MeyeSight

Written by C. Nigro

Much has been said about John Mayer lately, while he’s been trying to avoid the spotlight of media for more than a year. Nowadays, the biggest interest of some gossip columns is his changing appearance, and that’s what’s keeping him where the light is. Mostly, he’s been compared with actor Johnny Depp, some even say he’s inspiring himself on his idol Stevie Ray Vaughan’s look, but the person that Mayer’s really been channeling while preparing his next album, hasn’t been cited till this moment, because only true music connoisseurs could point the convergence between him and George Harrison.

The public usually remembers both the early Beatle-style and also the Sgt. Pepper’s uniform when hearing George’s name, but during the Beatle’s Get Back Sessions and Apple’s Rooftop Concert, Harrison was going through a definite musical and spiritual change, that also reflected on his looks and constant arguments with his band partners. His metamorphosis was happening during the birth of the Folk-Rock musical genre, and influenced a lot of different musicians around that time.

It was The Beatles that merged the Folk Music scene with British Pop, Blues, Psychedelic Rock, and also Western/Indian sounds. George Harrison had a very important part on this shift of directions for his band, as he was particularly interested about what was going on in California and the hippie movement, being the only Beatle that went to USA for participating of the so-called 1967’s Summer of Love. He also used to spend his time away from the band with trips to India for practicing Transcendental Meditation and Sitar playing. All these dissonant experiences were crucial for the revolutionary sound that was created by his band.

And this new musical genre that blossomed from there, the Folk-Rock, kept being developed and consolidated by the Lonely Hearts Club Band and its next records, ‘Let It Be’ and ‘Abbey Road’, especially through Harrison’s influence. While recording those albums, George had started to introduce his new songs for the band, but most of them were refused to be recorded by Lennon/McCartney and ended up appearing only on his next solo enterprise.

Around that time of changes in his life, Harrison has played a brand new Fender All-Rosewood Telecaster that was especially made for him, in 1968. That guitar was also used while he had written the songs for ‘All Things Must Pass’, and by the moment that record was finally released as George’s first solo album, the musician’s been sporting a look just like the photo on the left, where it’s possible to recognize the long hair, necklaces, plaid shirt and hat, much alike the accessories Mayer’s been using recently.

At the same time when that Rosewood Telecaster was made, Fender also created an All-Rosewood Stratocaster, especially for Jimi Hendrix and crafted by the same person that prepared Harrison’s instrument. That Strat looks exactly like Mayer’s one in that photo on the centre, and could actually be the same guitar, because the late guitarist is said for had never picked up his model from the manufacturer. 

A lot of different theories about the final destination of that relic have been brought up, creating a true folktale around the mythological guitar, but probably Fender still owns it to this day. It is not surprising that Mayer has been playing the same model of Hendrix Rosewood Stratocaster instead of Harrison’s Telecaster, for it is well known that he declares to be more comfortable with the shape of that instrument than with any other else. 

Both of the original late 60’s instruments were made using Brazilian Rosewood (scientifically, Dalbergia Nigra, or Jacaranda, in portuguese language), a kind of material obtained from trees found in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, and included on the endangered species list, since the early 90’s. Mayer’s guitar looks like a replica, made by Fender Custom Shop with Indian Rosewood, extracted from a plant that is more commonly found, and not politically incorrect to use. However, just like in every good rock’n’roll myth, no one in the music scene would be astonished to know that John could now be the owner of the original Hendrix’s guitar, as it is largely documented that he is an avid collector of those instruments, who has more than 200 different models. 

Mayer’s known to be a great Hendrix admirer, regularly covering Jimi’s songs during his own shows. But his enthusiasm for Harrison’s songwriting resides in a more internal layer of his personality, as he once said in an interview. While John tries to outplay and accomplish the same guitar playing skills that are reverenced by Hendrix followers, he declares that the differences between George’s characteristics and his owns are the details that make him inspired for composing new musical pieces. According to him, Harrison’s songs are pure and genuine, clearly showing that the late artist was not caring about other people’s views about his music, while Mayer himself had been always trying to figure out what his critics would think about his new developing work.

It is more than a coincidence the fact that Mayer declares himself to be an enthusiast of Harrison’s pals, like George’s Travelling Wilbury’s bandmates Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. John’s covers for Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright and Petty’s Free Fallin’ are always his fan’s favorite ones during his concerts. Mayer also has asked Don Was to be his new project producer, who is reportedly responsible for producing albums for Dylan and for working with Harrison during a recording session for the track ‘Under the Red Sky’. 

One of the pictures from the photo shoot for Mayer’s new album cover has already been published by the musician in his personal blog, which features him wandering in a garden, while it is also well documented that George loved to take care of the plants of Friar Park grounds, his English property, and actually used the residence as background scenario for the cover shoot of his own solo album.

Another peculiarity is the name of a new song that Mayer has been singing during his last concerts: it is called ‘Something Like Olivia’, and its wording shows the same names for Harrison’s most famous song, ‘Something’ and also his second wife, Olivia Arias. It is not the first time that John is inspiring himself in someone else’s lady, for there are songs in his first album, Room for Squares, that mention a woman called Lydia, who was the wife of his then producer’s John Alagia and whose name has a sonority very much alike Olivia.

Mayer’s next album, ‘Born and Raised’, rumored to be called after one of his new songs, was due to be available in October, around the same time that Martin Scorsese’s documentary about George Harrison, Living in the Material World, will start to be aired by HBO. However, It’s been recently announced by his management team that no date for the record release was set, yet.  

John declared earlier this year that he would try to explore the Folk-Rock music scene for his next recording project and it is natural that he is inspiring himself on Harrison, who was one of the main responsible for the genesis of that music genre. Meanwhile, Mayer’s fans would have to wait a little bit longer to discover how great was Harrison’s influence for John’s new musical style.