When They Were Boys (22 page)

But the family, especially the parents, never really treated George as a star. George's sister, Louise Harrison, who lived in North America before and during the Beatles' ascent, brings real history to life when she reads letters from her mother from that time period: “I was reading one of the letters and someone said, ‘You know, there's nothing glorious about the way that they are talking.' They were astounded by the matter-of-fact, non-adulation way that my parents were talking about my brother.”

From the perspective of pressman and Beatles advocate Bill Harry, George really didn't need to stay in the background, but Harry thinks he may have been overwhelmed.

H
E WAS QUIET LIKE THAT WITH THEM
. W
HEN
I
PUT THEM ON THE COVER
[
OF
M
ERSEY
B
EAT
]
INDIVIDUALLY, IT WAS
G
EORGE WHO WAS PORTRAYED AS THE QUIET
B
EATLE
. I
SAID TO
G
EORGE ONE DAY
, “L
ISTEN
, G
EORGE, HOW COME IT
'
S ALWAYS
L
ENNON AND
M
C
C
ARTNEY
'
S NAMES ON EVERYTHING
? W
HAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SONGWRITING
?”

D
ID YOU KNOW THAT THE ORIGINAL NUMBER THAT MADE PRINT HAD
G
EORGE
'
S NAME ON IT
? T
HE VERY FIRST SONG AS THE
B
EATLES, ORIGINAL COMPOSITION, AS DEPICTED IN ISSUE NUMBER TWO OF
M
ERSEY
B
EAT
, [
WAS
] “C
RY FOR A
S
HADOW
”
BY
G
EORGE
H
ARRISON
. I
N PRINT, THAT WAS THE FIRST MENTION OF A
B
EATLES COMPOSITION AND GEORGE WAS THE AUTHOR
. S
O
I
SAID TO HIM
, “I
F YOU CAN
'
T WRITE WITH
J
OHN AND
P
AUL, THEN WRITE A SONG WITH
R
INGO
.” H
E WROTE A SONG WITH
R
INGO, AND
I
WROTE ABOUT IT IN
M
ERSEY
B
EAT
. I
DON
'
T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SONG
. T
HEN AT A LATER TIME, ONE NIGHT
, I
SAW HIM AS HE WAS COMING OUT OF THE
C
ABIN
C
LUB ON
W
OODS
S
TREET
. I
ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS WRITING
. I
SAID
, “A
REN
'
T YOU WRITING SONGS AGAIN
?” H
E MUMBLED
. T
HEN I SAW HIM AGAIN IN 1964 IN THE
ABC B
LACKPOOL, AND
I
WAS SITTING WITH THEM, AND
G
EORGE SAID
, “I
WANT TO THANK YOU
.” “T
HANK ME FOR WHAT
?” “Y
OU JUST MADE ME SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS
.” A
ND
G
EORGE SAID THE REASON WAS THAT HE THOUGHT OF ME AND SAID TO HIMSELF THAT HE HAD BETTER WRITE SOMETHING BECAUSE HE WAS GETTING NERVOUS THAT HE WAS GOING TO RUN INTO ME, AND
I
WAS GOING TO GET ON HIS BACK ABOUT NOT WRITING, AND THAT HE WAS REALLY WORRIED
. S
O HE WANTED TO THANK ME BECAUSE HE ALREADY HAD ACCUMULATED SEVEN THOUSAND POUNDS IN ROYALTIES FROM A SONG CALLED
“D
ON
'
T
B
OTHER
M
E
.”

“Was he as sweet and pleasant as everyone says, in those days?” I ask.

“He was very nice, very polite and refined—the Beatle who was most stretched,” he says.

L
IKE
R
INGO
. . . G
EORGE WAS LESS EDUCATED, LESS INTELLECTUAL
. A
LTHOUGH
G
EORGE WENT TO
L
IVERPOOL
I
NSTITUTE WITH
P
AUL, HE WASN
'
T THAT INTERESTED IN EDUCATION OR AS KEEN ON GETTING AHEAD AS THE OTHERS
. H
E AND
R
INGO WERE NOT AS INTELLECTUAL, LIKE
J
OHN AND
P
AUL
. G
EORGE WASN
'
T INTERESTED IN BOOKS AND OTHER CULTURAL PURSUITS LIKE
J
OHN
. B
UT LATER ON, WHEN HE GOT TO MEET
M
ONTY
P
YTHON, THE
M
AHARISHI, AND
R
AVI
S
HANKAR, THIS STRETCHED
G
EORGE
. . . [
AND
]
HE EXPANDED HIS HORIZONS
. F
ROM WHAT HE WAS TO
WHAT HE WOULD BECOME, THIS
I
WOULD SAY WAS THE BIGGEST EVOLUTION, THE BIGGEST STRETCH IN ANY ONE MEMBER OF THE BAND
. J
OHN ALREADY HAD IT
. P
AUL DID TOO
. I
T WAS HARDER FOR
G
EORGE AND HARDEST FOR
R
INGO
.

Even as a boy, George cherished peace and quiet. The limelight was not his intended destination as a teenager. Quarryman Rod Davis shared a wonderful conversation with me that relates to George Harrison and fame:

W
E WERE DOING A GIG ONCE, AND
L
OUISE
H
ARRISON WAS ON THE SAME QUESTIONS-AND-ANSWER PANEL, AND SOMEBODY SAID TO US, WOULD WE HAVE LIKED TO HAVE BEEN THE
B
EATLES
? A
ND WE SAID, WELL, THE MONEY WOULD HAVE COME IN HANDY NOW AND THEN, BUT WE CAN WALK DOWN THE ROAD TO THE SUPERMARKET, WALK INTO THE PUB, NOBODY
'
S THREATENING US AND ASKING FOR MONEY
. A
ND
L
OUISE, SITTING NEXT TO ME, SAID
, “Y
OU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT
G
EORGE WOULD GIVE TO JUST BE ABLE TO WALK DOWN THE ROAD TO A PUB AND HAVE A DRINK
.” S
HE SAID
, “Y
OU KNOW, YOU DON
'
T REALIZE UNTIL YOU MISS IT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS
.”

In my career, I've interviewed presidents and public figures from all industries. George was one of the most self-deprecating public figures I've ever met. On one occasion in 1964 in an Atlantic City penthouse ballroom, George and I and the others watched a private showing of the final cut of the Beatles' first movie,
A Hard Day's Night
. He seemed to curl up and shrivel in embarrassment. He was shy, but not overly so—just in a very charming manner. You would like the guy instantly. George was a person who reached out. He was a perfect listener, but he was not a man of bullshit, or superficial charm. Yes, he was an amazing performer, but not in the style of John and Paul, rather as the keeper of the guitar, the finesse man who tickled the strings and looked for a better sound than the night before.

Paul McCartney liked the guy from the beginning. The two would share rides on the bus to the Liverpool Institute, and it was there that an excited George told Paul about his first and last gig with George's very own group, the Rebels, founded just a month before the Woolton meeting between Paul and John.

The Rebels were hired as a replacement band to perform at a British Legion Club near his home. George and his brother Pete handled the guitars. A few other friends provided what they could, which was two songs—the same two songs played over and over again. The crowd, George said, was pleased. Paul loved the story, but even more than that, he admired George's low-key but obvious enthusiasm, and the look on his face. Paul was enthused; his own day was not far away.

It was his sessions with the musically obsessed George, and George's determination to learn more and more about the guitar, that eventually convinced Paul to bring George into the Quarrymen.

The early days were frustrating, especially for the youngest player. But he had his own special support network, parents Harry and Louise, who were loving, caring, and willing to go with the flow.

George's sister, Louise Harrison, describes the parental dynamic of the Harrisons:

T
HEY WERE TOTALLY, TOTALLY, SUPPORTIVE, RIGHT FROM THE VERY VERY GET-GO
. T
HIS IS SOMETHING THAT
I
WRITE A LOT ABOUT IN MY BOOK . . . WHAT AN EXCEPTIONAL COUPLE THEY WERE
. I
FEEL THAT ALTHOUGH THEIR STORY ISN
'
T KNOWN
, I
FEEL THAT IT
'
S A VERY IMPORTANT STORY AS THE FOUNDATION AS TO WHY THE
B
EATLES HAD SUCH A SOLID OUTLOOK ON LIFE
. Y
OU SEE, BACK IN THEIR TEENS, BOTH PAUL AND
J
OHN LOST THEIR MOTHERS, AND MY MOM WAS THE ONLY . . . UNTIL, OF COURSE
, R
INGO CAME ALONG LATER
. O
F THE THREE OF THEM, MY MOM WAS THE ONLY MOM LIVING
. G
EORGE WOULD ALWAYS SAY
, “B
E CAREFUL, BE CAREFUL
,”
BECAUSE THEY ALL SHARED HER
. I'
VE GOT LETTERS FROM HER, AND AT ONE POINT
I
HAD SAID SOMETHING LATER ON ABOUT HOW LEVEL-HEADED THEY WERE, AND SHE SAID
, “P
ARDON ME, BUT
I
THINK
I
CAN TAKE SOME CREDIT FOR THAT
.”

Was George the nicest Beatle? There is no question about that. His sister claims that title for her kid brother, but my experience and the combined and cumulative impression of the major players also confirms that.

While in the busy days of their adult lives, Paul and Ringo rarely looked back (although Paul has been philanthropically involved in education in
Liverpool). George, meanwhile, always did the right thing. He was, indeed, the man who remembered people's needs in life and death—the family of Mal Evans, whose own story remains ahead, the legacy of his good friend Derek Taylor, his kindnesses toward almost everyone connected to his family, his lasting friendship from unknown to superstar with Tony Bramwell, and his benevolence and sense of concern for John and Ringo in their days of waste and addiction post-Beatles.

Beatles researcher Ron Ellis, who carries the title of football writer to his assorted credits, views George as the ultimate team player, whose respect for the group originally was enormous.

“George Harrison was a nicer person compared to the rest of the guys, and it was from the beginning. John could always be edgy and difficult. Paul was determined to gratify himself. Pete was moody but pleasant. And Ringo started out kind and innocent, but got jaded very quickly. George Harrison was a nice respectful kid in the beginning, and a nice respectful man at the end.”

For his sister, Louise, there are vivid memories of a man who cared only about one kind of love.

S
O MANY TIMES HE TALKED ABOUT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
. U
NCONDITIONAL LOVE IS MUCH BETTER THAN
“I'
M IN LOVE WITH YOU
”
KIND OF LOVE
. U
NCONDITIONAL LOVE—THERE ARE NO CONDITIONS ON THAT LOVE
. N
O MATTER WHAT THAT PERSON DOES TO ME
, “I
LOVE YOU
” . . .
BUT IT
'
S NOT NECESSARILY ROMANTIC OR SEXUAL LOVE
. I
T'S LOVE
. S
IMILAR TO THE KIND YOU HAVE WITH A PARENT
. I
T TRANSCENDED THE SEXUAL LOVE
. W
HEN
[
FIRST WIFE
P
ATTI
B
OYD
]
FOUND THAT SHE WANTED TO BE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE
[E
RIC
C
LAPTON
], G
EORGE JUST WANTED HER TO BE HAPPY
.

The author believes that George, in his early years, was the happiest of the boys—just thrilled to be playing music on any stage.

Optimistic. Loving. Almost undaunted. His vision was enhanced, perhaps blurred, through the prism and dreams of hope. But in the late fall and early winter of 1960, the buoyancy of his confidence was seriously challenged when he returned wounded from an overseas incursion to the inner layers of hell and deprivation.

WHEN

THEY

WERE

BOYS

P
ART
T
HREE:
A
CROSS THE
S
EA