How George Harrison Taught Tom Petty To Not Be Bitter and Angry

George Harrison had a sharp tongue and a dry sense of humor, and according to his good friend Tom Petty, even his most cynical moments were usually laced with something lighthearted. George grew up in post-war Liverpool, which shaped much of his worldview, and his years with The Beatles wore him down. Still, he found a way to keep things amusing.

“He really said everything that crossed his mind,” Petty recalled in Rolling Stone’s special tribute, Remembering George. “I used to say, ‘You really can’t get a thought to your brain without it slipping out your mouth.’”

Petty added:

“And he was painfully honest. It was an endearing trait, but sometimes you hoped that he wouldn’t be quite as honest as he was going to be. Let’s be honest. There was Cranky George, and he could be very cynical at times. He would always be the first to nail himself as being too cynical, but he was quite funny when he was really cynical. But he was very funny, like, ‘The Beatles, they weren’t all that they were cracked up to be’ [laughs].”

He Never Let Bitterness Win

Even though George was skeptical of fame, record labels, and media nonsense, he never let anger take over. According to Petty, George always believed that bitterness and resentment were a waste of time. Petty said:

“I’ll tell you, the media wasn’t very sweet in the last year of his life.
“He was probably the most hounded of his whole life when he was trying to deal with that. Especially in Europe, he never got a moment’s peace. He would have helicopters follow him when he left the house.”

Focusing on What Mattered Most

Despite the stress, George stayed focused on what mattered—music, spirituality, and love.

Petty shared:

“He’d be the first to say there’s nothing to be gained by bitterness or anger, hatred. I don’t know how many times he would remind me that bitterness or pessimism is only going to slow you down finding the solution. And he lived that way.”

More than anything, George’s love for music and people made him special. “His enthusiasm was very contagious in a recording session, in a writing session,” said Petty. “He just had unbridled enthusiasm.”