This "Write Thing" article is from the April/May 1979 issue. It was written by Brazil resident, Henrique Filho about when he saw George during his trip to Brazil in February 1979. It was reported that George arrived on January 31 by the Concorde at the International Airport in Rio de Janeiro. He went to an apartment in Flamengo. Later at night he went to a famous restaurant in Ipanema. On Feb 1st he went to the city of Sao Paulo where the Interlagos Grand Prix was to take place on Feb 4th. He came with his friend Jakie Stewart and without Olivia.
Another fan reported that as soon as George appeared at the main gates of the airport in Rio, he was frightened by what he saw. Screaming girls crying his name and the constant flashing bulbs really scared him. Later on he declared to the press, "Never thought I was famous here." He gave several interviews, also talked to many disc jockeys and was always very polite when answering questions. He talked about the Beatles, religion, sports, his new album and about Brazil. He only got bored with the photographers who did not let him in peace, to which he said, "you should photograph the cars there are more important than me." After the race, he went to Emerson Fittipaldi's house in Guaruja. There he was about to relax at the beautiful beach near the house. Emerson was the one who invited George to come to Brazil for the Grand Prix.
George gave a press conference at the WEA offices here on February 7, 1979, at around 2 pm in Rio. My wife and I managed to be present and were lucky enough to record his interview, take some photos adn film him in super 8mm. Here is the interview George gave to a local TV station:
Q: how do you feel about the constant approaches regarding a Beatles reunion?
George: I think it's a waste of time.
Q: Because of your involvement with the Hare Krishna movement you've influenced a lot of youngsters everywhere. What do you think about that?
George: I think it's very good because first of all Krishna is one name for God. So there's only the same God, it's like what we call Buddha, Allah, Jehovah, Krishna, so there are many names. Krishna is the divine energy we should plug in and so you chant Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama and if you chant it millions of times you feel great.
Q: What do you know about the Brazilian people and its music?
George: I don't know too much about the music other than what I've about the Carnival on TV. I've heard about samba, rumba, you know, this sort of thing and about the fields. It's very much like India, the same hot (at this he shook his shirt), smell and the same flowers, trees, fruit, vegetation, you know, very similar.
Q: Please tell us something about your new album and the song, "Faster", is it really dedicated to J. Stewart?
George: One of the songs on the new album is "Faster", inspired by Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda, you know Formula 1 motivates it and the song is also in the memory of Ronnie Peterson. All about the Formula 1 circus and what happens to people.
Q: Is there any real possibility of some concerts here, in Brazil?
George: Maybe, because on reason I came ...used the Grand Prix as the excuse to come and see Rio and little bit of Brazil, you know, it's like a treat to come and see what is is like and I didn't realize it was so interesting. So I think it's a good place to come and maybe I'll come take this year or next year.
On the same day George returned to Europe by the Concorde. During the press conference George was wearing jeans, a white shirt and arrived with his glasses on. All the time he was very ncie and gentle. He signed some records for us and we gave him a present for Dhani. It was great to see George and talk to him. Late that night we remembered it was Feb. 7th, the day you were completing your 15th Beatles anniversary special, the same day we saw our first Beatles here in Brazil!
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