Described in a press announcement as “the closest we will come to George Harrison‘s autobiography,” Genesis Publications is issuing I Me Mine – The Extended Edition, which now spans the length of Harrison’s lifelong work in music, told in his words. The new book encompasses 141 songs, lyric sheets and photos – many unpublished until now. The expanded version is being released on October 4 in the U.K. and October 18 in the U.S. Pre-order is available here.
A limited, estate-stamped edition is available here.
I Me Mine was originally published in 1980. It took its name from a Harrison composition on The Beatles‘ Let It Be album and is said to be the final track recorded by the group.
“Writing a song is like going to confession… writing songs to try and find out, to see who you are.” – George Harrison in I Me Mine – The Extended Edition
In conversation with his friend and former Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, and in a first-person commentary that accompanies his songs, Harrison’s own words recount everything from his upbringing in Liverpool, to early Beatlemania and his spirituality and philosophy.
I Me Mine – The Extended Edition documents Harrison’s songwriting from 1963 to 2001. From the announcement: “Hundreds of lyric sheets have been compiled, scanned and faithfully reproduced. Classic hits like ‘Here Comes The Sun’ are interleaved with rare compositions such as ‘Cosmic Empire,’ shown both typeset and in Harrison’s own handwriting. 141 songs are included, accompanied by the musician’s warm, witty commentary.
More than 50 of these are presented here for the first time – songs written for The Beatles… and for an acclaimed list of Platinum and Gold-selling solo albums (All Things Must Pass, Somewhere in England, Living in the Material World, Dark Horse, Thirty Three & 1/3, Cloud Nine and Brainwashed).
Watch Here’s one of our favorites from Cloud Nine
A collection of rare and unseen photos show Harrison performing with The Beatles, onstage with Bob Dylan at the Concert for Bangla Desh, during trips to India and visiting Formula One races. The book comes with new photos from the Harrison family archives, some published here for the first time.
“The truth within us has to be realised: when you realise that everything else that you see and do and touch and smell isn’t real, then you may know what reality is and can answer the questions ‘who am I?'”
– George Harrison in I Me Mine – The Extended Edition
“At one-and-a-half times the extent of the original, we are thrilled to introduce readers to such a ground-breaking new edition of this classic book. It is also an honour to pay tribute to both George Harrison and the company’s founder Brian Roylance, for whom I Me Mine marked the beginning of a life-long friendship,” said Catherine Roylance and Nicholas Roylance of Genesis Publications, in the announcement.
