Editing George Harrison (section)

=={{Anchor|Early years}} Early years: 1943–1958==
[[File:12ArnoldGrove.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=Harrison's first home, a red brick building|Harrison's place of birth and first home – [[12 Arnold Grove]]]]
George Harrison was born at [[12 Arnold Grove]] in [[Wavertree]], Liverpool, on 25 February 1943.{{sfn|Harrison|2002|p=20}}{{refn|group=nb|name=birthday|Author [[Barry Miles]] writes that Harrison was born at 11:42&nbsp;pm on 24 February.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=6}} Author [[Mark Lewisohn]] writes that it was 12:10&nbsp;am on 25 February, with that date provided on both Harrison's [[Birth certificate|birth]] and [[baptism]] certificates.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|pp=34, 805n11}} Harrison had recognised 25 February as his birthday for most of his life before stating in a 1992 ''Billboard'' article that he had recently learned it was 24 February.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Anon.|title=This Week in Billboard|date=5 December 1992|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=5|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1992/Billboard-1992-12-05.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122001639/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1992/Billboard-1992-12-05.pdf |archive-date=22 January 2021 |url-status=live|via=worldradiohistory.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=805n11}}}} He was the youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves (or Hargrove) Harrison (1909-1978) and Louise (née French,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.beatlesireland.info/Irish%20Heritage/georgeheritage.html |title=Beatles Ireland – George Harrison Irish Heritage |website=Beatlesireland.info |access-date=28 May 2018 |archive-date=14 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214103013/http://www.beatlesireland.info/Irish%20Heritage/georgeheritage.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 1911-1970). Harold was a bus conductor who had worked as a [[National Union of Ship's Stewards|ship's steward]] on the [[White Star Line]],{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=55}} and Louise was a shop assistant of [[Irish Catholic]] descent.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=6}} He had one sister, Louise, and two brothers, Harold and Peter.

According to Boyd, Harrison's mother was particularly supportive: "All she wanted for her children is that they should be happy, and she recognised that nothing made George quite as happy as making music."{{sfn|Boyd|2007|p=82}} Louise was an enthusiastic music fan, and she was known among friends for her loud singing voice, which at times startled visitors by rattling the Harrisons' windows.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=120}} When Louise was pregnant with George, she often listened to the weekly broadcast ''Radio India''. Harrison's biographer Joshua Greene wrote, "Every Sunday she tuned in to mystical sounds evoked by sitars and [[tabla]]s, hoping that the exotic music would bring peace and calm to the baby in the womb."{{sfn|Greene|2006|p=2}}

Harrison lived at 12 Arnold Grove until 1 January 1950.<Ref>The Beatles - page 48 - Mark Lewisohn</Ref> A terraced house on a [[cul-de-sac]], it had an outdoor toilet, and its only heat came from a single coal fire. In the autumn of 1949, the family was offered a [[council house]] and moved to 25 Upton Green, [[Speke]].{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=7}} In 1948, Harrison enrolled at [[Dovedale Primary School]].{{sfn|Inglis|2010|p=xiii}} He passed the [[eleven-plus exam]] and attended [[Liverpool Institute High School for Boys]] from 1954 to 1959.<ref>{{harvnb|Everett|2001|p=36}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Greene|2006|p=7}}</ref> Though the institute did offer a music course, Harrison was disappointed with the absence of guitars, and felt that the school "moulded [students] into being frightened".{{sfn|Harrison|2002| pp= 22–23}}

Harrison's earliest musical influences included [[George Formby]], [[Cab Calloway]], [[Django Reinhardt]] and [[Hoagy Carmichael]];{{sfn|Leng|2006|pp=302, 303–04}} by the 1950s, [[Carl Perkins]] and [[Lonnie Donegan]] were significant influences.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rockhall.com/inductees/george-harrison/bio/|title=Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: George Harrison Biography|website=rockhall.com|access-date=29 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912010920/https://rockhall.com/inductees/george-harrison/bio/|archive-date=12 September 2015}}</ref> In early 1956, he had an epiphany: while riding his bicycle, he heard [[Elvis Presley]]'s "[[Heartbreak Hotel]]" playing from a nearby house, and the song piqued his interest in [[rock and roll]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/nov/30/guardianobituaries1 |title=George Harrison, 1943–2001: Former Beatle George Harrison dies from cancer aged 58 |last=Laing |first=Dave |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 November 2001 |access-date=25 December 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227122516/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/nov/30/guardianobituaries1 |archive-date=27 December 2013}}; {{harvnb|Leng|2006|pp=302–304}}: Harrison's earliest musical influences.</ref> He often sat at the back of the class drawing guitars in his schoolbooks, and later commented, "I was totally into guitars."{{sfn|Lange|2001|p=6}} Harrison cited [[Slim Whitman]] as another early influence: "The first person I ever saw playing a guitar was Slim Whitman, either a photo of him in a magazine or live on television. Guitars were definitely coming in."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=28}}

When George Harrison was about 14, a friend of Harrison, Raymond Hughes, offered to sell a guitar. Harrison's mother then paid for the guitar, which cost £3.10s.– (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|3.5|1956|r=-1}}|0}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Babiuk|2002|p=17}}: Dutch Egmond; {{harvnb|Boyd|2007|p=82}}: His father was apprehensive about his interest in pursuing a music career.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Beatles Anthology |publisher=Chronicle Books |pages=27 |language=English}}</ref> One of his father's friends taught Harrison how to play "[[Whispering (song)|Whispering]]", "[[Sweet Sue, Just You|Sweet Sue]]" and "[[Dinah (song)|Dinah]]". Inspired by Donegan's music, Harrison formed a [[skiffle]] group, the Rebels, with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly.<ref>{{harvnb|Babiuk|2002|p=17}}; {{harvnb|Everett|2001|p=36}}: A friend of his father's taught Harrison some chords; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|p=120}}; {{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2106466.ece |title=Lives in Brief: Peter Harrison |date=20 July 2007 |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=22 July 2007 |first=Sadie |last=Gray |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810114350/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2106466.ece |archive-date=10 August 2011}} {{subscription required}}</ref> On the bus to school, Harrison met [[Paul McCartney]], who also attended the Liverpool Institute, and the pair bonded over their shared love of music.<ref>{{harvnb|Inglis|2010|pp=xiii–xiv}}; {{harvnb|Miles|2001|p=13}}.</ref>