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(Birds chirping)
You know, just go ahead, George, go on and...
And fly away, babe. Just be free and...And go.
And we'll...We'll see you down the line.
Um, just leave.
Go to someplace nice. We're gonna be all right here.
And then... And he went on out. That was it.
(Man) ls there anything you'd say to George if he was around today?
(Laughs)
Fancy a cup of tea?
Where've you been?
l had a dream that l saw him,
and that was where...
That was what l said to him in the dream so l guess that's what would be
the question, wouldn't it? Where've you been...
since l last saw you?
And he answered it,
so l can tell you the answer as well, which is,
"Ηere the whole time."
Which doesn't really help me in any way, but, you know...
There's George with cancer, and he knows his life is limited.
And what he does is buys a... a house in Switzerland
so he can avoid paying the taxman here.
(Chuckles) The man who wrote the song Taxman,
even to his final hours, was determined to cheat the taxman.
And then l thought, "There's George."
Grace and...and humour.
And a weird kind of angry bitterness about certain things in life.
(Chuckles)
lt's still difficult to try and talk about him in a kind of...
anecdotal frivolous way. lt's...
lt's still too painful.
(Exhales)
( ♪ George Harrison: All Τhings Must Pass)
..Filii, Spiritus Sancti.
♪ Sunrise doesn't last all morning
♪ A cloudburst doesn't last all day
♪ Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
♪ lt's not always gonna be this grey ♪
(Air raid sirens)
(Radio static)
(Man) People in their gayest colours.
Red, white and blue rosettes. Red, white and blue hats.
(Cheering)
Τhat in accordance with arrangements between the three great powers...
( ♪ George Formby: Count Your Blessings and Smile)
♪ Make the world rejoice
♪ While you're playing your part
♪ Κeep a song in your heart
♪ Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
♪ Count your blessings and smile
♪ Sing low, sing high
♪ lsn't it grand, beating the band?
♪ Who wants to die
(Chuckles)
♪ Oh, what a happy land Ηi! ♪
( ♪ George Harrison: All Τhings Must Pass)
♪ All things must pass
♪ All things must pass away
♪ Sunset doesn't last all evening ♪
OΚ. Do you want me to start?
(Woman) OΚ, and then Pete can go.
Right. We lived in 12 Arnold Grove.
lt was a two up and two down.
The only heating was a coal fire, so there was no electricity.
Small backyard. Toilet down the bottom of the yard.
lt was a very cold place.
(Man) What kind of kid was George?
Ηe was cocky. A cocky little guy.
Ηe...Ηe had a good sense of himself.
You know, he wasn't cowed by anything.
Ηe had a great haircut.
Ηe had this long hair that he quiffed back.
We had a...had a friend, Arthur.
And he used to describe it as (Scouse) "a fucking turban.
"Like a fucking turban."
And it did. lt looked like a great big...
Was... Marvellous thing.
Looking back now, you know, it was pre-fame.
So you were just an ordinary kid
who couldn't get in places cos you weren't famous.
Teachers didn't like you.
You know, rock and roll hadn't arrived yet.
l always think of it as kind of Dickensian.
And the school that l went to with George, incidentally, was...
was a very Dickensian old place.
ln fact, Dickens had taught there. Τhat's how Dickensian it was.
You grew up kind of wanting to go somewhere else.
lt made you hungry.
So art was a great golden vision.
You know, so for us that... We wouldn't have called it art then.
lt'd be rock and roll.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Raunchy)
We needed a good guitar player.
Both John and l played a bit of guitar,
but we couldn't really solo. We weren't that good.
And l said, "l know this guy.
"Ηe's a bit young, but he's good."
John said, "Well, you know, let's meet him, come on."
So l said to George, "You wanna go meet these guys
"l'm in a group with, you know?" Ηe said "Yeah."
So he brought his guitar,
and we were all on the top deck of a double-decker bus in Liverpool,
round where John lived, a place called Woolton.
And nobody was on the bus, late at night and, uh...
John said, "Well, go on then. Let's see you play." To George.
l said, "Go on, go on, get your guitar out."
So George unpacked his guitar, got it out,
and he played the thing called Raunchy, which is...
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Raunchy)
George, only a brief document or two left.
For the record, l'd just like to say
these are more papers that l don't know what they say that l'm signing.
- (Man) Any of these? - Yes, all those.
John Winston Ono Lennon. No, no. No, no, no.
Richard Starkey, or John Lennon, or George Ηarrison.
Κrishna, Κrishna, Κrishna.
May the Lord help this to become final.
(Man) The small gathering on Savile Row
is only the beginning.
Τhe event is so momentous that historians may one day view it
as a landmark in the decline of the British Empire.
The Beatles are breaking up.
( ♪ George Harrison: Τhe Light Τhat Has Lighted Τhe World)
♪ lt's funny how people
♪ Just won't accept change
♪ As if nature itself
♪ Τhey prefer rearranged ♪
(George) When l was still at school and l was really small
l know John was really embarrassed
cos l was so tiny, l only looked about ten years old.
When l met John, he had four strings on this guitar.
l mean, John didn't even know guitars had six strings.
And l said, "What are you doing? What's that?"
And he was saying, you know, "What?"
You know, he thought that's what it was.
So we showed John the guitar chords. E and A and all those.
My mother was a real big fan of music, and she was really happy about
having the...the guys around.
You know, and John was always keen to get out of his house because of, um...
Ηis Aunt Mimi was kind of very stern and strict and...
she embarrassed him.
l remember going to John's house once
when l first had met him. l was still at the lnstitute.
And we were trying to look like Teddy Boys,
which was like, that style in those days.
And l must've looked pretty good, cos she was like...
She didn't like me at all. She was really shocked.
She said, "Look at him!" You know, "Who is this?
"Bringing this boy around to this house.
"Look at him. Ηe looks dreadful, like a Teddy Boy."
And he'd just say, "Shut up, Mary, shut up!"
( ♪ George Harrison: Wildcat)
♪ Don't you try
♪ To tame a wildcat
♪ You just don't understand
♪ Wildcat's what they name me
♪ Don't let no kitten tame me, oh no
♪ Not me ♪
(Ηarry Ηarrison) Our wedding was just one of those occasions
where they thought they would practise on people and see what happened.
They were not exactly...
what the majority of people there expected.
They had a tea break,
an elderly lady who was one of the guests came along
to play the piano, who was a real pub player.
She could really hammer out tunes that everybody wanted to sing to.
The three lads reappeared from the bar, pints in hand,
and John just poured a pint over this lady's head.
Just straight over the head, saying, "l anoint thee, David."
And just walked away. And this lady surprised me because...
there was absolutely nothing. There was no reaction.
She just smiled and got up and went away
and got dry again, you know. lt was just...
And l thought it was funny
because like in those days, people used to say,
"Oh, yeah, so you had a wedding in Liverpool.
"Ηow many fights were there?"
But, like, there wasn't even a fight.
You know, the nearly fight was
John Lennon pouring a pint on her head.
(George) When l met John, he had a lot of power, really.
Sometimes, you know,
they'd pick somebody to march behind on the way to war.
Well, he was certainly out front.
(Jools Ηolland) When you thought you wanted to be a musician,
where did you think you'd end up?
(George) There's no justification for it.
We kinda had a feeling that that's what we were gonna do,
and that, you know, we just felt that something good was gonna happen.
But, then, in those days, something good would just be,
you know, getting to do a tour of Mecca ballrooms.
- Yeah. - That was like a big deal.
( ♪ The Beatles: Nothing Shaking But the Leaves on the Τrees)
♪ She's got a way that makes me act like a fool
♪ Spends my money then she plays me cruel
♪ l'm begging for her kisses on my bended knee
♪ Won't you give me some loving, baby? Please, please, please ♪
( ♪ George Harrison: Beware of Darkness)
♪ Watch out now, take care
♪ Beware of falling swingers
♪ Dropping all around you
♪ Τhe pain that often mingles ♪
(Κlaus Voormann) After wartime, you still had lots of bombed houses.
Not poverty.
l mean, the Germans were rich quite quick, you know.
lt didn't take them long to pick up on that one.
That particular day, l had an argument with Astrid.
l was really angry, and l wanted to let steam off.
And l quite often went that direction to the harbour.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Shimmy Shake)
(Glass shattering)
The Reeperbahn is really for the sailors,
for the people getting drunk,
for people going to see naked women, or having sex, or whatever.
That's what this place is known for.
( ♪ The Beatles: Shimmy Shake)
Κlaus was always very laid back.
You know, you couldn't quite impress him by things.
Ηe always said, "Yeah, great. Fantastic."
But, when he came home seeing the Beatles for the first time,
l've never seen him like that before. Ηe just went crazy.
When l came down to the Κaiserkeller with Κlaus,
then, after he had to persuade me for three days,
l just freaked out.
Seeing them onstage,
faces l always dreamt of taking pictures of.
Because they had so much personality and were still young, like l...l was.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Roll Over Beethoven)
♪ l'm gonna write a little letter Gonna mail it to my local DJ
♪ lt's a rocking little record l want my jockey to play
♪ Roll over Beethoven l gotta hear it again today ♪
(George) We didn't really have that much money.
We only just really had enough to feed ourselves.
So there was nothing really to show for it.
But everything else was such a buzz.
You know, being right in the middle of the naughtiest city in the world.
At 1 7 years old, it was kind of exciting.
And learning, you know, about,
well, there's all the gangsters and there's the transvestites.
And there's the... You know, it was like that. There's the hookers...
(Κlaus) They looked real strange, Teddy Boy-like.
They didn't have the leather gear yet.
The leather thing came when they met Astrid and me
and the way we were walking around.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Roll Over Beethoven)
We loved this band. We were knocked out.
And we didn't realise how they lived.
The Bambi Κino was a porno cinema.
The room they stayed in first was a sort of place
where you'd normally put brooms and things.
There was no window,
there was just a light bulb on the ceiling.
And they were sort of living in these little cupboards, so to speak,
right behind the screen of that cinema.
And it was terrible, because they were smelly, stinky.
They couldn't wash their clothes properly.
(Astrid) Κlaus introduced me to them
and John did his, you know, "l'm a man, l'm a man" thing.
And Paul was doing his,
"l'm a good boy, good education" bit, you know.
Said hello and gave... Shook my hand.
And George was just... Looked at me and said,
"Oh, hello. And you are Κlaus's girlfriend?"
But he was ever so sweet.
l came to know George then.
And he was interested in so many things,
but, let's say on the quiet,
because Paul was the one who said, "Oh, who is that?"
and, "Who wrote this book?" and, "Who is that on that picture?"
George was just sitting there looking at my room,
which must have been very strange to them,
because it was completely black
with leaves and branches hanging from the ceiling.
l think at first George thought l was a bit mad.
But that became,
very shortly, a very lovely and nice friendship.
Astrid took them to her house. And she cooked for them.
Astrid's mother was cooking their favourite meals for them.
So they had their little home suddenly, which....
Astrid really took care of them really well.
(George) Yeah, it was really good for us to meet them too.
Τhey, in themselves, were very artistic.
l mean, for us, we started hanging out with them
and Astrid was so loving.
She really helped us a lot.
(Astrid) You may think it was sexually.
Of course, in a way, they all fancied me,
because l was quite good-looking and charming
in my own little way, with my funny English.
When l started falling in love with Stuart,
it was great that l was a photographer,
so l could just go up easily to him and ask him,
"Do you mind if l take pictures of you?"
Because l felt so attracted to him.
( ♪ Paul McCartney: A Τaste of Honey)
♪ A taste of honey
♪ Τasting much sweeter than wine
♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo
♪ l dream of your first kiss
♪ And then
♪ l feel upon my lips again
♪ A taste of honey
♪ Τaste of honey
♪ Τasting much sweeter than wine ♪
(Astrid) l always had a vision
that l want to take pictures of outstanding faces,
who can tell a story behind the mask.
lmagine what is behind this rough young man John Lennon.
And what is behind the funny, joking Paul.
Or the lovely, sweet little George.
(Κlaus) George was only 1 7 years of age.
But he was calm.
Ηe looked you straight in the face. Ηe was funny.
And he was a catalyst in the band.
You see, Paul and John were so different.
And George was bringing a certain peace into this setup.
l mean, Ringo wasn't with them at the time,
because Pete Best was playing the drums.
And Stuart was more on the side.
But George was right in the middle between those two characters.
After Stuart's death, John and George really cared about me.
You know, they used to come and see me in my home.
And so it was actually John's suggestion.
John said, "Can l see where he used to paint?"
So l said, "Of course you can."
ln that moment, l had to take a picture of them.
And l just grabbed this old chair and put it there.
And John was so full of emotion
being in the same room where his friend was just painting,
that he nearly burst out in tears.
And George was a bit worried.
So l just said to George, "Well, stand behind him."
You could see how quickly
George understood what it was all about.
Death and being alive.
Ηe was only just turned 1 8.
And when you look at the picture and see his eyes,
they're so full of protection for John.
And John was just falling to bits sitting there.
And you could see that in his face.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Τhis Boy)
(George) Aw!
l gave that guitar away. Ah, that's the one.
♪ Τhat boy
♪ Τook my love away
♪ He'll regret it some day
- ♪ Doo da doo - ♪ Τhis boy
♪ Wants you back again
(Laughing)
♪ Τhat boy
♪ lsn't good for you
♪ Τhough he may want you too
Good song, though. Not a bad song.
♪ Τhis boy wants you back again
(George) John was as blind as a bat and he'd never wear his glasses,
so he couldn't see a thing.
♪ Oh, and this boy would be happy
♪ Just to love you
Double track.
♪ Oh my-y-y-y-y
♪ Τhat boy won't be happy
♪ Τill he's seen you
♪ Cry-y-y-y ♪
(Screaming)
(George) lt was almost like we were waiting to get going.
And we couldn't go until all the Beatles were in the frame.
Ringo was the member of the band.
lt's just that he didn't enter the film until that particular scene, you know?
We were always kinda, you know, a little nervous before
each step we went up the ladder.
And that was a good thing about being four together.
We all shared the experience.
Ηow many Beatles does it take to change a light bulb?
(Laughs)
Four.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: l Saw Ηer Standing There)
♪ Well, she was just 1 7
♪ You know what l mean
♪ And the way she looked
♪ Was way beyond compare
♪ Ηow could l dance with another?
♪ Oh, since l saw her standing there ♪
Well, you know, we just went in, we were punks, really.
You know what l mean? We were like just these punks.
We went in, we're all incredibly grateful to be on vinyl.
You know, the idea of getting a record.
And then, when it was going up the charts in England,
we'd stop the car cos you'd know when it was coming on.
BBC at 4: 1 9.
"Stop the car!" And then we'd listen to the record.
And then drive on up to the gig.
( ♪ The Beatles: l Saw Ηer Standing Τhere)
♪ Now l'll never dance with another
♪ Ooh, since l saw her standing there ♪
Whoa!
(Girls screaming)
Does the continuous living and working together
impose any temperamental stress upon you?
No, actually, it's quite... lt's quite lucky cos we've been...
♪ We've been together now
(All) ♪ For 40 years
You know, we've all been mates for quite a long time,
so we don't get on each other's nerves as much as we could.
l think l saw you being greeted by somebody outside.
- No, no, that was George. - That was me. That was me.
- Uh-huh. - Yeah.
Well, actually, it was, um, my mother.
(Laughter)
Your mother has to come to lreland to see you?
Yeah. (Laughs)
( ♪ The Beatles: l Saw Ηer Standing Τhere)
♪ Well, we danced through the night
♪ And we held each other tight
♪ And before too long l fell in love with her
♪ Now, l'll never dance with another ♪
(Man) Do you find any difficulty in keeping up your public image, just...
- No. - What image?
Our image is just us. You know, as we were.
We didn't try and make an image.
lt just happened. And so we don't have to keep it up.
We just remain ourselves. Don't we, Ringo?
- Well, l... We do. We do. - Don't know about those other two.
l mean, it's the other two we're worried about.
(Ringo) The general atmosphere, we all loved it.
We all dug it, but, you know,
still in the band, we all had personalities and attitudes.
We stopped at a motorway café, you know.
Eat some grease.
No, Paul had the keys, and George was sittin' behind the wheel,
as we came up.
And so, an argument went on for at least an hour and a half.
"l've got the keys." "Well, l'm sittin' behind the wheel."
And it was like, we had to sit there and go through this
cos one of... No one was gonna give up.
You know, "l got the keys." "l've got the wheel."
( ♪ The Beatles: You Can't Do That)
♪ So, please listen to me if you wanna stay mine
♪ l can't help my feelings l go out of my mind
♪ l'm gonna let you down
♪ Let you down
♪ And leave you flat
♪ Gonna let you down and leave you flat
♪ Because l told you before
♪ Oh, you can't do that
Ahh!
♪ You can't do that ♪
(Dhani reads) "Dear Mum and Dad,
"the shows have been going great with everybody going potty.
"And everywhere we go, we have about 20 police on motorbikes escorting us.
"We have had two Cadillacs every place.
"But, tonight, when we finished the show and ran out,
"the cars weren't there and had gone to another door.
"So we went back inside until we could get out.
"All the kids came out of the show and saw the two cars around the side
"and stormed them and jumped all over them.
"And the drivers had to get out and both cars were completely wrecked.
"And the roofs were right down on the seats inside.
"Some girl fell through a skylight from the roof of a building,
"and 45 more were put in hospital.
"ln the end, we escaped in an ambulance.
"But, don't worry, because no one can get near us
"for all the police and security."
♪ l got something to say That might cause you pain
♪ lf l catch you talking to that boy again
♪ l'm gonna let you down
♪ And leave you flat
♪ Because l told you before
♪ Oh, you can't do that ♪
(Man) What actors would you like to meet in Ηollywood?
(Paul) Paul Newman.
(Man) What actresses?
(George) Jayne Mansfield.
(Ringo) We were all in our early 20s, so we were just going with it.
The good side of it was that you could really go shopping.
(Laughs)
You know, there's the great line that the Beatles were...
They had one day off a month
and on the day off Paul would judge a beauty pageant.
♪ Everybody's green
♪ Cos l'm the one who won your love
♪ But if they'd seen
♪ You talking that way They'd laugh in my face
♪ So, please listen to me if you wanna stay mine
♪ l can't help my feelings l go out of my mind
♪ l'm gonna let you down
♪ Let you down
♪ And leave you flat
♪ Gonna let you down and leave you flat ♪
You know, the Beatles only ever had one car,
and two rooms in any hotel between 'em.
We got closer together. The bigger it got, the closer we became.
Because from the minute you sort of left the security of your apartment,
the heat was on.
People wanted a piece, wanted to talk, wanted a photo, wanted to do.
And so we sort of, you know, kept each other company.
(Screaming)
- Paul! - George!
(Ringo) When we first came to New York is a great story because
we had the whole floor in the Plaza
and the four of us ended up in the bathroom.
We were just sitting in there, like, "Ηey, how you doin'? What's goin' on?"
Just to get a break from, you know, the incredible pressure.
(Screaming)
( ♪ The Beatles: Money)
♪ Money don't get everything it's true
♪ What it don't get l can't use
♪ That's what l want
♪ That's what l want ♪
(John) The next song we'd like to sing...
- (Fans screaming) - (Girl) John!
Shut up. l'll kill you.
..is our latest record.
(Screaming)
Nah-ya-ho!
Or our latest electronic noise depending on whose side you're on.
♪ That's what l want
♪ That's what l wa-a-a-a-ant ♪ That's what l want
♪ That's all l want ♪
(Man) Are you individually millionaires yet?
(John) No, that's another lousy rumour, l wish we were.
- (Laughter) - All right, then. Where does all the money go?
Well, a lot of it goes to Ηer Majesty.
(Man laughs)
She's a millionaire.
(Screaming)
♪ That's what l want
♪ That's what l want ♪
(Girl) l love the Beatles!
(Dhani reads) "Τhis morning we're off to Wellington.
"We've been and played here in Sydney, and it was the biggest drag of all time.
"Τhe stage revolves every three minutes,
"and we have to walk right down the aisles like boxers
"to get to the stage.
"At the first house, l punched a policeman
"because he was shoving me like mad.
"And some kids had a hold of me all at once
"and l was trying to get off the stage.
"l was swearing my head off at one policeman. Sorry.
"And later, the chief came and apologised to me.
"After the show, there was a party in the hotel for Paul's birthday."
lt's great at the beginning.
You know, where, you know, you're recognised,
you get a great seat in a restaurant,
and, you know, things are bigger and things come to you faster.
Um, you know, all that is great. And then, you really want that to end.
- (Screaming) - (Paul) Thank you very much, ta. Erm...
This...This number...
(Laughs) Shush! Shush!
This number we'd like to sing now...
(Ringo) You fight for it, and then when you get it,
you want it to end, but it never ends.
That's...That's the deal.
We do like the fans, and enjoy reading the publicity about us.
But, from time to time, you don't realise
that it's actually about yourself.
You see your pictures and read articles about, you know,
George Ηarrison, Ringo Starr, Paul and John,
but you don't actually think,
"Oh, that's me. There l am in the paper."
lt's...lt's funny. lt just as though it's a different person.
( ♪ The Beatles: Roll Over Beethoven)
♪ l'm gonna write a little letter Gonna mail it to my local DJ
♪ lt's a rocking little record l want my jockey to play
♪ Roll over, Beethoven Gotta hear it again today
♪ You know my temperature's rising And the jukebox's blown a fuse ♪
(Woman) Do you know where you were this time last week?
No. Ηaven't a clue.
(George) l don't even know what day it is.
You don't know what day it is?
What is it?
( ♪ Rock and roll)
(Audience screaming)
(Actor as young George) "We've been to the Hollywood Bowl
"and done the show, which was great.
"And the place was marvellous.
"Τhe seats go right up the side of big hills.
"Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, came to see us,
"and gave us all real leather belts and holster sets.
"Cowboy things. And little covered wagons which are television lamps.
"He was good, too and said that Elvis wants to meet us,
"and has invited us to his house in Memphis, Τennessee.
"Τonight we were invited to Burt Lancaster's house
"and he made us very welcome.
"His house was a knockout and cost him a million dollars.
"l had a swim in his pool, which was great,
"and as hot as a bath almost.
"After that, the men from General Artists
"who were organising the tour
"wanted us to go to this place called Whiskey A Go-Go on Sunset Strip.
"And they said it would be great and we wouldn't be bothered.
"We got there and went in and fought our way
"with Mal and a few big hard men to a table where John and Derek were.
"And Jayne Mansfield.
"By this time, after fighting through the crowd,
"l was annoyed and l threw some Coke on a cameraman.
"We all fought our way back out and jumped in the car and went home.
"lt was a drag. And we were there for about ten minutes altogether.
"You see why we don't usually bother going out now."
(Man) Ηow did George deal with it?
Well, George, you know, George had two incredible separate personalities.
Ηe had the love, bag of beads personality and the bag of anger.
Ηe was very black and white.
..Whether you will go along with any change in taste?
Uh, no.
Well, you never know because we have...
- Well, we change anyway, don't we? - Yeah.
We hope you've enjoyed the show tonight. Ηave you enjoyed it?
(Screaming)
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Blue Jay Way)
♪ Τhere's a fog upon LA
♪ And my friends have lost their way
♪ We'll be over soon they said
♪ Now they've lost themselves instead
♪ Please don't be long ♪
l was boss of Parlophone Records
and l'd made it my business over the previous years
to develop Parlophone as a comedy label.
And in fact, when Brian Epstein desperately took us on,
or hoped we would take him on,
he felt he'd hit rock bottom, cos he'd been everywhere else
and now he was ending up on a comedy label.
l first met the Beatles in 1 962.
l wasn't terribly impressed with the first stuff they did.
l couldn't make out the sound.
You know, it was something l hadn't heard before.
So l looked at these four guys, and thought,
"Well, none of them shines as being above all the others."
And l had to make up my mind, in my silly mind,
who the lead singer was gonna be.
Suddenly l realised l would take them as they were, as a group.
Τhe hell with a lead singer. They would be singing together.
So we were struggling with the sound a bit.
And l said to the boys
after we'd done a few takes of rather nondescript songs,
l said, "Come into the control room and have a listen
"and see what we've been doing.
"And if there's anything you don't like, tell us."
And George was the one who took the leap.
And he said, "Well, l don't like your tie for a start."
And the others were horrified. They thought, "God, he's blown it."
But of course, l fell around laughing. l thought it was...
lt was so cheeky, and so funny that l...
You know, he endeared himself to me on that point.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: And l Love Her)
♪ l give her all my love
♪ That's all l do
♪ And if you saw my love
♪ You'd love her too
♪ l love her ♪
John and l would write the songs the week before the studio.
Brian would ring us up... Brian Epstein, and say,
"You're in the studio next week. You've got a week off."
We'd go, "Yes!"
Ηe'd say, "But you've got to write the album."
We'd go, "Yes!"
So we'd just, you know, each day we'd write a song
so we can have seven or so songs to go in with,
which was, you know, enough to...to start with.
And we'd go in the studio, 1 0:00 in the morning,
and this was the first time George and Ringo had heard any of the songs.
So this is how good they were.
John and l would go, "lt goes like this."
You know, ♪ She loves you, yeah... ♪
Or whatever it was.
And they'd go, "Mm-hm."
George would cop the chords. Ηe'd go, "Uh-huh, uh-huh",
not writing 'em down, it was just like, "Yeah, go on,
"cos, you know, l can see what you're doing.
"Cos l'm one of you.
"You know, l didn't write it, but l see what you did."
Ringo would just stand around with his sticks... (lmitates rhythm) and do his little thing.
( ♪ The Beatles: And l Love Ηer)
And l was just thinking actually about my song And l Love Ηer.
♪ l give her all my love ♪
l had that, but then George comes in with...
(Ηums riff from And l Love Ηer)
Now you think about that. Τhat's the song.
You know, but he made that up on the session.
Cos he knew the chords, and he just said,
"Well, you knoW", we said, "it needs a riff."
l didn't write that.
When we got together in the studio,
whoever had written the song, would be the kind of boss,
in leading the other guys through it.
Paul and John, being the songwriters.
And at that stage, George wasn't showing himself to be a songwriter.
They were the dominant forces.
George and Ringo were slightly behind Paul and John
because Paul and John were the writers and the lead singers.
l guess George was a kind of a loner, really,
and because he was outside the team that were providing the hits.
John and Paul had each other to play against.
And their collaboration was much more of a competition
than a collaboration, really.
One would do something, and the other one would say,
"Gosh, l think l can do better than that." And try and make something better.
George was the sole guy. Ηe had no one to work with.
(George strums electric guitar and scats)
(George) Τhe funny position l was in was that in many ways,
you know, this whole focus of attention was on the Beatles.
So in that respect, l was part of it.
But from being in them
an attitude came over, which was John and Paul.
"OK, you know, we're the grooves and you two, you know, just watch it."
l mean, don't forget, l spent ten years in the back of the limousine with them.
- (George strums) - About that speed.
(Man) Don't Bother Me. Τhis is remake recording, take 1 0.
(George) Don't Bother Me was the first song again.
lt was written basically as an exercise to see if l could write a song
cos l thought, "Well, if John and Paul can write,
- "everybody must be able to." - (Man laughs)
(Harrison) One, two, three, four.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Don't Bother Me)
♪ Since she's been gone l want no one to talk to me ♪
- (George) lt's just going too fast. - (Music stops)
- (Clapper) Take 1 2. - (George) One, two...
(George) l wrote that in the hotel in Bournemouth.
We were doing the summer season, and l was sick in bed.
Maybe that's why it turned out Don't Bother Me.
(Man) Yeah.
(George) But it's not a particularly good song,
but it at least showed me that
you know, all l needed to do was keep on writing
and maybe some day l'd...
write something good.
Which l still feel, right at this point,
l still keep thinking l wish l could write something good.
♪ Since she's been gone l don't want no one to talk to me
♪ lt's not the same But l'm to blame, it's plain to see
♪ So go away, leave me alone Don't bother me
♪ l can't believe that she would leave me on my own
♪ lt's just not right when every night l'm all alone
♪ l've got no time for you right now Don't bother me
♪ l know l'll never be the same
♪ lf l don't get her back again
♪ Because l know she'll always be
♪ Τhe only girl for me ♪
When l saw George and Pattie together,
the way they fit into the Beatles thing, of all of their domesticity
seemed to be like Camelot, you know.
lt was like, uh...
And l was the Lancelot in a way.
l was kind of this lone wolf without really any, uh...
direction.
( ♪ The Yardbirds)
l saw the Beatles play at the Ηammersmith Odeon
when l was bottom of the bill in the Yardbirds.
Τhis band was like... They were like a single person.
lt was an odd phenomena, in fact,
that they seemed to move together and think together.
lt was almost like a little family unit.
l was very, very suspicious about what they were up to.
But when l saw them play, l mean, l was overwhelmed by their gift.
You know, each one of them seemed to be,
very well endowed with their own musical capacity.
But the sad part was that no one listened to 'em. (Chuckles)
And that their audience, which they had cultivated, l suppose,
they were, you know, 12-year-old girls.
Ηe was clearly an innovator.
George, to me, was taking certain elements
of R&B and rock and rockabilly
and creating something unique.
They were very generous to everybody.
l mean, they took time to come and talk to everybody.
l didn't feel threatened at all
because l had quite a lot of self-confidence
going in my concept of myself as being,
you know, this sort of blues missionary, as it were.
And...And l...
You know, l wasn't looking for any favours from anybody.
And George recognised me as an equal because l had a level of proficiency
even then that he saw as being fairly unique too, you know.
George chose to move into a house in Esher.
Now, Esher is maybe eight miles north of where l was born.
We became friends and l would go and visit them there.
And something grew out of the music and the kind of people we were.
l think we shared a lot of tastes too.
ln other...you know, superficial things, cars or clothes, but...
And women, obviously. But, um...
l think what George might have liked about me
was the fact that l was a kind of free agent.
And l think, if anything, he may have already been wondering about whether
he was in the right place being in a group, you know,
cos the group...the group politic is a...is a tricky one.
You know, there was a lot about what he had going which l envied,
and there was a lot about what l had going that he envied.
(Man) What did he have going that you envied?
Well, l suppose, money, status.
You know, the classic things.
The Beatles. Man, come on.
(Laughing)
ln the beginning, in the early days,
what was good about being George's friend
was that it was kind of like basking in the sunshine of this immense creativity.
We'd like to carry on with a song
which is off our last LP.
The LP's called Rubber Soul
and the song, which is sung by our guitarist George
is called lf l Needed Someone.
( ♪ The Beatles: lf l Needed Someone)
♪ lf l needed someone to love
♪ You're the one that l'd be thinking of
♪ lf l needed someone
♪ lf l had some more time to spend
♪ l guess l'd be with you, my friend
♪ lf l needed someone ♪
This is largely an appeal to the, the feminine heart.
The heart of a young girl who worships love
and the goddess of love and the heroes of love.
And this plays the dominant part in her life.
So the vast majority of the fans
are girls who come there to worship at the shrine of the goddess
or the young god hero as they did in the ancient past.
l've seen this with the most dramatic intensity
with the Beatles playing to two or three thousand young girls in Manchester.
Apart from another journalist, l was the only male in the audience.
And l've never experienced anything like it myself.
lf l were confronted with 1 0,000 Loch Ness monsters
l wouldn't be so impressed
by this whistling and wailing and possession
of the soul of these young girls.
(Man) Would you say it's true that the devotion your group attracts
is essentially religious in nature?
(Lennon) No.
ln what way is it not?
Well, in what ways do you think it is?
The fervour, the excitement that it...
Well, would you say the football crowds are any more religious,
or football fanatics have any more religion in them
than the Beatle fanatics? l don't think so.
(Newsreader) One value divides the generations
more sharply than any other. Religion.
The gap is greatest between college students and their parents.
Τhe question was whether belonging to some organised religion
is important in a person's life.
9 out of 1 0 parents say it is.
Only 4 out of 1 0 college students say religion is important.
And the more radical the youth politically,
the more likely he is to reject the religious values of adult society.
Still, the gap is there whatever the politics.
(Man) Well, some of the remarks attributed to you
in some of the newspapers, the press here,
concerning the remark that you made
comparing the relative popularity of the Beatles with Jesus Christ
and that the Beatles were more popular.
This created quite a controversy and a furore in this country.
Would you clarify the remark?
l've clarified it about eight 800 times, you know.
l could've said TV or something else, you know.
And that's as clear as it can be.
There were other evidences that that ol' time religion was under attack.
Evangelist Billy Graham went to London
hoping he could stop England from swinging.
ln the process, he was almost engulfed by sin on a Soho street.
l think a great deal of what we see among young people today
is actually a spiritual search.
These young people are searching for a creed to believe in,
a song to sing and a cause to follow.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: lf l Needed Someone)
♪ Carve your number on my wall
♪ And maybe you will get a call from me
♪ lf l needed someone
♪ Ahh
♪ Ahh ♪
Before we sort of "made it", as they say,
money was partly the goal, but it still wasn't, "Let's get some money."
But we sort of got... Suddenly had money, and then it wasn't all that good.
By having the money we found that money wasn't the answer
because we had lots of material things
that people, sort of, spend their whole life to try and get.
And we managed to get them at quite an early age.
And it was good really, because we learnt that that wasn't it.
We still lacked something. And that "something" is the thing
that religion is trying to give to people.
(lnterviewer) Ηave they changed because of all this?
Altered, developed, perhaps, but not...
Not changed too much.
They're not in any way contaminated by it.
Not nearly as seriously contaminated as many of the people
who occasionally surround us.
They remain very calm and bland and simple.
And they don't know what it's all about.
They simply want to play their music and write it.
They're...They're very normal. Thank goodness.
l came home one day with the kids and Derek said,
"Brian's just phoned." Brian Epstein.
"And he's having a housewarming in Sussex,
"and he wants us to go. Ηe wants all his friends to be there."
So we rallied all our babysitters together,
and we found ourselves on a plane.
And we arrived at Ηeathrow, and waiting for us was John,
and George.
And they were dressed in this exotic way.
They had silk shirts, and they were this incredible colour.
And they hugged us and they kissed us and they...
All of a sudden it's like there are no barriers, no handshakes. lt's...
And what's happening?
And we were swept out to this...
To outside Ηeathrow Airport where John's Rolls-Royce,
like a Romany caravan, was waiting for us.
George, in his Mini and us in the Rolls-Royce
with Procol Ηarum playing Whiter Shade of Pale,
driving along the English country roads from Surrey to Sussex.
And Brian was waiting for us.
And there were all sorts of his friends, famous and not so famous.
And George gave Derek acid and John gave me acid.
And then John gave Derek acid. So Derek had a double dose.
And we spent the whole night with them,
on this mind adventure
which Paul had described to us as "controlled weirdness."
(Laughs) l'm not quite sure how controlled it was, but it was weird.
But it was wonderful, and it bonded us, because they were so kind to us.
And we came through it and we walked out into this Εnglish country garden
with the night receding and the sun coming.
Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun, well...
That...That was what happened, literally what happened.
When we took the notorious wonder drug LSD...
(Man) Yes.
..it was... We didn't know we were having it.
John and l had the... had this drug and it was given...
We were at... Ηaving dinner with our dentist.
(Audience laughs)
And he put it in our coffee and never told us.
And we'd never... We never heard of it.
l mean, it's a good job we hadn't heard of it,
because there's been so much paranoia created around the drug
that people now if they take it they're already on a bad trip before they start.
Whereas for us we didn't know anything. We were so naive.
And so we had it and we went out to a club
and it was incredible. lt was really incredible.
Something like a very concentrated version
of the best feeling l'd ever had in my life.
lt was just, like, fantastic.
l just felt like in love.
But not with anything in particular, or anybody, just with everything.
Just everything was perfect.
And we walked and things weren't the same that night as they'd been.
lt was... All this Alice in Wonderland stuff was going on.
But strange things.
l remember Pattie was, you know, half playfully,
but half kind of like crazy,
was trying to smash a shop window.
And l was kind of being like, you know, "Come on now, don't be silly.
You know. "This way." (Chuckles)
And we got around this corner and...
lt was all these lights and taxis.
lt looked like there was a big film premiere going on.
lt was probably just the doorway to the nightclub.
lt seemed like, you know, very bright.
And all these people with make-up that was like this thick on their faces.
You know, like masks.
l had this lingering thought
that just stayed with me after that.
And this thought was Yogis of the Ηimalayas.
l don't know why. lt just....
l never thought about them for the rest of my life.
But suddenly this thought was in the back of my consciousness.
lt was like somebody was whispering to me, you know.
The Yogis of the Ηimalayas.
♪ Prabhujee
♪ Dayaa karo
♪ Prabhujee
♪ Dayaa karo
♪ Maname aana baso
♪ Prabhujee ♪
lnterview de Monsieur George Ηarrison et Ravi Shankar par Michel Vial.
(Laughs)
Sound is God.
And through sound, or that is through good music,
there can be also music which can be devil.
- l don't want to name which music. - (George laughs)
But... (Laughs) ..music can excite you and make you...go mad.
People go, you know, crazy. That is also music.
But it didn't... Doesn't lead you, spiritually towards God.
But music has this power.
Whether it is through the Gregorian chants
or beautiful Baroque music, or lndian music, or even folk songs,
beautifully sung by people with beautiful voices.
Our music has been handed down from person to person.
lt's an oral tradition. lt's not a written down music.
And the guru passes not just a technique,
but the whole spiritual aspect.
All the meaning of life, philosophy,
everything is passed along with the music.
(George) Τhe fact that l met so many people,
l can meet anybody, you know.
You could go in all the film stars' houses and Elvis and everybody.
And we met a lot of really good people.
But we didn't... l never met one person who really impressed me.
Τhe first person who ever impressed me in my life was Ravi Shankar.
And he was the only person who didn't try to impress me.
(Man) Why did he impress you?
(George) Because it was by his being.
He taught me so much without actually saying a word.
lt's by example.
(Ravi Shankar) Now try to count. Five, five and six.
- Five, five makes 1 0. - (George) Yeah.
(Ravi) And 6 makes 1 6.
9, 1 0, 1 1 , 1 2, 1 3, 1 4.
- One, two, three, four, five. - (Τabla)
One, two, three, four, five. One...
(George) Two, three, four, five. One, two.
(Ravi) Five. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
(George) One, two, three, four, five.
(Ravi) Three, four, five. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
What you can do, or if, if it is difficult for you to get....
One, two, three, four. Just...
- (George) One, two... - (Ravi) Τhree, four.
(Ravi laughs) lt's quite difficult.
(George) One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four.
- One, two, three, four... - No. One.
(George) One, two, three, four.
lf you're trying to find something,
to find the source of that thing is very difficult
but my blessing was to be able
to have Ravi as my patch cord.
And he could plug me in to the real thing,
so my experience of it was always the best quality.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Love to You)
♪ Each day just goes so fast
♪ l turn around, it's past
♪ You don't get time to hang a sign on me
♪ Love me while you can
♪ Before l'm a dead old man ♪
(George) Ravi and the sitar was kind of like an excuse
to try and find this spiritual connection.
l read stuff by various holy men and Swamis and mystics
and l went around and looked for them.
Ravi and his brother gave me a lot of books by some wise men.
One of the books which was by a Swami Vivekananda who said,
"lf there's a God, you must see Ηim and if there's a soul we must perceive it.
"Otherwise it's better not to believe.
"lt's better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite."
And after all my life, l've been brought up...
Well, they tried to bring me up as a Catholic.
Τhey had told you to just believe what they're telling you
and, you know, not to have the direct experience.
And this for me going to lndia and hearing somebody saying, you know,
"No, you can't believe anything until you have direct perception of it."
And l thought, "Wow, you know, fantastic!
"At last, you know, find somebody who... who makes some sense."
And so l wanted to go deeper and deeper into that.
l think that George's experiences
of expanding his mind with acid
led him to looking for something that didn't need chemicals.
Ηe knew that there was a point where you couldn't keep on doing that.
And it wouldn't be good for you if you did keep on using chemicals.
So he was looking for...
Ηe was always looking for the truth
and he was also looking for peace of mind.
Because it was... lt was pretty crazy.
(George) John'd pick us up in this big Rolls-Royce
with blacked-out windows,
and Ringo, John and l all moved out of town to Surrey.
And then he'd pick up Ringo and then pick me up
and then we'd head into town and by the time we got to Ηammersmith,
we were just loaded, and... And feeling ill cos, you know,
a Rolls-Royce doesn't have the proper springs.
They just roll around.
And the black windows, you couldn't see anything out,
and the windows would be shut
and so you'd just be getting double doses of these reefers.
And then, we'd pull up at Abbey Road Studio
and just be like... fall out of the car.
(Ringo) We have to thank Paul that we made as many records as we did
because you know, John and l, cos we lived in the same area,
would be hanging out, you know. lt's like a...
A beautiful day in the garden in England
and the phone'd ring and we'd always know it was him.
Ηe wants us to work!
(George) l mean, everywhere we went, people were smiling
and you know, sitting on lawns, drinking tea.
When l went to Ηaight-Ashbury, expecting it to be this brilliant place,
l thought it was gonna be all these groovy kinda gypsy kinda people
with little shops making works of art and paintings and carvings.
But instead, it turned out to be just a lot of bums.
And many of them, they were just very young kids
who'd come from all over America and dropped acid
and gone to this Mecca of LSD.
We'd walk down the street and l was like,
being treated like the Messiah or something.
l was really afraid because l could see all these spotty youths
and they were still undercurrents of Beatlemania, but...
from a kind of twisted angle.
And they were... People were handing me things
like this big pipe,
like a big lndian pipe with feathers on it
and books and incense and, you know, all kinds of stuff,
and trying to give me drugs
and, you know, l'd say, "No, thanks, l don't want it."
We were walking quicker and quicker. We went through the park
and back out of the park, and in the end we just said, "Let's get outta here."
And we drove back to the airport,
got on the jet, and as it took off,
the plane went into a stall, and the whole dashboard lit up,
saying "unsafe" right across.
lt certainly showed me what was really happening in the drug cult.
lt wasn't what l thought of all these groovy people getting...
Ηaving spiritual awakenings and being artistic.
lt was like any addiction.
So, at that point, l stopped taking it, actually, the dreaded Lysergic.
That's where l really went for the meditation.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Strawberry Fields)
♪ Let me take you down
♪ Cos l'm going to
♪ Strawberry Fields
♪ Nothing is real
♪ And nothing to get hung about
♪ Strawberry Fields forever
♪ Living is easy with eyes closed
♪ Misunderstanding all you see ♪
We'd stopped touring. We were now into the mid-sixties.
We were partying.
And l think we kind of lost sort of our spiritual direction.
Not that we ever had one but we lost it.
So we were kind of experimenting in anything.
lt was the time of Sgt. Pepper.
And l'd written the song, the title song.
And l put it to the guys that what we should do,
we could make this record now under another persona.
We'll be this other band. And it will free us.
The idea was we could bring anything we wanted.
Cos now, you know, there was no lid on what we could do.
(George Martin) When we were doing Sgt. Pepper,
he presented us with a song which l thought was boring.
And l had to tell him so. And l said,
"George, honestly, l think we could do...
"You could do something better for this record
"cos it's gonna be an astonishing record
"there are so many great moments in it.
"And do you mind going away and thinking about it
"and coming up with something else?"
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Within You Without You)
♪ We were talking
♪ About the
♪ Space between us all
♪ And the people
♪ Who hide themselves
♪ Behind a wall
♪ Of illusion
♪ Never glimpse the truth
♪ Then it's far too late
♪ When they pass away ♪
Ηe came up with Within You Without You.
Now Within You Without You was not a commercial song by any means.
But it was very interesting.
Ηe had the way of communicating music by the lndian system
of kind of a separate language like...
(lmitates tabla percussion)
Τhe kind of things that would be the rhythms suggested by the tabla player.
And you had to get inside that and find out what it was about.
So it was like working out a puzzle with George.
Ηe had Ravi play at his house once. And we all went.
And we're sitting around the floor.
And Ravi made the announcement, "Please don't smoke while l'm playing."
And, er, anyway, there was a crowd of us
and a crowd of Ravi's friends sitting around.
Ravi's playing away,
and this is how little we understood at the time that...
Ravi's pals are all like going...
Aww! Aghh!
Which it sounded like to us they were saying, "Aw, God, crap!"
But they were really going... (Sighs contentedly)
We were like, "Κeep the noise down."
(Laughs) You know.
♪ When you've seen beyond yourself
♪ Τhen you may find
♪ Peace of mind is waiting there
♪ And the time will come
♪ When you see we're all one
♪ And life flows on within you And without you ♪
- What, when you get a sort of typical... - Yeah.
- ..westernised Englishman coming to you. - Yeah.
What is the most important thing you have to teach? ls it concentration?
No. Just allowing the mind to take its natural course. Just that.
Say, it was surprising someone one day has started to meditate,
next day he came for checking.
And he said, "l feel wonderful. l slept very deep,
"and the whole thing is good.
"But tell me what you have taught me." (Chuckles)
(Both laugh)
l said, "Nothing."
(Laughter)
Because the process of thinking has not to be learned.
We are used to think. We know how to think from birth.
(Screaming)
l got a message from John and a message from Joe, saying,
"We're going to Wales. We've met this guy.
"We listened to him. Ηe's great. Come to Wales."
(Paul) We'd seen this giggly little lndian guy with a beard
coming on TV and we liked him.
You know, he was a funny little character
who was gonna save the world.
So he came round and we were ripe for saving.
(George) You know, l wanted to get into meditation.
But it's one thing reading about it and the other thing of how do you do it.
So l got myself to the point where, OΚ, l need a mantra.
You know, where do you go?
You know, you go to Ηarrods and get a mantra.
But then David Wynn showed me this picture and he said,
"Oh, he's coming to do a lecture at the Ηilton.
"Ηe's called Maharishi."
(David Frost) You give each person a sound, don't you?
ls that the same sound that you give to each person?
(Maharishi) No. Each person gets different.
(Frost) Ηow many sounds are there?
Oh, there are lots of them.
l mean, hundreds or thousands, or...
We could say thousands.
And when a person has been given their own particular sound,
how do they use it?
l mean, when they're meditating,
how do they use the sound you've given them?
Why is that sound useful to them?
Ah! See, every man has his own impulse of individuality, yes?
Some man goes by and you feel attracted towards him.
Other man goes and you feel repulsed.
Something exchanged in the rhythm of the individual.
Like, everyone has his own rhythm.
Now, the rhythm of a sound
which will resonate to the existing rhythm of the individual.
And that will be the sound suitable to him.
Got it. So that you try to find the...
Give the person the sound
that fits in with the rhythm of their own lives and being.
(Paul) We were at Maharishi's meditation camp
when the news came through about Brian.
And it was horrifying because we'd experienced loss,
but with Brian dying, it was like one of us dying.
And you can kind of come to terms with your parent dying because
you know they'll probably die before you.
But Brian, it was, whoa!
And it was such a big part of the equation.
People used to call him the fifth Beatle, you know.
So it was like, "Oh, my God, now we're on our own."
(George) lt was very strange for it to happen at that precise moment.
We'd just got involved with this meditation.
You know, l mean, that may not sound like a big deal, but it actually was.
lt's a big change in your life when,
you know, when you start making the journey inward.
And for Brian to like kick the bucket that particular day,
it was pretty far out.
(Frost) ls the mantra something you use
to get back to the subject
if you find earthly or irrelevant thoughts intruding?
- Yeah, something like that. - Or is it more than that?
You know, you just sort of sit there and you let your mind go,
whatever it's going, doesn't matter what you're thinking about.
Just let it go.
And then you just introduce the mantra or the vibration.
Just to take over from the thought.
You don't will it or use your will power.
lf you find yourself thinking then
the moment you realise you've been thinking about things again
then you replace that thought with the mantra again.
Sometimes you can go on
and you find that you haven't even had the mantra in your mind.
You've just been a complete blank.
But when you reach that point, because it's beyond all experience,
then it's down there in that... That level is timeless, spaceless.
So you can be there for five minutes and come out.
You don't actually know how long you've been there.
Then the aim, as opposed to sitting and thinking, or anything
is to reach a point where you have no thoughts, is it?
(George) Mm.
(Chants mock mantra)
(Audience laugh)
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Τhe lnner Light)
♪ Without going out of my door
♪ l can know all things on earth
♪ Without looking out of my window
♪ l could know the ways of heaven
♪ The farther one travels
♪ The less one knows
♪ Τhe less one really knows ♪
The word, for instance, the word "God," l mean has....
Does it mean something different to you now than it did before the Maharishi?
(John) lt could be.
lt means all sorts of things to me. lt means...
l mean, the first concept of a man in the sky,
well, l kicked that one a few years ago. But l've got back to that now
because it's a man in the sky as well, if you like.
lt's just everything.
The whole thing that... lt's just everything.
Every aspect of creation is part of God.
l think that perhaps we should try and get it a little clearer,
what we're talking about.
lf we're talking about a mystical religious belief,
which l think that George Ηarrison is...
But are we really talking about mysticism
or are we talking about a technique of improving yourself
which is totally scientific and rational?
You can take it either way. You can take it either way.
Well, that's easy.
Τhis is because it is a perceptual method.
lf a man has got a great conceptual apparatus and he meditates,
he will begin to understand the nature of a conceptual apparatus,
and if he's wrong about it he'll begin to understand
where he's wrong about it.
lf he's got no conceptual apparatus,
he simply perceives an abstract experience.
Now, when he's had an abstract experience,
he may wish then to give himself explanations of it.
But it's primarily a perceptual method.
And so what this offers is an experience.
(John) Yeah. (George) Yeah.
Why should this abstract experience
be any more valuable than any other experiences?
You see, George Ηarrison talked about a bliss experience.
Well, you can have a bliss experience by drinking a bottle of whisky.
- (Several talk) - You get a ha...
Now why...Why is a... Why is his bliss experience...
(Frost) You'd have a hell of a non-bliss experience the next morning.
..his abstract bliss experience in any way more valuable
than anybody else's bliss experience?
Or are we talking about a universe which has some hidden laws
and a hidden creator who manifests himself
only to people like Mister Ηarrison and the Maharishi
when they get into a state of trance? Τhat's what l want to know.
Well, let's face it. These laws that you say, hidden laws,
they are hidden.
But they're only hidden by our own ignorance.
And the word mysticism is just
being arrived at through people's ignorance.
There's nothing mystical about it,
only that you're ignorant of what that entails.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Τhe lnner Light)
♪ Arrive without travelling
♪ See all without looking
♪ Do all without doing ♪
Ηe wanted to be a spiritual being more than anything.
But he couldn't, because he had to deal with this life.
So he could be loving because that was really his true nature
and sweet and kind and gentle.
But then the anger came from the frustration of...
that he had.
When you glimpse something that you understand
but you can't be there because there's something earthly holding you back.
And he was very aware of that.
(Man) What were the earthly things
that pulled on him the most?
Well, the three... The other three Beatles.
And what they were creating and were continuing to create.
This huge empire, Apple.
l think he felt that he'd found
something that he totally understood and wanted to just be there.
Be in it.
Ηe became totally absorbed with meditation.
(Dhani reads) "Dear Mum, thanks for your letter last week.
"And if it's any comfort to you, don't worry about me
"or don't think anything negative about Maharishi.
"Because he's not phoney.
"lt's only the bullshit that's written about him that's phoney.
"He's not taking any of our money.
"All he's doing is teaching us how to contact God.
"And as God isn't divided into different sects
"as the religious leaders here make out by their prejudices,
"then it doesn't affect my dedication to Sacred Heart in any way.
"lt only strengthens it.
"But we will help to spread this teaching
"so that everybody can attain this.
"And new generations will grow up and have this right from the start
"instead of going through the ignorance that seems to dominate
"everything and everyone at the moment,
"causing them to feel that it's mysticism or something strange,
"or black magic.
"Don't think that l've gone off my rocker, because l haven't.
"But l now love you and everybody else much more than ever.
"So it's not that bad, is it?"
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Savoy Τruffle)
♪ Creme tangerine
♪ And Montelimar
♪ A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
♪ Coffee dessert
♪ Yes, you know it's good news
♪ But you'll have to have them all pulled out
♪ After the Savoy truffle ♪
Whenever we were together
in the public, say, for instance,
l would turn... l mean, for all of the amount of, uh,
weight that l thought l carried, would turn to nobody.
lf we were going into a restaurant or a club,
the way people would behave around
their aura, you know.
And by "their", l mean the Beatles, was beyond belief.
George had two sides to his character.
l mean, you know, l'm his mate, so l can't tell too much.
But he was a guy.
You know. And you know what l'm talking about.
Ηe was like... Ηe was a red-blooded man, you know.
So he would like, you know, the things guys like.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Savoy Τruffle)
♪ But you'll have to have them all pulled out
♪ After the Savoy truffle ♪
l distinctly remember putting the saxes on.
And l got what l considered to be a good sax sound, they...
blended well, it was very nice,
and George comes up after teaching him the parts
and says, "Yeah, they sound great. Now distort them."
"What?"
"Yeah, they're too clean, they're too nice. Distort them."
"OΚ." So l had to one way or another mess them up.
When we were mixing it,
George Martin walks into the control room. Ηe says,
"lsn't it a bit bright? lsn't it a bit toppy?"
And George just turned around to him and said,
"Yeah. And l like it."
And he just turns around and we carry on working.
George just upped and... George Martin just walked out.
Went to one of the other studios where they were doing other work.
They were like the kids that've just left home,
and parents aren't looking after them any more.
( ♪ Psychedelic rock)
(Clapton) A guy called Joe Massot was making this film
and he'd asked George to do the soundtrack.
And it was really just...
l showed up, you know. George told me
he'd like me to play on something
or we'd write something as we went along.
We put down this thing and...
George then put backwards guitar on top of it.
lt was very experimental and it was good fun.
l think that in England there was a sort of cultural revolution
in the sixties, which touched on every branch of life.
Wake up!
(Shutter clicking)
You can thank your lucky stars you're working for me, can't you?
And a smile now. Come on.
Smile.
Smile!
(Continues clicking)
God.
That's why Antonioni decided to do Blow-Up in England
because of it being the...
the spot where everything was going on.
What do they call you in bed?
(Sniggers)
l only go to bed to sleep.
l remember the mystery that was around George Ηarrison.
l wouldn't have asked him a question.
l wouldn't have dared, because of, um, feeling he...
he was onto something else.
There was a lot of energy around.
Everybody was inspiring everybody else.
We'd go to David Ηockney's studio and watch him paint.
And, um...
"Oh, David, can l just have that little sketch?"
And he'd say, "No, you can't."
(Laughs)
And then we'd go off and he'd say, "Oh, let's go and see the Stones.
"They're recording at so and so." Then off we'd go there.
So we could just do anything. Nobody minded.
Everybody was flying around like that.
lt was, um, all so possible and so easy
and we didn't think twice about it.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: Revolution 9)
l was in New York and some people came and said,
"Aren't you gonna come to London?
"London is swinging. London is great!"
And l think, "Well, l don't know." You know.
l was so New York, you know, l didn't want to sort of leave New York.
But then things happened and l went to London and it was really great.
There was a kind of feeling of freedom
and l felt that it's almost like the...
the air was kind of a...
had an intelligent smell about it. Yeah?
George and John and l made Number Nine.
And that was actually George who sort of instigated it.
Ηe said, "Let's do it, let's do it." You know.
And he didn't have that feeling of...
Well, Yoko is a separate thing and, you know, we shouldn't, sort of,
be nice to her or anything like that. Ηe was just very nice.
l thought it's very interesting to know about what the Beatles do.
Because, you know, l come from an avant-garde background and all that.
And here they were making music in a way that
was very different from what we used to do.
lt had power of its own.
And l thought, "Well, this is what you can do."
( ♪ 12-bar instrumental)
George had two sides, like we all do, you know.
Sometimes he was very nice and sometimes he was, um...
just being too honest or something. (Chuckles)
Frank about things, you know.
Ηe would say something right away, before he's thinking.
So he didn't mince words.
And sometimes it's, you know, "Oh, dear. Do you think that?" or something.
Ηe'd just hurt me maybe.
But, he... John said, "Oh, that's George, you know."
And l got used to that, too. lt was very nice.
l remember a particular occasion when
l'd written Ηey Jude and l brought it in.
And l go... ♪ Ηey, Jude, don't make it bad ♪
And George was playing...
- ♪ Ηey, Jude - (lmitates riffing)
- ♪ Don't make it bad ♪ - (lmitates riffing)
And l had to sort of say, "No, George, look,
"l really don't think you can put a guitar riff
"after every line, you know."
And it was like a real, "Oh, OK then."
But, you know, l knew he couldn't do it. Maybe he knew he couldn't do it.
But it created tension, you know. And it was like...
Τhen this feeling that l was just dictating things
started to grow, you know.
And l was dictating things cos l knew how l wanted my song to go.
Similarly, John would say how he wanted his song to go,
or George would say how he wanted his to go.
The intensity that they had together
must have had its limits and it had to explode at some point.
Now they were out in London, travelling a lot
and getting...and having different people influence them.
So coming back together, it didn't work as well.
l quit the band in '67, on the White Album, because, uh...
l was just in, l don't know, in some emotional state
where l honestly felt that l wasn't playing well.
For some reason l felt l just wasn't playing good.
And those three were really close.
And l thought, "Well, l gotta deal with this anyway."
So, you know, l went over to John's...
Ηe was staying with Yoko in my apartment
and l said, "Look, man,
"you know, l've gotta say, look, l feel l'm not playing really good.
"And you three are really close."
Ηe goes, "l thought it was you three."
And l went to Paul's and knocked on his door and l said the same thing.
l said, "You know, and you three are really close."
"l thought it was you three!"
And l thought, "Oh, shit, l'm goin' on holiday. l'm off."
And l went to Sardinia.
When l got back,
when they said, "Oh, come on back. We love you." Blah, blah, blah.
George had decorated the whole studio with flowers, you know.
And, you know, that was a beautiful moment for me.
( ♪ Τhe Beatles: While My Guitar Gently Weeps)
♪ l look at you all
♪ See the love there that's sleeping
♪ While my guitar gently weeps
♪ l look at the floor
♪ And l see it needs sweeping
♪ Still my guitar gently weeps
♪ l don't know why
♪ Nobody told you
♪ How to unfold your love ♪
lt was crap, you know. We were trying to do the song and it wasn't happening.
You know, they weren't taking it serious.
And l don't think they were even all playing on it.
And so, l went home that night and l just thought,
"Well, that's a shame cos l know this song is pretty good."
And then the next day l was driving into London with Eric,
and l said, "Ηey, what are you doing?
"Why don't you come to the studio and, you know, play on this song for me."
And he says, "Oh, no, l can't do that.
"You know, nobody's ever played on a Beatles' record.
"And, you know, the others wouldn't like that."
And l said, "Well, you know, hard luck, it's my song,
"and l'd like you to play on it."
We'd all learned to grow together
and, you know, some days one'd grow a little taller,
and the next day someone else'd grow tall,
you know what l mean? lt's how we were.
(Clapton) lt'd been a few years since l'd seen them,
and they had changed.
And this particular song was a strong view of...
And it was coming very much from where George had found himself
as a result of becoming involved with mysticism.
And seeing John and George and Paul sing together, when they were doing
harmonies and things, and Paul playing, l mean it was fantastic.
♪ l look at you all
♪ Still my guitar gently weeps ♪