I think Eric Claptonâs quote about Paul and George (the one about two people loving each other and not realizing it) is so interesting. Do you know what the context for him saying that was? Was it in an interview? Also to continue the conversation thatâs been appearing on your blog about Paul and George, what are your favorite quotes about the two of them? (Either stuff they themselves said or people said about them)
The Eric Clapton quote is one of my favourites and it always sticks in my mind (because I think heâs completely right!) I canât recall exactly where itâs from, but it was an interview. I tried to find out but Google didnât help. Iâm leaning towards it either being a Rolling Stone interview or something like Living In The Material World⌠but Iâm not sure. I will try and find out and post about it later if I can find the proper source. But I do love that quote. I think itâs very insightful about Paul and George. Iâm going to repeat it as the first quote for the second half of your question:
âIâve never known two people that love each other so much, and donât even realise it.â
âPaul is very protective of George. He knows now what went on, how George was hurt at the end of it, and how George went on to prove that he was a great musician and songwriter. I think Paul respects that a lot more. [âŚ]
âOn one occasion, Paul and George sat in the editing suite with Ringo looking at the last programme. George was on the screen talking about the split, and Paul turned to George sitting next to him and said, âI didnât know you felt like that. Is that really how you felt?â George said, âOf course it was.â And Paul said he didnât know that. Theyâd never actually confronted each other about it.
[Bob Smeaton (Anthology series director), Record Collector magazine, 1995]
Quotes from Paul about George:Â
âI donât want to say much because he was a pal but he liked the things that men like. He was red-blooded.
[âŚ] And he was cocky.â
[Paul, talking about Georgeâs, ahem, libido]
âI have big photographs of George behind me when I do the song âSomethingâ, his song, and I look at them, and itâs so sad because heâs not here. But itâs lovely to look at those pictures and think: âGod, my mate George, isnât he a good-looking boy?!â You think all the things you couldnât think when you were a kid, because the bravado aspect forbade it. I do think of them [John and George] quite a lot.â
[Paul, The Independent, 23rd Nov 2012]
âHe is really just my baby brother.â
[Paul, from his statement when George died*]
This one breaks my heart but itâs still lovely:
âThe last time I met him, he was very sick and I held his hand for four hours. As I was doing it I was thinking âIâve never held his hand before, ever. This is not what two Liverpool fellas do, no matter how well you know each other.â I kept thinking, âheâs going to smack me here.â But he didnât. He just stroked my hand with his thumb and I thought âAh, this is OK, this is life. Itâs tough but itâs lovely. Thatâs how it is.â I knew George before I knew any of the others and I loved that man. Iâm so proud to have known him.â
âThere was this guy called Ritter who was in our group at school, and George was in the younger group, and I remember weâd been standing around at playground and Iâd tried to introduce George to Ritter, introduce him into my peer group. And being a year younger it was kind of difficult. I said, âHey, this is George Harrison. Heâs a mate of mine. We get on the same bus together.â And weâd been sitting around, and George suddenly head-butted this friend of mine. When asked for the reason for the head butt, George replied: âHe wasnât worthy of your friendship.âÂ
âGeorge told me once that I smelt like home. I got all paranoid, you know, thinking I smelt of fish and chip shops or dirty bars or something. But he said no, I just always smelt of home.â
âMy best times with George? We hitchhiked to a place in Wales called Harlech. We were kids. Before the Beatles. [âŚ] And we ended up in this cafe, and they had a jukebox, so this was home. We met this guy and he started talking about rock and roll, so we went and stayed at his house**. It was great, me and George top and tailing it in a bed. [âŚ] It was kind of a bed and breakfast, [but] we didnât realise. And years later we realised, we never paid anyone. And now we were famous and rich, and she [The B&B owner] wrote to us! Oh, sorry!Â
âWe had so many laughs with these Welsh guys. [âŚ] We sat in with their band one drunken night in a Welsh pub. We had this room, and George and I were from an estate, but our folks were very hygienic. It wasnât dirty where we lived. But now were were in the country - WALES - and there were these spiders and daddy long legs in the room and we were âGaaah!! What?! The Menace! The Spidersâ - so either me or George or both of us took a rolled up newspaper and got them, then we could sleep safely. We went down to breakfast the next morning and the mum said, âHow did you sleep? Were you alright?â- yes, yes, - âAnd did you see Jimmy and Jemima?â - What? - âThe little spiders?â - No!! What?! Who..?! So we had many laughs over that one.âÂ
[Paul, Living in the Material World (Transcribed)]
âThing is, thereâs a lot about me and George that the public donât know about, and I like it better that way.â
Quotes from George about Paul***:
âSometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my god, Maxwellâs Silver Hammer was so fruity.â
âThereâs always a place in my heart for Paul.â
[George, Musician magazine, 1990****]
âI think we have now grown old enough to realise that weâre both pretty damn cute!â
[George, I think this was from his Yahoo web chat]
âI went to school with Paul. He was a year older than me. I met him when I was 13 and we were together for 17 years until we split. People in America think that we got together around 1964 and split up in 1968, but from 1956 I was hanging around with Paul and, a little bit after, John.
âWhen youâre so close, you tend to lock each other up in pigeonholes. Musically, with Ringo and John I had no problems. But with Paul, well, it reached a point where he wouldnât let me play on sessions.
âIt was part of our splitting up. But at the same time I have a tendency to defend Paul - John and Ringo too - if anyone else said anything without qualification about them. After going through all that together, there must be something good about it.â
âBut actually, I love Paul, heâs my mate and it doesnât matter what I say in the papers, theyâre not going to get much mileage out of that one.â
[George, talking about rumour of a feud between him and Paul in 1988]Â
Notes:* Sometimes I read people saying that Paulâs being condescending when he calls George his âbaby brotherâ, but I donât think he is. I think he means it affectionately and heâs using the best term he can think of to effectively convey how close George was to him, and I think how protective Paul feels towards him.Â
** Donât go staying in the houses of random people you meet in pubs, even if they do like rock and roll! Itâs not the 1950s anymore!
*** Itâs hard to find quotes from George directly about Paul, and because of the way the media loves a fight and a feud, the more negative things said are bounded around a lot more. Paulâs had a lot more time to say a lot more nice things about George. George wasnât very easy to interview and if people tried to bait him with questions about Paul (or the other Beatles), he was typically cagey and often stuck to saying the same sort of things. After all, he did manage to write an autobiography and only mention the Beatles a handful of times! Only George!
**** The longer version of this quote is a little sad. George is talking about how he didnât go to see Paul play when he had an opportunity and insinuating that he didnât think heâd ever play with Paul again, but then he seems to regret it perhaps and declares he will always have a place in his heart for him.Â
Isnât it a pity, Isnât it a shameHow we break each otherâs hearts, and cause each other painHow we take each otherâs love, without thinking anymoreForgetting to give backIsnât it a pitySome things take so long, but how do I explain?When not too many people can see weâre all the sameAnd because of all their tears, their eyes canât hope to seeThe beauty that surrounds them - ohIsnât it a pity
In I Me Mine, George has this to say about Isnât It A Pity:Â
Isnât It A Pity is about whenever a relationship hits a down point - instead of whatever other people do (like breaking each others jaws) I wrote a song. It was a chance to realise that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there was a good chance I was letting someone else down. We all tend to break each otherâs hearts, taking and not giving back - isnât it a pity.
Itâs my pet theory that George wrote Isnât It A Pity about Paul (and more widely, the Beatles and what was happening in 1969/70) - but specifically about Paul, because to my untrained and tone deaf ear, it sounds like a pastiche of Hey Jude. Itâs my opinion that the song is a direct response to Paul brushing off George, telling him what to play or not to play at all and along with John, ignoring and belittling Georgeâs songs. (Even though often John didnât work on Georgeâs songs and Paul usually did, George alway seems to remember Paul as being the one who didnât like or appreciate his work. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in their studio!) As Iâve said, I think how much George was hurt by fights and disagreements with Paul does show how much he loved him as well.Â
Iâm sure there are tons of more lovely quotes about and by Paul and George. Itâs hard finding them when you want them! Thank you for your lovely question, Anon and thanks to everyone who has read and commented/reblogged my earlier posts on Paul and George.Â
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