When Gary Wright Met George Harrison: Dream Weaver, John and Yoko, and More... [View all]

[WillyT]

He had never met anyone like George. He wasn't on an ego trip like other artists. His aura was calm, and his being exuded a subtle spiritual magnetism. An excerpt from ‘Dream Weaver.’

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One afternoon in the spring of 1970, my phone rang. It was Klaus Voormann. I hadn’t spoken with Klaus in quite some time and was curious as to why he was calling. The last time we spoke was nearly a year ago, when he had played bass on my first solo album Extraction. At that moment, I had no idea that what I was about to hear would soon alter the direction of my life.

“Klaus, how are you? It’s been a while.”

Before I could say anything else, he quickly replied, “Gary, I’m in the studio with George Harrison. Phil Spector is producing George’s new album and wants an additional keyboard player for the song they’re working on. Can you come to Abbey Road Studios now, as George is keen to get started?” The import of those words resonated through my entire being. I was a huge Beatle fan and especially loved George’s amazing track “Within You Without You” from Sgt. Pepper, with its East Indian flavors.

One half hour after I’d received the call I found myself walking into the studio where the recording session was taking place—the same studio where the Beatles had recorded most of their music—and Klaus warmly greeted me. I immediately spotted George Harrison at the other side of the studio; we made eye contact, he smiled, and walked over to greet me. He was dressed in traditional Indian white pajamas and dark brown sandals. His long, straight, dark brown hair was parted in the middle and reached halfway down his back; he had a fairly long beard and mustache that covered a good part of his face. I could smell the patchouli oil he was wearing as well as the incense that was burning in the studio.

His brown eyes were penetrating yet peaceful, and he immediately disarmed my nervousness with his gentleness. As he shook my hand and graciously introduced himself to me, all the initial apprehensiveness I had been feeling suddenly vanished. I felt in my heart that I was meeting an old friend that I hadn’t seen in years—or maybe lifetimes.

He introduced me to the other musicians playing on the track, including Ringo, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Jim Gordon, and Badfinger. The group had been rehearsing the song “Isn’t It a Pity” when I arrived. George took his acoustic guitar and began showing me the chord changes, which I nervously wrote out on a chord chart. I was making a fair amount of mistakes trying to learn the arrangement while playing along with the band. After a little while, the red “record” light in the studio came on and I still wasn’t quite sure of the structure of the song. Then the worst that could happen happened. Producer Phil Spector’s voice rang out from the control room into the studio where all the musicians were: “Wait a minute, wait a minute; who’s that on the Wurlitzer piano making all those mistakes?” Devastated and utterly embarrassed, I meekly raised my hand. and said, “Sorry it’s me, Gary. I’m still learning the structure of the song.” George immediately walked over to me and said consolingly, “Take all the time you need, we’re in no rush.” He was so kind at that moment; I immediately felt a rapport with him.

I had really never met anyone quite like George before; he didn’t seem to be on some huge ego trip like other artists...

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More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/29/when-gary-wright-met-george-harrison-dream-weaver-john-and-yoko-and-more.html