0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56You know, just go ahead, George,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59go on and fly away, babe.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02Just be free and go. And we'll see you down the line.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Erm... Just, leave. Go to some place nice.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14We'll be all right here.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20And then he went on out. That was it.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Is there anything you would say to George if he was around today?
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Fancy a cup of tea?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Where have you been? I had a dream that I saw him.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37And that was what I said to him in the dream.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40So I guess that's what would be the question, wouldn't it?
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Where've you been since I last saw you?
0:01:46 > 0:01:49And he answered it, so I can tell you the answer as well,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51which was, "Here the whole time".
0:01:51 > 0:01:53Which doesn't really help me in any way, but...
0:01:53 > 0:01:57There's George with cancer and he knows his life is limited.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59And what he does is buys a house in Switzerland,
0:01:59 > 0:02:02so he can avoid paying the taxman here.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05The man who wrote the song Taxman,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10even to his final hours, was determined to cheat the taxman.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14And then I thought, "There's George." Grace and humour.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18And a weird kind of angry bitterness about certain things in life.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27It's still difficult to try and talk about him in a, kind of...
0:02:29 > 0:02:33anecdotal, frivolous way.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35It's, er, it's still too painful.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06# Sunrise doesn't last all morning
0:03:11 > 0:03:15# A cloudburst doesn't last all day
0:03:17 > 0:03:23# Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning
0:03:25 > 0:03:32# It's not always gonna be this grey. #
0:03:32 > 0:03:34AIR RAID SIRENS
0:03:36 > 0:03:38People in their gayest colours.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Red, white and blue rosettes. Red, white and blue hats...
0:03:41 > 0:03:45That, in accordance with arrangements between the three great powers...
0:03:45 > 0:03:49# Make the world rejoice
0:03:49 > 0:03:54# While you're playing your part Keep a song in your heart
0:03:54 > 0:03:59# Tra-la-la-la, la-la, la-la Count your blessings and smile
0:03:59 > 0:04:04# Sing low, sing high, isn't it grand, beating the band?
0:04:04 > 0:04:09# Who wants to die? Oh, what a happy land.
0:04:09 > 0:04:16# All things must pass
0:04:16 > 0:04:18# All things must pass away
0:04:28 > 0:04:34# Sunset doesn't last all evening... #
0:04:37 > 0:04:41OK. Do you want me to start?
0:04:41 > 0:04:42OK. And then Pete can go.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Right. We lived in 12 Arnold Grove.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47It was a two up and two down.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51The only heating was a coal fire, so there was no electricity.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Small backyard. Toilet down the bottom of the yard.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58It was a very cold place.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03- What kind of a kid was George? - He was cocky. A cocky little guy.
0:05:03 > 0:05:11He had a good sense of himself, he wasn't cowed by anything.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16He had a great haircut. He had this long hair that he quiffed back.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19We had a friend, Arthur.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23And he used to describe it as "a fucking turban!
0:05:23 > 0:05:24"Like a fucking turban!"
0:05:24 > 0:05:28And it did. It looked like a great big marvellous thing.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Looking back now, you know, it was pre-fame.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34So you were just an ordinary kid
0:05:34 > 0:05:38who couldn't get in places, cos you weren't famous.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Teachers didn't like you.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44You know, rock and roll hadn't arrived yet.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47I always think of it as Dickensian.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50And the school that I went to, with George, incidentally,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52was a very Dickensian old place.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57In fact, Dickens had taught there. That's how Dickensian it was.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01You grew up wanting to go somewhere else.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03It made you hungry.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07So art was a great golden vision.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11So for us, we wouldn't have called it art then, it'd be rock and roll.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27We needed a good guitar player.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Both John and I played a bit of guitar, but we couldn't really solo.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34We weren't that good.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39And I said, "I know this guy. He's a bit young, but he's good."
0:06:39 > 0:06:41John said, "Well, you know, let's meet him".
0:06:41 > 0:06:43So I said to George,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46"You want to meet these guys I'm in a group with?"
0:06:46 > 0:06:48"Yeah." So he brought his guitar.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51We were all on the top deck of a double-decker bus
0:06:51 > 0:06:55in Liverpool, round where John lived, a place called Woolton,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58and nobody was on the bus. It was late at night.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03And John said, "Well, go on then. Let's see you play" to George.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05I said, "Go on, go on, get your guitar out."
0:07:05 > 0:07:07So George unpacked his guitar, got it out,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11and he played the thing called Raunchy, which is...
0:07:11 > 0:07:14MUSIC: "Raunchy" by The Beatles
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Down, George, down!
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Yeah. George, only a brief document or two left.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46For the record, I'd like to say these are more papers
0:07:46 > 0:07:48that I don't know what they say...
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- Any of these? - ..that I'm signing.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54- Yes, all those.- Gentleman's name is Lennon. No, no, no.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Or Richard Starkey, or John Lennon, or George Harrison.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59Krishna, Krishna, Krishna.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07May the Lord help this to become final.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11The small gathering on Savile Row was only the beginning.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14The event is so momentous that historians
0:08:14 > 0:08:19may one day view it as a landmark in the decline of the British Empire -
0:08:19 > 0:08:21the Beatles are breaking up.
0:08:21 > 0:08:29# It's funny how people just won't accept change
0:08:29 > 0:08:32# As if nature itself
0:08:32 > 0:08:38# They prefer rearranged. #
0:08:38 > 0:08:41When I was still at school and I was really small,
0:08:41 > 0:08:45I know John was really embarrassed, cos I was so tiny.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47I only looked about ten years old.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59When I met John, he had four strings on his guitar.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I mean, John didn't even know guitars had six strings.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05And I said, "What are you doing? What's that?"
0:09:05 > 0:09:06And he would say, "Well, why?"
0:09:06 > 0:09:09You know, he thought that's what it was.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12So we showed John the guitar chords,
0:09:12 > 0:09:14E and A and all those.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18My mother was a real big fan of music
0:09:18 > 0:09:22and she was really happy about having the guys around.
0:09:22 > 0:09:27You know, and John was always keen to get out of his house,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31because his Aunt Mimi was, kind of, very stern and strict
0:09:31 > 0:09:33and she embarrassed him.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37I remember going to John's house once when I first had met him.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I was still at the Institute.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And we were trying to look like Teddy boys, which was like that style in those days.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And I must've looked good, cos she was like...
0:09:47 > 0:09:49She didn't like me. She was shocked.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52She said, "Look at him! Who is this? Bringing this boy to this house.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54"Look at him. He looks dreadful, like a Teddy boy."
0:09:54 > 0:09:57And he'd just say, "Shut up, Mary, shut up!"
0:10:06 > 0:10:10# Don't you try to tame a wildcat
0:10:10 > 0:10:14# You just don't understand
0:10:14 > 0:10:18# The wildcat's what they name me No kitten's gonna tame me
0:10:18 > 0:10:22# Oh, no. Not me. #
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Our wedding was just one of those occasions where they thought
0:10:26 > 0:10:29they would practise on people and see what happened.
0:10:29 > 0:10:36They were not exactly what the majority of people there expected.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40They had a tea break.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42An elderly lady, who was one of the guests,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44came along to play the piano,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48who was a real pub player.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52She could really hammer out tunes that everybody wanted to sing to.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56The three lads reappeared from the bar, pints in hand,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59and John just poured a pint over this lady's head,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03just straight over the head, saying, "I anoint thee, David."
0:11:03 > 0:11:04And just walked away.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07And this lady surprised me,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11because there was absolutely nothing. There was no reaction.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15She just smiled and got up and went away and got dry again.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17You know, it was... And I thought it was funny,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19because in those days, people used to say,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23"See you had a wedding in Liverpool. How many fights were there?"
0:11:23 > 0:11:25But there wasn't even a fight.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28The nearly fight was John Lennon pouring a pint on her head.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34When I met John, he had a lot of power, really.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Sometimes they'd pick somebody to march behind
0:11:38 > 0:11:40on the way to war.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Well, he was certainly out front.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46When you thought you wanted to be a musician,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49- where did you think you'd end up? - There's no justification for it.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54We kind of had a feeling that that's what we were going to do.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58And I always felt that something good was going to happen.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01But then, in those days, something good would just be
0:12:01 > 0:12:05getting to do a tour of Mecca ballrooms.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07That was, like, a big deal.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14# She's got a way that makes me act like a fool
0:12:14 > 0:12:18# Spends my money then she plays me cool
0:12:18 > 0:12:21# I'm begging for her kisses on a bended knee
0:12:21 > 0:12:24# Oh, won't you give me some a-loving, baby?
0:12:24 > 0:12:25# Please, please. #
0:12:29 > 0:12:31# Watch out now
0:12:31 > 0:12:37# Take care Beware of falling swingers
0:12:41 > 0:12:44# Dropping all around you
0:12:49 > 0:12:53# The pain that often mingles... #
0:12:53 > 0:12:57After wartime, we still had lots of bombed houses.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02Not poverty. I mean, the Germans were rich quite quick.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It didn't take them long to pick up on that one.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09That particular day, I had an argument with Astrid.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I was really angry and I wanted to let steam off.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17And I quite often went that direction, to the harbour.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The Reeperbahn is really for the sailors,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35for the people getting drunk.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39For people going to see naked women or having sex or whatever.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41That's what this place is known for.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09Klaus was always very laid back.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11You know, you couldn't quite
0:14:11 > 0:14:14impress him by things.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18He always said, "Yeah, great. Fantastic."
0:14:18 > 0:14:22But when he came home seeing the Beatles for the first time,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27I've never seen him like that before. He just went crazy.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37When I came down to the Kaiserkeller with Klaus,
0:14:37 > 0:14:44after, he had to persuade me for three days. I just freaked out.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50Seeing them onstage, faces I always dreamt of taking pictures of,
0:14:50 > 0:14:57because they had so much personality and were still young, like I was.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01# Gonna write a little letter, gonna mail it to my local DJ
0:15:02 > 0:15:06# It's a rocking little record I want my jockey to play
0:15:08 > 0:15:12# Roll over Beethoven, got to hear it again today. #
0:15:12 > 0:15:14We didn't really have that much money.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18We only just really had enough to feed ourselves,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21so there was nothing really to show for it.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23But everything else was such a buzz.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27You know, being right in the middle of the naughtiest city in the world
0:15:27 > 0:15:30at 17 years old. It was kind of exciting.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33And learning, you know, about it all.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36There's the gangsters and the transvestites.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40And there's the... You know, it was like that. There's the hookers.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43They looked real strange, teddy boy-like.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45They didn't have the leather gear yet.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48The leather thing came when they met Astrid and me
0:15:48 > 0:15:50and the way we were walking around.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08We loved this band.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12We were knocked out. And we didn't realise how they lived.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17The Bambi Kino was a porno cinema.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21The room they stayed in first was a sort of place where
0:16:21 > 0:16:24you'd normally put brooms and things.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27There was no window, there was just a light bulb on the ceiling.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31And they were sort of living in these little cupboards,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34so to speak, right behind the screen of that cinema.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37And it was terrible, because they were smelly, stinky.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40They couldn't wash their clothes properly.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Klaus introduced me to them, and John did his, you know,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46"I'm a man, I'm a man" thing.
0:16:46 > 0:16:54And Paul was doing his, "I'm a good boy, good education" bit, you know.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Said hello and shook my hand.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03And George was just, looked at me and said, "Oh, hello.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06"And you are Klaus's girlfriend?"
0:17:06 > 0:17:09But he was ever so sweet.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12I came to know George then.
0:17:12 > 0:17:19And he was interested in so many things, but let's say, on the quiet,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22because Paul was the one who said, "Oh, who is that?"
0:17:22 > 0:17:25And "who wrote this book?" And "who is that on that picture?"
0:17:25 > 0:17:29George was just sitting there, looking at my room, which must
0:17:29 > 0:17:34have been very strange to them, because it was completely black,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37with leaves and branches hanging from the ceiling.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41I think, at first, George thought I was a bit mad.
0:17:42 > 0:17:48But that became very shortly a very lovely and nice friendship.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Astrid took them to her house
0:17:52 > 0:17:54and she cooked for them.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Astrid's mother was cooking their favourite meals for them.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59So they had their little home, suddenly,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02which Astrid really took care of them really well.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05GEORGE: Yeah, it was really good for us to meet them, too.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09They, in themselves, were very artistic.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I mean, for us, we started hanging out with them
0:18:12 > 0:18:16and Astrid was so loving. She really helped us a lot.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23You may think it was sexually.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Of course, in a way, they all fancied me,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29because I was quite good looking
0:18:29 > 0:18:33and charming, in my own little way, with my funny English.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37When I started falling in love with Stuart,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40it was great that I was a photographer,
0:18:40 > 0:18:45so I could just go up easily to him and ask him,
0:18:45 > 0:18:48"Do you mind if I take pictures of you?",
0:18:48 > 0:18:50because I felt so attracted to him.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54# A taste of honey
0:18:54 > 0:18:59# Tasting much sweeter than wine
0:18:59 > 0:19:02# Do do-dem-do
0:19:02 > 0:19:05# Do do-dem-do
0:19:05 > 0:19:10# I dream of your first kiss and then
0:19:10 > 0:19:16# I feel upon my lips again
0:19:16 > 0:19:19- # A taste of honey - A taste of honey
0:19:19 > 0:19:23# Tasting much sweeter than wine. #
0:19:28 > 0:19:35I always had a vision that I want to take pictures of outstanding faces,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40who can tell a story behind the mask.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45Imagine what is behind this rough young man, John Lennon.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50And what is behind the funny, joking Paul.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Or the lovely, sweet little George.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00George was only 17 years of age, but he was calm,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02he looked you straight in the face,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04he was funny
0:20:04 > 0:20:09and he was a catalyst in the band, you see?
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Paul and John were so different.
0:20:11 > 0:20:17And George was bringing a certain peace into this set-up.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21I mean, Ringo wasn't with them at the time, because Pete Best was playing the drums.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24And Stuart was more on the side,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28but George was right in the middle, between those two characters.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32After Stuart's death, John and George
0:20:32 > 0:20:34really cared about me.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38You know, they used to come and see me in my home.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44And so... It was actually John's suggestion.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50John said, "Can I see where he used to paint?"
0:20:50 > 0:20:53So I said, "Of course, you can." In that moment,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55I had to take a picture of them.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59And I just grabbed this old chair and put it there.
0:20:59 > 0:21:05And John was so full of emotion, being in the same room
0:21:05 > 0:21:08where his friend was just painting,
0:21:08 > 0:21:13that he nearly burst out in tears.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17And George was all...a bit worried.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21So I just said to George, "Well, stand behind him."
0:21:21 > 0:21:26You could see how quickly
0:21:26 > 0:21:30George understood what it was all about -
0:21:30 > 0:21:35death and being alive.
0:21:35 > 0:21:36He was only just turned 18.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40And when you look at the picture and see his eyes,
0:21:40 > 0:21:45they're so full of protection for John.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48And John was just falling to bits, sitting there.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50And you could see that in his face.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00I gave that guitar away. Ah, that's the one.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02# That boy
0:22:04 > 0:22:09# Took my love away
0:22:09 > 0:22:16- # He'll regret it some day - # Doo-da-doo
0:22:16 > 0:22:22# This boy wants you back again
0:22:26 > 0:22:32# That boy isn't good
0:22:32 > 0:22:35# For you
0:22:36 > 0:22:41# Though he may want you, too... #
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Good song, though. Good sad song.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47# This boy wants you back again... #
0:22:47 > 0:22:50John was as blind as a bat and he'd never wear his glasses,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52so he couldn't see a thing.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53# Oh, and this boy
0:22:53 > 0:23:00# Would be happy just to love you... #
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Double track.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05# But oh my-hi-hi-hi
0:23:05 > 0:23:10# That boy won't be happy
0:23:10 > 0:23:18# Till he's seen you cry-hi-hi-hi. #
0:23:18 > 0:23:21FRENZIED SCREAMING
0:23:26 > 0:23:31AIRCRAFT ENGINE ROARS
0:23:33 > 0:23:37It was almost like we were waiting to get going.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40We couldn't go until all the Beatles were in the frame.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Ringo was a member of the band.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46It's just that he didn't enter the film
0:23:46 > 0:23:49until that particular scene, you know.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56We were always, kinda, you know, a little nervous before each step
0:23:56 > 0:23:57we went up the ladder.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00And that was the good thing about being four together.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02We all shared the experience.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07How many Beatles does it take to change a light bulb?
0:24:07 > 0:24:09CREW LAUGH
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Four!
0:24:11 > 0:24:18# Well, she was just seventeen You know what I mean
0:24:18 > 0:24:24# And the way she looked was way beyond compare
0:24:24 > 0:24:28# So how could I dance with another
0:24:28 > 0:24:33# Oh, since I saw her standing there? #
0:24:35 > 0:24:39We just went in. We were punks, really, you know what I mean?
0:24:39 > 0:24:41We were like just these punks.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45We went in. We're all incredibly grateful to be on vinyl.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46You know, the idea of getting a record.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Then, when it was going up the charts in England, we'd stop the car,
0:24:50 > 0:24:55cos you'd know when it was coming on. BBC at, uh, 4.19.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58"Stop the car!" And then we'd listen to the record
0:24:58 > 0:25:00and then drive on up to the gig.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05# Now I'll never dance with another
0:25:05 > 0:25:11# Ooh, since I saw her standing there
0:25:11 > 0:25:13# Waaah! #
0:25:13 > 0:25:16SCREAMING
0:25:32 > 0:25:37Does the continuous living and working together impose any temperamental stress upon you?
0:25:37 > 0:25:40No, actually, it's quite lucky, cos we've been...
0:25:40 > 0:25:44# We've been together now for 40 years. #
0:25:44 > 0:25:47You know, we have all been mates for quite a long time,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51so we don't get on each other's nerves as much as we could.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I think I saw you being greeted by somebody outside.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- No, no, that was George. - That was me. That was me.- Uh-huh.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Well, actually, it was, um, my mother.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06- Your mother has to come to Ireland to see you?- Yeah!
0:26:17 > 0:26:19# Well, we danced through the night
0:26:19 > 0:26:24# And we held each other tight
0:26:24 > 0:26:29# And before too long I fell in love with her
0:26:29 > 0:26:35# Now, I'll never dance with another, ooh. #
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Do you find any difficulty in keeping up your public image?
0:26:38 > 0:26:40- No.- What image?
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Our image is just us, you know, as we were.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48We didn't try and, uh, make an image. It just happened.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50And so we don't have to keep it up.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54We just remain ourselves, don't we, Ringo?
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Well, we do. It's the other two we're worried about!
0:26:59 > 0:27:02RINGO: The general atmosphere, we all loved it.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05We all dug it, but you know, still in the band,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08we all had personalities and attitudes.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12We stopped at a motorway cafe, you know,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15eat some grease.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18Paul had the keys and George
0:27:18 > 0:27:22was sitting behind the wheel, as we came up.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27And so an argument went on for at least an hour and a half.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30"I've got the keys." "Well, I'm sittin' behind the wheel."
0:27:30 > 0:27:33And it was like, we had to sit there and go through this,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36cos no-one was going give up.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38"I got the keys." "I've got the wheel."
0:27:38 > 0:27:41# So please listen to me if you wanna stay mine
0:27:41 > 0:27:45# I can't help my feelings I'll go out of my mind
0:27:45 > 0:27:48- # I'm gonna let you down - Let you down
0:27:48 > 0:27:49# And leave you flat
0:27:49 > 0:27:52# Gonna let you down and leave you flat
0:27:52 > 0:27:56# Because I've told you before Oh, you can't do that
0:27:57 > 0:27:58# O-o-o-o-oh!
0:28:01 > 0:28:02# You can't do that... #
0:28:13 > 0:28:14"Dear Mum and Dad,
0:28:14 > 0:28:18"The shows have been going great, with everybody going potty.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21"And everywhere we go, we have about 20 police on motorbikes escorting us.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25"We have had two Cadillacs every place, but tonight, when we finished the show and ran out,
0:28:25 > 0:28:29"the cars weren't there and had gone to another door.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31"So we went back inside until we could get out.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35"All the kids came out of the show and saw the two cars around the side
0:28:35 > 0:28:37"and stormed them and jumped all over them."
0:28:37 > 0:28:43"The drivers had to get out and both cars were completely wrecked - the roofs were right down on the seats.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48"Some girl fell through a skylight from the roof of a building and 45 more were put in hospital.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51"In the end, we escaped in an ambulance,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54"but don't worry, because no-one can get near us, for all the police and security."
0:28:54 > 0:28:58# I got something to say that might cause you pain
0:28:58 > 0:29:01# If I catch you talking to that boy again
0:29:01 > 0:29:04# I'm gonna let you down
0:29:04 > 0:29:07# And leave you flat
0:29:08 > 0:29:14# Because I told you before Oh, you can't do that. #
0:29:14 > 0:29:16What actors would you like to meet in Hollywood?
0:29:16 > 0:29:19- Paul Newman.- What actresses?
0:29:19 > 0:29:21Jayne Mansfield.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25RINGO: We were all in our early twenties, so were just going with it.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27The good side of it was that
0:29:27 > 0:29:29you could really go shopping!
0:29:31 > 0:29:33You know, there's the great line
0:29:33 > 0:29:37that the Beatles, they had one day off a month.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40And on the day off, Paul would judge a beauty pageant.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44# Everybody's green
0:29:44 > 0:29:48# Cos I'm the one who won your love
0:29:48 > 0:29:53# But if they'd seen you're talking that way
0:29:53 > 0:29:55# They'd laugh in my face
0:29:55 > 0:29:58# So please listen to me if you wanna stay mine
0:29:58 > 0:30:02# I can't help my feelings I'll go out of my mind
0:30:02 > 0:30:04# I'm gonna let you down
0:30:04 > 0:30:06- # Let you down - And leave you flat
0:30:06 > 0:30:08# Gonna let you down and leave you flat. #
0:30:08 > 0:30:11The Beatles only ever had one car
0:30:11 > 0:30:13and two rooms, in any hotel, between them.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18We got closer together. The bigger it got,
0:30:18 > 0:30:21the closer we became, because from the minute you sort of left
0:30:21 > 0:30:25the security of your apartment, the heat was on.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29People wanted a piece, wanted to talk, wanted their photo.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33And so we sort of, you know, kept each other company.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37FANS SHOUT BEATLES' NAMES
0:30:37 > 0:30:41When we first came to New York, it's a great story
0:30:41 > 0:30:45because we had the whole floor in the Plaza
0:30:45 > 0:30:49and the four of us ended up in the bathroom.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51We were just sitting in there,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53"Hey, how you doin'? What's goin' on?"
0:30:53 > 0:30:57just to get a break from, you know, the incredible pressure.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01# Money don't get everything it's true
0:31:01 > 0:31:05# What it don't get, I can't use # Now give me money
0:31:05 > 0:31:09- #- That's what I want - That's what I want
0:31:09 > 0:31:11# That's what I want. #
0:31:11 > 0:31:13The next song I'd like to sing...
0:31:20 > 0:31:25..is our latest record...
0:31:25 > 0:31:29..or our latest electronic noise, depending on whose side you're on.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33- # That's what I want - That's what I want
0:31:33 > 0:31:35# That's what I want
0:31:36 > 0:31:38# That's what I want, yeah. #
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Are you individually millionaires yet?
0:31:42 > 0:31:45JOHN: No, that's another lousy rumour. I wish we were.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47All right then, where does all the money go?
0:31:47 > 0:31:50Well, a lot of it goes to Her Majesty.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53She's a millionaire.
0:31:56 > 0:31:57# That's what I want
0:31:57 > 0:31:58# A lot of money
0:31:58 > 0:32:01# That's what I want
0:32:01 > 0:32:06- # That's what I want - A lot of money
0:32:06 > 0:32:08# That's what I want. #
0:32:11 > 0:32:15"This morning, we're off to Wellington.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17"We've been and played here in Sydney
0:32:17 > 0:32:19"and it was the biggest drag of all time.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23"The stage revolves every three minutes and we have to walk right down the aisles,
0:32:23 > 0:32:27"like boxers, to get to the stage. At the first house, I punched a policeman,
0:32:27 > 0:32:32"because he was shoving me. And some kids had a hold of me when I was trying to get off the stage.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35"I was swearing my head off at one policeman. Sorry.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37"Later, the chief apologised to me.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41"After the show, there was a party in the hotel for Paul's birthday."
0:32:41 > 0:32:43It's great at the beginning,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45You know, where, you know, you're recognised,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49you get a great seat in a restaurant and, you know,
0:32:49 > 0:32:52things are bigger and things come to you faster.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55Um, you know, all that is great.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59And then you really want that to end.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02Thank you very much, ta.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04Erm, this...
0:33:04 > 0:33:07This number... Shush.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09Shush.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11This number we'd like to sing now...
0:33:11 > 0:33:13You fight for it, and then when you get it,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15you want it to end, but it never ends.
0:33:15 > 0:33:16That's the deal.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22We do like the fans and enjoy reading the publicity about us,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25but from time to time, you don't realise that
0:33:25 > 0:33:27it's actually about yourself.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31You see your pictures and read articles about,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35you know, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul and John, but you don't
0:33:35 > 0:33:39actually think, "Oh, that's me. There I am in the paper."
0:33:39 > 0:33:42It's funny. It's just as though it's a different person.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45# Well, gonna write a little letter
0:33:45 > 0:33:47# Gonna mail it to my local DJ
0:33:49 > 0:33:53# Well, it's a rocking little record I want my jockey to play
0:33:54 > 0:33:56# Roll over, Beethoven
0:33:56 > 0:34:00# I gotta hear it again today
0:34:00 > 0:34:02# You know my temperature's rising
0:34:02 > 0:34:05# And the jukebox's blowing a fuse. #
0:34:05 > 0:34:07Do you know where you were this time last week?
0:34:07 > 0:34:10- No. I haven't a clue. - I don't even know what day it is.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13- You don't know what day it is? - No. What is it?
0:34:26 > 0:34:29"We've been to the Hollywood Bowl and done the show, which was great.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31"And the place was marvellous.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35"The seats go right up the side of big hills.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38"Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, came to see us,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41"and gave us all real leather belts and holster sets. Cowboy things.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44"And little covered wagons, which are television lamps.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47"He was good too and said that Elvis wants to meet us
0:34:47 > 0:34:49"and has invited us to his house in Memphis, Tennessee.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54"Tonight, we were invited to Burt Lancaster's house and he made us very welcome.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57"His house was a knockout and cost him a million dollars.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02"I had a swim in his pool, which was great - and as hot as a bath almost.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05"After that, the men organising the tour wanted us to go to
0:35:05 > 0:35:08"this place called Whiskey A Go-Go, on Sunset Strip.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10"They said we wouldn't be bothered.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16"We got there and went in and fought our way, with Mal and a few big hard men, to a table
0:35:16 > 0:35:18"where John and Derek were. And Jayne Mansfield."
0:35:18 > 0:35:21"By this time, after fighting through the crowd,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24"I was annoyed and threw some Coke on a cameraman.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27"We all fought our way back out and jumped in the car and went home.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30"It was a drag and we were there for about ten minutes altogether.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33"You see why we don't usually bother going out now."
0:35:33 > 0:35:35How did George deal with it?
0:35:35 > 0:35:39George, you know, George had two incredible separate personalities.
0:35:39 > 0:35:45He had the lovebag of beads personality and the bag of anger.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49He was very black and white.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53- Whether you will go along with any change in taste.- Er, no.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Well, you never know, because we have.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59- We change anyway, don't we?- Yeah.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03We hope you've enjoyed the show tonight. Have you enjoyed it?
0:36:03 > 0:36:04CHEERING
0:36:07 > 0:36:11# There's a fog upon LA
0:36:13 > 0:36:19# And my friends have lost their way
0:36:19 > 0:36:24# We'll be over soon, they say
0:36:26 > 0:36:31# Now they've lost themselves instead
0:36:34 > 0:36:38# Please don't be long... #
0:36:38 > 0:36:40I was boss of Parlophone Records
0:36:40 > 0:36:43and I'd made it my business, over the previous years,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47to develop Parlophone as a comedy label. And, in fact,
0:36:47 > 0:36:53when Brian Epstein desperately took us on, or hoped we would take him on,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56he felt he'd hit rock bottom, cos he'd been everywhere else
0:36:56 > 0:36:59and now he was ending up on a comedy label.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02I first met The Beatles in 1962.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05I wasn't terribly impressed with the first stuff they did.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09I couldn't make out the sound. You know, it was something I hadn't heard before.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12So I looked at these four guys, and thought,
0:37:12 > 0:37:16"Well, none of them shines as being above all the others."
0:37:16 > 0:37:18And I had to make up my mind,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21in my silly mind, who the lead singer was going to be.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25Suddenly, I realised I would take them as they were, as a group.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29The hell with a lead singer. They would be singing together.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32So we were struggling with the sound a bit.
0:37:32 > 0:37:38And I said to the boys, after we'd done a few takes of rather nondescript songs,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41"Come into the control room and have a listen
0:37:41 > 0:37:43"and see what we've been doing.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47"And if there's anything you don't like, tell us."
0:37:47 > 0:37:51And George was the one who took the leap.
0:37:51 > 0:37:55And he said, "Well, I don't like your tie for a start."
0:37:55 > 0:37:59And the others were horrified. They thought, "God, he's blown it."
0:37:59 > 0:38:02But, of course, I fell around laughing.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06I thought it was so cheeky and so funny that I...
0:38:06 > 0:38:09You know, he endeared himself to me at that point.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23# I give her all my love
0:38:23 > 0:38:27# That's all I do
0:38:27 > 0:38:31# And if you saw my love
0:38:31 > 0:38:35# You'd love her, too
0:38:35 > 0:38:38# I love her... #
0:38:38 > 0:38:43John and I would write the songs the week before the studio. Brian Epstein would ring us up and say,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47"You're in the studio next week. You've got a week off." We'd go, "Yes!"
0:38:47 > 0:38:51He'd say, "But you've got to write the album." We'd go, "Yes!"
0:38:51 > 0:38:53So we'd just, you know... Each day we'd write a song,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57so we can have seven or so songs to go in with,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00which was enough to start with.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04And we'd go in the studio, ten in the morning,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08and this was the first time George and Ringo had heard any of the songs.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12So this is how good they were. John and I would go, "It goes like this."
0:39:12 > 0:39:16# She loves you, yeah... # Or whatever it was.
0:39:16 > 0:39:17And they'd go, "Mmm-hmm."
0:39:17 > 0:39:21George would cop the chords. He'd go, "Uh-huh," not writing them down.
0:39:21 > 0:39:25It was just like, "Yeah, I can see what you're doing. Cos I'm one of you.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29"I didn't write it, but I see what you did."
0:39:29 > 0:39:32And Ringo would just stand around with his sticks and do a little thing.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51I was just thinking actually about my song And I Love Her.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55# And I give her all my love... # I had that,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58but then George comes in with... # Do-do-do-do. #
0:39:58 > 0:40:01Now, you think about that. That's the song.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05But he made that up on the session. Cos knew the chords, and we said,
0:40:05 > 0:40:07"It needs a riff." I didn't write that.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12When we got together in the studio, whoever had written the song
0:40:12 > 0:40:15would be the kind of boss in leading the other guys through it.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19Paul and John, being the songwriters -
0:40:19 > 0:40:22and at that stage, George wasn't showing himself to be a songwriter -
0:40:22 > 0:40:24they were the dominant forces.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29George and Ringo were slightly behind Paul and John,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32because Paul and John were the writers and the lead singers.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37I guess George was kind of a loner, really,
0:40:37 > 0:40:43because he was outside the team that were providing the hits.
0:40:43 > 0:40:47John and Paul had each other to play against.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51And their collaboration was much more of a competition than a collaboration, really.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56One would do something, and the other one would say, "Gosh, I think I can do better than that,"
0:40:56 > 0:40:58and try and make something better.
0:40:58 > 0:41:02George was the sole guy. He had no-one to work with.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05GUITAR STRUMMING
0:41:09 > 0:41:13The funny position I was in was that, in many ways, you know,
0:41:13 > 0:41:16this whole focus of attention was on The Beatles,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19so in that respect, I was part of it.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21But from being in them...
0:41:23 > 0:41:27..an attitude came over, which was John and Paul.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33"OK, you know, we're the grooves and you two just watch it."
0:41:33 > 0:41:37I mean, don't forget, I spent ten years in the back of the limousine with them.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38- GUITAR STRUMMING - That speed.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43Don't Bother Me. This is remake recording, take ten.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48'Don't Bother Me was the first song. It was written basically as an exercise
0:41:48 > 0:41:52'to see if I could write a song, cos I thought,
0:41:52 > 0:41:56'"Well, if John and Paul can write, everybody must be able to."'
0:41:56 > 0:41:58Two, three, four.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07# Since she's been gone I want no-one to talk to me... #
0:42:09 > 0:42:13- Hang on, it's going too fast. - Take 12.- One, two...
0:42:13 > 0:42:16'I wrote that in the hotel in Bournemouth.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19'We were doing the summer season, and I was sick in bed.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21'Maybe that's why it turned out Don't Bother Me.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24- 'Yeah.- It's not a particularly good song,
0:42:24 > 0:42:29'but it at least showed me that, you know, all I needed to do was keep on writing
0:42:29 > 0:42:33'and maybe some day I'd...
0:42:33 > 0:42:35'write something good.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37'I still feel, right at this point,
0:42:37 > 0:42:40'I still keep thinking, "I wish I could write something good."'
0:42:40 > 0:42:46# Since she's been gone I want no-one to talk to me
0:42:46 > 0:42:48# It's not the same but I'm to blame
0:42:48 > 0:42:52# It's plain to see
0:42:52 > 0:42:56# So go away, leave me alone, don't bother me
0:42:56 > 0:43:02# I can't believe that she would leave me on my own
0:43:02 > 0:43:08# It's just not right when every night I'm all alone
0:43:08 > 0:43:15# I've got no time for you right now, don't bother me
0:43:15 > 0:43:19# I know I'll never be the same
0:43:19 > 0:43:25# If I don't get her back again
0:43:25 > 0:43:31# Because I know she'll always be
0:43:31 > 0:43:36# The only girl for me. #
0:43:36 > 0:43:41When I saw George and Pattie together,
0:43:41 > 0:43:46the way they fit into The Beatles thing, all of their domesticity
0:43:46 > 0:43:51seemed to be like Camelot, you know. It was like...
0:43:51 > 0:43:53And I was the Lancelot, in a way.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56I was kind of this lone wolf
0:43:56 > 0:44:00without really any direction.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16I saw The Beatles
0:44:16 > 0:44:17play at the Hammersmith Odeon
0:44:17 > 0:44:20when I was bottom of the bill in The Yardbirds.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24This band was like... They were like a single person.
0:44:24 > 0:44:29It was an odd phenomenon, in fact, that they seemed to move together and think together.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31It was almost like a little family unit.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35I was very, very suspicious about what they were up to.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39But when I saw them play, I mean, I was overwhelmed by their gift.
0:44:39 > 0:44:45Each one of them seemed to be very well-endowed with their own musical capacity.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47But the sad part was
0:44:47 > 0:44:51that no-one listened to them, and that their audience,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54which they had cultivated, I suppose,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57they were 12-year-old girls.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00He was clearly an innovator.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04George, to me, was taking certain elements
0:45:04 > 0:45:09of R&B and rock and rockabilly
0:45:09 > 0:45:11and creating something unique.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16They were very generous to everybody. They took time to come and talk to everybody.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20I didn't feel threatened at all, because I had quite a lot
0:45:20 > 0:45:23of self-confidence going in my concept of myself
0:45:23 > 0:45:27as being this sort of blues missionary, as it were.
0:45:27 > 0:45:32And I wasn't looking for any favours from anybody.
0:45:32 > 0:45:38And George recognised me as an equal, because I had a level of proficiency even then
0:45:38 > 0:45:41that he saw as being fairly unique too, you know.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45George chose to move into a house in Esher.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49And Esher is maybe eight miles north of where I was born.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53And we became friends and I would go and visit them there.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57Something grew out of the music and the kind of people we were.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I think we shared a lot of tastes, too.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04You know, superficial things - cars or clothes, but...
0:46:04 > 0:46:06And women, obviously.
0:46:06 > 0:46:11But I think what George might have liked about me
0:46:11 > 0:46:14was the fact that I was a kind of free agent.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16And I think, if anything,
0:46:16 > 0:46:21he may have already been wondering about whether he was in the right place being in a group,
0:46:21 > 0:46:26cos the group politic is a tricky one. You know, there was a lot about
0:46:26 > 0:46:28what he had going which I envied,
0:46:28 > 0:46:32and there was a lot about what I had going that he envied.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35What did he have going that you envied?
0:46:35 > 0:46:39Well, I suppose, money, status.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41You know, the classic things.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44The Beatles, man, come on.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49In the beginning, in the early days,
0:46:49 > 0:46:52what was good about being George's friend
0:46:52 > 0:46:55was that it was kind of like basking in the sunshine
0:46:55 > 0:46:58of this immense creativity.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02- CHEERING - We'd like to carry on with a song
0:47:02 > 0:47:04which is off our last LP.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09The LP's called Rubber Soul, and the song,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11which is sung by our guitarist George,
0:47:11 > 0:47:15is called If I Needed Someone.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27# If I needed someone to love
0:47:27 > 0:47:32# You're the one that I'd be thinking of
0:47:33 > 0:47:36# If I needed someone
0:47:39 > 0:47:43# If I had some more time to spend
0:47:43 > 0:47:48# I guess I'd be with you, my friend
0:47:49 > 0:47:52# If I needed someone. #
0:47:55 > 0:47:59This is largely an appeal to the feminine heart,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03the heart of the young girl who worships love
0:48:03 > 0:48:05and the goddess of love
0:48:05 > 0:48:08and the heroes of love.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12And this plays the dominant part in her life.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16So the vast majority of the fans are girls,
0:48:16 > 0:48:19who come there to worship at the shrine of the goddess
0:48:19 > 0:48:23or the young god hero, as they did in the ancient past.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26I've seen this with the most dramatic intensity
0:48:26 > 0:48:30with The Beatles playing to 2,000 or 3,000 young girls in Manchester.
0:48:30 > 0:48:35Apart from another journalist, I was the only male in the audience.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38And I've never experienced anything like it myself.
0:48:38 > 0:48:43If I were confronted with 10,000 Loch Ness monsters,
0:48:43 > 0:48:47I wouldn't be so impressed by this whistling and wailing
0:48:47 > 0:48:50and possession of the soul of these young girls.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Would you say it's true that the devotion your group attracts
0:48:54 > 0:48:57- is essentially religious in nature? - No.
0:48:57 > 0:49:02- In what way is it not?- Well, in what ways do you think it is?
0:49:02 > 0:49:05The fervour, the excitement that it inspires in young people.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Would you say football crowds are any more religious,
0:49:07 > 0:49:12or football fanatics have any more religion in them than Beatle fanatics? I don't think so.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15CHEERING
0:49:15 > 0:49:19One value divides the generations more sharply than any other -
0:49:19 > 0:49:22religion. The gap is greatest between college students
0:49:22 > 0:49:24and their parents.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28The question was whether belonging to some organised religion
0:49:28 > 0:49:30is important in a person's life.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34Nine out of ten parents say it is.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38Only four out of ten college students say religion is important.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41And the more radical the youth, politically,
0:49:41 > 0:49:46the more likely he is to reject the religious values of adult society.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50Still, the gap is there, whatever the politics.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54Well, some of the remarks attributed to you in some of the newspapers, the press here,
0:49:54 > 0:50:00concerning the remark you made comparing the relative popularity of The Beatles with Jesus Christ,
0:50:00 > 0:50:06and that The Beatles were more popular - created quite a controversy and furore here.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Would you clarify the remark?
0:50:08 > 0:50:10Well, I've clarified it about 800 times.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13I could have said TV, or something else, you know.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15And that's as clear as it can be.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19There were other evidences that that ol' time religion was under attack.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Evangelist Billy Graham went to London,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24hoping he could stop England from swinging.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28In the process, he was almost engulfed by sin on a Soho street.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31And I think a great deal of what we see among young people today
0:50:31 > 0:50:36is actually a spiritual search. These young people are searching for a creed to believe in,
0:50:36 > 0:50:39a song to sing and a cause to follow.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43# Carve your number on my wall
0:50:43 > 0:50:48# And maybe you will get a call from me
0:50:48 > 0:50:51# If I needed someone
0:50:54 > 0:50:58# Ah
0:50:58 > 0:51:01# Ah
0:51:01 > 0:51:05# Ah
0:51:05 > 0:51:09# Ah. #
0:51:09 > 0:51:12Before we sort of made it, as they say,
0:51:12 > 0:51:18money was part of the goal, but it still wasn't a sort of, "Let's get some money."
0:51:18 > 0:51:23But we sort of got... We suddenly had money, and then it wasn't all that good.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26By having the money, we found that money wasn't the answer,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30because we had lots of material things
0:51:30 > 0:51:34that people sort of spend their whole life to try to get.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38And we managed to get them at quite an early age.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41And it was good, really, because we learned that that wasn't it.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45We still lacked something. And that something is the thing that religion
0:51:45 > 0:51:46is trying to give to people.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Have they changed because of all this?
0:51:50 > 0:51:53Altered....developed, perhaps, but not...um...
0:51:53 > 0:51:57not changed too much. They're not in any way contaminated by it.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Not nearly as seriously contaminated as many of the people who...
0:52:00 > 0:52:05um...occasionally surround us.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10They remain very calm and bland and simple.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13And they don't know what it's all about.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16They simply want to play their music and write it.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19They're very normal. Thank goodness.
0:52:20 > 0:52:25I came home one day with the kids and Derek said, "Brian's just phoned."
0:52:25 > 0:52:30Brian Epstein. "And he's having a housewarming in Sussex,
0:52:30 > 0:52:33"and he wants us to go. He wants all his friends to be there."
0:52:33 > 0:52:37So we rallied all our babysitters together
0:52:37 > 0:52:41and we found ourselves on a plane.
0:52:41 > 0:52:44And we arrived at Heathrow,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48and waiting for us was John and George.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52And they were dressed in this exotic way.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55They had silk shirts, and they were this incredible colour.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And they hugged us and they kissed us, and they...
0:52:58 > 0:53:03All of a sudden, it's like there are no barriers. No handshakes, it's...
0:53:05 > 0:53:10.."What's happening?" And we were swept out to this...
0:53:10 > 0:53:14to outside Heathrow Airport, where John's Rolls-Royce,
0:53:14 > 0:53:18like a Romany caravan, was waiting for us.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20George, in his Mini,
0:53:20 > 0:53:25and us in the Rolls-Royce, with Procol Harum playing Whiter Shade Of Pale,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28driving along the English country roads
0:53:28 > 0:53:32from Surrey to Sussex. And Brian was waiting for us.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37And there were all sorts of his friends, famous and not-so-famous.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40And George gave Derek acid
0:53:40 > 0:53:43and John gave me acid.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45And then John gave Derek acid.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48So Derek had a double dose.
0:53:48 > 0:53:54And we spent the whole night with them...
0:53:54 > 0:53:56on this mind adventure,
0:53:56 > 0:54:01which Paul had described to us as "controlled weirdness".
0:54:02 > 0:54:06I'm not quite sure how controlled it was, but it was weird.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10But it was wonderful, and it bonded us, because they were so kind to us.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12And we came through it
0:54:12 > 0:54:17and we walked out into this English country garden
0:54:17 > 0:54:19with the night receding
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and the sun coming.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun - well,
0:54:24 > 0:54:27that was what happened, literally, what happened.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32When we took the notorious wonder drug LSD...
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Yes.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36..it was... We didn't know we were having it.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40John and I had this drug and it was given...
0:54:40 > 0:54:43We were having dinner with our dentist...
0:54:43 > 0:54:45LAUGHTER
0:54:45 > 0:54:49..and he put it in our coffee and never told us. And we'd we never heard of it.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53I mean, it's a good job we hadn't heard of it, because there's been so much paranoia
0:54:53 > 0:54:57created around the drug, that people now, if they take it,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59they're already on a bad trip before they start.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03Whereas for us, we didn't know anything. We were so naive.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07So we had it and we went out to a club and it was incredible.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10It was really incredible.
0:55:13 > 0:55:16Something like a very concentrated version
0:55:16 > 0:55:20of the best feeling I'd ever had in my life.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23It was just, like, fantastic.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27I just felt, like, in love.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32But not with anything in particular, or anybody, just with everything.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Just everything was perfect.
0:55:34 > 0:55:40And we walked and things weren't the same that night as they'd been.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43It was... All this Alice In Wonderland stuff was going on,
0:55:43 > 0:55:45but strange things.
0:55:45 > 0:55:50I remember Pattie was, you know, half playfully,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53but half kind of crazy,
0:55:53 > 0:55:57was trying to smash a shop window.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00And I was kind of being like, "Come on now, don't be silly.
0:56:00 > 0:56:06"This way." And we got round this corner
0:56:06 > 0:56:09and there were all these lights and taxis.
0:56:09 > 0:56:15It looked like there was a big film premiere going on. It was probably just the doorway to the nightclub.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18It seemed like, you know, it looked very bright.
0:56:18 > 0:56:24And all these people with makeup that was like, this thick on their faces.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26You know, like masks.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28I had this lingering thought
0:56:28 > 0:56:34that just stayed with me after that.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38And this thought was the Yogis of the Himalayas.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42I don't know why. It just... I'd never thought about them for the rest of my life.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46But suddenly this thought was in the back of my consciousness.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50It was like somebody was whispering to me, you know.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52"The Yogis of the Himalayas."
0:56:57 > 0:56:59# Prabhujee
0:57:01 > 0:57:06# Dayaa karo
0:57:06 > 0:57:14# Prabhujee dayaa karo
0:57:14 > 0:57:21# Maname aana baso
0:57:23 > 0:57:30# Maname aana baso
0:57:30 > 0:57:33# Prabhujee. #
0:57:33 > 0:57:37Interview du Mister George Harrison et Ravi Shankar par Michel Guillard.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Sound is God.
0:57:43 > 0:57:48And through sound, or that is true good music,
0:57:48 > 0:57:52there can be also music which can be devil.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54I don't want to name which music.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00But music can excite you and make you, ahh, and go mad.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03People go, you know, crazy. That is also music.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06But it didn't...doesn't lead you
0:58:06 > 0:58:11spiritually towards God. But music has this power,
0:58:11 > 0:58:14whether it is through the Gregorian chants
0:58:14 > 0:58:15or beautiful Baroque music,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18or Indian music, or even folk songs,
0:58:18 > 0:58:22beautifully sung by people with beautiful voices.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26Our music has been handed down from person to person.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30It's an oral tradition. It's not a written-down music.
0:58:30 > 0:58:32And the guru passes not just the technique,
0:58:32 > 0:58:35but the whole spiritual, uh, aspect.
0:58:35 > 0:58:39All the meaning of life, philosophy,
0:58:39 > 0:58:41everything is passed along with the music.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44FURIOUS SITAR MUSIC
0:59:18 > 0:59:22The fact that I met so many people, I can meet anybody, you know.
0:59:22 > 0:59:26You could go in all the film stars' houses and Elvis and everybody.
0:59:26 > 0:59:32And we met a lot of really good people, but we didn't...I never met one person who really impressed me.
0:59:32 > 0:59:35The first person who ever impressed me in my life
0:59:35 > 0:59:38was Ravi Shankar and he was the only person who didn't try to impress me.
0:59:38 > 0:59:42- Why did he impress you? - Because it was by his being.
0:59:42 > 0:59:46He taught me so much without actually saying a word.
0:59:46 > 0:59:47It's by example.
0:59:47 > 0:59:53- Now try to count five, five and six. Five, five makes ten.- Yeah.
0:59:53 > 0:59:55And six makes 16.
0:59:55 > 0:59:57Nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14.
0:59:57 > 0:59:59One, two, three, four, five.
0:59:59 > 1:00:03- One, two, three, four, five.- One two, three, four, five. One, two.
1:00:03 > 1:00:05Five. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
1:00:05 > 1:00:07One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.
1:00:07 > 1:00:09One, two, three, four, five, six.
1:00:09 > 1:00:12What you can do, if it is difficult for you to touch,
1:00:12 > 1:00:15one, two, three, four. Just...
1:00:15 > 1:00:17THEY LAUGH
1:00:17 > 1:00:18It's very difficult.
1:00:18 > 1:00:22Two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four,
1:00:22 > 1:00:24- one, two...- No, one. - One, two, three...
1:00:24 > 1:00:26If you're trying to find something,
1:00:26 > 1:00:32to find the source of that thing is very difficult,
1:00:32 > 1:00:39but my blessing was to be able to have Ravi as my, uh, patchcord.
1:00:39 > 1:00:42He could plug me in to the real thing,
1:00:42 > 1:00:46so my experience of it was always the best quality.
1:01:25 > 1:01:29# Each day just goes so fast
1:01:29 > 1:01:32# I turn around, it's past
1:01:32 > 1:01:40# You don't get time to hang a sign on me
1:01:44 > 1:01:49# Love me while you can
1:01:49 > 1:01:51# Before I'm a dead old man... #
1:01:54 > 1:01:59Ravi and the sitar was kind of like an excuse to try and find
1:01:59 > 1:02:01this spiritual connection.
1:02:01 > 1:02:05I read stuff by various holy men and Swamis
1:02:05 > 1:02:09and mystics and I went around and looked for them.
1:02:09 > 1:02:14Ravi and his brother gave me a lot of books by some wise men.
1:02:14 > 1:02:18One of the books, which was by a Swami Vivekananda, who said,
1:02:18 > 1:02:20"If there's a God you must see Him
1:02:20 > 1:02:23"and if there's a soul, we must perceive it.
1:02:23 > 1:02:25"Otherwise it's better not to believe.
1:02:25 > 1:02:29"It's better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite."
1:02:29 > 1:02:35And after all my life I've been brought up, well, they tried to bring me up as a Catholic.
1:02:35 > 1:02:39They had told you to just believe what they're telling you,
1:02:39 > 1:02:43and, you know, not to have the direct experience.
1:02:43 > 1:02:45And this, for me, going to India
1:02:45 > 1:02:48and hearing somebody saying, you know,
1:02:48 > 1:02:53"No, you can't believe anything until you have direct perception of it".
1:02:53 > 1:02:56And I thought, "Wow, you know, fantastic! At last, you know,
1:02:56 > 1:03:00"found somebody who... makes some sense."
1:03:00 > 1:03:04And so I wanted to go deeper and deeper into that.
1:03:04 > 1:03:10I think that George's experiences of expanding his mind with acid...
1:03:10 > 1:03:17led him to looking for something that didn't need chemicals.
1:03:17 > 1:03:22He knew that there was a point where you couldn't keep on doing that.
1:03:22 > 1:03:27And it wouldn't be good for you, if you did keep on using chemicals.
1:03:27 > 1:03:30So he was looking for...
1:03:32 > 1:03:34He was always looking for the truth
1:03:34 > 1:03:37and he was also looking for peace of mind...
1:03:39 > 1:03:43..because it was... it was pretty crazy.
1:03:43 > 1:03:47John would pick us up in this big Rolls Royce with blacked-out windows,
1:03:47 > 1:03:51and Ringo, John and I all moved out of town to Surrey.
1:03:51 > 1:03:54And then he'd pick up Ringo and then pick me up
1:03:54 > 1:03:59and then we'd head into town and, by the time we got to Hammersmith, we were just loaded
1:03:59 > 1:04:03and feeling ill, cos, you know, a Rolls Royce doesn't have the proper springs.
1:04:03 > 1:04:06They just roll around. And the black windows,
1:04:06 > 1:04:10you couldn't see anything out and the windows would be shut
1:04:10 > 1:04:15and so you'd just be getting double doses of these reefers.
1:04:15 > 1:04:20And then we'd pull up at Abbey Road Studio and just be, like, fall out of the car.
1:04:20 > 1:04:24We have to thank Paul that we made as many records as we did because,
1:04:24 > 1:04:27you know, John and I, cos we lived in the same area,
1:04:27 > 1:04:29would be hanging out.
1:04:29 > 1:04:32It's like a beautiful day in the garden in England
1:04:32 > 1:04:35and the phone'd ring and we'd always know it was him.
1:04:35 > 1:04:36"He wants us to work!"
1:04:36 > 1:04:41I mean, everywhere we went, people were smiling and,
1:04:41 > 1:04:44you know, sitting on lawns, drinking tea.
1:04:44 > 1:04:49I went to Haight-Ashbury, expecting it to be this brilliant place,
1:04:49 > 1:04:53I thought it was going to be all these groovy
1:04:53 > 1:04:57kind of gypsy kind of people, with little shops making works of art
1:04:57 > 1:05:00and paintings and carvings.
1:05:00 > 1:05:04But, instead, it turned out to be just a lot of bums.
1:05:04 > 1:05:07And many of them, they were just very young kids
1:05:07 > 1:05:09who'd come from all over America
1:05:09 > 1:05:14and dropped acid and gone to this Mecca of LSD.
1:05:14 > 1:05:15We'd walk down the street
1:05:15 > 1:05:19and I was, like, being treated like the Messiah or something.
1:05:19 > 1:05:25I was really afraid, because I could see all these spotty youths and they were...
1:05:25 > 1:05:30still an undercurrent of Beatlemania,
1:05:30 > 1:05:34but from a, kind of, twisted angle.
1:05:34 > 1:05:37And they were... People were handing me things,
1:05:37 > 1:05:40like there was this big pipe,
1:05:40 > 1:05:43like a big Indian pipe with feathers on it
1:05:43 > 1:05:47and books and incense and, you know, all kinds of stuff.
1:05:47 > 1:05:50And trying to give me drugs and,
1:05:50 > 1:05:52you know, I'd say "No, thanks, I don't want it."
1:05:52 > 1:05:55We were walking quicker and quicker. We went through the park
1:05:55 > 1:05:58and back out of the park, and in the end, we just said,
1:05:58 > 1:06:00"Let's get out of here."
1:06:00 > 1:06:04And we drove back to the airport, got on the jet, and as it took off,
1:06:04 > 1:06:08the plane went into a stall, and the whole dashboard lit up,
1:06:08 > 1:06:10saying "Unsafe" right across.
1:06:10 > 1:06:15It certainly showed me what was really happening in the drug cult.
1:06:15 > 1:06:18It wasn't what I thought of all these groovy people getting...
1:06:18 > 1:06:22having spiritual awakenings and being artistic.
1:06:22 > 1:06:25It was like any addiction.
1:06:25 > 1:06:29So, at that point, I stopped taking it, actually,
1:06:29 > 1:06:32the dreaded Lysergic.
1:06:32 > 1:06:35That's where I really went for the meditation.
1:06:35 > 1:06:40CRASHING WAVES
1:07:14 > 1:07:17# Let me take you down
1:07:17 > 1:07:23# Cos I'm going to Strawberry Fields
1:07:25 > 1:07:28# Nothing is real
1:07:29 > 1:07:32# And nothing to get hung about
1:07:33 > 1:07:37# Strawberry Fields forever
1:07:38 > 1:07:43# Living is easy with eyes closed
1:07:43 > 1:07:47# Misunderstanding all you see... #
1:07:50 > 1:07:54We'd stopped touring. We were now in the mid-60s.
1:07:54 > 1:07:56We were partying
1:07:56 > 1:08:02and I think we, kind of, lost, sort of, our spiritual direction.
1:08:02 > 1:08:05Not that we ever had one, but we lost it.
1:08:05 > 1:08:09So we were, kind of, experimenting in anything.
1:08:09 > 1:08:12It was the time of Sgt Pepper,
1:08:12 > 1:08:15and I'd written a song, the title song,
1:08:15 > 1:08:19and I put it to the guys that what we should do,
1:08:19 > 1:08:22we could make this record now under another persona.
1:08:22 > 1:08:26We'll be this other band. And it will free us.
1:08:26 > 1:08:30The idea was we could bring anything we wanted,
1:08:30 > 1:08:34because now, you know, there was no lid on what we could do.
1:08:34 > 1:08:41When we were doing Sgt Pepper, he presented us with a song which I thought was boring.
1:08:42 > 1:08:44And I had to tell him so. And I said,
1:08:44 > 1:08:49"George, honestly, I think we could do...you could do something better for this record,
1:08:49 > 1:08:51"because it's going to be an astonishing record.
1:08:51 > 1:08:54"There's so many great moments in it.
1:08:54 > 1:08:59"And do you mind going away and thinking about it and coming up with something else?"
1:09:08 > 1:09:12# We were talking
1:09:12 > 1:09:19# About the space between us all
1:09:19 > 1:09:24# And the people
1:09:24 > 1:09:30# Who hide themselves behind
1:09:30 > 1:09:34# A wall of illusion
1:09:36 > 1:09:39# Never glimpse the truth
1:09:39 > 1:09:42# Then it's far too late
1:09:42 > 1:09:48# When they pass away-ay-ay... #
1:09:51 > 1:09:54He came up with Within You Without You.
1:09:54 > 1:09:56Now, Within You Without You
1:09:56 > 1:09:59was not a commercial song, by any means.
1:09:59 > 1:10:01But it was very interesting.
1:10:01 > 1:10:06He had the way of communicating music by the Indian system
1:10:06 > 1:10:11of, kind of, a separate language, like, tiki-tiki-ta-ta-ta,
1:10:11 > 1:10:16tiki-tik, tika-da - the kind of things that would be the rhythms suggested
1:10:16 > 1:10:21by the tabla player. And you had to get inside that to find out
1:10:21 > 1:10:25what it was about. So it was like working out a puzzle with George.
1:10:25 > 1:10:29He had Ravi play at his house once. And we all went.
1:10:29 > 1:10:33And we're sitting on the floor and Ravi made the announcement,
1:10:33 > 1:10:36"Please don't smoke while I'm playing."
1:10:36 > 1:10:41And, uh, anyway, there was like a crowd of us and a crowd of Ravi's friends just sitting around
1:10:41 > 1:10:45and Ravi's playing away and this is how little we understood at the time,
1:10:45 > 1:10:50that Ravi's pals are all like going...
1:10:50 > 1:10:52"Aw!
1:10:52 > 1:10:54"Aw!"
1:10:54 > 1:10:58Which it sounded like to us they were saying, "Aw, God, crap!"
1:10:58 > 1:11:03But they were really going, "Ohhhh. Ohhhh."
1:11:03 > 1:11:05We were like, "Keep the noise down"!
1:11:08 > 1:11:11# When you've seen beyond yourself
1:11:11 > 1:11:17# Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there
1:11:19 > 1:11:22# And the time will come
1:11:22 > 1:11:25# When you see we're all one
1:11:25 > 1:11:30# And life flows on within you and without you. #
1:11:30 > 1:11:37When you get a sort of typical westernized Englishman coming to you,
1:11:37 > 1:11:41what is the most important thing you have to teach? Concentration?
1:11:41 > 1:11:47No. Just allowing the mind to take its natural course.
1:11:47 > 1:11:48Just that.
1:11:48 > 1:11:51Say, it was surprising someone one day, uh,
1:11:51 > 1:11:55started to meditate. Next day he came for checking and he said,
1:11:55 > 1:11:59"I feel wonderful. I slept very deep
1:11:59 > 1:12:02"and the whole thing is good, but tell me what you have taught me."
1:12:02 > 1:12:04THEY LAUGH
1:12:04 > 1:12:06I said, "Nothing."
1:12:06 > 1:12:08LAUGHTER
1:12:08 > 1:12:13Because the process of thinking has not to be learned.
1:12:13 > 1:12:16We are used to think. We know how to think from birth.
1:12:16 > 1:12:19CROWD SCREAMS
1:12:22 > 1:12:25I got a message from John and a message from George, saying,
1:12:25 > 1:12:27"We're going to Wales. We've met this guy.
1:12:27 > 1:12:29"We listened to him. He's great. Come."
1:12:29 > 1:12:35We'd seen this giggly little Indian guy with a beard coming on TV, and we liked him.
1:12:35 > 1:12:39He was a funny little character, who was going to save the world.
1:12:39 > 1:12:42So he came around and we were ripe for saving.
1:12:42 > 1:12:45You know, I wanted to get into meditation.
1:12:45 > 1:12:49But it's one thing reading about it and the other thing of how do you do it?
1:12:49 > 1:12:52So I got myself to the point where, "OK, I need a mantra."
1:12:52 > 1:12:54You know, where do you go?
1:12:54 > 1:12:57You know, do you go to Harrods and get a mantra?
1:12:57 > 1:12:59But then David Wynn showed me this picture and said,
1:12:59 > 1:13:02"Oh, he's coming to do a lecture at the Hilton.
1:13:02 > 1:13:04"He's called Maharishi."
1:13:04 > 1:13:07- You give each person a sound, don't you?- Yes.
1:13:07 > 1:13:10Is that the same sound that you give to each person?
1:13:10 > 1:13:15- No. Each person gets different. - How many sounds are there?
1:13:15 > 1:13:19- Oh, there are lots of them.- I mean, hundreds or thousands or...?
1:13:19 > 1:13:21We could say thousands.
1:13:21 > 1:13:24And when a person has been given their own particular sound,
1:13:24 > 1:13:27how do they use it? I mean, when they're meditating,
1:13:27 > 1:13:32how do they use the sound you've given them. Why is that sound useful to them?
1:13:32 > 1:13:33Ah!
1:13:33 > 1:13:39See, every man has his own impulse of individuality, yes?
1:13:40 > 1:13:43Some man goes by and you feel attracted towards him.
1:13:43 > 1:13:47Other man goes and you feel repulsed. Something exchanged
1:13:47 > 1:13:51in the rhythm of the individual. Like, everyone has his own rhythm.
1:13:51 > 1:13:59Now, the rhythm of a sound which will resonate to the existing rhythm of the individual.
1:14:00 > 1:14:03- And that will be the sound suitable to him.- Got it.
1:14:03 > 1:14:06So that you try to find, give the person the sound
1:14:06 > 1:14:10- that fits in with the rhythm of their own lives and being?- Right.
1:14:10 > 1:14:13We were at Maharishi's meditation camp
1:14:13 > 1:14:16when the news came through about Brian.
1:14:16 > 1:14:20And it was horrifying, because we'd experienced loss,
1:14:20 > 1:14:22but with Brian dying,
1:14:22 > 1:14:23it was like one of us dying.
1:14:23 > 1:14:27Uh, and you can kind of come to terms with your parent dying,
1:14:27 > 1:14:30because you know they'll probably die before you.
1:14:30 > 1:14:32But Brian, it was, "Woah!"
1:14:32 > 1:14:37He was such a big part of the equation. People used to call him "the fifth Beatle".
1:14:37 > 1:14:40So it was like, "Oh, my God, now we're on our own."
1:14:40 > 1:14:45It was very strange for it to happen at that precise moment.
1:14:45 > 1:14:48We'd just got involved with this meditation.
1:14:48 > 1:14:51You know, I mean, that may not sound like a big deal,
1:14:51 > 1:14:55but it actually was. It was... It's a big change in your life
1:14:55 > 1:15:02when, you know, when you start making the journey inward.
1:15:02 > 1:15:06And for Brian to, like, kick the bucket that particular day,
1:15:06 > 1:15:08it was pretty far out.
1:15:08 > 1:15:14Is the mantra something you use to get back to the subject
1:15:14 > 1:15:18if you find earthly or irrelevant thoughts intruding?
1:15:18 > 1:15:20- Yes, sort of. - Or is it more than that?
1:15:20 > 1:15:23You know, you just sort of sit there and you let your mind go,
1:15:23 > 1:15:26whatever it's going, no matter what you're thinking about.
1:15:26 > 1:15:31Just let it go. Then you just introduce the mantra or vibration
1:15:31 > 1:15:33just to take over from a thought.
1:15:33 > 1:15:35You don't will it or use your willpower.
1:15:35 > 1:15:38If you find yourself thinking
1:15:38 > 1:15:41then the moment you realise you've been thinking about things again,
1:15:41 > 1:15:46then you replace that thought with the mantra again.
1:15:46 > 1:15:48Sometimes you can go on
1:15:48 > 1:15:51and you find that you haven't even had the mantra in your mind.
1:15:51 > 1:15:55There's just been a complete blank. But when you reach that point,
1:15:55 > 1:15:57because it's beyond all experience,
1:15:57 > 1:16:01then it's down there and that level is timeless,
1:16:01 > 1:16:05spaceless, so you can be there for five minutes and come out.
1:16:05 > 1:16:07You don't know how long you've been there.
1:16:07 > 1:16:12Then the aim, as opposed to sitting and thinking, or anything
1:16:12 > 1:16:14is to reach a part of the sense where you have no thoughts?
1:16:14 > 1:16:19JOHN CHANTS MUMBO-JUMBO, LAUGHTER
1:16:19 > 1:16:24# Without going out of my door
1:16:24 > 1:16:29# I can know all things on Earth
1:16:29 > 1:16:34# Without looking out of my window
1:16:34 > 1:16:40# I could know the ways of heaven
1:16:40 > 1:16:44# The farther one travels
1:16:44 > 1:16:48# The less one knows
1:16:50 > 1:16:55# The less one really knows. #
1:17:02 > 1:17:06The word, for instance, the word "God", I mean has...
1:17:06 > 1:17:09Does it mean something different to you now
1:17:09 > 1:17:11than it did before the Maharishi?
1:17:11 > 1:17:14- It could be. - It means all sorts of things to me.
1:17:14 > 1:17:18It means... I mean, the first concept of a man in the sky,
1:17:18 > 1:17:20well, I kicked that one a few years ago.
1:17:20 > 1:17:21But I've got back to that now,
1:17:21 > 1:17:24because it's a man in the sky as well, if you like.
1:17:24 > 1:17:27It's just everything. The whole thing that...
1:17:27 > 1:17:28It's just everything.
1:17:28 > 1:17:33Every aspect of creation is part of God.
1:17:33 > 1:17:36I think that perhaps we should try and get it a little clearer
1:17:36 > 1:17:38what we're talking about.
1:17:38 > 1:17:42If we're talking about a mystical religious belief,
1:17:42 > 1:17:43which I think that George is,
1:17:43 > 1:17:46but are we really talking about mysticism
1:17:46 > 1:17:49or are we talking about a technique of improving yourself
1:17:49 > 1:17:53- which is totally scientific and rational? - You can take it either way.
1:17:53 > 1:17:55You can take it either way.
1:17:55 > 1:17:57This is because it is a perceptual method.
1:17:57 > 1:18:00If a man has got a great conceptual apparatus and he meditates,
1:18:00 > 1:18:05he will begin to understand the nature of a conceptual apparatus and if he's wrong about it,
1:18:05 > 1:18:08he'll begin to understand where he's wrong about it.
1:18:08 > 1:18:14If he's got no conceptual apparatus, he simply perceives an abstract experience.
1:18:14 > 1:18:16Now, when he's had an abstract experience,
1:18:16 > 1:18:19he may wish then to give himself explanations of it.
1:18:19 > 1:18:23But it's primarily a perceptual method.
1:18:23 > 1:18:26- And so what this offers is an experience?- Yes.
1:18:26 > 1:18:30Why should this abstract experience be any more valuable than any other experiences?
1:18:30 > 1:18:32George talks about a bliss experience.
1:18:32 > 1:18:35You can have a bliss experience by drinking a bottle of whisky.
1:18:35 > 1:18:37MURMURS OF DISAGREEMENT
1:18:37 > 1:18:42- Speak for yourself. - Now, why is a bliss experience...
1:18:42 > 1:18:44You'd have a non-bliss experience the next morning.
1:18:44 > 1:18:49..more valuable than anybody else's experience? Or are we talking about a universe
1:18:49 > 1:18:52which has some hidden laws
1:18:52 > 1:18:56and a hidden creator, who manifests himself only to people like
1:18:56 > 1:19:00Mr Harrison and the Maharishi, when they get into a state of trance? That's what I want to know.
1:19:00 > 1:19:01Well, let's face it.
1:19:01 > 1:19:04These laws that you say - hidden laws - they are hidden.
1:19:04 > 1:19:07But they're only hidden by our own ignorance.
1:19:07 > 1:19:11And the word mysticism is just being arrived at
1:19:11 > 1:19:12through people's ignorance.
1:19:12 > 1:19:14There's nothing mystical about it,
1:19:14 > 1:19:17only that you're ignorant of what that entails.
1:19:19 > 1:19:21# Arrive without travelling
1:19:26 > 1:19:28# See all without looking
1:19:28 > 1:19:31# Do all without doing. #
1:19:38 > 1:19:42He wanted to be a spiritual being, more than anything,
1:19:42 > 1:19:45but he couldn't, because he had to deal with this life.
1:19:46 > 1:19:49So he could be loving, because that was really his true nature,
1:19:49 > 1:19:53and sweet and kind and gentle.
1:19:53 > 1:19:56But then the anger came from the frustration
1:19:56 > 1:19:58that he had -
1:19:58 > 1:20:02when you glimpse something that you understand,
1:20:02 > 1:20:04but you can't be there,
1:20:04 > 1:20:08because there's something earthly holding you back.
1:20:08 > 1:20:11And he was very aware of that.
1:20:11 > 1:20:16What were the earthly things that pulled on him the most?
1:20:18 > 1:20:22Well, the other three Beatles
1:20:22 > 1:20:26and what they were creating and were continuing to create -
1:20:26 > 1:20:30this huge empire, Apple.
1:20:30 > 1:20:33I think he felt that he'd found
1:20:33 > 1:20:38something that he totally understood and wanted to just be there.
1:20:38 > 1:20:40Be in it. He became
1:20:40 > 1:20:44totally absorbed with meditation.
1:20:44 > 1:20:47"Dear Mum, Thanks for your letter last week
1:20:47 > 1:20:50"and if it's any comfort to you, don't worry about me
1:20:50 > 1:20:54"or don't think anything negative about Maharishi, because he's not phoney.
1:20:54 > 1:20:59"It's only the bullshit that's written about him that's phoney. He's not taking any of our money.
1:20:59 > 1:21:02"All he's doing is teaching us how to contact God
1:21:02 > 1:21:04"and as God isn't divided into different sects,
1:21:04 > 1:21:06"as religious leaders here make out,
1:21:06 > 1:21:11"then it doesn't affect my dedication to Sacred Heart in any way. It only strengthens it.
1:21:11 > 1:21:13"But we will help to spread his teachings,
1:21:13 > 1:21:16"so that everybody can attain this and new generations
1:21:16 > 1:21:19"will grow up and have this right from the start,
1:21:19 > 1:21:22"instead of going through the ignorance that seems to dominate
1:21:22 > 1:21:28"everything and everyone at the moment, causing them to feel that it's mysticism or black magic.
1:21:28 > 1:21:31"Don't think that I've gone off my rocker, because I haven't.
1:21:31 > 1:21:34"I now love you and everybody else much more than ever.
1:21:34 > 1:21:35"So it's not that bad, is it?"
1:21:41 > 1:21:45# Creme tangerine and Montlimar
1:21:50 > 1:21:53# A ginger sling with a pineapple heart
1:21:57 > 1:21:59# A coffee dessert, yes
1:21:59 > 1:22:01# You know it's good news
1:22:04 > 1:22:07# But you'll have to have them all pulled out
1:22:07 > 1:22:12# After the Savoy truffle. #
1:22:12 > 1:22:17Whenever we were together, in the public,
1:22:17 > 1:22:21say, for instance, I would turn... I mean, for all of the amount
1:22:21 > 1:22:25of weight that I thought I carried, would turn to nobody.
1:22:25 > 1:22:28If we were going into a restaurant or a club,
1:22:28 > 1:22:33the way people would behave around their aura, you know.
1:22:33 > 1:22:37I mean, by "their", I mean, the Beatles, was beyond belief.
1:22:37 > 1:22:40George had two sides to his character.
1:22:40 > 1:22:45I mean, you know, I'm his mate, so I can't tell too much, but he was a guy.
1:22:45 > 1:22:49You know what I'm talking about.
1:22:49 > 1:22:53He was a red-blooded man, you know.
1:22:53 > 1:22:56So he would like, you know, the things guys like.
1:23:20 > 1:23:23# But you'll have to have them all pulled out
1:23:23 > 1:23:27# After the Savoy truffle. #
1:23:27 > 1:23:33I distinctly remember putting the saxes on and I got
1:23:33 > 1:23:40what I considered to be a good sax sound. They blended well.
1:23:40 > 1:23:44It was very nice and George comes up, after teaching the parts,
1:23:44 > 1:23:46and says "Yeah, they sound great.
1:23:46 > 1:23:47"Now distort them."
1:23:47 > 1:23:51It was, "What?!" "Yeah, they're too clean, they're too nice.
1:23:51 > 1:23:53"Distort them." "OK."
1:23:53 > 1:23:56So I had to, one way or another, mess them up.
1:23:56 > 1:24:00When we were mixing it, George Martin walks into the control room.
1:24:00 > 1:24:03He says, "Uh isn't it a bit bright?
1:24:03 > 1:24:06"Isn't it a bit toppy?" And George turned around to him
1:24:06 > 1:24:09and said, "Yeah. And I like it."
1:24:09 > 1:24:11And he just turns around and we carry on working.
1:24:11 > 1:24:17And George Martin just upped and walked out, went to a studio where they were doing other work.
1:24:17 > 1:24:19They were like the kids that just left home,
1:24:19 > 1:24:22whose parents aren't looking after them anymore.
1:24:36 > 1:24:38A guy called Joe Massot was making this film
1:24:38 > 1:24:41and he'd asked George to do the soundtrack.
1:24:41 > 1:24:42It was really just, um.
1:24:42 > 1:24:43I showed up, you know.
1:24:43 > 1:24:46George told me he'd like me to play on something
1:24:46 > 1:24:48and we'd write as we went along.
1:24:48 > 1:24:53We put down this thing and George then put backwards guitar on top
1:24:53 > 1:24:56and was, you know, it was very experimental and it was good fun.
1:24:56 > 1:25:00MUSIC: "Wonderwall" score by George Harrison
1:25:10 > 1:25:14I think that, in England, there was a sort of cultural revolution
1:25:14 > 1:25:15in the '60s
1:25:15 > 1:25:18which touched on every branch of life.
1:25:18 > 1:25:19Wake up!
1:25:19 > 1:25:22CAMERA CLICKS
1:25:22 > 1:25:25You can thank your lucky stars you're working with me.
1:25:25 > 1:25:26CAMERA CLICKS
1:25:26 > 1:25:28And a smile now. Come on.
1:25:28 > 1:25:29CAMERA CLICKS
1:25:29 > 1:25:33Smile... Smile!
1:25:33 > 1:25:38CAMERA CLICKS
1:25:38 > 1:25:39God.
1:25:39 > 1:25:43'That's why Antonioni decided to do Blow-Up in England
1:25:43 > 1:25:47because of it being the spot where everything was going on.
1:25:48 > 1:25:51What do they call you in bed?
1:25:52 > 1:25:54I only go to bed to sleep.
1:26:03 > 1:26:05'I remember the mystery that was around'
1:26:05 > 1:26:07George Harrison.
1:26:07 > 1:26:10I wouldn't have asked him a question.
1:26:10 > 1:26:14I wouldn't have dared, because of feeling
1:26:14 > 1:26:18he was onto something else.
1:26:18 > 1:26:20There was a lot of energy around.
1:26:20 > 1:26:23Everybody was inspiring everybody else.
1:26:23 > 1:26:27We'd go to David Hockney's studio and watch him paint.
1:26:29 > 1:26:32"Oh, David, can I just have that little sketch?"
1:26:32 > 1:26:33And he'd say, "No, you can't."
1:26:33 > 1:26:37And then we'd go off and he'd say,
1:26:37 > 1:26:38"Oh, let's go and see the Stones.
1:26:38 > 1:26:40"They're recording at so and so."
1:26:40 > 1:26:41Then off we'd go there.
1:26:41 > 1:26:44So we could just do anything. Nobody minded.
1:26:44 > 1:26:46Everybody was flying around like that.
1:26:46 > 1:26:50It was all so possible and so easy and we didn't think twice about it.
1:26:50 > 1:26:54LAYERED VOICES
1:27:05 > 1:27:09I was in New York and some people came and said,
1:27:09 > 1:27:11"Aren't you coming to London?
1:27:11 > 1:27:15"London is swinging. London's great!" And I think, "Well, I don't know."
1:27:15 > 1:27:18I was so New York, you know,
1:27:18 > 1:27:20I didn't want to, sort of, leave New York.
1:27:20 > 1:27:23But then things happened and I went to London and it was great.
1:27:23 > 1:27:27There was a, kind of, feeling of freedom
1:27:27 > 1:27:31and I felt that it's almost like the air was, kind of,
1:27:31 > 1:27:36had an intelligent smell about it, yeah?
1:27:36 > 1:27:42George and John and I made...Number Nine.
1:27:42 > 1:27:46And that was actually George who, sort of, instigated it.
1:27:46 > 1:27:48He said, "Let's do it, let's do it".
1:27:48 > 1:27:51And he didn't have that feeling of,
1:27:51 > 1:27:55"Well, Yoko is a separate thing and, you know, we shouldn't
1:27:55 > 1:27:58"be nice to her or anything like that."
1:27:58 > 1:27:59He was just very nice.
1:27:59 > 1:28:04I thought it's very interesting
1:28:04 > 1:28:06to know about what the Beatles do,
1:28:06 > 1:28:09because, you know, I come from an avant-garde background
1:28:09 > 1:28:13and all that and here they were making music in a way
1:28:13 > 1:28:16that was very different from what we used to do.
1:28:16 > 1:28:18It had power of its own.
1:28:18 > 1:28:21And I thought, "Well, this is what you can do."
1:28:38 > 1:28:41George had two sides, like we all do, you know.
1:28:41 > 1:28:45Sometimes he was very nice and sometimes he was
1:28:45 > 1:28:47just being too honest or something -
1:28:47 > 1:28:49frank about things, yeah?
1:28:49 > 1:28:53He would say something right away, before he's thinking.
1:28:53 > 1:28:55So he didn't, uh, mince words.
1:28:55 > 1:28:59And sometimes it's, you know, "Oh, dear, you think that?" or something.
1:28:59 > 1:29:02He'd just hurt me, maybe.
1:29:02 > 1:29:05But John said, "Oh, that's George, you know."
1:29:05 > 1:29:08And I got used to that, too. It was very nice.
1:29:08 > 1:29:12I remember a particular occasion, when I'd written Hey, Jude,
1:29:12 > 1:29:14and I brought it in.
1:29:14 > 1:29:16And I'd go, # Hey, Jude, don't make it bad. #
1:29:16 > 1:29:18And George was playing, # Hey, Jude... #
1:29:19 > 1:29:21# Don't make it bad... #
1:29:22 > 1:29:25And I had to sort of say, "No, George, look, I really don't think
1:29:25 > 1:29:30"you can put a guitar riff after every line, you know."
1:29:30 > 1:29:33And it was like a real, "Oh, OK, then."
1:29:33 > 1:29:37But, you know, I knew he couldn't do it.
1:29:37 > 1:29:39Maybe he knew he couldn't do it.
1:29:39 > 1:29:41But it created tension, you know. And it was like...
1:29:43 > 1:29:46Then this feeling that I was just dictating things
1:29:46 > 1:29:47started to grow, you know.
1:29:47 > 1:29:51And I was dictating things, cos I knew how I wanted my song to go.
1:29:51 > 1:29:54Similarly, John would say how he wanted his song to go
1:29:54 > 1:29:56or George would say how he wanted his to go.
1:29:56 > 1:30:01The intensity that they had together must have had its limits
1:30:01 > 1:30:03and it had to explode at some point.
1:30:03 > 1:30:09Now they were out in London, travelling a lot and getting...
1:30:09 > 1:30:13having different people influence them.
1:30:13 > 1:30:15So coming back together, it didn't work as well.
1:30:15 > 1:30:19I quit the band in '67, on the White Album,
1:30:19 > 1:30:24because...I was just in,
1:30:24 > 1:30:27I don't know, in some emotional state
1:30:27 > 1:30:30where I honestly felt that I wasn't playing well.
1:30:30 > 1:30:35For some reason, I felt I just wasn't playing good.
1:30:35 > 1:30:37And those three were really close.
1:30:39 > 1:30:42And I thought, "Well, I've got to deal with this, anyway."
1:30:42 > 1:30:46So, I went over to John's - he was staying with Yoko in my apartment -
1:30:46 > 1:30:49and I said, "Look, man," I said,
1:30:49 > 1:30:53"You know, I have to say, look, I feel I'm not playing really good.
1:30:53 > 1:30:55"And you three are really close."
1:30:55 > 1:30:57And he goes, "I thought it was you three."
1:30:58 > 1:31:02And I went to Paul's and knocked on his door and I said the same thing.
1:31:02 > 1:31:05I said, "You know, you three are really close."
1:31:05 > 1:31:07"I thought it was you three!"
1:31:07 > 1:31:10And I thought, "Oh, shit, I'm goin' on holiday.
1:31:10 > 1:31:12I'm off. And I went to Sardinia.
1:31:12 > 1:31:15When I got back, it was, "Oh, come on back.
1:31:15 > 1:31:17"We love you", blah, blah, blah."
1:31:17 > 1:31:21George had decorated the whole studio with flowers, you know.
1:31:21 > 1:31:26And, you know, that was a beautiful moment for me.
1:31:42 > 1:31:46# I look at you all
1:31:46 > 1:31:51# See the love there that's sleeping
1:31:51 > 1:31:56# While my guitar gently weeps
1:32:00 > 1:32:02# I look at the floor
1:32:02 > 1:32:07# And I see it needs sweeping
1:32:08 > 1:32:11# Still my guitar
1:32:11 > 1:32:13# Gently weeps
1:32:17 > 1:32:20# I don't know why
1:32:20 > 1:32:23# Nobody told you
1:32:26 > 1:32:30# How to unfold your love. #
1:32:33 > 1:32:35It was crap, you know.
1:32:35 > 1:32:37We were trying to do the song and it wasn't happening.
1:32:37 > 1:32:40You know, they weren't taking it serious.
1:32:40 > 1:32:43And, uh, I don't think they were even all playing on it.
1:32:43 > 1:32:46And so, I went home that night and I just thought,
1:32:46 > 1:32:49"Well, that's a shame, cos I know this song is pretty good."
1:32:49 > 1:32:53And then the next day, I was driving into London with Eric,
1:32:53 > 1:32:56and I said, "Hey, what're you doing?
1:32:56 > 1:32:58"Why don't you come to the studio
1:32:58 > 1:33:01"and play on this song for me?"
1:33:01 > 1:33:04And he says, "Oh, no, I can't do that.
1:33:04 > 1:33:06"Nobody's ever played on a Beatles' record.
1:33:06 > 1:33:09"And the others wouldn't like that."
1:33:09 > 1:33:12And I said, "Well, you know, look, it's my song
1:33:12 > 1:33:13"and I'd like you to play on it."
1:33:13 > 1:33:17We'd all learned to grow together and, you know,
1:33:17 > 1:33:20some days one'd grow a little taller, and the next day
1:33:20 > 1:33:24someone else'd grow a little taller, you know? It's how we were.
1:33:24 > 1:33:29It had been a few years since I'd seen them and they had changed.
1:33:29 > 1:33:31And this particular song
1:33:31 > 1:33:37was a strong view of... It was coming very much from where George had found himself,
1:33:37 > 1:33:41as a result of becoming involved with, um, mysticism.
1:33:41 > 1:33:46And seeing John and George and Paul sing together,
1:33:46 > 1:33:51when they were doing harmonies and things, and Paul playing, I mean, it was fantastic.
1:33:51 > 1:33:53# I look at you all
1:34:00 > 1:34:02# Still my guitar
1:34:02 > 1:34:10# Gently weeps. #
1:34:15 > 1:34:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:34:18 > 1:34:21E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk