at the Cavern and in Hamburg, throughout The Beatles and into his solo career. And they are doing it all for free, this Saturday at Tarifa in Cowley Road, where Lee hosts his own monthly residency – The Chillum.

The set is a celebration of the often-overlooked talents of the man who wrote some of The Beatles’ best tunes – songs like Taxman, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun and Something.

“We are playing the songs that George covered, with tunes from the early days, such as Raunchy, which he first had to play to get into The Quarrymen, to Hoagy Carmichael’s Baltimore Oriole, Bob Dylan’s If Not For You and James Ray’s Got My Mind Set on You, which became a hit for George in the ’80s.”

The Tarifa show is also a road test for a quite remarkable pair of shows taking place on Tuesday, on the very anniversary of George’s death, in his native Liverpool.

The Ten Years On shows at St George’s Hall and the Cavern, will see artists performing tributes through faithful covers and interpretations.

The Rebels set is designed to be lean, featuring only guitar, sax, piano and vocals.

“We want to strip the music down to the bare bones,” says Lee. “We want people to hear the songs and none of the trimmings which can sometimes cloud the essence of the songs.”

The shows follow a long love affair with George’s music. He explains: “George wrote the best Beatles songs. Something, for example, is the most covered song ever – being done by everyone from James Brown to Frank Sinatra.

“He also brought elements of Eastern culture into music that have broken down barriers in people’s brains. I don’t think the Western world would have been as accepting of Eastern scales, which can seem really other-wordly, without him. And now they are heard in everything from film scores to Britney Spears’ Toxic.”

He goes on: “In the same way John Lennon is remembered for his efforts for peace, George was influential in helping people. His 1971 Concert for Bangladesh was the forerunner of Live Aid and all the other charity concerts we’ve had since.

“In spite of the fact he was a big celebrity, he had a spiritual side and cared for people. And he played a mean guitar with it!”

And the Prohibition Smokers Club know a thing or two about mean guitars. Since starting life as duet, Smokers Die Younger, the band has evolved into a freewheeling, outfit united by a love of good music.

“We play blues-soul-jazz crossover and, I’m not ashamed to say, pop – though if you come expecting Justin Bieber you’ll be disappointed!” he laughs.

“Everyone is in other bands, but the whole point of Smokers is to be an antidote, or rehab, from the heavy-rock, experimental, indie-electro and banging hip-hop that they play in their regular lives.”

Which makes The Rebels the perfect band to play the music of George Harrison.

“I’ve always been influenced by George,” Lee says. “People may say it’s really old hat to be a Beatles fan, but if you are going to be a musician, it’s a good idea to check them out – we can all still learn from them.”

* The Rebels plus Beard of Destiny, Geoff Slate, Left Ambient Join, and Half Decent play Tarifa, Cowley Road, Oxford on Saturday from 4-8pm and entry is free