My Fear of Death (1984)

 

My Fear of Death

Written by George Harrison

Daily Mirror

May 22, 1984

    Former Beatle George Harrison revealed yesterday how he lives in fear of being gunned down in the street by a mad gunman crazy for fame. 

    Harrison, 41, has never been able to relax totally in public since the murder of fellow Beatle John Lennon, over three years ago, and now he rarely goes outside his 35-acre estate at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, without a team of bodyguards. 

    Harrison spoke about his secret fear when he made an unexpected appearance at the gala opening of the Chelsea Flower Show. He said, "After what happened to John, I'm absolutely terrified. I don't like being seen in public. I never know who might be around, and I don't like being photographed."

     John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment in December 1980. After the killing, dozens of pop stars bought security systems and hired bodyguards to protect them. Now, guard dogs patrol the grounds of George Harrison's £2 million estate, and his house has a sophisticated alarm system. 

    Yesterday, Harrison was followed everywhere by two heavyweight minders who glared suspiciously at passersby. A leggy burnett, who refused to give her name was at his side. 

    The pop star, who has a team of 12 gardeners tending his estate, relaxed slightly as he spoke about the colorful show. "This represents real life to me," he said. "I love flowers and gardening, and it is a wonderful treat for me to see such a display." 

    A number of showbiz stars joined Harrison for a preview of the annual Flower Show. They include Penelope Keith, Susan Hampshire, and Bonnie Langford.

John outside Kenwood

 

May 4, 1966 

The painting

 

May 4, 1966

The painting hung in their home in both Kinfauns and Friar Park.  

McCartney Still Dazzles in Wings ( Houston 1976)

 McCartney Still Dazzles in Wings

By Dale Adamson

The Houston Chronicle

May 5, 1976

    It's been over 10 years since Paul McCartney set foot on a stage in Houston. He was a Beatle then. Now he's the leader of Wings, which performed its second US concert Tuesday night at the Summit, but there was still a lot of old Beatle-crazed excitement surrounding the show.

     From the throngs pressed against the glass, waiting for the doors to open as long as three hours before the show, to the ear-splitting communal scream that went up when the lights finally went out around 8:30pm to start the show and rouse the packed-in crowd like a stick stirs up an ant bed.

     But after a tentative mic testing "Hello" and the visual thrill of special effects such as smoke, bubbles, and colored spotlights on a mirrored crystal ball, the concert was underway, and McCartney proved quickly that he hardly needed the rest of The Fab Four to dazzle the audience his own way. 

    The keynote of the show was its variety. A full two and a quarter hours of invigorating and refreshing music, well-paced and so impeccably carried out that only technical flaws stood out. McCartney has immersed himself in Wings so thoroughly that in performance, at least, the band no longer comes off as McCartney's backup group.

     After hard-hitting versions of "Rock Show," "Jet," and "Let Me Roll It" with lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch wrenching out licks powerful enough to justify the band's earlier postponement of the tour when he broke a finger, the band slowly diversified. While McCarthy sang most of the songs with plenty of his familiar echo and the boyish exuberance that has been his trademark since his musical coming of age in Liverpool, he stepped back for guitarist Denny Laine on "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and McCulloch on "Medicine Jar."

     After a moving "Maybe I'm Amazed" with McCartney on piano and McCulloch duplicating McCartney's early post Beatle lead guitar line perfectly. The band rocked through "Lady Madonna", then pulled back abruptly for the hymn-like " Long and Winding Road", turning the two Beatles songs into their own.

     "Live and Let Die", which was as comically explosive as the James Bond film it was written for and wreaked enough musical havoc to set the stage for a finely tuned, homey acoustic guitar sing along. Sitting on simple cane chairs, McCartney, wife Linda, Laine, and McCulloch harmonized movingly through "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me), then turned about for an impromptu rendition of Paul Simon's chilling "Richard Corey" led with fierce determination by Laine.

     The harmonies soared again on "Bluebird" and Laine handled the quick 12-string lead on the Beatles' "I've Just Seen a Face" without flinching before leaving McCartney to fly solo on a beautifully finger plucked "Blackbird."  Wings' horn section, (Thaddeus Richard, Howie Casey, Steve Howard and Tony Dorsey) buoyed up McCartney's gentle phrasing on the classic "Yesterday", as the rest of the band returned to the stage.

     Laine helped lead the well deserved thunderous ovation for that one. The show had reached an emotional peak that left songs like "Magneto and Titanium Man" and "My Love" in a lull before drummer Joe English, one of the band's most vital assets, caught fire under "Listen to What the Man Said", "Let 'Em In", and Lane's powerful vocal and harmonica work on "Time to Hide."

     Linda McCartney, whose role in the band is primarily extramusical, was cheated out of one of her few truly vital musical contributions when her microphone went out on the first harmonizing round of "Silly Love Songs", but the band was rolling through the tense  " Beware My Love", the taunt "I Feel Like Letting Go", and the climatic "Band on the Run", during which the giant screen hanging over the stage finally proved its usefulness with a delightful cover photo come to life, film that diverted the crowd's attention through most of the song. 

    There was a full five-minute standing, stomping, cigarette lighter, burning ticket stub, flashlight, ovation before Wings returned for an encore. McCartney donned a cowboy hat, tossed on stage, and kicked off a frantic "Hi Hi Hi."  This led to another ovation and the final turning of rock and roll "Soily" in front of an eerie laser beam spray that cut through the drifting smoke from behind the band. The last thing McCartney said was, "See you next time!" before walking off hand in hand with Linda. Hopefully, it won't be another 10 or 11 years before that next time.

Helping his wife

 May 4, 1971 

Pre-show relaxing

 

Elvis in Las Vegas

 This is  group of people including Ringo & Maureen, Peter Brown, Denis O'Dell and Ken Mansfield who went to see Elvis in concert in Las Vegas in January 1970.   Elivs called out Ringo in the audience during the show.  

Santa Cruz Island

 

May 3, 1991 

All This And McCartney Too (1976)

 All This and McCartney Too

By Perry Stewart

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

May 4, 1976

    There were bubbles in the air last evening at the convention center, but that wasn't Lawrence Welk on stage. It was Mr. and Mrs. Paul McCartney, residents of the United Kingdom. Lately, on a tour of the United States with some of their friends. The bubbles, along with smoke bombs and green laser beams, were part of the pyrotechnic trappings of the Wings of America tour which McCartney and his group, Wings, inaugurated here last night. 

    The special effects may have been superfluous in view of the thunderous audience response to McCartney's non-stop two-hour concert. The packed house of 14,000 gave him a standing, stomping ovation, which lasted two minutes and was rewarded with a pair of lively encores.

     Fatigued but still switched on, Paul and Linda McCartney held cramped court backstage for a gaggle of journalists from as far away as Australia and as near as the Metroplex. The ex-Beatle and his American-born wife don't bother with the nuances of geography. It's all "Howdy Texas" to them. (Guitar Man, Denny Laine, should take a cue. He turned to the Fort Worth crowd early in the concert and called out, 'How ya doin' Dallas?)

     Musically however, the McCartneys know full well that they are in Buddy Holly country. "Yeah. Lubbock, all right!" Linda growled in a good-natured parody of a husky-voiced interviewer.  Her husband, looking scandalously youthful, despite the fact that he'll hit his 34th birthday later on this tour, joined the conversation at the mention of Holly, the '50s rock idol and early Beatles influence. 

    Did McCartney know he was in Buddy Holly country? "Do I know it?" The singer asked, eyes wide in courtesy, "Of course! He's my boy."

     The Fort Worth audience, a probable cross-section of McCartney fandom, contained many 30s-ish patrons who had followed his music since the early 1960s, but there were more in the crowd who were about the age McCartney was when he hooked up in Liverpool with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. 

    "Doesn't bother me," he cracked later with a trace of the Liverpudlian cadence in his speech. "I don't feel old. I have a daughter who's 13, and I still don't feel old."

     Paul and Linda stood arm in arm against the armada of reporters, publicists, and record company types. Spotting an old girlfriend, the unflappable Linda, began to fish in her purse with her free hand. She finally fished out some snapshots of a horse. "Isn't he a beauty?" She cooed, "Pure Appaloosa, a stallion. We bought him the other day in a place called Hurst."

     The McCartneys and their entourage had been in the area for several days now in a rented house in a place called Dallas, so they could drive over unchauffered and unhasseled for the rehearsals. They were to part today for Houston, the next stop on the tour.

Cigar Box guitar

 April 30, 1971