George comes to the United States

 

September 1963

60 years ago George Harrison became the first Beatle to come to the United States when he came to visit his sister, Louise in Benton, Illinois.   

I know for a fact that George took plenty of photographs and moving pictures while he was there.  A few of them have popped up here and there over the years.   My hope is that now Ringo and Paul have released some of their person photos, that the Harrison estate will follow and publish some of the photos George took in Benton.   There is one photo I would love to see -- a photograph of George with the bass player from the 4 Vests (Gabe McCarty) standing next to a truck.   I know this photo was taken because in 2013, Gabe (Rest in peace) told me that several photos were taken with George's camera and that George was going to send Gabe copies (never happened).   

George chilling in Benton

 

Beatles Traveling: Benton, Illinois

For today's Wednesday Review, I am not reviewing a book or album or event.    I am reviewing a town!   My boyfriend, Shawn and I drove the 2 hours south of where I live and spent Saturday in Benton, Illinois.    I wanted to take a few photos for my book.   This is the first time I had ever been there when a Beatles event was not taking place.   

When you get to the small town of Benton, Illinois you need to just park your car in the Benton square and walk everywhere.   It is much easier that way.  Just be aware that the parking on the square is 2 hour parking.   

There is a small museum in Benton called the Franklin County Jail Museum.   It is open Monday-Saturday 10:00am-3:00pm.   The cost is $4.00 a person.  It isn't located exactly on the square, but two blocks west.  Things are really well marked in Benton, so you can find it.   Most of this museum is dedicated to the last public hanging in Illinois for a bootlegging gangster.    You can see the gallows where he was hung, and go into the jail cells and read all about the 1920's and gangsters and the law in Illinois.    This museum is of interest to Beatle fans because on the second floor is the "George Harrison room."  This room is set up to look just like the radio station where Marcia Schaffer interviewed George Harrison in September 1963.    There is also the coca-cola soda machine that George used to buy drinks from on display.    While it isn't anything earth shattering, it is still neat to see vintage items from 1963 and think about what Benton was like when George Harrison was visiting.   Just about everything in the room is vintage and unfortunately is behind a large, black metal gate, so photos were hard to take.   But I did my best!

The next thing you want to make sure you see is the historical marker for George Harrison that was unveiled in 2013.    It is located outside near a bandstand.   The locals call it a "park" but it isn't what I think of when I think of a park.    It is right off of the square and very easy to find.

While you are in the square and have time, there are a bunch of little antique shops all around the square.   It is fun to go in them and look for Beatles treasures and other fun things.    I found some vintage Beatles items (out of my budget).  I also talked to a nice woman that ran one of the shops that told me that she helped clean out Louise Harrison's house and found some guitar pics, which she got to keep.   She has no way of knowing, but she is going to assume that they belonged to George.   If you are getting hungry, I highly recommend the Chinese restaurant that is located on the square.

If you have never been to Benton, then you will want to see the house where Louise Harrison once lived.   It is now a private residence and you cannot go inside.   If you want to find the house, look for the signs for the Benton High School, because it is directly across the street from the high school.  It is at 113 McCann Street.   

The last thing you might want to do is try to re-create the photo of George, Louise and Pete (along with Lousie's daughter).   The location of that photo was off the square a little bit on East Main.

Benton is a nice little town and going down there was a fun way to spend a sunny Saturday during my spring break.    If you happen to be traveling through southern Illinois, it is worth a stop.   It doesn't have the rich Beatles history that a lot of places might have, but it sure has more than anywhere else in the mid-west!   

George in Benton: An untold story

When I was in Benton, Illinois this past weekend I went into a the antique shops that are located around the square before the unveiling of the historical marker.    In one of the shops I went into a man near the counter saw me wearing a Beatles t-shirt and asked if I was in Benton for the George Harrison thing.   When I told him that I was, he continued to tell me how he had met George when he was in Benton in 1963 and whenever people come through town to interview people for the news or books about George's Benton connection, they are never interested in his little story and therefore it has never been told.    So I told him that I had a Beatles blog about people that met one of the Beatles and I would be happy to share his story on there.   So he said to let everyone know that a lot of fake stories are out about what happened, but his story is the truth and his name is "Honest Don."

In 1963, Don was 17 years old and worked at the local A&W Root Beer restaurant in Benton, Illinois.  One night in September, he was told to deliver some dishes out to a house that was off the square and across from the high school.  So he and a female co-worker who was also 17 drove out to 113 McCann Street to deliver the food.   When they got there, they see a young man with "very long hair" standing on the front porch.   Don says that he and all of his friends at the time wore their hair in a very short crew cut.  That was the style at that time for guys.   He had never seen hair that went down in the front like George had on a guy.   Don said that his long hair really stuck out in her mind.  Then when the long haired man started to talk,  Don was surprised to hear a British accent!     He was definitely not like most of the young men that order from the A&W in town.   George continues to ask Don's co-worker if she would like to go out on a date with him.   The young lady kindly turned George down and the two get back into the car.    Once they were back inside the car, the girl turned to Don and said, "Can you believe that long haired guy asked me out?  Eww!  I wouldn't want to be seen with him!"   

So there you have it....a unheard  story about a girl who refused to go out on a date with George Harrison!   Just remember that you heard it here first.

The photo I posted are screen caps that I made from a video of a travel program that was on television in the mid 1990's.   It showed a few short segment of home videos that belonged to Louise of George's trip to visit her. 

George Harrison in Benton celebration

Many people have heard about the George Harrison historical marker dedication in Benton, Illinois that took place yesterday.  I was able to attend the event and thought that the Beatle fans around the world would like to know what took place.

In case you don't recall, 50 years ago this month the Beatles actually had some time off from their very busy year of 1963.   John and Cynthia went off to Paris for a very belated honeymoon, Paul and Jane along with Ringo and Maureen went off for a holiday in Greece, and George along with his brother Peter, came to the United States to visit their sister, Louise.    Louise had moved a few month before to the small town in southern Illinois that is about 2 hours south of St. Louis, Missouri, Benton, Illinois.

Louise had been working on getting her little brother's band known in the United States.  She was in constant contact with Brian Epstein in England letting him know how things were coming along.  She went around to radio station and pushed The Beatles singles to be played on the air.  She truly worked on getting The Beatles name and music known in the United States.   George spent three weeks in Benton with his sister.   While he was there he made a friend, Gabe McCathy who had a band called the 4 Vests.   George played with the 4 Vests on several occasions.   George also went to the drive in movies, bought a guitar in a music shop, bought American records, ate at the a diner that had car hops on roller skates, and spent a lot of time playing his guitar and hanging around with local people.  

This is a small thing, but yet historically in the story of the Beatles, it is an important first step to the Beatles becoming popular in America.   And so the state of Illinois decided to place a marker in Benton, Illinois to commemorate the time George spent in their town in 1963.

It was a beautiful day to have this outside event.    About 100 people showed up for the ceremony.  Several people spoke including Bob Bartel, who saved Louise Harrison's former home from being demolished and Jim Kirkpatrick who wrote the book, Before he was Fab.    Marcia Schafer told how she was the first person to play a Beatles song on the radio in the United States and George's very own sister, Louise Harrison spoke about her brother's visit and how she ended up living in Benton.   There were some local musicians who played some George Harrison music and also some representatives from Springfield who read the declarations and certificates aloud.    Then they took the cover off the historical marker and revealed it.

photo of the event

with Louise Harrison

Afterwards the 4 Vests sang and a few other musicians performed while Louise Harrison signed autographs and posed for photos.    Overall it was a very nice day and a good time honoring George.

The house where George stayed while he was in Benton is no longer a Bed and Breakfast.  However it is not just sitting vacant.   As far as I could tell from the trash cans sitting outside and the mail  boxes mounted in the front, it is now an apartment complex.    I found it strange, however that the people who were there who were so proud of how they saved the house from being torn down didn't seem to care much that it is no longer the Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast.    As a matter of fact, there was no mention that it was once THE house.   I wouldn't have thought much of it, except for the fact that this group of people kept saying how in 1995 they wanted to save the house because of its historical importance in the history of the Beatles.   If they felt like it was such a big deal, why haven't they done anything to have some type of marker near the house?

Louise Harrison's former home where George stayed for 3 weeks in 1963

Before I left Benton to go back home, my mom and I spotted a sign on an antique shop window that said to come inside and see where George bought records.   Since you all know what Beatle geeks we are, and that we are quite the suckers for stuff like this, we HAD to check it out. So here we are at the very counter that George bought the record of "I got my  mind set on you."  Funny enough my mom found a "Meet the Beatles" record in this shop. 

If you ever find yourself traveling through southern Illinois, it is worth your time to check out Benton and see the new marker and just see the little town where George got his first taste of America.   It isn't worth making a special trip just to see, but if you are already in the area it is well worth a short visit. 

Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast

Paul and Linda with a fan


A fan photo of George with Carl Perkins at the Hard Rock Cafe in London



One of my favorites!


This is just a shot of "mail room" in the house. It is where George's sister used to sit and answer fan letters. It just basically shows that there is a lot of interesting things hanging on the walls.


Me outside of the house. Notice that the sign is quick to point out "Where George Harrison Stayed."




In Southern Illinois there is a little yellow house known as the "Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast." It is the former home of Lousie Cardwell, who is George Harrison's sister. George came and stayed with her for 3 weeks during the late summer of 1963. Since then fans have saved the home from being torn down and have turned it into a mini Beatles museum as well as a Bed and Breakfast (obviously). It is a cute little place, but I wouldn't go rushing down there to see it as a main trip or anything. However, if you happen to be in Southern Illinois anyhow, it is worth checking out. I live in 2 hours North of the town of Benton, Illinois and the home. In 2007 and 2008 they had a Beatles Day at the house, and I attended. (That is when I met Pete Best). I took some photos of some photos on the wall of Beatles with fans. So here are some photos of photos that I took inside of the Hard Day's Night Bed and Breakfast in Benton, Illinois.