Beatles | John | George | Paul | Ringo | Miscellaneous

Last updated:
Dec. 4, 2001

George Harrison passes on: February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2001

AUTOBIOGRAPHY!!
Six years in the making, the remaining Beatles have released the 360-page Beatles autobiography, entitled "Beatles Anthology". The book includes 1,200 photographs, most of which have never been published, and will disclose new information about the Beatles' drug taking, their sexual exploits, their rivalries and eventual breakup in 1970.

"It will dispel some of the myths ... as every Tom, Dick and uncle of a friend has been writing books on the Beatles since 1963," the newspaper quoted McCartney as saying.

The newspaper said Yoko Ono will receive a quarter of the profits, although she has not been involved with the book.

The newspaper says the book will also disclose that in 1996, the three Beatles turned down an offer of $175 million to perform 17 concerts in the United States, Germany and Japan. The book costs about $80. (2000)

A major campaign by Sony signature has reaped the theatrical re-release of Yellow Submarine in stereo surround sound film. It is planned to be released in spring of '99.

Miramax Films has remastered A Hard Day's Night to commemorate the film's upcoming 35th anniversary this March. It will feature new footage, a fully restored negative, and digitally remastered six-track stereo sound.

The Beatles on a U.S. stamp...finally! Well, not just yet, but they were one of the top vote-getters in the recent campaign from the postal service to get the public's input for subjects to be featured on the new 1960's stamp.

"Your True Love", a rare acetate which the Beatles and Carl Perkins played together in 1964 was discovered. Perkins duetted with George. Apparently Perkins dropped by the day the Beatles recorded "Matchbox" on June 1, 1964.

McKee's Beatle Museum opened in July in Virginia Beach, VA. Owned by Michael & Lynn McKee, features an extensive photo collection, memorabilia, concert tickets, tour programs and rare recordings of Beatle songs. Check out their web site at www.beatlesmuseum.com

Petition to have Brain Epstein introducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (as non-performer) has been started by Martin Lewis, known to many BeatleFest conventions. A petition is on-line for you to sign at www.martinlewis.com/mbe. For more info write the Come Together Beatles Fan Club at P.O. Box 461378, Los Angeles, CA 90046.

John Lennon

LENNON ANTHOLOGY! Over 100 previously unreleased solo Lennon recordings will go on sale on November 3 as a four-CD box set. "The John Lennon Anthology" will contain home recordings and studio outtakes retrieved from EMI/Capitol's vaults never-before commercially released. Also included will be a 60-page booklet featuring John's artwork, writings, and personal photographs. Yoko Ono served as executive producer on the recording, and Sean Lennon also participated in making the recordings. Click here for an in-depth description. (Much thanks to Anthony Thornton for the link!)

George Harrison

Harrison recorded a secret last album -
SUNDAY DECEMBER 02 2001
MAURICE CHITTENDEN
A LAST album of George Harrison’s music was being finished in secrecy in the months before his death. He played tracks from the CD to his family and friends in his private room at a Los Angeles hospital last Sunday, four days before he died. His wife Olivia and son Dhani seem certain to release the CD as a tribute to Harrison’s courage in the face of the cancer that killed him at the age of 58. It could repeat the success of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album, which sold millions of copies in the international outpouring of grief that followed Lennon’s murder in New York in 1980.
Harrison had given the album the working title of Portrait of a Leg End, a pun on his celebrity. Unlike his last song, Horse to Water, recorded in Switzerland for a new Jools Holland CD and released with a poignant publishing credit to Rip Ltd, the songs on his own CD do not allude to his illness.
One of the tracks, Rising Son, is an ambiguous reference to Harrison’s interest in Far Eastern religions and philosophy and also to Dhani’s emergence as a gifted guitarist in his father’s footsteps.
Harrison was completing work on 25 unreleased tracks in a studio at his Friar Park mansion at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. A few tracks date to the 1980s and others are new. Some allude to traumatic personal events, including the attempt on his life by an intruder who broke into the mansion in December 1999 and stabbed him.
The tracks were part of a concerted effort by Harrison in his final months to put his musical legacy in order: he remastered and re-released All Things Must Pass, his 1970 hit album, earlier this year and was planning to reissue other albums as well as to complete his new music.
Jim Keltner, the world’s most in-demand session drummer, who has recorded with Harrison, Lennon, Ringo Starr and Bob Dylan, flew from his home in California to Friar Park to add drums to the tracks that Harrison and other musicians, believed to include Eric Clapton, had recorded.
Keltner, who last played with Harrison in the Traveling Wilburys supergroup in the 1980s but still saw him regularly as a friend, said this weekend: “It was fantastic to be in the studio with him again. Some of the new songs are very poignant concerning his life in the past few years. It will be obvious when you hear them what they are about.
“The CD is very close to finishing. There is a certain soulfulness about George’s music that doesn’t need a lot once he has put that voice on.
“There will be people who argue that it is underproduced and maybe there should be more on it. Knowing George, I have a feeling he would rather it be as simple and as direct as possible.”
He added: “I last saw him on Sunday night. It was a great gift to us that he was so beautiful. He looked fantastic. He looked like a prince. He didn’t look like a person suffering from cancer. His skin was shining and he was smiling.”
Keith Badman, a Beatles authority whose latest book on the group, The Dream is Over, was published last month, said: “The recording of the new album was shrouded in secrecy, but George had planned to bring it out this October before he fell ill again.”
Harrison was cremated in Los Angeles within a few hours of his death on Thursday and before the news was released. Friends expect his ashes to be spread on the Ganges or another holy river in India.
Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.

It has been reported that British politicians are calling for Harrison to be granted posthumous knighthood, which would require a change in Britain's honor system under which only military personnel can be given the 'Sir' title after their death. (Dec. 1, 2001)
Harrison Ashes May Be Spread in India
By BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI, India -- The ashes of George Harrison, long a devotee of Hinduism, will be sprinkled in the holy Ganges River, authorities of the Hare Krishna movement said Monday.
Harrison's widow, Olivia, and his 23-year-old son, Dhani, will be accompanied by two Hare Krishna followers who performed Hindu rites on Harrison's ashes with the family in London, said Maha Mantra Das, New Delhi spokesman for the International Society of Krishna Consciousness.
The society said it was organizing the rites and that its representatives in London had been in contact with Harrison's family.
The family would not discuss any details or confirm any aspect of the reports, spokesman Gavin de Becker said in Los Angeles.
Das said Harrison's widow and son were expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday to scatter some of his ashes in the Ganges in the northern city of Varanasi. He said ashes would also be sprinkled off Allahabad, where the Ganges and Yamuna converge -- and according to Hindu tradition are joined by a third holy river, the mythical Saraswati.
Harrison, 58, died of cancer in Los Angeles on Thursday. Britain's Press Association news agency reported that he was cremated hours after his death, and that his widow and son left for India with his ashes.
Olivia Harrison has asked fans for a minute of meditation as a tribute to the musician. The Press Association said the scattering of his ashes in India would coincide with that minute, which falls at 3 a.m. Tuesday in India. Das said that this was likely.
"Early morning is a very auspicious time for Hindus," he said.
Subigra Das, the head of the Baluaghat Krishna temple in Allahabad, told The Associated Press that Harrison's widow and son would first attend Hindu rituals in Varanasi at 3 a.m., then head to Allahabad for a procession to the rivers' confluence.
In a tradition dating more than 3,500 years, Hindus are cremated on riversides and their ashes scattered in holy waters. Hindus believe this ritual releases the soul from the body for its heavenward journey, and frees it from the cycle of reincarnation.
Harrison, known as the "quiet Beatle," had a long, intensely intimate relationship with Indian mysticism and music.
His sister, Louise Harrison, said George had explained some of his spiritual philosophy to her. "He said, 'You know we shouldn't start to think of God as a grumpy old man up in the sky that's thinking of us as sinners,'" she said on NBC's "Today" show Monday. Instead, he said, "God is a huge, powerful, mighty ocean and that we are each drops in that ocean."
And now "the drop of divinity that was within him, that made him the live George Harrison, is now returned and connected with the mighty ocean," she said.
Harrison had been close to the Hare Krishna sect of Hinduism -- formally called the International Society of Krishna Consciousness -- meeting its founder and donating one of his studios to the movement.
"When he was leaving his body, our devotees were chanting songs of Krishna by his bedside," said Vrijendra Nandan, with the New Delhi chapter of the society.
Krishna is one of the most popular Hindu gods, described as a mischievous character who plotted to kill oppressive rulers and help the weak. In one of his most popular songs, "My Sweet Lord," Harrison chants Hare Krishna.
In 1966, after the Beatles had stopped touring, Harrison came to India to study the sitar with Ravi Shankar. Shankar was present during Harrison's final hours in California.
In 1967, Harrison introduced the other Beatles to the teaching of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and all four took up transcendental meditation. The Beatles went to Rishikesh, a holy city in northern India on the Ganges River, to study with the Maharishi.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press

George's sister Louise Harrison was interviewed on the Today Show soon after George's passing. Before Katie could ask the first question Louise turned toward the camera and said: (paraphrasing) If its alright, before we begin, I'd like to say something directly to the Beatle fans. It seems I've become like a mother figure to them, and I wanted to be sure to relate this. George would not want to be greived, so you don't have to dwell on it. He believed that others grieving for one who departed would hinder the soul from achieving it's destiny. So long as you have somebody in your heart you can never lose them. And also in George's case we can always listen to that music and we can always hear the beautiful sounds that he made with that guitar. And we can also watch the movies and watch the funny things like where he shouts out "Watch out for the fieidish thing" ...So he is always living with us. Back many years ago when he turned my faith onto the spiritual path, he had explained to me. He said "We shouldn't think of God as a grumpy old guy up in the sky that's thinking us as as sinners. If you can imagine that God is a huge powerful mighty ocean and that we are each drops of that ocean. And that during our lifetimes we have a drop of that creator, that divinity and how we live our lives, whether we connect with that drop of divinity determines if we are good people or lesser". So he is he is now, the live George Harrison, eternally connected to that huge mighty ocean. (end paraphrase)
Though ill, Harrison kept busy musically: He played slide guitar on former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman's recent single, "Love Letters" (from his current two-CD set Double Bill), lent his trademark weeping guitar to former Traffic member Jim Capaldi for his forthcoming single, "Anna Julia," and worked with pianist/British television host Jools Holland on a new single, "A Horse to Water," for Holland's Small World, Big Friends.
Details of Jools' Harrison track: Further details have emerged regarding Horse To The Water (not A Horse To Water, as widely reported), George Harrison's first recording since winning his recent battle with cancer. Harrison recorded the vocals for the track, which was co-written by his son, Dhani, at his home in Switzerland on October 1st and it'll be included on Small World Big Band, the next album by Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, which is released in the UK on November 19th. Jools Holland recently told billboard.com that he was, "thrilled and delighted that George has been part of the album. Not only is he one of the most important musicians of the 20th Century, he was the lead guitarist in an incredibly popular group, and was also of course in The Beatles!" Jools' album also features contributions from Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Van Morrisson, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Steve Winwood, John Cale, Paul Weller, Suggs, Joe Strummer, Dr John, Taj Mahal, Stereophonics, Marc Almond, Jay Kay, Mick Hucknall and Eric Bibb. The host of BBC TV's Later... explained, "There's some people on here that are extraordinarily famous and some that aren't so well-known but to me they're all great."
George Harrison passes on: February 25, 1943 - November 29, 2001

"He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death, and at peace, surrounded by family and friends. He often said, 'Everything else can wait but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another,'" his family said in a statement. Harrison died at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a friend's Los Angeles home following a battle with cancer, family friend Gavin de Becker said in statement released to The Associated Press.
"I am devastated and very very sad," former bandmate Paul McCartney told the BBC in London. "I remember all the beautiful times we had together and I'd like to remember him like that, because I know he would like to be remembered like that."
Funeral arrangements are not yet known, but de Becker said a private ceremony had already taken place.
Harrison had been fighting cancer for years. He was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 1997 and was treated in Switzerland earlier this year for a brain tumor.
He underwent experimental radiosurgery at New York's Staten Island University Hospital earlier this month and later moved to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles for more conventional treatment, but it failed to stop the cancer.
"George has given so much to us in his lifetime and he continues to do so even after his passing with his music, his wit and his wisdom," Yoko Ono, widow of former bandmate John Lennon, said in a statement. "His life was magical and we felt we had shared a little bit of it by knowing him. Thank you George. It was grand knowing you."

You are the light that has lighted my world. George, thank you for your music. This has been quite a difficult November. Below are the lyrics for George Harrison's song "Behind That Locked Door" which express my sentiments towards how to deal with these losses better than my words could.
Why are you still crying?
Your pain is now through
Please forget those teardrops
Let me take them from you

The love you are blessed with
This world's waiting for
So let out your heart, please, please
From behind that locked door

It's time we start smiling
What else should we do?
With only this short time
I'm gonna be here with you

And the tales you have taught me
From the things that you saw
Makes me want out your heart, please, please
From behind that locked door

And if ever my love goes
If I'm rich or I'm poor
Please let out my heart, please, please
From behind that locked door
From behind that locked door

Paul McCartney

New Album - Paul has just released a new album entitled "Driving Rain" on November 13, his first collection of new material in 4 years.
Paul will perform a concert in New York City to benefit the city's firefighters in the next month. Paul was on board a plane on a New York City airport runway when terrorists hijacked two planes and flew them into the World Trade Center's twin towers last week, and has been in the city since the tragedy. McCartney told New York's WPLJ radio station today that he was headed back to the U.K. to plan a concert for Red Square in Moscow, which he has since postponed. "I am going to do a concert here in New York within the next month to benefit all firemen," McCartney said. "I also have a connection there, because my father was a fireman in Liverpool during World War II. I'd also just like to take a second to say to all the people of New York, God bless everyone and good luck to us all, and thanks to all of the heroes and heroines who've been helping with the situation." (Sept. 22, 2001)
An album of material recorded by Linda McCartney over the last 20 years of her life, Wide Prairie, is scheduled for a November 2000 release.
Linda's new cookbook "Linda on Tour" is expected to be issued is September 1999. It contains recipes that were collected from all around the world on tour with Paul from '72 to '93.

Ringo Starr

Ringo's UK tour announced: he will play at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London Aug. 21st. The band line-up is the same as last's year's USA tour: Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke and Mark Rivera. (Which, I might add, is a SPECTACULAR lineup, as I saw them in May of 1996...) Other concert destinations include:Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal, Ireland, Russia and Monte Carlo. (1997)
The new video "Ringo Starr and His Fourth All Starr Band" is scheduled for release July 28th from MPI Home Video for $19.95.
Ringo performed with Elton John at an Aids benefit for AMFAR in Cannes, France May 21st. They were joined by actress Sharon Stone at one point who joined in on "Great Balls of Fire" and "Twist & Shout".

Miscellaneous