Something I find neat about George Harrison is that even though he's a Beatle, he still feels like someone you can discover on your own. He's a mystery. The downside to this is that he's probably the most difficult Beatle to find information about, and I personally don't feel his story has ever been done justice. He was an amazing, unique, and complex person who had an even more incredible life than many people realise. I started this blog in 2013 so that I could put all these stories about him in one place for anyone who happens to be interested, and it's also my way of keeping the memory of him alive. Hope you enjoy!
George Harrison talking about current affairs/climate change during his interview with BP Fallon for RTE Radio 2 Ireland - The BP Fallon Orchestra. (Oct. 1987)
Int: It’s possible - you know this as well as anybody does. It’s possible that all of you will be best known not for your individual work but because you were Beatles. Does that trouble you at all?
George: No, not at all because who are we anyway, you know? I mean, even if they knew me as me - George Harrison - they don’t really know me. It doesn’t matter what they remember you for. It’s really what you attain for your own personal self that counts.
“Y’know, it’s something that other people see us as The Beatles, and I try to see us as The Beatles, but I can’t.”- Scene and Heard (1967)
“To be able to deal with these people thinking you were some wonderful thing - it was difficult to come to terms with. I was feeling, you know, like nothing. Even now I look back and see, relative to a lot of other groups, The Beatles did have something. But it’s a bit too much to accept that we’re supposedly the designers of this incredible change. In many ways we were just swept along with everybody else.”- Rolling Stone (1987)
“I don’t mean to sound mysterious or try to baffle anyone, but when people come up to me expecting me to be just like what they thought a Beatle would be, they’re disappointed. I never was a Beatle, except musically. I don’t think any of us was. What is a Beatle anyway? I’m not a Beatle or an ex-Beatle or even the George Harrison. I’m just a man. Very ordinary.”- Men Only (1978)
“Like Chance, the main character in Being There (one of George’s favorite books), he wanted to just ‘be there’ in his garden, in his solitude, with his hands in the dirt. He didn’t want to ‘be’ anything but a man who loved music, the earth, women, and God.” - Chris O’Dell
NOTE: This is an article from The Guardian posted in 2007 which I happened to come across. It’s long but a lovely read. Enjoy!
With love from her to me
In 1963, like many girls, Lilie Ferrari had a crush on George Harrison. When she wrote to him, she scarcely expected a reply, but an admiring letter did come back - from his mother. It was the start of an extraordinary, enduring correspondence
In 1963, I was 14 and, like almost every girl in Britain, I fell in love with a Beatle. “My” Beatle was George Harrison. From the first photograph I saw of the Fab Four, I was drawn to his dark eyes, serious face and enigmatic demeanour. He rarely smiled, even when he was being funny, and this made him all the more mysterious and enticing. Compared to the uncouth boys I had to deal with at school every day, George was a delicate, idealised vision of what I thought boys ought to be like. If he had pimples, I never saw them. If he swore, I never heard it. I never saw his hair greasy, his armpits damp, his shoes scuffed. In short, he was perfect.
I’ve witnessed the evidence of the tragedy that has struck our lives in Gaza, where my family and I have survived amidst numerous previous wars. But today, we face the most dangerous and fierce battle in the current war. The urgent need intensifies for us, as we have nothing left and are unable to secure our basic needs such as food, water, and safe shelter.
Here is our story - On October 7th, our lives changed forever, my family and I evacuated from northern Gaza to southern Gaza, hoping to return soon, but it wasn’t meant to be. Our home was surrounded, burned, and then completely destroyed, Our home, once a fortress of hope, now lay in ruins, a stark reminder of our shattered dreams.
The night before we left from the north to the south was terrifying. Shelling sounds were everywhere,making a loud noise that felt like it went through our souls. Every explosions shook the ground like earthquakes, sending shockwaves of fear through our trembling bodies. filling us with fear. The air smelled of destruction and blood, making it hard to breathe. When dawn came, we saw the devastation around us, realizing our home was now a symbol of loss and despair.
We ran into the streets and with each step we took into the unknown streets, we felt as if we were plunging deeper into the abyss of our shattered existence, leaving behind everything we own in our home: Clothes, important official documents, the car, and literally it’s almost everything - the enormity of our loss weighed heavily upon us.
Our home it was where we found hope, safety, and made precious memories. Losing it felt like losing years of our lives, leaving us adrift amidst the wreckage of our shattered existence.
A brief video depicting the devastation that struck our home and our entire neighborhood in Gaza.
Desperate Plea: Escaping Gaza’s Allergy Nightmare
I, Haya, suffer from severe allergy to penicillin-derived medications, and my sister, Amal, also suffers from severe allergies to medications from my family such as Paracetamol and Ibuprofen.
These allergies create a deep sense of fear and anxiety for us, as we live in a constant state of tension and fear of anything that may require a visit to the hospital. We fear being given inappropriate medications due to the unavailability of suitable treatments in Gaza because of war or lack of awareness and not informing the doctor of our allergies, which could lead to serious consequences threatening our lives.
MY Father Income
Our dreams are heading towards oblivion in the labyrinth of an uncertain future
My story, along with my siblings, represents a united team of four individuals, three of whom are skilled programmers and one graphic designer. We work as freelancers in the world of freelancing.
As for my younger sister, she is a student studying at the College of Architecture. She has always carried a big dream in her heart, a dream of being part of changing Gaza, of making it more beautiful and better. She looked forward to the day when she would receive her degree and start building this dream. But the beginning of the war changed everything. The destruction of infrastructure and universities cast shadows of despair over her dreams.
When I think of my brother in Belgium, I can’t help but feel deep sadness. He has been suffering from unbearable anxiety and insomnia since the outbreak of the war. Sleep eludes him at night, and his physical and mental health collapses under the weight of these heavy burdens, negatively affecting his performance at work. Problems and challenges pile up in front of him without the slightest opportunity for rest.
We all feel psychological pressure and extreme anxiety. The war hasn’t been limited to external attacks but has deeply infiltrated our daily lives. We search among the rubble for a little safety and the basic resources for survival. Every day comes with a new challenge that we must overcome.
As we sway amidst the rubble of shattered dreams, our souls wrestle and our hearts beat strongly challenging the ravages of war.
Our parents earnestly seek a way to rescue us from this hell, feeling the heavy responsibility for every moment we spend under the shadows of fear and destruction. They dream of a safe place where they can build for us a better future, filled with security and hope, for we deserve life in all its meanings of comfort and peace.
Perhaps this fundraising campaign represents a light in the midst of darkness, it is indeed the only hope we cling to firmly.
I appeal to the world as a whole to hear my cry and the mournful cry of my family in Gaza. We need the helping hand that reaches out to wipe our tears and build a bridge to safety.
Your donation is not just a donation; it’s an opportunity to rebuild life and brighten a better tomorrow. Be part of our hopeful story, for we need your hand to start anew.
The purpose of the fundraising campaign
The goal of this fundraising campaign is to rescue my family - my parents, my siblings, and me - through the Rafah Crossing to Egypt, which currently requires $5000 per person. This campaign is our only chance to stay alive, and I humbly request your assistance at this critical time. I will provide you with a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses, committing to transparency and clarity.
Please donate to Haya’s GoFundMe if you’re able to. They’re so close to their goal, and anything towards it helps. If you can’t, please share this post.
This is a little note to say, if you ever come across something about The Beatles – as a group or individuals – which is meaningful to you, make sure you save it to your computer or somewhere safe. This goes for quotes, videos, articles, photos, etc. Don’t presume it will always be there when you want to come back to it.
The idea that what’s on the internet lasts forever isn’t true and becomes even less so every day. Shortly after I started this blog in the early ‘10s, the official forum on the George Harrison website went down for “maintenance” and never came back. That was over a decade’s worth of information gone in a snap. I think about it all the time, and while I tried to collect what I could before other sites met the same fate, it still makes me sad to think about what I might’ve missed.
Now that another decade has passed, several of my sources already lead to dead links, and while in the beginning it felt like I was spoilt for choice with the various online communities, it’s much harder now. The internet has shrunk significantly. Not to mention the number of times a rare video has popped up on YouTube and suddenly disappeared within days.
Even tumblr isn’t immune. There’s been a couple points where it seemed like it was going to effectively shut down, and I had to think about alternatives which didn’t really exist.
I don’t want to make people feel paranoid, and there are a lot of great blogs out there serving as archives, but I believe it’s important for fans overall to start thinking about archiving what they can. We’ve been so lucky to enjoy a wealth of information preserved by fans for over 50 years. It’d be a shame for future generations to lose access to it.
In light of media once again being erased from the internet I’m reblogging this as a reminder.
FWIW I have no intention of deleting this blog or what’s on it, but I’m sure there’s many dead links from old posts and youtube videos I’ve posted which have since been removed.
Ray Cooper talking about George Harrison in the documentary,An Accidental Studio.
Happy Birthday, George. Thank you for making this world a little brighter. In so many ways.
“I didn’t know what to expect, because a lot of other rock stars had turned us down, including Mick Jagger who we had also represented. I eventually secured a meeting with George and went along to see him at Apple. He met me at the door and told me how much he admired the work we were doing. As soon as we sat down in his office, he opened his desk drawer and, without asking questions or making any conditions, he took out his check book and wrote a check. I was so grateful and so amazed that I said my thanks, took the check and walked out of the office not even daring to look at it. I expected maybe £10 or £20 but, when I eventually looked at it, he’d given us £5,000 […] which saved us from closing. When I saw how much he’d given us, I burst into tears.“ - Caroline Coon[x]
“George said to me after the second session, ‘What are you doing, Doris?
Are you free?’ I said, ‘Yeah, man, I’m free.’ He said ‘Do you want to
sign to Apple?’ I said ‘Sure! Are you serious?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ I said,
‘Well, I want to be writer, producer and artist, OK?’ He said ‘OK.’”
- Doris Troy[x]
“Yesterday, as [Janet Guthrie] announced that she would receive ‘somewhat more than $100,000’ in oil money to attempt to take part in the million‐dollar race May 28, a representative of George Harrison, the former Beatle, called to say he, too, would like to sponsor the only woman in history to appear in the auto racing classic. The representative was told Harrison was too late.” - New York Times[x]
“Later that winter I got a message telling me to head down to the offices of Dark Horse Records and Harrisongs in Sloane Square, where a very smart, prim and proper lady handed me a cheque, written out by the record label, for £50,000. ‘You are the third person this week and it’s only Tuesday!’ she smiled, shaking her head.” - Steve Parrish[x]
“He was looking the other way and so I said, ‘Hey George!’ He turned and saw [the pillow], and put his hand out like he didn’t know what I wanted, for him to autograph it, take it, look at it or what, but he finally took it and I got out of the way. Just as I turned around back toward the car, I heard his gorgeous voice say, ‘Thank you.’ So I said, ‘You’re welcome.’ Barb said he was looking to see who had given it to him as he said it. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see the pillow in his hands and he looked at the front and then back and then front again, and he was still looking at it when the limo pulled away […] I saw him get out of the car and got there in time to take one pic of him on the stairway, and he looked straight at me and had a funny little look on his face and he was carrying the pillow on the plane himself! He didn’t ditch it or give it to anyone else, so I guess he really liked it.” - Char Bass (1976)
“I remembered I’d brought a small present for him – one was a drawing I had done of Krishna. George brought out the picture slowly. He studied it and kept saying, ‘That’s really good.’ I was embarrassed as I thought it wasn’t good enough but my mum said I should give him it, but he really seemed to like it. I just hope he really did. The other was a toy spider which was my favorite spider his name was George (of course). ‘Here’s my favorite spider for you.’ George began to laugh. Olivia shrieked, ‘Oh God!’ and George laughed […] ‘This is a nice one, isn’t it. Look at his eyes!’ laughed George […] George put the spider on top of the clock on the mantel piece. I was so pleased that he liked the things I brought him. I know they don’t sound like much but the drawing took me hours to do and the spider I’ve had for ages and meant a lot to me. George is the only person I’d give them away to.” - Angela Rennie (1977)
“He picked the first gift off the seat and started to rip the wrapping paper off as I said, ‘This one was made by a friend of mine for you.’ George unfolded it and layed it on the steering wheel so he could see it better. It was a rug with the OM design in red on bright yellow. ‘Oh! That is very nice. And she made it herself?’ ‘No, HE did. He wanted to make you something nice for Christmas, and I promised him that if I saw you I’d give it to you, so there it is.’ ‘Oh, that’s nice! Tell him thank you for me.’ - Leslie Bart (1977)
“I remembered the t-shirt I’d brought along, just in case, so I
hurried over and called out to George. He finally turned around, and
looked at me. Me: ‘May I give you something?’ George: ‘Oh, Yeah.’ He walked over to
me, as I opened the shirt. George held the ends as he checked it out,
then said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s nice.’ He let go of it and began to walk
away, which totally confused me, so I called out to him again. George
turned back around and I said, ‘Will you take it?’ George came back to
get it and said, ‘Oh yeah…sure!’ Then he and Olivia walked up the ramp
to the garage, on his way, George again opened the shirt, held it up to
check it out again!” - Karen Dyson (1978)
“He would always say, no matter what it was, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ Sometimes people would make up an award and send it because they like him and he’d go, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ And he’d kind of put it on the table and it would just be there. Probably people don’t realize that he did appreciate it whether it was the biggest award in the world or the smallest little award or a flower left in the gate…He might have some hokey little thing beside an Oscar on the shelf and it was all the same to him.” - Olivia Harrison (2009)
“In 1997 I started working at the Getty Center Museum in Los Angeles, and it was the year it opened and ALL the celebrities wanted to come see it. I worked in visitor services and one of my jobs was to work at events, being an usher, escorting VIPs, things like that. In February 1998 we had our very first concert, Lakshmi Shankar, and George produced her album and when I inputted his name into the guest list that morning I was so completely excited. I wasn’t even obsessed with the Beatles then (I was 23), but I was obsessed with popular culture and history and I really wanted to meet George because I really wanted to meet a Beatle. So I was ushering for the show, then the show started and I had a break, so I was smoking in the employee smoking area, which is right near the VIP elevators. I’m standing there smoking when someone from events comes over by the elevators with George and an assistant (a female, British), and then the events person says, “Wait here I need to get something from the office” and left. So I’m standing there, George Harrison (GEORGE HARRISON, the BEST Beatle) was standing there, so I walked over and I said hi, and that I was a huge fan. He smiled, said thank you and opened his mouth when the assistant said, “You shouldn’t smoke, it will kill you.” And George sighed and looked sad, and turned to her and very softly said, “shut up about that.” then he turned to me and said, “I’m sorry, please don’t listen to her.” and then he smiled this beautiful smile and I could see within him all his kindness and I could see that he was special. I’m horribly awkward so I just smiled and dismissed it like “no biggie” and then the events person came back to get him and he smiled and said, “Have a wonderful night, it’s gorgeous here.” and then they all got on the VIP elevator and left.
A few months later I read that he had cancer. Now the assistant’s comments made so much more sense to me, and also his response. He must have already had known he had cancer when we met. I went to LA in March to take my (then) boyfriend to the Yes show in LA, and we spent the afternoon at the Getty Center and I snuck back with him to employee area and we stood where George stood and he was really excited and loved to hear my story right where it happened! We got caught by security though, and had to go back to the regular area. I was 23 when I met George, and really young and stupid and sometimes I regret not being able to meet him after I became obsessed with The Beatles (there are so many questions I would have loved to have asked him) but I try to remember that I had a unique interaction with him that seemed to have been a little private and intimate, and I will always cherish that.
And like I said in my first comment, he glowed, like he was holy.”
