Screenshot from The Beatles Anthology.
Chris Carter: “Dad loved the uke, didn’t he?” Dhani Harrison: “He did. He got very into the uke, actually bordering on obsessively into the uke at some points, and, you know, taking me to George Formby conventions — that was when I started to notice that he was very into the ukulele [laughs]. He’s got a big, well, he had a big collection of ukes which I now have. And, yeah, more ukes than I know what to do with.’” - Breakfast With The Beatles (August 31, 2008) “I first met George Harrison when he attended a George Formby Society convention in Blackpool in 1990. He was a charming man accompanied by his lovely wife Olivia and son Dhani.” - Ray Bernard, The Stoke Sentinel (2009) “The main thing was he was always around the house, playing his ukulele and smiling. I’d come home from school and he’d be standing in the doorway playing his uke.” - Dhani Harrison, Los Angeles Times (November 2002) “If I began to sing a song — any song — he would accompany and encourage me. If I played three chords on the uke (compulsory instrument in our home), he would be my band.” - Olivia Harrison, Harrison (2002) “[George] had a lot of patience and he had time for people. If somebody truly wanted to know something, whether it was a guitar chord or something from the Vedas or how you prune a tree, if you were really curious, he had an endless amount of time. He actually sat with my mother and showed her how to play one chord on a ukulele so she could play along with him. He wanted everybody to have fun and join in. He was a Pisces; I think he liked the whole school going along with him.” - Olivia Harrison, Filter (Fall 2011) “[George would pause] intently over one of the two jukeboxes filled with favorites, carefully and deliberately choosing what to play next: a version of ‘The Lumberjack Song,’ Ravi Shankar, endless Dylan, ‘Oh, you must hear this, Eric.’ Early Elvis. ‘Spam.’ EC’s ‘Layla.’ And yet more Dylan. His enthusiasm was contagious. He played the jukebox to inform and instruct. He reveled in sharing his delight in all kinds of music. He would go through periods of furious passions, often lasting for months or even years at a time, when he would insist you shared the joy of Smokey Robinson or the songs of Hoagy Carmichael or the Hawaiian music of Gabby Pahinui or even the ukulele nonsense of George Formby. During this latter stage everyone had to learn the uke; even Liv he taught to strum away. He embraced all forms of life. It was to be savored and enjoyed. But music was at the heart of it. It could speak more truly to the soul. And the soul was what George was about.” - Eric Idle, The Greedy Bastard Diary
