QUICK TAKES - April 15, 2009

Paul McCartney topped the star-studded turnout Tuesday in Hollywood for the unveiling of a Walk of Fame star for his former Fab Four bandmate George Harrison at a ceremony that also drew such celebrity friends and admirers as Tom Hanks, Tom Petty, Eric Idle, Jeff Lynne, Joe Walsh, T Bone Burnett and Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and their son, Dhani.

“Hare Krishna” was all Dhani Harrison had to say following alternately touching and humorous tributes from his mother, Idle and Hanks as well as L.A. City Councilman Tom LeBonge.

McCartney wasn’t among the scheduled speakers, and when he hopped up to the microphone after taking part in a round of photo snaps with the assembled guests in front of the freshly minted star, it had been shut off. He simply shouted “Thank you!” to the hundreds of fans who spilled out into Vine Street in front of the Capitol Records tower, where Harrison’s star now sits near those of the Beatles and John Lennon.

In conjunction with the star ceremony, Capitol-EMI Records announced that a new compilation of Harrison’s post-Beatles recordings will be released on June 16, spanning the different labels he recorded for before his death in 2001. “Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison” will also touch on his Beatles legacy with three of his Fab Four songs -- “Something,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Here Comes the Sun” -- represented in live recordings from the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh charity event he spearheaded.

-- Randy Lewis