This is such a special book as it features over two hundred never-before collected photos of The Beatles at work and at play. The photographs are amazing, a wonderful intimate collection and it was such a pleasure to see them. The Third Eye compiles a beautiful record of life as a Beatle and taken by lead guitarist George Harrison.
From 1963 to 1969 George Harrison always travelled with his Pentax camera in hand. With this three bandmates, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, George Harrison travelled the world and this book chronicles their impossible path from Liverpool to Ed Sullivan, Adelaide to Rishikesh, the Eiffel Tower to the beaches of Tahiti and beyond.
There is no doubt that this book is an extraordinary collection of George’s personal photos and 8mm film stills which has been compiled and curated by Olivia Harrison, George’s widow. They are singular images of Paul, John, Ringo and George along with the band’s friends and entourage as they rocketed to stardom and fostered the joyful madness that came to be known as Beatlemania. As a huge Beatles fan, I was intrigued with this beautifully designed book as it took me along with them on their first plane ride to the US, motorcades through the Australian outback, shopping trips in Paris downtime in Miami and much more.
There is no-one better than Olivia to collate George’s band life in photos and stills and says in her essay that accompanies the collection:
“I want to show people, from George’s unique photographic perspective during the Beatles’ early years, that moment when the whole of your life is ahead of you with unknowable possibilities. The images in The Third Eye capture that spirit that George’s life possessed.”
The Third Eye also features an introduction by the renowned author Colm Tóibín (a one-time chancellor of the University of Liverpool) and an Afterword by the Booker Prize-winning novelist George Saunders.
You will find the photos are candid and unguarded but clearly show Harrison’s wit, intelligence and penchant for experimentation. George was intrigued by special visual effects and enamoured of selfies but readers must remember that this was a time way before the iPhone. For George Harrison to have been there and capturing those rare moments out of the spotlight, The Beatles just being themselves and away from the madness that was surrounding them, makes this book unique. I can only imagine what creative fun George would had had with his own iPhone! Yet these photos really do offer an inside look at the human beings behind the Beatles, trying to keep hold of themselves whilst enjoying their sudden fame and success, perhaps not always realising how The Beatles were changing our culture and our world.
George Harrison became known to millions of fans in the 1960s as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. His solo album, All Things Must Pass, topped the US and UK charts for weeks and remains the highest-selling solo album by any of the Beatles. He was the recipient of many awards, including twelve Grammys, appointment as an MBE by the Queen and also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist.
The Third Eye opens a window into the world of the Beatles and the joyful madness that became Beatlemania, the transformative cultural moment that the group sparked and all through the singular artistic vision of George Harrison.
This is a book I’ll treasure and if you are looking for a very special gift for someone in your family and with Christmas rapidly approaching, then this beautiful book would surely work!
