Harrison's son tells of swansong and sadness

Dhani Harrison said he was surprised that people think the 12-track CD, entitled Brainwashed, is a morbid album.

Recorded during Harrison’s final weeks, the project was completed by his son, an aspiring designer who also dabbles in music.

Harrison Jnr, 24, said he was delighted to be involved so closely with his father’s legacy.

"I’ve been a real control freak about this project, and rightly so," he told a US interviewer. "Some people would have wanted to make this album all sad and depressing. It’s not supposed to feel that way. It’s not meant to mop up loose ends.

"My dad never felt sorry for himself. He was a very strong man with a great sense of humour."

In his final days, Harrison, who died in a New York hospital aged 58, instructed his son to enlist the help of former ELO frontman Jeff Lynne to complete the record. They spent six months in Los Angeles recording a swansong for Harrison.

"It was a brilliant and cathartic experience to work on this record, but it was also one of the saddest," said Harrison.

"We had to take it slowly. Every time we finished something, I realised my dad wouldn’t get to hear it."

He said he was surprised when early reaction painted the album as dark and morbid. "People associate it too much with the last year of my dad’s life," he said. "That’s a bit too literal."

He also revealed that there is a cache of further music recorded by his father that has been locked in a vault and "won’t be looked at for a long time".

George Harrison, a devout Hare Krishna follower, became something of a recluse in his final years, particularly after being stabbed by a crazed fan at his Oxford home in 1999.

His son said: "He taught me to believe in self-realisation and to have a spiritual root. I remembered that when I got uptight during this project. It was love for my dad’s work that got me through. It’s my little tribute, the least I could do as a son."