Behind That Locked Door: George Harrison - After the Break-up of the "Beatles" [Paperback]

I assume that when someone writes a biography about someone else, it is because they have a certain fascination with that person and wishes to highlight certain aspects of their topic's personality, achievements (good and bad), views on life, etc.
Although the author of this book is clearly an unconditional fan of George Harrison, I can't help but wonder whether he wrote the book to make George shine or to slag off everybody else in the world. Whatever the case may be, the result is a book which has no criticism of George at all and ridicules just about everybody else (Eric Clapton, Elton John, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, John, Paul, Ringo and the list goes on...) and as such should have had the subtitle `A strictly personal view' in bold lettering.
Admittedly, it would be hard not to put down your own opinion in some form or other, but in this book it seems that history is re-written to tie in with the author's opinions.
The book deals with George's career after The Beatles, but does start with a section on the break-up itself and then traces George's life until his untimely death in November 2001.
I won't go into too much detail about the contents as it seems too twisted to warrant an in depth review. I just provide 2 examples that could serve to illustrate what you can expect from this book:
1) Chapter Three deals with the Bangla Desh concert (August 1, 1971) and describes the failed attempts of getting John and Paul involved (Ringo of course did play). As John and Paul didn't play, the author then describes the rest of the performers as the Bangla Desh B-list, calls Dylan nothing more than a nervous wreck, swears that if he ever hears Billy Preston's "That's The Way God Planned It" again, it will be too soon for him, claims Clapton got the biggest round of applause during the introduction because people were convinced he was killing himself on smack and this was their last chance to say goodbye, calls Leon Russell's singing "redneck hillbilly drawl", lists Dylan's "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" as two songs and somehow even manages to include his opinion that Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young were an ill conceived super group! Phew! If however, you'd be interested to know that there were in fact two concerts on the day and would like to know what the different set lists for the 2 shows were, you won't find it here! (e.g. Hear Me Lord and Dylan's Love Minus Zero weren't included on the album).
2) Chapter sixteen deals with the events on December 30th, 1999, when a man broke into Friar Park and tried to kill George and Olivia who had to fight for their lives! George, as we know, did receive stab wounds and had to be admitted to hospital where it turned out that he had been extremely lucky to survive the attack! There's a lot of detail in this chapter about what the press wrote about the man that committed this crime and how he was obsessed by The Beatles and thought them all to be devils. There is of course every justification for the author to be shocked at what happened to George, but he then writes about the fact that the burglar's mother told the press that a few weeks before the attack, her son had been obsessed by Oasis. The author then adds the comment "if he had a beef with Oasis, why didn't he take a pop at them? That I could have understood!" Enough said.
Finally, to show the level of care that has been taken in producing this book: just before the introduction there is a page that states that Elliot J. Huntley is a 27 year-old writer and musician based in Sheffield, England. On the back of the book he is suddenly a 30 year-old.
I could think of better books to spend my money on.

There is very little I can add to the reviews already given, except to state that very little, if any, research seems to have been undertaken by the author. He has written a potted history of George whilst at the same time denigrating any of his friends/associates (eg Eric Clapton). The best piece of advice to anyone thinking of buying this book is "don't" - I only wish I had taken that advice....

Well, Elliot J. Huntley must not be interested in telling a concise history of George. His work sounds and feels like an editorial, with his personal thoughts all mixed in. If you just want to read more about the solo years of George then this book will infuriate you. He personally criticises most other artists George ever came into contact with or thought of as friends. Has he even listened to their music? He puts down Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and many others. Now, this gets exhausting and stupid about two chapters in. I found myself getting very annoyed. However, it has loads of information hard to find on George's solo years. That is the only reason I gave this book two stars. One should think Mr. Huntley should stop writing books and actually go and sit down and listen to some decent music.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 13 reviews  2.3 out of 5 stars