Beatle George Harrison was pigeonholed as the "Quiet Beatle," but the youngest member of the Fab Four had an acerbic, dry sense of humor that was as sharp as the rest of his bandmates.
He gave great performances in the musical comedy classics "A Hard Days Night" and "Help!" while holding his own during The Beatles' notoriously anarchic press conferences. After he left the band in 1970, in addition to his musical career, he would produce the 1979 Monty Python comedy classic, "The Life of Brian."
Harrison clearly didn't lose his sense of humor for the rest of his life. Shortly before he died in 2001, he played an elaborate prank on Phil Collins that shows how the "Here Comes the Sun" singer would go the extra mile for a laugh.
GIF from media2.giphy.com. | The Beatles Love GIF
In 1970, Harrison recorded his first solo record and arguably the best by a former Beatle, "All Things Must Pass." The session for the song "The Art of Dying" featured former Beatle Ringo Starr on drums, keyboard legend Billy Preston on keys, and virtuoso Eric Clapton on guitar. It was produced by the notorious Phil Spector.
Harrison wanted a conga player for the session, so Ringo's chauffeur reached out to Phil Collins' manager. At the time, Collins was a relative unknown who was about to join Genesis, a band that would bring him worldwide stardom.
The 18-year-old Collins was starstruck playing on a session with two former Beatles, so he played extra hard in rehearsals, resulting in blood blisters on both hands.
"Anyway, after about two hours of this, Phil Spector says, 'Okay congas, you play this time.' And I'd had my mic off, so everybody laughed, but my hands were shot," Collins told Express.
"And just after that they all disappeared – someone said they were watching TV or something – and I was told I could go," Collins recalled. A few months later, Collins bought the massive triple album in the record shop and was devastated to learn he'd been edited out of the song.
"There must be some mistake! Collins thought. "But it's a different version of the song, and I'm not on it."
Some thirty years later, Collins bought the home of Formula One driver Jackie Stewart, a close friend of Harrison. Stewart mentioned to Collins that Harrison was remixing "All Things Must Pass" for a rerelease.
"And he said, 'You were on it, weren't you?' And I said,, 'Well I was there,"' Collins recalled.
Two days later, a tape was delivered from Harrison to Collins with a note that read: "Could this be you?" Collins continued: "I rush off and listen to it, and straight away I recognize it." It was a recording of "The Art of Dying."
"Suddenly, the congas come in—too loud and just awful," Collins is devastated. At the end of the take, Harrison can be heard saying, "Hey, Phil, can we try another without the conga player?"
Collins was devastated, to say the least.
A while later, Stewart calls Collins and puts Harrison on the line. "'Did you get the tape?' Harrison asked. "I now realize I was fired by a Beatle," Collins sighed. The two changed the subject, but a few minutes later, Harrison couldn't stop laughing.
"Don't worry, it was a piss-take. I got Ray Cooper to play really badly and we dubbed it on," Harrison admitted. "Thought you'd like it!" So, Harrison had an entire recording session with a conga player, who he asked to play poorly, just to pull one over on Collins.
If you're in the mood for another of rock's greatest pranks, the story of "The Ring" told by Beastie Boys' Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, shared in "Beastie Boys Story," is another great example of someone going to incredible lengths just for a laugh.
The story revolves around the late Beasties' rapper Adam "MCA" Yach, his bandmate Horovitz, and a very creepy ring given to him by a fan backstage at a concert.This article originally appeared last year.
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17 everyday things we do now that the future will find bizarre
A recent thread on r/AskReddit posed a fascinating question: “What’s something normal to us in 2025 that by 2075 will be seen as barbaric?”
With over 4,500 upvotes and thousands of comments, the responses ranged from hopeful predictions about medical breakthroughs to funny critiques of social norms. It’s an interesting thought experiment at how our everyday habits might age in the not-so-distant future. Here are 17 of the most memorable takes.
1. Wiping with toilet paper
Redditor u/Dramatic-Avocado4687 keeps it blunt: “Wiping our asses with toilet paper.”
Another user chimed in to roast our primitive ways: “They cut down trees just to wipe themselves?!” In the future, bidets—or some next-level cleaning tech—might make TP as outdated as outhouses.
2. Factory farming
Factory farming got called out repeatedly. User u/w0ke_brrr_4444 called it “the worst hell on earth that humans have ever created.”
Others noted the rise of lab-grown meat could render the practice obsolete. As u/AltEcho38 put it: “I’m convinced it’ll all be lab-grown by then, and we’ll be looked at as savages for raising animals for slaughter.”
3. Medical bankruptcies
The American healthcare system came under fire. User u/SarlacFace said, “Medical bankruptcies and for-profit healthcare leaving people to die if uninsured.”
If universal healthcare becomes the norm, future generations might shake their heads at the idea of choosing between chemo and rent.
4. Treating women’s pain like an afterthought
Many commenters didn’t hold back on this one. “Not giving anesthesia with placing IUDs,” wrote u/tt_DVM2011.
Another user, u/ThatRoryNearThePark, shared a harrowing experience: “Worst pain of my life… couldn’t sit upright for at least 48 hours.” If future medicine treats women’s pain with proper care, this era will look like the Dark Ages.
5. Eating animals
Some users went beyond factory farming to predict the end of meat consumption altogether. Redditor u/ciquta said simply, “Eating animals.”
Others, like u/Zetsubou51, lamented how disconnected people are from their food sources: “We don’t care because we don’t see it. Factory farms are awful for the animals and the people that work in them.”
6. Scrolling endlessly on social media
User u/cornylilbugger predicted: “Spending multiple hours, every day, scrolling mindlessly on social media.”
The irony wasn’t lost on u/Izual_Rebirth, who admitted: “Scrolled way too long to find this one.”
7. Single-use plastics
“Plastic everywhere, all the time,” wrote u/letthisbeanewstart, imagining future disbelief at how we let plastic infiltrate everything from straws to textiles.
U/MarkNutt25 added: “An even bigger problem is plastic textiles. Microfibers are evil.”
8. The 40-hour workweek
“Working a 9-5 just to survive? Barbaric,” said u/DeathofSmallTalk1.
User u/EvaMayShadee painted a grimmer future: “We’ll probably be working 60-hour weeks by then.” Optimism? Optional.
9. Drilling teeth
The dental industry might face a future reckoning. As u/llcucf80 put it: “Drilling teeth.”
One user brought hope with a scientific breakthrough: “If that new shot from Japan works, pull the tooth, get injection, grow a new tooth,” said u/nomiis19.
10. Chemotherapy
Redditor u/Helpful_Finger_4854 hopes cancer treatments will improve drastically: “Dying from cancer, hopefully.”
Another user, u/Vocalscpunk, put it more bluntly: “We still poison the whole body with chemo and hope the cancer dies first.”
11. Driving ourselves
“Driving yourself will seem barbaric,” predicted u/CranberryCheese1997, imagining autonomous vehicles becoming the norm.
12. Using fossil fuels
Redditor u/loftier_fish had a grim take: “If the answer isn’t ‘using fossil fuels,’ there will be a lot fewer humans to deem anything barbaric in 2075.”
13. Child influencers
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Using kids to generate content got roasted as a future ethical disaster. “Hopefully, monetizing your children for social media will seem barbaric,” wrote u/TheWorstWitch.
14. Modern healthcare procedures
Some users pointed out that many current medical practices could be judged harshly in the future. “Orthopedic surgery with drills, rods, and screws?” asked u/Orthocorey.
Another user joked: “So you guys just strapped them down and blasted them with radiation to cure cancer?!”
15. Animal captivity for entertainment
Redditor u/w0ke_brrr_4444 went in: “Drugged dolphins in resorts and whales at SeaWorld. Barbaric.”
16. Fast fashion and waste
Wastefulness came under fire. U/rabbity_devotee called out “fast fashion” and “overflowing landfills.”
17. The whole premise of this thread
Finally, some users argued that future humanity might not even have the luxury of judging our “barbaric” ways. As u/NapoleonDonutHeart put it: “By 2075, we’re gonna be way more barbaric… we’ll fight over everything once food gets scarce.”
Whether these predictions hold up or not, it's clear that what feels normal now won’t always be. And when 2075 finally rolls around, let’s hope they’re a bit kinder to us than we’ve been to the past.
This article originally appeared earlier this year.