Harrison Archive

Welcome to harrisonarchive (formerly thateventuality), a fan page dedicated to George Harrison. Please peruse the tags to navigate more easily.

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George Harrison’s home studio, Friar Park Studio Henley-on-Thames (F.P.S.H.O.T.), as designed and photographed by Veale Associates (VA) Studio Design, and courtesy of va-studiodesign.com; George in his studio on 12 June 1978, photographed by Arnold Newman, photo © Arnold Newman/Getty Images.

“Of all the former ‘Fabs,’ to use his customary term, George Harrison has remained the greatest creative homebody. […] George has rolled out of bed and returned again and again to Friar Park Studios, Henley-on-Thames (or F.P.S.H.O.T., for short) to tinker, compose and do his formal recording. […] Besides 'Cloud Nine,’ George recorded the 'Dark Horse,’ '33 1/3’ and 'George Harrison’ albums in his F.P.S.H.O.T. atelier, located in what was formerly a ballroom of the house. 'The studio was installed round 1971 and there’s been a few updates, cause when I originally put the studio in it was a 16-track. In terms of the monitoring system, after all those years in the Abbey Road EMI Studios, I put in Altec speakers. My experience in Abbey Road was that whenever the Beatles worked there and we thought we had a great sound, we’d play it back on the Altecs and it sounded terrible — ordinary. So they’re very boring in a way — and this must sound strange — but they’re also accurate! See, the Altecs don’t flatter the sound; it’s not easy to get good bass and drum sounds with them. But when I built my studio I didn’t want hype. I wanted what I’m hearing to be what it is. That way, when you play it back anyplace else it sounds fantastic! […] I’ve since made F.P.S.H.O.T. into a 24-track board. […] I’m going to get a few different choice modules made soon, but I don’t really want to go for a brand new SSL board and all that. Automation is nice in some respects, but I got my first skills at Abbey Road, so I prefer the old components, and spending a friendly weekend getting the manual mix you want. Just as I much prefer my ancient Fender Strat.’” - Musician, November 1987 (x)

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George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach and Al Kooper at FPSHOT during the Somewhere in England sessions, 1980; photo 1 from Kooper’s Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Survivor, all photos courtesy of Al Kooper. (The Los Angeles Thunderbirds recently posted a color version of the group photo on Instagram.)

“The night before the sessions the phone rang about 9:30 p.m. ‘Is this Al?’ a voice asked. ‘This is George Harrison. I was just calling to see if you wanted any special keyboards for tomorrow. I’ve gotten you a Hammond B3 organ, a Fender Rhodes, and a Wurlitzer piano. We also have an Arp Omni. Will those be okay for you?’ I thought it was Herbie [Flowers] having me on. Something told me to answer normally though, just in case. ‘Uhhhhhh, yeah, that sounds like everything I need. Thank you and I guess I’ll see just see you tomorrow… Good night.’ […] [At Friar Park] George came out to greet us. He had incredible eyes that could look right through you. I had not met anyone with that powerful a stare since Dylan. ‘You didn’t think it was me on the phone last night, did you, Al?’ he said, laughing. ‘No, I didn’t,’ I admitted. ‘I thought it might be Herbie having a go.’” - Al Kooper, Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Survivor (1998) “I would say the three most interesting people I worked with and got to know were Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison.” - Al Kooper, interview conducted by Michael Limnios for Keep The Blues Alive (2012) “[George was a] really sweet guy. He had those eyes. I only saw them one other time; Dylan had those eyes. They can look right through you, right into your soul. I never thought I’d see them again but Harrison had them.” - Al Kooper on George Harrison, Lancaster Online (August 7, 2009)

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Some summer style inspiration to kick off June? ;) These are by way of some fan recollections...

The first fan memory and accompanying photos come from Ruth Raciniewski of Delmenhorst, Germany, who sent the following to the German teen magazine BRAVO, who published it in issue no. 31/1967. Translated, it reads: “I was at George’s home! Beatle Harrison revealed where he bought his sunglasses My sister and I managed to speak to Beatle George Harrison and his wife for over three quarters of an hour. Our experience is only believed if we show photos as evidence. George’s wife Pattie told us that she often has trouble with the neighbors, because there are constantly fans asking where George’s house is. With a soft sigh, she said: ‘I can’t shop anywhere unrecognized. Often I have to make a hasty escape from the store.’  George revealed that the Beatles buy their sunglasses at the London boutique Biba. ‘They’re very inexpensive there,’ he said. After we had taken about 20 pictures of the two of them, they excused themselves, saying they still had things to do. Then they called out to us, sending greetings to all German fans.” - Ruth Raciniewski of Delmenhorst, Germany The captions: "This was how George and Pattie greeted us at their house in England" "My most valued photo: George Harrison and I!” The next fan memory and photo comes from Silvia Purbs of Berlin; she, too, sent this to BRAVO, and was published in the magazine’s issue no. 5/1968. Translated, it reads: "George’s new motto: Live colorfully, friends! I was so lucky! First I visited George Harrison with my English pen pal — and then I met Paul McCartney, too! My visit with George was a total success. I hadn’t expected him to be so friendly. He talked for a very long time to my friend and myself, partially in German as well. After we had taken several photos of him and his colorful house [Kinfauns], we said goodbye and left with happy smiles on our faces. Later, on the way to London’s Regents Park, I noticed a house that was being ‘besieged’ by several girls. An elderly woman was testily telling them to be patient and not ring the doorbell constantly, Paul McCartney would be home in a moment. Shortly thereafter, a taxi arrived with Paul! He rang the bell — and had to wait quite some time before the elderly woman opened the door for him. She was very dismayed when she saw that she had kept Paul waiting, and not the unwelcome guests…" - Silvia Purbs, Berlin

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Q: “Let me ask about how do you feel about the way things are going in the world and all of the chaos and what is happening? Do you think much about it, George? I know it is all maya and all illusion, but it’s still very real to all of us, and…”

George Harrison: “Very real, very real. I feel… I don’t know, I think in some ways, I have to split it into positive and negative. If you get negative about it, it’s in a hell of state; the world is in a mess, really, and it seems to have got in more of a mess the last four or five years, you know, with all this… I mean, the wars are going on just as usual, there’s still as many wars as usual, there’s the whole thing that happened with the, you know, fuel crisis, you know, the energy crisis. And then also, you know, we passed out of that Sixties period, where there was — something happened in the Sixties which, you know, which brought the flower power and the hippies and the whole love generation. This is what kills me now is when I see these people who were supposedly a few years, who supposedly loved me and I’m supposed to love them, and I see them, they’re just dropping apart at the seams with hate. You know, this is… I’m talking about Rolling Stone, actually, talking about Jan Wenner. But you know, this is a thing that we, you know, God, we all came through so much in the Sixties and we all wanted so much to create something positive, something good. And it’s hard to… you know, when we come out into the Seventies, we find it’s hard to go on. A lot of these people were only part-time hippies, or part-time lovers; they, you know, the badness of the world, or in them, caught up on them too soon. And you find that they turn ‘round and all start stabbing each other in the back. It’s like, we all need to support each other in many ways in order to exist.” - radio interview conducted by Dave Herman (1975)

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George and Olivia Harrison (plus, in one photo, Ronnie Barker) in London for Michael Caine’s birthday party, on March 14, 1990; photos by Tom Wargacki and Phil Loftus.

“George Harrison! And I got a chance to tell him years later. We met at a party at Ron Dennis’ house — the McLaren Formula One guy — and I told him he was my Beatle ‘crush’ way back! He was such a charming guy. You wouldn’t be able to say that to just anybody! We played that game where you have a celebrity’s name on your head and you have to guess who it is. He actually was George Harrison, although he didn’t know it! And his wife Olivia asked him: 'Are you good looking?’ and he said: 'Well, I think so!’ Which was very sweet… I found them very charming people.” - Kiki Dee in response to the question, “Who was your first musical crush?” for the Exeter Express & Echo (July 11, 2013)

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Watching the Chicken Shop Date interview with Paul brought to mind this moment in George's Dick Cavett Show interview in 1971...

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George Harrison and Bob Dylan at the Concert for Bangladesh, August 1, 1971; photo © AP.

Revisiting the Harrison-Dylan co-write "I’d Have You Anytime," the opening song on George's All Things Must Pass; recording for the song (alongside other Harrisongs such as "Run Of The Mill" and "Isn’t It A Pity") took place at EMI’s (Abbey Road) Studio Three on May 29, 1970. "I was with Bob and he’d gone through his broken neck period and was being very quiet, and he didn’t have much confidence anyhow — that’s the feeling I got with him in Woodstock. He hardly said a word for a couple of days. Anyway, we finally got the guitars out and it loosened things up a bit. It was really a nice time with all his kids around, and we were just playing. It was near Thanksgiving. […] I was saying to him, ‘You write incredible lyrics,’ and he was saying, ‘How do you write those tunes?’ So I was just showing him chords like crazy. Chords, because he tended just to play a lot of basic chords and move a capo up and down. And I was saying, ‘Come on, write me some words,’ and he was scribbling words down. And it just killed me because he’d been doing all these sensational lyrics. And he wrote, ‘All I have is yours/ All you see is mine/ And I’m glad to hold you in my arms/ I’d have you anytime.’ The idea of Dylan writing something, like, so very simple." - George Harrison, Crawdaddy (February 1977) Chris Carter: "Leadoff track ‘I’d Have You Anytime.’ Kind of sets the mood for the whole album. Tell me about writing that with Bob Dylan." George Harrison: "Well, it was just one of those simple things. I happened to be invited to Woodstock by The Band. I spent some days with Bob and I s’pose we just got round to picking up guitars and we were just, you know, he was saying, Hey what about those, show me some of them chords, those weird chords. And that’s how that came about. It’s like a strange chord, really, it’s called G major 7th, and it’s got all these major 7th chords [chuckles], so, you know, we just kind of turned it into a song [I’d Have You Anytime]. It’s really nice." - interview (February 15, 2001) Q: "Was it a big decision to start the album with the song you wrote with Dylan, ‘I’d Have You Anytime’?" George Harrison: "It probably was, because it goes, ‘Let me in here…’ [laughs]. It just seemed like a good thing to do; it was a nice track, I liked that. And maybe subconsciously I needed a bit of support. I had Eric [Clapton] playing the solo, and Bob had helped write it, so it could have been something to do with that." - Billboard (January 8, 2001)

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Clips from Granada Reports (interview conducted by Tony Wilson in 1976) and Wogan (interview about the Romanian Angel Appeal, conducted by Terry Wogan in 1990). The image in the background of the first part of this edit is © Mirrorpix, the other images are from the 1956 Liverpool Institute school photo.

“My dad never had a trade, but he had the idea that all his three sons would have three different trades. My eldest brother was a mechanic, my second brother did panel-beating and welding. So Dad thought, ‘George can be an electrician, and then we can have our own garage.’ For Christmas Dad bought me a little kit that opened up and inside were screwdrivers and tools, and I thought, ‘Oh God, he really does want me to be an electrician.’ That was depressing, because I had no chance of being one. […] I went down to the Labor Exchange and they said: ‘Go down to Blacker’s, the shop in town. Somebody is required as a window-dresser.’ The head of window-dressing at Blackler’s said, ‘Sorry, that job’s gone. But go up and see Mr. Peet.’ Mr. Peet was the head of the maintenance department. He gave me a job as an apprentice electrician, which is what my dad really wanted me to be. I wanted to be a musician and, though there was no justification for it and no qualifications, the the group got together we all had an amazing, positive feeling about being in the band full-time. I don’t know why — we were just cocky. It was felt that something good was going to happen. But then, in those days, something good would be getting to do a tour of Mecca Ballrooms. That was a big deal!” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology “I remember asking my big brother [Harry], ‘Would you pack in work and have a go at this [1960 tour of Scotland backing Johnny Gentle] if you were me?’ He said, ‘You might as well — you never know what might happen. And if it doesn’t work out you’re not going to lose anything.’ So I packed in my job [as an apprentice electrician at Blackler’s in Liverpool], and joined the band full time and from then on, nine-to-five never came back into my thinking.” - George Harrison, ibid “[I became] an apprentice electrician with a Liverpool outfit called Blacker's, but it didn't work out; I was too interested in music. It wasn't fair to my employer, because I kept blowing things up.” - George Harrison, Men Only (1978) “[George] served in the store as an apprentice electrician. But he got into hot water for always asking to go off early to play in a band somewhere. In the end his frustrated boss asked: ‘Stay here, or go and play your ukulele.’ George obviously made the right decision and left.” - Liverpool Echo (March 31, 1988) “[September 6, 1980] [At Friar Park] George is mending an electric hedge-cutter which cut through its own flex. […] George tinkers in homely fashion with his garden equipment (‘I was an electricial apprentice,’ he assured me. ‘For three weeks.’)” - Michael Palin, Halfway To Hollywood: Diaries 1980-1988 Blacklers, located on Liverpool’s Great Charlotte Street, was opened in 1908 by Richard John Blackler and A.B. Wallis, and closed in 1988, and has since become a Wetherspoons, named The Richard John Blackler.

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Photo 1 is by Paul McCartney (see the backstory below), and was scanned from Mike McCartney’s book, Remember; photo 2 shows Picton Clock and the former Abbey Cinema in  Wavertree (photo by Colin Lane for the Liverpool Echo).

“‘The main thing that really buzzed me, even before I heard Elvis, was Fats Domino’s “I’m In Love Again,”’ says Harrison. ‘I can even see exactly where I was when I heard that. There was this little place near where I was born called Wavertree, a district. And right at that point there’s a thing called the Picton Clock Tower, this tower in the middle of the road with this clock on it, and then nearby there used to be this old art-deco cinema called the Abbey. I was just walking across the road there when I heard Fats Domino: Yes it’s me and I’m in love again! It must have been on a radio or a record player somewhere. And it touched somewhere deep in me.’” - Billboard (1992) About photo 1: “A young George Harrison with his Tony Curtis haircut, bright fluorescent green waistcoat (under the towel), and skintight jeans. He’s carrying flippers, so he must be off to the swimming pool or the sea. This would be around 1958 or ‘59, when George, Paul, and John were in the Quarrymen skiffle group. I thought I’d taken this photograph, but Paul rang up to complain, ‘Hey you bugger lugs! I took that one!’” - Mike McCartney, Remember: The Recollections and Photographs of Michael McCartney (1992) “When we lived in 12 Ardwick Road I vaguely remember a lad who lived in Upton Green, a couple of roads away from us. The next time I saw the same lad was in and around the ‘Inny,’ but as he was a year ahead of me, he was immediately classified as one of the ‘big lads’ and therefore unapproachable. He was obviously one of those working class rebel chaps and toward the end of our school days together he got more and more outrageous. The compulsory school uniform was outvoted by his extrovert dress sense and his hair was the longest anyone could possibly get away with in the Inny, all ‘Tony Curtis’d back,’ with a school cap perched on the top rear like a rabbi’s skull cap. When his guitar playing affinity with Paul was established in the end of term skewl koncerts, he’d visit our new Forthlin home […]. His dress by this time was even more interesting… full length, skin-tight drainies down to his bright fluorescent socks, even brighter lime (Upton) green waistcoat under his blazer which he would flash at me in the school corridors (followed by a wink). He had the first blue suede, winkle picker shoes which together with incessant chewing of gum all became his trade marks. My Sweet Lord knows who he was, but his Mum must have loved him.” - Mike McCartney (writing about “George Handsome”), Thank U Very Much: Mike McCartney’s Family Album (1981)

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Photo 1 by Mary DeVitto, photos 2 and 3 (Olivia Harrison and Stevie Nicks in Acapulco, 1977) courtesy of Olivia’s Instagram, photo 4 (Olivia and George in Acapulco, 1977) courtesy of The Write Thing, photos 5 and 6 (in Acapulco, 1977) by Sam Emerson.

“The [first] photo [in Maui] was taken by my best friend, Mary [DeVitto]. She had given me a copy of it a long time ago, and I had it made into an 8 x 10 and put in a little frame. When I go on the road it goes right on my makeup mirror, so before I go on stage, whether it's with Fleetwood Mac or me in my solo career, the three of us are looking back at me and that has been my inspiration every single night. There's lots of nights where you kind of go, I wish I didn't have to go on stage tonight, I'm tired, I don't feel like doing it, and I look at George Harrison and look at Longhi and look at me and I go, well, you just have to, because it's important, it's important to make people happy, so get out of your chair, put on your boots and go out there and do your thing. [In Maui] we were writing a sort of parody of 'Here Comes the Sun,' but we were writing 'Here Comes the Moon.’ Longhi was saying, 'you guys are writing about the moon instead of the sun,' and I said, that's because by then we were all such night birds. I had met George before that at a record party in Mexico in Acapulco for 'Rumours.' Longhi saw George all the time. He drove me and my friend Sara and Mary to George's house in Hana. And we just hung out and wrote and sang and talked. I had been famous for not even quite three years and we were talking with George about being famous and what it meant and what you had to give up.” - Stevie Nicks, Something Else Reviews (January 14, 2014)

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A note sent by George Harrison to Ed Stasium and Jeff Healey in 1990. It reads:

“Dear Ed + Jeff - I didnt have too much time in the studio passing thru LA but as you will hear - we did the Rhythm Guitars - and I (tried) sang the harmony on verses (with a bit of Jeff Lynne) - Its about all I could do at the time and I hope its ok for you. All the best with the L.P. and I look forward to meeting you in the future. If in London - call me at ___ or get me thru Michael Kamen - Thanks for doing my song - I think you are an amazing guitarist Jeff Love from George Harrison”

“‘So Ed, what would you like me to do on the recording [of Healey’s cover of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps’]?’ OMG …. George Harrison asking ME what I wanted HIM to do? At first I found myself sweating and stuttering but George was so laid back that I immediately felt at ease. Speaking with George Harrison on the phone truly remains a highlight of my career. […] [Once the tape with George’s guitar parts arrived] it was a thrill to hear the guitars and then when the vocals entered I was ecstatic, it sounded amazing.” - Ed Stasium, jeffhealey dot com, 26 May 2014 (x)

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Hi there! I was perusing Google images and happened upon this photo which I think is pretty fantastic - I was wondering, if you’d seen it before, if you might be able to provide some insight, or context, to it? (I figure if anyone has context to anything George related, especially, it’d be you!) - musicrunsthroughmysoul

Hi! Thank you, firstly, for the kind words. Yes, I’ve seen the photo (in a smaller, grainy version). Apparently, it was taken in 1988 or 1989. So far, I’ve been able to track down the following information:

Pictured besides George and Olivia (and familiar faces such as fellow Wilburys Tom and Jeff, and good friend Ray Cooper) is Russian musician Boris Grebenshchikov (of the band Aquarium).

“The founding fathers [of Aquarium], Boris ‘Bob’ Grebenschikov and Anatoly ‘George’ Gunitsky admired the music of Bob Dylan and George Harrison, so they called themselves after them. In the 70s they also had a tradition of celebrating Harrison’s birthdays, and they even named an island in the Finnish Bay after him!” - desolate_man, LiveJournal, 2009 [x]

* * *

“[Boris Grebenshchikov] is enamored of ‘music from the heart,’ his poetry and the great literature of the West. […] ‘The Beatles definied the branch of rock ‘n’ roll that is of the most interest to me. After The Beatles split up, George continued in the most inspired manner.’“ - Sun Sentinel, 28 June 1989

* * *

“When Boris was 12, he first heard the Beatles song ‘Help.’ ‘It was like setting focus on the camera,’ he said. ‘Until then I was just a normal schoolboy … and from that moment it became clear to me, who I was, what I wanted to do and why.’ […]

In 1988, invited by Dave Stewart, the producer and musician of Eurythmics, Grebenshchikov travelled to the United States for recording his English-language album titled ‘Radio Silence.’ The album turned out to be totally different from Akvarium’s earlier recordings. The songs sounded more like Western rock of late 1980s. Yet the main accomplishment of this trip was the exchange of experience with the Western music legends Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and George Harrison.

Harrison had a particular influence on Grebenshchikov. While Jagger and Bowie were BG’s music heroes, The Beatle was also his spiritual guide. Following his example, in the 1990s Grebenshchikov went to Hindu and Buddhist monasteries, the journey that resulted in new meanings in the lyrics and meditative themes in the music.” - Russia & India Report, 19 October 2014

Thank you so much for submitting this photo (and again, for the kind words)! Hope you find the information as interesting to read as I have found researching it.

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Footage from rehearsals for the Concert for Bangladesh (as included in the 2005 DVD release).

Happy birthday to Bob Dylan!

“[I]f Dylan hadn’t said some of the things he did, nobody else was going to say them. Can you imagine what a world it would be if it didn’t have a Bob Dylan? It would be awful.” - George Harrison, It’s Not Only Rock ‘n’ Roll - Iconic Musicians Reveal The Source Of Their Creativity (2013) “I think his voice is great, I love that sort of madness. And as a person he’s somebody who — well, as he said, ‘Time will tell who has fell and who’s been left behind.’ Bob is still out there and whether you like him or not he’s Bob. I’ve always listened to his music. I’m thankful there’s people like that.” - George Harrison, Musician (March 1990) Q: “What did you think of Bob Dylan getting nominated for an Oscar?” George: “I think he should win it! I think he should win ALL the Oscars all the Tonys all the Grammys” - Yahoo web chat (February 15, 2001) “George quoted Bob like people quote Scripture. Bob really adored George, too.” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone (January 17, 2002) “I mean, you tell me one person other than Bob Dylan who has a moral message in a tune that’s improved upon Bob’s words in his song ‘Every Grain of Sand’: ‘Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistakes/Like Cain I now behold this chain of events that I must break/In the fury of the moment I can see the Masters hand/In every leaf that trembles/In every grain of sand/Oh the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yester-year/Like criminals they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer/…I gaze into the doorway of temptations angry flame/And every time I pass that way/I always hear my name/Then onward in my journey/I come to understand/That every hair is numbered/Like every grain of sand.’” - George Harrison, Billboard (June 19, 1999)

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Screenshots from George Harrison's "This Is Love" music video, filmed on Maui, Hawaii.

"Nahiku residents, such as Arnold Allencastre [the gentleman pictured in these screenshots, sporting the red T-shirt] knew George Harrison simply as Keoki. 'He was a good guy, a nice guy,’ said Allencastre, whose father once owned the land Harrison had acquired. ‘He liked the local people, too.’ Harrison hired Allencastre, a heavy-equipment operator, to help clear his land so he could build his house and plant his gardens. But their relationship wasn’t just a working one. Allencastre and his wife, Cynthia, would socialize with the Harrisons. George and his wife, Olivia Harrison, would come to their parties and they, in turn, would be invited to an occasional lunch. The last time Allencastre saw Harrison was about a year ago when he and Olivia stopped by to say hello and catch up on what was happening in town." - The Honolulu Advertiser, December 1, 2001 "[On several occasions, the Harrisons and Allencastres spent New Year's Eve together, on which occasion George would] 'stay till 1 o'clock. He played Hawaiian [songs on the guitar].' - Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1 December 2001 "Cynthia Allencastre says she will always remember Harrison for his kindness. 'We are saddened by his death. I loved him. He was so happy to see you,’ she said. 'He made you feel comfortable.’ 'He was really kind, open and hospitable.' [...] She said Harrison hired local residents to care for his estate and employed a lot of Nahiku people. [...] She said Harrison didn’t talk much about himself, 'he’d want to know how our family was,’ she said." -Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 30, 2001 (x)

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George Harrison and Pattie Boyd in Monte Carlo for the Monaco Grand Prix on May 22, 1966 (also pictured are Colin Chapman, Graham Hill and Keith Greene). Incidentally, the race was won by Jackie Stewart, who was to become very good friends with George. Photos by Wolfgang Kühn, Duffy, Rainer W. Schlegelmilch and David Phipps/Sutton Images via Getty Images.

“George was an extraordinary musician and the sweetest of men, and, over the years, I grew to adore his gentle nature, his music, his deep spirituality and his friendship. […] If we had been dropped from the same height, George would have been a feather, drifting this way and that on the breeze, and I would have been a lead weight plunging straight down: the point is we would have both there in the end. There were times when we could have been living on different planets, times when George was procrastinating over what to do and I would be decisive and all action, or waring amazingly casual and way-out clothes when I would be more traditionally dressed. Yet there were many other times when we seemed so similar, paying the same fanatical attention to detail. He could be amazingly fastidious, keeping his cars immaculately clean and taking such care and time over his gardens, both at his home near Henley, England and in his tropical paradise on Maui. This determination to get things exactly right extended to his music. George would work and work until a song was totally as he wanted it to be — not just right, but precisely right, so precisely right that it would almost sound as if it had evolved naturally, out of nothing, dreamily and effortlessly. […] [Since 2001] we have stayed very close to Livy and Dhani, who has grown up to bear such a striking resemblance to his father, both in his appearance and his mannerisms. For me, George was a true friend who opened my eyes to so much that I would otherwise not have seen, and who in his calm, gentle way gave me a new perspective on living and dying.” - Jackie Stewart, Winning Is Not Enough (2007)

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George Harrison and Derek Taylor interviewed on Terry Willesee Tonight (November 1984).

“George, who is also Dominic [Taylor]’s godfather, wrote [in the book I Me Mine]: ‘Dominic always seemed very familiar. He’s the first person I’ve seen all the way through from birth who I felt like I knew straight away.’ Dominic says of George: ‘He was my father’s closest friend. He is a lovely fellow who has been a wonderful and constant figure in my life.’” - article by Tanith Carey, Daily Mirror (March 31, 1998) Dominic is, of course, the son of Derek and Joan Taylor; and Dominic’s film credits also include an appearance in George’s “Crackerbox Palace” music video (as the gangster rat, according to IMDb). “Reading what Derek Taylor had to say about George was captivating once again. Perceptions of the man I dearly love by someone as insightful and articulate as Derek have become somehow more important to me. Derek and George exchanged a special banter that often left others in the room completely bewildered by their verbal shorthand. It took time if you wanted to join in because their points of reference were wide reaching and covered decades of colorful and obscure characters and events, many shared during the phenomenal days of the Beatles that gave them a private world of experiences from which to draw. George quoted the wisdom of the great swamis, the Bhagavad Gita and the ancient Vedas, as well as the humor of Lord Buckley, The Goons, Lenny Bruce, Mel Brook's 'The Producers' and Monty Python. At the same time, Derek regaled us with history lessons on both wars, commentary on current events and politics. If anyone in our household had a question pertaining to one of those subjects, George always said, ‘Call Derek and ask him.’ He was very well read and shared with us information of all sorts, some of which we did not really wish to know, but all of it presented amusingly. I wasn't always certain what was fact or folly (although it didn't seem to matter).” - Olivia Harrison in the introduction to the 2002 edition of I Me Mine

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George Harrison (aka Carl Harrison for this tour) onstage backing Johnny Gentle at Alloa Town Hall, 20 May 1960. Photo © Johnny Gentle/Gavin Askew.

The Scotland tour, post 2 of 2.

“I remember getting my picture taken with George Harrison. He was very good-looking, they all were I suppose, but George was very cute. He was about the same age as us so that probably helped a bit. But we were just happy to be talking to the band. We asked them what they were called and they said ‘the Silver Beetles.’ It was a real thrill because to us they were proper musicians. There was a a wee bit of flirting, but nothing out of the ordinary. […] [The Beatles] were a lot more rock ‘n’ roll sounding than Johnny Gentle, it was more powerful. […] I wasn’t supposed to be at that dance, I told my parents I was going to a friend’s house. But I was found out when I appeared on the front page of the local paper with George Harrison! Actually, they weren’t too bad about it, but I had to clean all the rooms in the house before I could go out the next week.” - Mary Craig, concert attendee, The Beatles In Scotland (x)