George Harrison Archive

Welcome to harrisonarchive (formerly thateventuality), an appreciation of George Harrison in verifiable quotes, in-depth research, and archives. Please peruse the tags to navigate more easily.

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George Harrison, February 1965; photo by Henry Grossman.

“George looks as I would expect Hamlet to look. Early morning, totally open, something going on in the mind, not trying to put anything on. It’s one of my best portraits.” - Henry Grossman, Brandeis Magazine, 2013

“I call this my ‘Hamlet Portrait.’ Having been an actor, I said to myself, Wow, that look is how I would want the actor playing Hamlet to look: direct, simple, at ease, no put-on, no pretense.” - Henry Grossman, CBS 60 Minutes Overtime, 2013

“We were having breakfast in Nassau. George came in; he was still in his pajamas, had just awakened. I wasn’t taking pictures at breakfast, or not intending to, and he looked so totally undefended, and different from any time I’d seen him that I said, ‘George, I gotta take a picture.’” - Henry Grossman, CBS This Morning, March 23, 2013 (x)

“[Derek Taylor] taught me to just be myself… which I always tried to be.” - George Harrison; interview conducted by Larry Kane in the mid-60s, quoted in When They Were Boys (2013)

“Just remember, he [George] has enormous intellectual curiosity; he wants to know everything. […] George may be the youngest Beatle and all that, but he is beyond his years in his values, and in his pursuit of the truth, and I might add quite candidly, his ability to [be] direct and sometimes painfully honest.” Derek Taylor; interview conducted by Larry Kane, quoted in When They Were Boys (2013) (x)

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George Harrison at Kinfauns, in photo 1 photographed by Leslie Bryce, in photos 2-5 with his Aston Martin DB5 and in the garage of the home in 1965 (photos by Henry Grossman); plus; George’s Radford Mini De Ville GT, first with George outside Kinfauns, photographed by fan Michael Herring—the other color photos are courtesy of BRAVO magazine, except for the 2009 photo of Olivia with the Mini and the special anniversary edition (see details in this post).

The Aston Martin DB5 - “George has decided to change his E-type Jaguar [see post from July 11] for a white Aston Martin D.B.5—the same model as James Bond used in the film ‘Goldfinger.’ He’s obviously been won over by Paul who also drives an Aston.” - The Beatles Monthly (March 1965) The Daily Mirror (on January 15, 1965) reported that George’s Aston Martin was white with black leather. The newspaper also noted that George’s E-type Jaguar was up for sale (for £1,595, at the time). “George was fined £6 at London’s South Western Court at the end of June for speeding in Roehampton Lane, Putney, in his black Mini Cooper. When we met him recently in Esher, Pattie had taken over and was acting as chauffeur to George in her bright orange Mini. If they stop to talk, George doesn’t open the door or slide back the window, he just pops his head out through the sunshine roof and talks to you that way.” - Beatle News, The Beatles Monthly (August 1967) The Radford Mini De Ville GT - “Painted metallic black when Harrison bought it in 1965, the Cooper was sprayed red before Dutch art collective The Fool gave it a custom ‘psychedelic’ paint job that included images adopted from the book Tantra Art: Its Philosophy and Physics, in early 1967. This Mini was featured in the Magical Mystery Tour film. Distinctive Radford custom features include a full-length sunroof, horizontally mounted Volkswagen tail-lights, and hood-mounted rally fog lamps.” - Guitar Aficionado, Vol. 4, No. 1 “Mini created a Harrison-inspired 2009 Special Edition to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009. The car was auctioned to benefit the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organization that Harrison founded in 1973. At the time, Harrison’s widow, Olivia, said of the one-off, ‘George was a huge Mini fan and he would have enjoyed this new version.’  […] [The car’s] styling features included a full-length sunroof, horizontally mounted Volkswagen taillights and hood-mounted rally fog lamps. The Mini’s transformation continued when Harrison commissioned Dutch artists Simon Posthuma and Marijke Koger — known collectively as ‘The Fool’ — to paint it bright red and add mystical signs taken from the book, ‘Tantra Art: Its Philosophy and Physics,’ in 1967. […] Shortly after production wrapped for ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ Harrison gave the head-turning Mini — with reg plates LGF 5960 — to close friend and fellow musician Eric Clapton. Clapton returned it to Harrison in the 1970s, but not before it was completely repainted.” - Hagerty (April 26, 2016) You can also spot George’s Mini in the “Any Road” music video.

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On July 17, 1964, George purchased Kinfauns, a bungalow in Esher, home until early 1970, when Friar Park was purchased. Pictured here are, in photos 1-7, scans from the at home photo session by Leslie Bryce for The Beatles Monthly (on October 7, 1965); photos 8 & 9 show the home turning colorful (photos by Robert Whitaker, scanned from The Apple Years booklet).

Kinfauns also became something of a refuge for other musicians: “In the mid-Sixties [Brian Jones] used to come out to my house — particularly when he’d got ‘the fear,’ when he’d mixed too many weird things together. I’d hear his voice shouting to me from out in the garden: 'George, George…’ I’d let him in — he was a good mate.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology “Another session found [David] Redfern at George Harrison’s house in Esher, photographing Donovan to tie in with the release of his single Mellow Yellow [1967]. ‘I think Donovan was going off the rails, and George had taken him in to try and help straighten him out. They were friends. So I took these photos of Donovan in a white suit against a white wall in George’s house. And then after they’d been processed, his people decided that they wanted them to be yellow to tie in with the single, so I had to go back to the lab and dye them…’” - The Beatles: Classic, Rare & Unseen The poolside mosaic at Kinfauns — featuring artwork by John Lennon — may have been moved to Friar Park: “[Derek Mann] recalls seeing Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Friar Park, 'They always seemed to get on extremely well,’ he said. […] ‘John Lennon built a mosaic of what looked like an alien in the garden which was surrounded by roses named after Paul McCartney. George had a pet Yorkshire terrier called Winston, John Lennon’s middle name.’” - Henley Standard (December 2001) Soon, Kinfauns turned colorful: “During autumn George asked Simon and me to paint a mural around the fireplace in the living room at the ‘Kinfauns’ bungalow in Esher. The mural portrayed George and Pattie as ‘Music Boy’ and ‘Flower Girl,’ as they lovingly called each other then, attended by a Yogi surrounded with an Aura of Light as the focal point to express their interest in Hinduism. We stayed at their lovely place about ten days to complete it.  Inspired, George started decorating the exterior of the house, graffiti style with spray cans […]. George was kind and funny but would also be quiet and pensive at times. […] George also turned us on to Paramahansa Yogananda’s book; ‘Autobiography of a Yogi,’ whose large portrait was watching us from the wall while we were painting the mural.” - Marijke Koger, marijkekogerart dot com (August 11, 2021) (You can find a photo of the mural in the book Living In The Material World.) “George grabbed a paintbrush as well, and [we all] set to work on George’s fireplace.” - Klaus Voormann, translated from Warum spielst du Imagine nicht auf dem weißen Klavier, John? (2003)

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George with his father Harry and brother Peter during the Dark Horse Tour, 1974 (photo by Henry Grossman); George and Harry in Warrington, 1976 (photo courtesy of the Liverpool Daily Post).

“Harry himself is a charming man. Easy to talk to, quick to laugh, and still with a youthful outlook. When we talked his greying hair was styled long and he wore a T-shirt advertising George’s record label Dark Horse.” - article by Philip Key, Daily Post (August 31, 1976) ' “Mr. Harold Harrison, father of Beatle George, arrived at Station Pier last night with two friends [Mr. And Mrs. Jack Richards] on a world trip. And George is paying for everyone.” - press blurb (1970) “Beatle George Harrison went aboard the liner Canberra at Southampton today to greet his father, 61-year-old Mr. Harold Harrison, former Liverpool bus driver, back from a health trip to Australia. Mr. Harrison was accompanied by two friends, Mr. And Mrs. Jack Richards. The trip for all three was a gift from George. […] [Mr. Harrison explained,] ‘Wealth and fame have not changed [George]. He’s kind to me and he’s never forgotten his friends — the boys he went to school with. He helps in many different ways, but never talks about it.’” - Southern Daily Echo (December 15, 1970) (More about George’s father in an older post.) “Wherever [George] goes, his guitar goes with him. His father recalls: ‘I was in the middle of talking to him when George said, “Excuse me, Dad but I’ve just thought of something.” He got up, went out of the room and came back about half an hour later. He said, “Something you were saying gave me an idea for a song, so I went to write it down.” That’s typical of him. He may appear as though he’s not taking an interest, but in fact he’s following everything you’re saying.’” - article by Stuart White, The Ottawa Citizen (December 3, 1977) “[George’s brother Peter says,] ‘To me, George is George. He always has been and always will be. He’s not a bit like he is made out to be.’ Which is what? ‘Well, as though he’s a weirdo, or something. He’s just an ordinary bloke.’ That is about as far as Peter goes about George.” - ibid You can also read a bit about George and his brother Harry and family in an older post.

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A spotlight on Roberta “Bobby” Brown, the Beatles fan club secretary preceding Freda Kelly. Photos by Harry Whatmough, courtesy of Hit Parader, and by Mike McCartney (who’s also in this photo with her; photo courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery and Beatles and Cavern Club Photos).

(A note: The article excerpted below misspells her nickname as Bobbie.) “Roberta — known to her friends as Bobbie — was the original Beatles Fan Club Secretary. It was she who ran the first Fan Club ever formed for The Beatles, and she was a great friend of theirs during their early Cavern days. […] ‘This girl Maureen started a Beatles fan club [before The Beatles were signed by Brian Epstein] for a few weeks, but she couldn’t really manage it. Then I started to run it. We didn’t have enough money really for all the necessary tings, like stamps and stationary, but we managed somehow. Then Brian Epstein signed The Beatles up, and in April [1962] he got in touch with me and asked if I’d keep the fan club on. Another girl, called Ann Brown, was helping me with it a bit, and Brian Epstein said he’d help.’ […] As the boys’ fame grew, the Fan Club became too much for Bobbie to manage. A friend of hers, Freda Kelly, started helloing, and then eventually Bobbie handed it over to her.  […] ‘They’re all lovely. They’ve each got individual characters. John’s humor is very intelligent. Half the time you couldn’t understand his jokes. He’s very comical, but he’s a serious person really. I think he’s very shy and to cover up his shyness he his this was of being funny. ‘Ringo’s very nice. He has a way of making you feel at ease.He’s very funny, as well. He’s a real nut. ‘George is shy. I don’t think he likes to push himself really, while the other boys don’t mind doing it. If you see what I mean. ‘Paul’s very kind. He’d act daft sometimes as well.  […] Ringo used to call me Robot.’ […] The Beatles gratitude to Bobbie is symbolized in a huge 24” by 18” autographed photograph of the Beatles which hangs on her bedroom wall. […] ‘It was my 19th birthday and I went to see The Beatles play at the Majestic Ballroom, in Birkenhead. I was looking up at the stage, watching them playing, when all of a sudden they started to play “Happy Birthday” and calling for me to come up onto the stage. I started hiding behind a big crowd of people, but George spotted me and made me come up onto the stage. They presented me with the LP “West Side Story” and the framed picture.’ [The main inscription reads] ‘All our love to Bobbie — for all you’ve done.’” - article by Cheryl Hillman, Hit Parader (March 1966) “George was quiet, shy, and totally honest — a truthful, good person.” - Roberta “Bobby” Brown, The Beatles — All These Years: Tune In Extended Special Edition

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Happy birthday to former Official Beatles Fan Club secretary Freda Kelly! (Don’t miss the documentary “Good Ol’ Freda” if you haven’t watched it yet.)

Pictured are George Harrison and Freda at the Beatles Fan Club screening of Magical Mystery Tour on December 17, 1967 (bottom right of the first slide), plus screenshots of personalized autographs from each Beatle to Freda; Freda with George’s parents, Harold and Louise; and Freda in recent years (photo by Felicitas Lachmayr). Also included is an article about Freda by Pete Goodman, from Beat Instrumental (October 1967).

“The How I Won the War premiere after party was quite fun because, God, I was so drunk. I was 22, and because it was a premiere, I was all dolled up and thought I was the bee’s knees. [...] I’m not very good with makeup, so I bought false eyelashes and put them on. You always forget, and I’m always rubbing my eyes, so I’m dancing with George, and he’s oiled up more than I am, and he’s holding me up and says, ‘You’ve got a spider on your face!’ And I go, ‘What are you talking about? Oh, it’s me eyelash!’ [laughs]” - Freda Kelly, The Daily Beast (March 14, 2013) “Before they moved to London, I wanted to get their autographs. So George was in [the office] this day, and I had like autograph book upon autograph book for him to sign, and mine — I slipped mine in the middle. So he’s signing them, and I’m saying, you know, ‘That’s to Rita, that’s to Barbara’ […] and it gets to mine, and, ‘Who’s this to?’ And I said, ‘Well, just — just sign that,’ because I just wanted it out of the way. And he went, ‘Well, no, who’s it to?’ And I think it was because I was going, ‘It doesn’t matter, just sign this.’ I remember saying to him, ‘Just sign the book, just sign the book!’ And he flipped it to the front, and he went, ‘It’s yours!’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I haven’t got your autograph, I just want your autograph before you go to London.’ So he signed it, and he pocketed it. He took it. And I went, ‘What are you doing with my book?’ And he went, ‘I’ll get the others for you.’ And then next time he came in, he just threw it on the table and he went, ‘There you go.’ And they’d all put little comments.” - Freda Kelly, Good Ol’ Freda' Ryan White, director [of the highly recommended documentary, Good Ol’ Freda]: “George [Harrison] is Freda’s favorite Beatle too. She would never admit it, but from years of being around her, that’s what I think.” [Freda laughs and shrugs, but her lips are sealed] Q: “I liked your observation in the film that George wasn’t necessarily the quiet one.” Freda Kelly: “He wasn’t quiet with any of us in — I hate that word, ‘The Inner Circle.’ But with us, he was his most natural self. I don’t think he liked Beatlemania.” - Film School Rejects, SXSW 2013 (March 2013)

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George and Olivia with Bob Marley backstage at the Roxy, 13 July 1975. Photo 1 published in Cash Box magazine; photos by Kim Gottlieb-Walker, and Peter Borsari.

“When Bob heard that George was coming, he got really excited. He said, ‘Ras Beatle!’ I had a flash on my camera and the batteries were dying — they were only together for two minutes and you had to wait 30 seconds to get a charge. It was agonizing. But I got the picture in the end and that’s all that matters.” - Kim Gottlieb-Walker, Hempstead Highgate Express, 16 April 2011

“[George had] not long returned from LA where he’d seen Bob Marley & The Wailers three times at the Roxy — ‘best thing I’ve seen in ten years. Marley reminds me so much of Dylan in the early days, playing guitar as if he’s new to it. And his rhythm, you know, it’s so simple, yet so beautiful. I could watch The Wailers all night.’” - Melody Maker, 6 September 1975

“Cover one of the Beatle songs [‘And I Love Her’]. The thing was we meet and shake hand and say great — them dude they nice. I really like meet them all and sit down and chat with them. They’re bredrens… just love roots. Them guys are roots. Them guys are all right, ya know. There is like a king and queen, ya know — those guys are roots.” - Bob Marley, Rock Lives (1998) (x)

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The Dark Horse tour musicians, photographed by Ed Caraeff.

The musicians on the tour were: Chuck Findley, Tom Scott, Willie Weeks, Andy Newmark, Billy Preston, Alla Rakha, Ravi Shankar, Satyadev Pawar, Harihar  Rao, Robben Ford, L. Subramaniam, Kamalesh Maitra, T.V.  Gopalakrishnan, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Viji Shankar, Shivkumar Sharma, Lakshmi Shankar, Gopal Krishan, Kartick Kumar, Emil Richards, Sultan  Khan, Rijram Desad, and, of course, George.

“Near the end of the tour it was Christmas time, and when George and Olivia entered their room at the Plaza, they could barely enter because Bill Graham had placed floor-to-ceiling Christmas trees in every inch of their room. This was the kind of fun we had in between the great music we played for that tour. […] One night after the tour was over, George Harrison, Peter Sellers, and Jim Keltner came over to my house, and we stayed up just talking and having fun until ten in the morning, when they left to pick up Ringo. Later, Jim told me that they ran out of gas on the Sunset Strip. A big tour bus full of people looking for movie stars’ homes drove right by, and never noticed Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and Peter Sellers pushing Jim’s Mercedes to the gas station.” - Emil Richards, Wonderful World of Percussion: My Life Behind Bars by Emil Richards & Tom Di Nardo (2013) “My dear friend George Harrison, whom we all miss, shared these kind words [below] for my CD ‘Wonderful World of Percussion’ [released in 2001]…” - Emil Richards “Famous people come and go, where they go and I don’t know. All I know is clear, Emil’s still here… As wild, wonderful and original as one can hope for, I love Emil Richards — check him out and smile.” - George Harrison  “[‘It’s What You Value’] all came about because a friend of mine [Jim Keltner] had this, we did this tour [the Dark Horse Tour, 1974] and everybody got paid really well on the tour, and there’s this friend of mine who — I was trying to get him to play on this tour, he wouldn’t do it, and I really needed him to play: 'Come on, come on, please play.' And he’s saying… finally I bugged him to death until he agreed to play, and he said, ‘Okay, but, look, I don’t want to be paid for the tour but I’m sick of driving that old Volkswagen bus.’ And I said, ‘Oh, well, okay, maybe I’ll get you a car.’ So we got him a car, a Mercedes 450 and then some of the other people I heard later said, ‘How come he got a motor car, I only got…,’ you know… It was one of them. So I just thought in that song, you know, ‘someone’s down to 450 and his friends are so wild, they’re still in their stick shifties but they feel they’ve much more style, but I’ve found that it’s all up to what you value, down to where you are.’ You know, that’s all it is really, to one person it’s a big deal, to somebody else it’s just like a throwaway thing.” - George Harrison, A Personal Music Dialogue with George Harrison at 33 & 1/3 (1976)

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George Harrison with his E-type Jaguar, photographed by Leslie Bryce outside Whaddon House, Williams Mews, in London on July 11, 1964; scanned from The Beatles Monthly and the book Looking Through You.

George had this particular car fitted with a record player (seen in one of the photos here). 

“Apart from girls, and listening to records with girls, I put driving as my big hobby. I thoroughly enjoy a long drive, but though I rate myself good behind the wheel, I’m not so sure the police agree.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Monthly (August 1963) “Girls at the British Motor Corporation’s M.G. works at Abington, Berkshire, heard that George Harrison of the Beatles was having a two-seater built. So they planted lipstick kisses on the bodywork and hid love letters in door pockets, glove compartments, in the boot and under the bonnet, says the ’Sunday Mirror.’ But George will never get the secret notes. He changed his mind about the car, a black 110 m.p.h. M.G.B., in favor of an E-type Jaguar. A B.M.C. spokesman said the car had since been disposed of through an agent.” - The Sydney Morning Herald (March 9, 1964) “Beatle George Harrison’s new E-type Jaguar was in collision yesterday with a green Ford Anglia in New Kings Road, Fulham. The wing of George’s car was dented and people dashed to pick up pieces of broken glass for souvenirs.” - Liverpool Echo (July 13, 1964) “George, watching the raid on the car—499HLX—was mobbed by teenagers and had to ask police to help him get away.  […] George said of the accident: ‘When the other fellow suddenly turned right, I put my foot on the brake, but the road was wet and though I was going slowly the car skidded a bit and we collided.” - article by an unnamed reporter, Daily Herald (July 13, 1964) “In the other car was a family of four. The husband told me, ‘It’s nice to meet you.’” - George Harrison, Daily Record (July 13, 1964) Q: “George, what ever became of the car wreck that you had in London?” George: “Oh, it wasn’t a wreck. I only just tapped into some fella and knocked the headlamp in. But you see, the further away you are the worse the damage appears. I mean, over here the car was a write-off, but actually it wasn’t. And it was fixed within three days… The other fella’s insurance company paid ‘cos it was his fault. [pause] I’m a good driver.” - The Beatles’ Kansas City press conference (September 17, 1964)

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On 10 July 1964, The Beatles returned to their hometown of Liverpool for a civic reception at the Town Hall and the northern premiere of A Hard Day’s Night. Photos © Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo.

“When they arrived on stage [at the Odeon]… George said ‘hello‘ to his ‘Mam and Dad‘ and all the other relatives in the theatre.” - Liverpool Echo, 11 July 1964

“It’s great that our own home town should do this for us, but deep down I’ve got a feeling that there are a lot of Liverpool folk who deserve this honor far more than we do, after all what have we done, sung some songs around the place and made money. It doesn’t seem much compared with some things that have been done by many Liverpool men and women who’ve never been honored. […] The best moment for me was when we were going into the theater and I saw six girls who used to come and sit on the front row when we appeared at the Cavern, it was wonderful to see them there.” - George Harrison, The Beatles: Living In The Eye Of The Hurricane (x)

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George’s first two cars — a blue Ford Anglia (photo 1) and a green Jaguar MkII (photo 6), photographed by Mike McCartney. And, in connection with the Ford Anglia, a letter in response to a fan request, plus more about George’s girlfriend in the summer of 1962, Marie Guirron. (Caption space is too limited for these quotes, so graphics it is.) Photos 3 and 4 by Keystone and Bill Connell or Les Chadwick.

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George Harrison at the Long Beach Grand Prix (March 25 and 26, 1983); photo by Peter C. Borsari.

“I used to go there [to Aintree] whether it was a big or small meeting, take my butties and sit on the Railway Straight embankment to watch the race. I went to a lot of bike meetings as well — I was a big fan of Geoff Duke! I had a box camera and went round taking pictures of all the cars. If I could find an address I wrote away to the car factories, and somewhere at home I’ve got pictures of all the old Vanwalls, Connaughts and BRMs. All that stuff got lost when I went on the road with The Beatles, but I’m sure it’s still in my dad’s attic.” - George Harrison, Motor (July 28, 1979) “I have a lot of fun with many of the Formula One drivers and their crews—and they have enabled me to see things from a very different angle than the music business I am normally involved with. (Brrm-Brrm—do you think I’ll ever get over it mother?)” - George Harrison on “Faster,” I Me Mine (1980) “[Formula 1 racing is] my other dream, in contrast to being nice and peaceful. Occasionally I like to go to this mad circus that takes place every other weekend from April through November. I’ve got friends who design cars, and I get to know some of the drivers a bit. There’s a ridiculous amount of money involved — Honda spends 50 million pounds a year — just so these lunatics can race around in circles and win points for the world championship. There’s something fascinating about that.” - George Harrison, People (October 19, 1987) Q: “What first sparked your interest in motor racing?” George Harrison: “I used to go to watch motorcycle racing at Aintree, in Liverpool, and I saw a poster advertising sports car racing. I used to go up to the railway straight at Aintree and my earliest memory of a car is a Jaguar XK120 racing a Mercedes-Benz 300SL.” - The Times (March 2000)

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Meeting the press to promote the movie Yellow Submarine, July 8, 1968. This ITV footage is courtesy of Getty Images.

“After the pictures, I was able to corner George, who told me that the ‘Yellow Submarine’ cartoon depiction of the Beatles ‘isn’t us.’ ‘There’s no true image of us. You Press people have given us an image which isn’t us either.’ George, in dark suit and yellow frilled shirt, said they had changed a lot (I noticed all three were much more sober and quiet and to the point now) and were half businessmen, half recording artists. ‘It appears we are doing less, but we’re doing more, but the public don’t see it. When we toured we were seen on stage and getting on and off aeroplanes. Now we do our work in private, in offices and studios. ‘I have written ten songs for the new LP. We have about 40 in all and we don’t know yet which ones we’ll use. We hope to do the LP quicker.’ I remarked that now that George was clean shaven, we saw more of his face than we had for a long time. He looked younger. How did it feel to be so bare? ‘Great. If I cut my hair off more I’d look younger still and maybe I could join The Small Faces,’ joked George.” - article by Andy Gray, New Musical Express (July 13, 1968) Q: “[The movie Yellow Submarine is] a spectacular, Dante’s ‘Inferno’-type tale of good vs. evil. And that ‘flying glove’ character is scary!” George Harrison: “[Laughs] It is, it is! And all those Apple Bonkers! The fact is, with the way the culture and the government are now, it’s all still happening now as it was in ‘Yellow Submarine.’ Except the Blue Meanies have got a bigger stranglehold on the planet right now than they even had back in ’67!” - Billboard (1999)

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Happiest of birthdays to Ringo!

Photo credits for slide 1 (George visiting Ringo in the hospital, 1964; and the two of them onstage at the Prince’s Trust Concert, 1987) © Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images and by Richard Young.

“George presented him recently with a special, leather-bound volume, which said on the cover, ‘Ringo Starr: greatest drummer on earth.’ Inside, all the pages were blank. ‘George told me to start writing, to fill it up.’” - The Beatles: The Authorized Biography, 1985 postscript

Harrison-Starkey Collaborations Playlist

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Arthur Kelly and George Harrison, 1959; scanned from The Beatles: The Authorized Biography.

“Arthur Kelly and I have been friends since we were about twelve. We went to school [Liverpool Institute] together, and even then he was quite hip. The funniest result of my friendship with Arthur is that Sybil Burton’s discotheque club Arthur is named after him although she didn’t realize it at the time. The whole thing started when I was asked at an American Press conference: ‘What do you call your haircut?’ I just said: ‘I call it Arthur’ because I knew this bloke, Arthur. Then the club was named after my haircut Arthur, which was named after this friend of mine! Arthur comes to stay at my house sometimes. I like him because he’s not a drag. But some of the people I used to know are a bit funny now. I just have to say, ‘How’s it going then?’ and they start going off about ‘Well there’s no need to ask you how YOU’RE getting on.’ Arthur’s not like that.” - George Harrison, Sunday Mirror, December 19, 1965

“‘One day George came home and said he’d got an audition, at the British Legion Club in Speke,’ says Mrs. Harrison. ‘I told him he must be daft. He hadn’t even got a group. He said don’t worry, he’d get one.’ George did get a group for his big night at the Speke British Legion. He got his brother Peter on guitar, his friend Arthur Kelly on guitar and two others, one of tea chest and another on a mouth organ. He himself was on guitar. They all left the house one by one, ducking down behind the hedge. George didn’t want all the nosy neighbors to know what they were doing. They [calling themselves The Rebels] got to the hall and found that the real artist hadn’t turned up. They had to go straight on and play all night as there was no one else there.” - The Beatles: The Authorized Biography (1968)

“We did stay friends for a long time. He tried to help me get an acting job when I first went down to the Smoke and he would always come and see me even after they became famous. It was my fault we lost touch because I started to feel a bit alienated by all the famous faces he’d introduce me to when I went to see him. In the end, I felt it must be a bit of a drag for him to have to tout me around.” - Arthur Kelly, Liverpool Echo, October 9, 1982 (x)

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George Harrison on Marcos and The Beatles in Manila, from his interview with Rona Elliot the Today Show (1986).

“Shouts of ‘Go to hell,’ ‘Scram,’ ‘Get out of our country’ and unprintable curses were hurled at the quartet.  Almost all police protection and special considerations for the Beatles were canceled. […] As they stood inside the terminal awaiting their [customs] turn, they were surrounded and harassed by an angry crowd who pushed, shoved and cursed them. A member of the Beatle party [chauffeur Alf Bicknell] was knocked to the ground. The departure was in sharp contrast to the rip-roaring welcome extended the Beatles on their arrival Sunday by thousands of fans and a massive security cordon. The Beatles maintained that the bungled Presidential luncheon was not their fault and apologized. McCartney, speaking on behalf of his companions, said in a radio interview that they were not informed of the date until it was too late. He said he was sightseeing around Manila at the time and the other three Beatles were sleeping in their hotel suite. But the Manila press and radio played up the ‘snub’ and apparently touched off the departure incident.” - United Press report (July 6, 1966) “Consolation award the Beatles in a tumultuous and joyous welcome at New Delhi airport last night. Again they were pushed, shoved and pelted — but with garlands.” - Daily Mirror (July 6, 1966) “[At New Delhi airport, they] were all shouting, ‘Beatles! Beatles!’ and following us. We got in the car and drove off, and they were all on little scooters, with the Sikhs in turbans all going, ‘Oh, Beatles, Beatles!’ I thought, ‘Oh, no! Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but Beatles have nowhere to lay their heads.’” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology

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Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr., Otis Wilbury and Nelson Wilbury (a.k.a. Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison) at the WEA post-Grammy Awards party held at Chasen’s on February 22, 1989; photo by Tony Fornaro.

“A part of [George] wanted to do that [tour with the Wilburys]. That would come up, usually when we were a bit happy [smiles]. Then the next day, it was gone. He couldn’t come to terms with it. At one point, he said, ‘We should get a ship, just sail around. We could pull into a cove and play to guys in outrigger canoes. And we’ll call it the Sponsor Ship. We’ll paint a different corporate logo on it every day. That’ll pay for the trip.’ He was so funny. His biggest problem was the machinery of managers and booking agents. He said to me once, ‘I can’t face waking up in Philadelphia and having to go to the soundcheck.’” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone (2009) “George had this idea, they would get on a ship and they would go somewhere — and it’d be called a ‘sponsor ship’ — and they’d go around and pull up in ports in the South Pacific and play concerts. It was fantasy, kind of a fantasy thing.” - Olivia Harrison, WNYC (2011) “I wish we [The Traveling Wilburys] had [toured]. When we did ‘The Concert for George,’ and Jeff came out with us and we did ‘Handle with Care,’ I remember thinking at that moment that George would have loved this so much.” - Tom Petty, MassLive Archives (June 2007) “Live, I don’t know… Tom Petty says, ‘Well, I’m waitin’, soon as I see the big W in the sky, I’ll be there!’” - George Harrison, VOX (September 1992) “It’s kind of stupid what we didn’t do more. I used to say, ‘Just flash the big W in the sky like the bat signal, and we’ll all come.’ We just thought we had all the time in the world.” - Tom Petty, Men’s Journal (August 2014)