Ex-Beatle George Harrison is guest at White House

 

Ex-Beatle George Harrison is guest at White House

UPI

December 14, 1974

    Former Beatles star George Harrison, wearing red sneakers and expressing "good vibes" about the White House, ate lunch at the Executive Mansion Friday with Jack Ford and met his father, the president.

     Harrison pinned a blue Eastern Mystic button with Moon circles on President Ford's lapel and received a W I N (whip inflation now) button in return,

" I didn't ask him about Bangladesh or anything else political," said Harrison after the meeting. "I didn't want to bug him."

     Jack, 22, a senior at Utah State University, met Harrison and other rock performers on November 16 after their show in Salt Lake City. He invited them to visit when they came to Washington as part of a seven-week tour.

     Harrison, wearing orange pants, red sneakers, and a brown plaid jacket adorned with pop art buttons, arrived in a Cadillac limousine and said he was very flattered at his first White House visit. "I feel good vibes about the White House," added the former Beatle. 

    After lunch of ham, beef, and vegetables, they went into the Oval Office to see President Ford. He posed for pictures with them, standing between his son and Harrison and joking freely with everyone.         Harrison said the president seemed more relaxed than he had expected. "I was the one that was nervous."

     With Harrison was Indian satirist Ravi Shankar, singer-organist Billy Preston, and saxophonist Tommy Scott. Also invited were Harrison's father, Harry, his manager, Denis O'Brien, publicity agent Michael Sterling, and two of Jack's personal friends, Ken Smith and Sandy Laughlin, 

    "I just wanted to return the hospitality." Jack told reporters as he greeted his guests outside. He wore a tan jacket, light-colored jeans, and black boots when he greeted his guests. 

" I can relate to Jack and how he feels," said Harrison, "He is a good guy. Everybody's watching everything he does. I'm somewhat familiar with that."

     Young Ford, who is studying forestry and expects to graduate in March, flew home from school early Friday morning for the Christmas holidays.

The White House Visit

 

A Dark Horse and the commander in chief

All of these are from the creative commons of Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and taken by Fitz-Patrick

I found these photos of George, Olivia, Ravi, Billy Preston, Harry Harrison and others in the creative commons today!   If you click on them, you can see the photos much better.  I love the colored ones.   These are really awesome!

George visits the White House

40 years ago (yesterday) George Harrison became the first Beatle to meet the President of the United States---or in the spirit of this blog, I should saw the first President of the United States to meet a Beatle (for real).   So in celebration of this, I thought I would post some photos and this from the July-December 1994 double issue of The Harrison Alliance. 

George, his dad Harry, Billy Preston, Tom Scott and Ravi Shankar lunched at the White House on the afternoon of December 13, 1974 at the invitation of President Gerald Ford's son, Jack.  George was the first and only ex-Beatle to visit the White House.

Jack Ford said he invited George and friends to the White House because he had been invited  backstage at the Salt Lake City show.  "They were so hospitable to me I wanted to return the favor," he said.  Ford was attending school at Utah State in 1974.

A lunch of vegetables and beef was served in the solarium while George's Dark Horse album was played in the background.  It was reported George stuck to the vegetables.

After lunch the group had a tour of the White House mansion guided part of the way by the President's daughter, Susan.

Tom Scott recalled they were brought to a conference room outside the Oval Office to wait until the President became available.   "We walked into the presidents' conference room with the oval table and the chair and signs saying, 'Secretary of Defense,' 'Secretary of this and that' and we sat down in the chairs, clowning around."  Scott went on to say that George and Billy did some jamming on a piano in the room, but then it was time to meet the President.

George and the rest of the group met and spoke with President Gerald Ford in the Oval Office for about 20 minutes.  George gave the President an Om button, and in return the President presented him with a WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button.

Commenting on his meeting with President Ford, George said, "He seemed very relaxed.  He was much easier to meet than I would expect.  you can imagine the number of things he's got on his plate."  When asked if the President had heard his work in the past, he replied, "No, he's not all that familiar with my music."