I, Me, Mine

A 400-page memoir from the Quiet Beatle? Can it be? Well, yes and no: only about 60 pages of this earnest tome, originally published in 1980, are devoted to Harrison's recollections of life before, during and (notably) after the Beatles. His memories, which manage to feel fresh and distant at the same time, come to readers via transcripts of his conversations with Derek Taylor (1932-1997), the Beatles press officer and ghostwriter of Brian Epstein's memoir. Harrison (1943-2001) was only in his late 30s when I Me Mine came out-the Beatles had formed, changed music forever and disbanded before his 28th birthday. The rest of this volume consists of photos with whimsical captions (""the author enjoying a cheese sandwich with some friends"" is assigned to a picture of Harrison with a sitar) and facsimiles of his handwritten lyrics (including a fairly different version of ""Taxman""), each accompanied by a brief explanation (ideas expressed in ""It's All Too Much,"" for example, were inspired by LSD and ""confirmed in meditation""). Most of the songs were composed after Harrison's immersion in Hinduism; divorced from their melodies, lyrics espousing love, peace and harmony tend to take on a certain sameness. This volume offers much to Beatles zealots, but for the casual fan, Harrison will likely remain as admirable and as inscrutable as ever. B&w photos and illustrations throughout.