This one is something different, but really neat. It is a story of a fan who hung out with Mr and Mrs Harrison in the summer of 1969. Mrs. Harrison was very open about her feelings during this time (which I am sure George hated that she would share so much with fans since he tended to be more private). It is very interesting to say the least.
This story was taken from the January 1979 issue of the Harrison Alliance.
A Special Day
By Susan Maier
June 4, 1969 – I will never forget that day, because my
friend Sima and I spent it with George’s parents at their home in England. I had been writing to Mrs. Harrison for a
couple of years and when I told her Sima and I were coming to England, she
invited us to come and visit them.
We took the rail to Warrington and then a taxi to the
Harrison’s home in Appleton. They were
working in their garden when we arrived.
I introduced myself and Sima and then we all went into the house. I don’t recall every word that was said (I
was too excited), but I would like to share my memories of that day.
The house was lovely.
There were thick gold colored carpets in the living room and scattered
Indian rugs. A huge stereo stood nearby
with stacks of records on top of it.
Mrs. Harrison proudly played us “Old Brown Shoe” at top volume! There were two painting, both from George and
one BY George. He had painted it while
in India (it was very modern). There
were pictures of George, Pattie and the rest of the family all over the house. A beautiful portrait of George hung in the
foyer. There was a carved ivory statue
enclosed with a dome and an old-fashioned clock, also in a dome. The dining room had a gorgeous old wooden
table and chairs, and a golden set of cups, jug and platter from India – all presents
from George. Almost everything in the
house was from him.
Mrs. Harrison, Sima and I sat on the porch and talked. I told her how upset I was because we had
missed seeing George, by just a couple hours a few days earlier (He was off to
Sardinia with Pattie). Mrs. Harrison
told us that George had called them before he left and said he would be gone
two weeks, but if the weather was good, they might stay longer. She told us about the time George walked out
of the “Let it Be” sessions. Pattie was
away modeling or visiting her family at the time, so George drove home to
them. Mrs. Harrison tried to convince
George that the other three were conspiring against him by playing too loud
while he sang. She played him various
cuts to show him, but George didn’t see it that way.
She talked to us about John and wondered “what was happening
to him!” (Sima didn’t like this since she is a John fanatic!). Mrs. Harrison had even asked George if she
should go down to London and talk some sense to John, but George told her it
would do any good.
Another time, she went to visit Paul’s father because he had
been ill. When she got there, Paul
answered the door and introduced Linda to her.
“I want you to meet my girlfriend.”
Mrs. Harrison said she did a double take and wondered where Jane
was! The house was full of relatives and
Heather (being only 5 at the time) was excited being in a new place and all and
didn’t finish her dinner. Linda wouldn’t
let her have dessert and sent her off to bed instead. Mrs. Harrison thought that was horrible!
While we talked, a few flies would buzz around from the
garden and Mrs. Harrison went to hit them.
She said she couldn’t do that when George was there because he believed
that everything had a right to live – no matter how small.
She told us about the time George hired a gardener for his
house in Esher but the garden never seemed to look any better. One day she was visiting Pattie, and the tow
of them found the gardener sitting in back of the greenhouse doing nothing. The gardener was fired and Mrs. Harrison
ended up doing some of the garden work for George herself.
Mrs. Harrison glowed when she talked about George. It was obvious how proud she was of him and
she was so happy and down-to-earth. We
went back inside the house and Mrs. Harrison started to set the table. Sima and I (thinking this was a hint that we
had stayed long enough) said we should be going. “Before tea?” Mrs. Harrison asked,
surprised. She was setting the table for
us! Mr. Harrison joined us now and we
had tea, salad, fruit, bread and jam.
They said to help ourselves because as George always says, “he who
hesitates is lost.”
I couldn’t believe this whole thing was happening – sitting there,
eating and talking with George’s Mum and Dad!
Mr. Harrison kept winking at me whenever I looked at him and I could see
so much of George in his face. His face
was strong but kind and his eyes were beautiful!
While we were eating, Mrs. Harrison was saying she had given
birth to all of her children at home, not in a hospital, and that made her the
first girl that George was even in bed with!
I nearly choked!!
After we finished eating, Sima and I helped with the
dishes. Mrs. Harrison talked about how
she still worried about George sometimes, and if our parents were worried about
us being away on our own? George always
told her not to worry but she in turn told him, “I’m still your mother no
matter what, and I do worry!” She talked
a bit about George and Pattie’s arrest in March of that year (for possession of
marijuana) and how the whole thing was set up by the police themselves. The police even took away all of George’s
incense as evidence.
Finally we went into the living room and she showed us a
bunch of photos of George. Most were
taken just before he went to America for the first time (on his own in
1963). The photos showed Mrs. Harrison
packing his suitcase while George just sat and watched!
When the time came to leave, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison drove us to
the rail station. Mr. Harrison squeezed
my hand real tight and Mrs. Harrison came all the way up to the platform and
waited for the train with us. When it
came, she kissed me and said goodbye and I kissed her in turn.
I was in a daze! I
couldn’t get over how wonderful George’s parents were to us. We spent over six hours with them – hearing about
George, sharing stories and laughing – it was beautiful! You could feel the love in that house and the
closeness Mr. and Mrs. Harrison had with each other and their family. I’ll never forget it and I’ll always remember
Mr. and Mrs. Harrison with special feelings.
Oh my god, this is priceless!!! Thanks for typing this up, Sara!!!!! And have a great weekend (and I hope you're feeling better!) (and one more thanks to you!!!)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fascinating ! This blog is the best !
ReplyDeleteI have to put another comment under this one.....what a story!!! So many hilarious nuggets!! I'm not sure which is my favorite part: Mrs. Harrison blasting "Old Brown Shoe" at top volume.......her conspiracy theory about the other three Beatles......or offering to go down to London and straighten John out!!!! There are many great stories here on MTBFR....and this is definitely one of them!!!! Highly recommended for an entertaining read!!!
ReplyDeleteLovely people. It's that generation: they had such a strong sense of courtesy and selflessness, stuff that's hard to find today, and in actuality, not far off an example of living that George was always pressing for. His parents had 'it' all along!
ReplyDeletelovely story
ReplyDelete