Beatles News
George Harrison‘s favorite movie is Mel Brooks’ 1967 comedy classic, The Producers. The former Beatle loved comedies. In fact, he loved them so much that he formed his own film production company, Handmade Films, with the intent of financing Monty Python films.
In 1973, George hired Denis O’Brien to help him get his financial affairs in order after The Beatles split. However, O’Brien had an even bigger impact on George’s life and career.
It was O’Brien who suggested George get into the film-making business. According to the New York Times, George’s friend and Monty Python comedian Eric Idle confronted him about a problem with the comedy troupe.
EMI had pulled out of financing Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Idle went to George to see if he’d help. After George consulted O’Brien, they agreed to help by founding their own production company, Handmade Films, in 1978.
Source: cheatsheet.com
In his brief but prolific career as rock ‘n’ roll’s preeminent photographer, Ethan Russell toured with the Rolling Stones, shot album covers for the Who and captured iconic images of everyone from Linda Ronstadt to Jim Morrison of the Doors. And, yes, that was him clicking away in the background of Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary “Get Back” on Disney+.
Russell, who grew up in San Francisco and lives in Marin County, will revisit these incredible experiences as part of his upcoming appearance at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga on Saturday, March 19. The show is called — what else? — “The Best Seat in the House.” The 76-year-old photographer says it will be one of his last public outings of its kind, a contractual obligation from before the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Aidin Vaziri/datebook.sfchronicle.com
George Harrison had a lot to deal with in the last year of his life. He traveled around the world, stopping at some of the best hospitals to see what they had to offer in cancer treatment. First, George underwent surgery for lung cancer. Then doctors in Switzerland treated him for a brain tumor.
Later, he received radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. On top of that, tabloids published fabricated interviews saying George was bracing for the end.
Despite it all, George, his family, and friends remained optimistic. He never lost his wit, even as his illness took over, and he slowly started making peace with the material world. George even had time to visit his ex-wife one last time.
Source: cheatsheet.com
John Lennon‘s son, Julian, followed in his father’s footsteps, but it wasn’t easy. Julian had some pretty big shoes to fill, and the music industry and fans expected another John Lennon.
As far as singing went, Julian sounds eerily like his father. However, that’s as similar as father and son get. Julian wanted his own career, and it was hard when the music industry wouldn’t see him as anything more than John Lennon’s son.
Julian doesn’t know if he was born to make music like his famous father. He told Larry King that he fell in love with acting in school, not music. But he picked up a guitar, and “the rest is history,” he said.
His debut album, Valotte, came in 1984. Four other albums followed, but Julian dropped his music career after Photograph Smile in 1998.
At the time of his interview on Larry King Live, it had been 15 years since Julian had entered the recording studio. King asked him about the long hiatus. Julian said it was mostly because he’d never had a great relationship with the music industry.
Source: cheatsheet.com
George Harrison‘s son, Dhani Harrison, is a rock singer himself. George discussed how Dhani became exposed to some of The Beatles’ songs. Subsequently, George revealed a comedy starring Michael J. Fox helped his son become a fan of The Beach Boys’ songs.
According to the book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters, the “My Sweet Lord” singer discussed Dhani in a 1987 interview. Specifically, he discussed Dhani’s familiarity with The Beatles. “I’ve never consciously sat him down and said, ‘Listen, here’s the old Beatle records,’ but he’s picked up on them because when he was about four or five, Yellow Submarine — there’s an age group that like Yellow Submarine.”
George elaborated on children’s relationships to Yellow Submarine. “The kids watch, and they watch it every night for like three months, and then they forget about it,” he said. “And so he knows, then, songs like ‘[Hey] Bulldog,’ and all those things to do with that.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
The breakup of the Beatles was a devastating moment in music history. Although the band had previously experienced upheaval with Ringo Starr and George Harrison quitting and then returning, the 1970 breakup was the end of an era (via Metro). Paul McCartney revealed who was responsible for the Beatles' split, saying that it was John Lennon who initially declared his intentions to leave the group. McCartney quoted Lennon as saying it was "quite thrilling" and "rather like a divorce" when he announced his decision. Beatles legend had often placed McCartney at fault for initiating the breakup, but it was, in fact, Lennon who wanted them to go their separate ways (per The Guardian).
Source: Heather Baver/thelist.com
She bought him his first guitar and cheered him on when The Beatles became successful. Louise even entertained some of George’s most avid fans in her home and had a five-year-long correspondence with one.
So, it’s only natural that George was beside himself when she became ill in 1970. And when a musician’s emotions run high, no matter what they are, we all know what happens: they write songs.
In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George wrote that “Deep Blue” came to him when his mother was very ill and dying.
“I wrote ‘Deep Blue’ during the making of the All Things Must Pass LP,” George wrote. “It’s a bit obscure as it was only the ‘B-side’ of the ‘Bangla Desh’ single and never appeared on any album.
“It was written during the year my mother was very ill, and dying, and after going in the hospitals over and over again; it’s that smell and the whole atmosphere of doom that’s in those hospitals.
Source: cheatsheet.com
After Decca Records turned The Beatles down for a recording contract, the band auditioned for one of EMI’s finest producers, George Martin, then known for making comedy records. After a rough audition, Martin recognized their spark.
Since then, many have called Martin the fifth Beatle. However, before he died in 2016, Martin revealed he had a huge regret when it came to The Beatles.
According to Yahoo!, Martin revealed his biggest regret in life before he died. He made a huge mistake signing away the rights to any royalties of songs by The Beatles.
“My only regret with the Beatles is that I was wrongly advised and signed away my royalties to their records — about half a penny per title but, with them, that would have been an enormous amount,” Martin said in a 2007 interview with Mark Ellen which appeared in The Times.
Source: cheatsheet.com
In the late 1960s, George Harrison rejected one of Laurel Canyon’s most famous groups, Crosby, Stills & Nash. The trio hoped to score a recording contract with The Beatles’ newly established record label, Apple Records.
Apparently, they weren’t exactly what George had in mind.
After a fan tweeted about George rejecting Crosby, Stills & Nash, David Crosby explained what went down.
Crosby tweeted, “Did not record for them…live audition…sang the whole first record in London to George and Peter Asher …Apple passed on a number one record there …..ahh well …everybody makes mistakes ….Bet they regretted it later.”
Another fan replied, “Wow… I can’t imagine someone hearing ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes‘ at a live audition and deciding to pass.” Crosby responded that the trio was surprised too.
Source: cheatsheet.com
In 1964, George Harrison purchased his first home, a bungalow in Surrey, England. Living there started George’s interest in domesticity, although he didn’t quite live as he did at Friar Park, his second and last residence.
However, George quickly learned that there were some downsides to purchasing the property. His bungalow sat precariously close to an all-girls school. At the height of Beatlemania, that was not ideal.
George Harrison wearing white at his home in 1964.
Source: cheatsheet.com
