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Part 1

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This programme contains some strong language.

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You know, just go ahead, George,

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go on and fly away, babe.

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Just be free and go. And we'll see you down the line.

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Erm... Just, leave. Go to some place nice.

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We'll be all right here.

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And then he went on out. That was it.

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Is there anything you would say to George if he was around today?

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Fancy a cup of tea?

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Where have you been? I had a dream that I saw him.

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And that was what I said to him in the dream.

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So I guess that's what would be the question, wouldn't it?

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Where've you been since I last saw you?

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And he answered it, so I can tell you the answer as well,

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which was, "Here the whole time".

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Which doesn't really help me in any way, but...

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There's George with cancer and he knows his life is limited.

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And what he does is buys a house in Switzerland,

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so he can avoid paying the taxman here.

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The man who wrote the song Taxman,

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even to his final hours, was determined to cheat the taxman.

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And then I thought, "There's George." Grace and humour.

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And a weird kind of angry bitterness about certain things in life.

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It's still difficult to try and talk about him in a, kind of...

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anecdotal, frivolous way.

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It's, er, it's still too painful.

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# Sunrise doesn't last all morning

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# A cloudburst doesn't last all day

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# Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning

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# It's not always gonna be this grey. #

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AIR RAID SIRENS

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People in their gayest colours.

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Red, white and blue rosettes. Red, white and blue hats...

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That, in accordance with arrangements between the three great powers...

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# Make the world rejoice

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# While you're playing your part Keep a song in your heart

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# Tra-la-la-la, la-la, la-la Count your blessings and smile

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# Sing low, sing high, isn't it grand, beating the band?

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# Who wants to die? Oh, what a happy land.

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# All things must pass

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# All things must pass away

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# Sunset doesn't last all evening... #

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OK. Do you want me to start?

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OK. And then Pete can go.

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Right. We lived in 12 Arnold Grove.

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It was a two up and two down.

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The only heating was a coal fire, so there was no electricity.

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Small backyard. Toilet down the bottom of the yard.

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It was a very cold place.

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-What kind of a kid was George?

-He was cocky. A cocky little guy.

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He had a good sense of himself, he wasn't cowed by anything.

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He had a great haircut. He had this long hair that he quiffed back.

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We had a friend, Arthur.

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And he used to describe it as "a fucking turban!

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"Like a fucking turban!"

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And it did. It looked like a great big marvellous thing.

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Looking back now, you know, it was pre-fame.

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So you were just an ordinary kid

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who couldn't get in places, cos you weren't famous.

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Teachers didn't like you.

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You know, rock and roll hadn't arrived yet.

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I always think of it as Dickensian.

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And the school that I went to, with George, incidentally,

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was a very Dickensian old place.

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In fact, Dickens had taught there. That's how Dickensian it was.

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You grew up wanting to go somewhere else.

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It made you hungry.

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So art was a great golden vision.

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So for us, we wouldn't have called it art then, it'd be rock and roll.

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We needed a good guitar player.

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Both John and I played a bit of guitar, but we couldn't really solo.

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We weren't that good.

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And I said, "I know this guy. He's a bit young, but he's good."

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John said, "Well, you know, let's meet him".

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So I said to George,

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"You want to meet these guys I'm in a group with?"

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"Yeah." So he brought his guitar.

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We were all on the top deck of a double-decker bus

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in Liverpool, round where John lived, a place called Woolton,

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and nobody was on the bus. It was late at night.

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And John said, "Well, go on then. Let's see you play" to George.

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I said, "Go on, go on, get your guitar out."

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So George unpacked his guitar, got it out,

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and he played the thing called Raunchy, which is...

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MUSIC: "Raunchy" by The Beatles

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Down, George, down!

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Yeah. George, only a brief document or two left.

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For the record, I'd like to say these are more papers

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that I don't know what they say...

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-Any of these?

-..that I'm signing.

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-Yes, all those.

-Gentleman's name is Lennon. No, no, no.

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Or Richard Starkey, or John Lennon, or George Harrison.

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Krishna, Krishna, Krishna.

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May the Lord help this to become final.

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The small gathering on Savile Row was only the beginning.

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The event is so momentous that historians

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may one day view it as a landmark in the decline of the British Empire -

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the Beatles are breaking up.

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# It's funny how people just won't accept change

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# As if nature itself

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# They prefer rearranged. #

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When I was still at school and I was really small,

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I know John was really embarrassed, cos I was so tiny.

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I only looked about ten years old.

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When I met John, he had four strings on his guitar.

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I mean, John didn't even know guitars had six strings.

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And I said, "What are you doing? What's that?"

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And he would say, "Well, why?"

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You know, he thought that's what it was.

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So we showed John the guitar chords,

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E and A and all those.

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My mother was a real big fan of music

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and she was really happy about having the guys around.

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You know, and John was always keen to get out of his house,

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because his Aunt Mimi was, kind of, very stern and strict

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and she embarrassed him.

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I remember going to John's house once when I first had met him.

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I was still at the Institute.

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And we were trying to look like Teddy boys, which was like that style in those days.

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And I must've looked good, cos she was like...

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She didn't like me. She was shocked.

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She said, "Look at him! Who is this? Bringing this boy to this house.

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"Look at him. He looks dreadful, like a Teddy boy."

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And he'd just say, "Shut up, Mary, shut up!"

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# Don't you try to tame a wildcat

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# You just don't understand

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# The wildcat's what they name me No kitten's gonna tame me

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# Oh, no. Not me. #

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Our wedding was just one of those occasions where they thought

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they would practise on people and see what happened.

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They were not exactly what the majority of people there expected.

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They had a tea break.

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An elderly lady, who was one of the guests,

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came along to play the piano,

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who was a real pub player.

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She could really hammer out tunes that everybody wanted to sing to.

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The three lads reappeared from the bar, pints in hand,

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and John just poured a pint over this lady's head,

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just straight over the head, saying, "I anoint thee, David."

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And just walked away.

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And this lady surprised me,

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because there was absolutely nothing. There was no reaction.

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She just smiled and got up and went away and got dry again.

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You know, it was... And I thought it was funny,

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because in those days, people used to say,

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"See you had a wedding in Liverpool. How many fights were there?"

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But there wasn't even a fight.

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The nearly fight was John Lennon pouring a pint on her head.

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When I met John, he had a lot of power, really.

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Sometimes they'd pick somebody to march behind

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on the way to war.

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Well, he was certainly out front.

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When you thought you wanted to be a musician,

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-where did you think you'd end up?

-There's no justification for it.

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We kind of had a feeling that that's what we were going to do.

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And I always felt that something good was going to happen.

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But then, in those days, something good would just be

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getting to do a tour of Mecca ballrooms.

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That was, like, a big deal.

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# She's got a way that makes me act like a fool

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# Spends my money then she plays me cool

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# I'm begging for her kisses on a bended knee

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# Oh, won't you give me some a-loving, baby?

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# Please, please. #

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# Watch out now

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# Take care Beware of falling swingers

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# Dropping all around you

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# The pain that often mingles... #

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After wartime, we still had lots of bombed houses.

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Not poverty. I mean, the Germans were rich quite quick.

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It didn't take them long to pick up on that one.

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That particular day, I had an argument with Astrid.

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I was really angry and I wanted to let steam off.

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And I quite often went that direction, to the harbour.

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The Reeperbahn is really for the sailors,

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for the people getting drunk.

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For people going to see naked women or having sex or whatever.

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That's what this place is known for.

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Klaus was always very laid back.

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You know, you couldn't quite

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impress him by things.

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He always said, "Yeah, great. Fantastic."

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But when he came home seeing the Beatles for the first time,

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I've never seen him like that before. He just went crazy.

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When I came down to the Kaiserkeller with Klaus,

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after, he had to persuade me for three days. I just freaked out.

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Seeing them onstage, faces I always dreamt of taking pictures of,

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because they had so much personality and were still young, like I was.

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# Gonna write a little letter, gonna mail it to my local DJ

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# It's a rocking little record I want my jockey to play

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# Roll over Beethoven, got to hear it again today. #

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We didn't really have that much money.

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We only just really had enough to feed ourselves,

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so there was nothing really to show for it.

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But everything else was such a buzz.

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You know, being right in the middle of the naughtiest city in the world

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at 17 years old. It was kind of exciting.

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And learning, you know, about it all.

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There's the gangsters and the transvestites.

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And there's the... You know, it was like that. There's the hookers.

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They looked real strange, teddy boy-like.

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They didn't have the leather gear yet.

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The leather thing came when they met Astrid and me

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and the way we were walking around.

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We loved this band.

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We were knocked out. And we didn't realise how they lived.

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The Bambi Kino was a porno cinema.

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The room they stayed in first was a sort of place where

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you'd normally put brooms and things.

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There was no window, there was just a light bulb on the ceiling.

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And they were sort of living in these little cupboards,

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so to speak, right behind the screen of that cinema.

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And it was terrible, because they were smelly, stinky.

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They couldn't wash their clothes properly.

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Klaus introduced me to them, and John did his, you know,

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"I'm a man, I'm a man" thing.

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And Paul was doing his, "I'm a good boy, good education" bit, you know.

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Said hello and shook my hand.

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And George was just, looked at me and said, "Oh, hello.

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"And you are Klaus's girlfriend?"

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But he was ever so sweet.

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I came to know George then.

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And he was interested in so many things, but let's say, on the quiet,

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because Paul was the one who said, "Oh, who is that?"

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And "who wrote this book?" And "who is that on that picture?"

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George was just sitting there, looking at my room, which must

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have been very strange to them, because it was completely black,

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with leaves and branches hanging from the ceiling.

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I think, at first, George thought I was a bit mad.

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But that became very shortly a very lovely and nice friendship.

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Astrid took them to her house

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and she cooked for them.

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Astrid's mother was cooking their favourite meals for them.

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So they had their little home, suddenly,

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which Astrid really took care of them really well.

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GEORGE: Yeah, it was really good for us to meet them, too.

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They, in themselves, were very artistic.

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I mean, for us, we started hanging out with them

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and Astrid was so loving. She really helped us a lot.

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You may think it was sexually.

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Of course, in a way, they all fancied me,

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because I was quite good looking

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and charming, in my own little way, with my funny English.

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When I started falling in love with Stuart,

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it was great that I was a photographer,

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so I could just go up easily to him and ask him,

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"Do you mind if I take pictures of you?",

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because I felt so attracted to him.

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# A taste of honey

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# Tasting much sweeter than wine

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# Do do-dem-do

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# Do do-dem-do

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# I dream of your first kiss and then

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# I feel upon my lips again

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-# A taste of honey

-A taste of honey

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# Tasting much sweeter than wine. #

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I always had a vision that I want to take pictures of outstanding faces,

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who can tell a story behind the mask.

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Imagine what is behind this rough young man, John Lennon.

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And what is behind the funny, joking Paul.

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Or the lovely, sweet little George.

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George was only 17 years of age, but he was calm,

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he looked you straight in the face,

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he was funny

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and he was a catalyst in the band, you see?

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Paul and John were so different.

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And George was bringing a certain peace into this set-up.

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I mean, Ringo wasn't with them at the time, because Pete Best was playing the drums.

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And Stuart was more on the side,

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but George was right in the middle, between those two characters.

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After Stuart's death, John and George

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really cared about me.

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You know, they used to come and see me in my home.

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And so... It was actually John's suggestion.

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John said, "Can I see where he used to paint?"

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So I said, "Of course, you can." In that moment,

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I had to take a picture of them.

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And I just grabbed this old chair and put it there.

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And John was so full of emotion, being in the same room

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where his friend was just painting,

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that he nearly burst out in tears.

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And George was all...a bit worried.

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So I just said to George, "Well, stand behind him."

0:21:170:21:21

You could see how quickly

0:21:210:21:26

George understood what it was all about -

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death and being alive.

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He was only just turned 18.

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And when you look at the picture and see his eyes,

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they're so full of protection for John.

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And John was just falling to bits, sitting there.

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And you could see that in his face.

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I gave that guitar away. Ah, that's the one.

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# That boy

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# Took my love away

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-# He'll regret it some day

-# Doo-da-doo

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# This boy wants you back again

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# That boy isn't good

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# For you

0:22:320:22:35

# Though he may want you, too... #

0:22:360:22:41

Good song, though. Good sad song.

0:22:410:22:44

# This boy wants you back again... #

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John was as blind as a bat and he'd never wear his glasses,

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so he couldn't see a thing.

0:22:500:22:52

# Oh, and this boy

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# Would be happy just to love you... #

0:22:530:23:00

Double track.

0:23:000:23:02

# But oh my-hi-hi-hi

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# That boy won't be happy

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# Till he's seen you cry-hi-hi-hi. #

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FRENZIED SCREAMING

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AIRCRAFT ENGINE ROARS

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It was almost like we were waiting to get going.

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We couldn't go until all the Beatles were in the frame.

0:23:370:23:40

Ringo was a member of the band.

0:23:400:23:44

It's just that he didn't enter the film

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until that particular scene, you know.

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We were always, kinda, you know, a little nervous before each step

0:23:510:23:56

we went up the ladder.

0:23:560:23:57

And that was the good thing about being four together.

0:23:570:24:00

We all shared the experience.

0:24:000:24:02

How many Beatles does it take to change a light bulb?

0:24:020:24:07

CREW LAUGH

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Four!

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# Well, she was just seventeen You know what I mean

0:24:110:24:18

# And the way she looked was way beyond compare

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# So how could I dance with another

0:24:240:24:28

# Oh, since I saw her standing there? #

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We just went in. We were punks, really, you know what I mean?

0:24:350:24:39

We were like just these punks.

0:24:390:24:41

We went in. We're all incredibly grateful to be on vinyl.

0:24:410:24:45

You know, the idea of getting a record.

0:24:450:24:46

Then, when it was going up the charts in England, we'd stop the car,

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cos you'd know when it was coming on. BBC at, uh, 4.19.

0:24:500:24:55

"Stop the car!" And then we'd listen to the record

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and then drive on up to the gig.

0:24:580:25:00

# Now I'll never dance with another

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# Ooh, since I saw her standing there

0:25:050:25:11

# Waaah! #

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SCREAMING

0:25:130:25:16

Does the continuous living and working together impose any temperamental stress upon you?

0:25:320:25:37

No, actually, it's quite lucky, cos we've been...

0:25:370:25:40

# We've been together now for 40 years. #

0:25:400:25:44

You know, we have all been mates for quite a long time,

0:25:440:25:47

so we don't get on each other's nerves as much as we could.

0:25:470:25:51

I think I saw you being greeted by somebody outside.

0:25:530:25:56

-No, no, that was George.

-That was me. That was me.

-Uh-huh.

0:25:560:26:00

Well, actually, it was, um, my mother.

0:26:000:26:02

-Your mother has to come to Ireland to see you?

-Yeah!

0:26:030:26:06

# Well, we danced through the night

0:26:170:26:19

# And we held each other tight

0:26:190:26:24

# And before too long I fell in love with her

0:26:240:26:29

# Now, I'll never dance with another, ooh. #

0:26:290:26:35

Do you find any difficulty in keeping up your public image?

0:26:350:26:38

-No.

-What image?

0:26:380:26:40

Our image is just us, you know, as we were.

0:26:400:26:44

We didn't try and, uh, make an image. It just happened.

0:26:440:26:48

And so we don't have to keep it up.

0:26:480:26:50

We just remain ourselves, don't we, Ringo?

0:26:500:26:54

Well, we do. It's the other two we're worried about!

0:26:540:26:58

RINGO: The general atmosphere, we all loved it.

0:26:590:27:02

We all dug it, but you know, still in the band,

0:27:020:27:05

we all had personalities and attitudes.

0:27:050:27:08

We stopped at a motorway cafe, you know,

0:27:080:27:12

eat some grease.

0:27:120:27:15

Paul had the keys and George

0:27:150:27:18

was sitting behind the wheel, as we came up.

0:27:180:27:22

And so an argument went on for at least an hour and a half.

0:27:220:27:27

"I've got the keys." "Well, I'm sittin' behind the wheel."

0:27:270:27:30

And it was like, we had to sit there and go through this,

0:27:300:27:33

cos no-one was going give up.

0:27:330:27:36

"I got the keys." "I've got the wheel."

0:27:360:27:38

# So please listen to me if you wanna stay mine

0:27:380:27:41

# I can't help my feelings I'll go out of my mind

0:27:410:27:45

-# I'm gonna let you down

-Let you down

0:27:450:27:48

# And leave you flat

0:27:480:27:49

# Gonna let you down and leave you flat

0:27:490:27:52

# Because I've told you before Oh, you can't do that

0:27:520:27:56

# O-o-o-o-oh!

0:27:570:27:58

# You can't do that... #

0:28:010:28:02

"Dear Mum and Dad,

0:28:130:28:14

"The shows have been going great, with everybody going potty.

0:28:140:28:18

"And everywhere we go, we have about 20 police on motorbikes escorting us.

0:28:180:28:21

"We have had two Cadillacs every place, but tonight, when we finished the show and ran out,

0:28:210:28:25

"the cars weren't there and had gone to another door.

0:28:250:28:29

"So we went back inside until we could get out.

0:28:290:28:31

"All the kids came out of the show and saw the two cars around the side

0:28:310:28:35

"and stormed them and jumped all over them."

0:28:350:28:37

"The drivers had to get out and both cars were completely wrecked - the roofs were right down on the seats.

0:28:370:28:43

"Some girl fell through a skylight from the roof of a building and 45 more were put in hospital.

0:28:430:28:48

"In the end, we escaped in an ambulance,

0:28:480:28:51

"but don't worry, because no-one can get near us, for all the police and security."

0:28:510:28:54

# I got something to say that might cause you pain

0:28:540:28:58

# If I catch you talking to that boy again

0:28:580:29:01

# I'm gonna let you down

0:29:010:29:04

# And leave you flat

0:29:040:29:07

# Because I told you before Oh, you can't do that. #

0:29:080:29:14

What actors would you like to meet in Hollywood?

0:29:140:29:16

-Paul Newman.

-What actresses?

0:29:160:29:19

Jayne Mansfield.

0:29:190:29:21

RINGO: We were all in our early twenties, so were just going with it.

0:29:210:29:25

The good side of it was that

0:29:250:29:27

you could really go shopping!

0:29:270:29:29

You know, there's the great line

0:29:310:29:33

that the Beatles, they had one day off a month.

0:29:330:29:37

And on the day off, Paul would judge a beauty pageant.

0:29:370:29:40

# Everybody's green

0:29:400:29:44

# Cos I'm the one who won your love

0:29:440:29:48

# But if they'd seen you're talking that way

0:29:480:29:53

# They'd laugh in my face

0:29:530:29:55

# So please listen to me if you wanna stay mine

0:29:550:29:58

# I can't help my feelings I'll go out of my mind

0:29:580:30:02

# I'm gonna let you down

0:30:020:30:04

-# Let you down

-And leave you flat

0:30:040:30:06

# Gonna let you down and leave you flat. #

0:30:060:30:08

The Beatles only ever had one car

0:30:080:30:11

and two rooms, in any hotel, between them.

0:30:110:30:13

We got closer together. The bigger it got,

0:30:130:30:18

the closer we became, because from the minute you sort of left

0:30:180:30:21

the security of your apartment, the heat was on.

0:30:210:30:25

People wanted a piece, wanted to talk, wanted their photo.

0:30:250:30:29

And so we sort of, you know, kept each other company.

0:30:290:30:33

FANS SHOUT BEATLES' NAMES

0:30:330:30:37

When we first came to New York, it's a great story

0:30:370:30:41

because we had the whole floor in the Plaza

0:30:410:30:45

and the four of us ended up in the bathroom.

0:30:450:30:49

We were just sitting in there,

0:30:490:30:51

"Hey, how you doin'? What's goin' on?"

0:30:510:30:53

just to get a break from, you know, the incredible pressure.

0:30:530:30:57

# Money don't get everything it's true

0:30:570:31:01

# What it don't get, I can't use # Now give me money

0:31:010:31:05

-#

-That's what I want

-That's what I want

0:31:050:31:09

# That's what I want. #

0:31:090:31:11

The next song I'd like to sing...

0:31:110:31:13

..is our latest record...

0:31:200:31:25

..or our latest electronic noise, depending on whose side you're on.

0:31:250:31:29

-# That's what I want

-That's what I want

0:31:290:31:33

# That's what I want

0:31:330:31:35

# That's what I want, yeah. #

0:31:360:31:38

Are you individually millionaires yet?

0:31:380:31:42

JOHN: No, that's another lousy rumour. I wish we were.

0:31:420:31:45

All right then, where does all the money go?

0:31:450:31:47

Well, a lot of it goes to Her Majesty.

0:31:470:31:50

She's a millionaire.

0:31:510:31:53

# That's what I want

0:31:560:31:57

# A lot of money

0:31:570:31:58

# That's what I want

0:31:580:32:01

-# That's what I want

-A lot of money

0:32:010:32:06

# That's what I want. #

0:32:060:32:08

"This morning, we're off to Wellington.

0:32:110:32:15

"We've been and played here in Sydney

0:32:150:32:17

"and it was the biggest drag of all time.

0:32:170:32:19

"The stage revolves every three minutes and we have to walk right down the aisles,

0:32:190:32:23

"like boxers, to get to the stage. At the first house, I punched a policeman,

0:32:230:32:27

"because he was shoving me. And some kids had a hold of me when I was trying to get off the stage.

0:32:270:32:32

"I was swearing my head off at one policeman. Sorry.

0:32:320:32:35

"Later, the chief apologised to me.

0:32:350:32:37

"After the show, there was a party in the hotel for Paul's birthday."

0:32:370:32:41

It's great at the beginning,

0:32:410:32:43

You know, where, you know, you're recognised,

0:32:430:32:45

you get a great seat in a restaurant and, you know,

0:32:450:32:49

things are bigger and things come to you faster.

0:32:490:32:52

Um, you know, all that is great.

0:32:520:32:55

And then you really want that to end.

0:32:550:32:59

Thank you very much, ta.

0:32:590:33:02

Erm, this...

0:33:020:33:04

This number... Shush.

0:33:040:33:07

Shush.

0:33:070:33:09

This number we'd like to sing now...

0:33:090:33:11

You fight for it, and then when you get it,

0:33:110:33:13

you want it to end, but it never ends.

0:33:130:33:15

That's the deal.

0:33:150:33:16

We do like the fans and enjoy reading the publicity about us,

0:33:160:33:22

but from time to time, you don't realise that

0:33:220:33:25

it's actually about yourself.

0:33:250:33:27

You see your pictures and read articles about,

0:33:270:33:31

you know, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Paul and John, but you don't

0:33:310:33:35

actually think, "Oh, that's me. There I am in the paper."

0:33:350:33:39

It's funny. It's just as though it's a different person.

0:33:390:33:42

# Well, gonna write a little letter

0:33:420:33:45

# Gonna mail it to my local DJ

0:33:450:33:47

# Well, it's a rocking little record I want my jockey to play

0:33:490:33:53

# Roll over, Beethoven

0:33:540:33:56

# I gotta hear it again today

0:33:560:34:00

# You know my temperature's rising

0:34:000:34:02

# And the jukebox's blowing a fuse. #

0:34:020:34:05

Do you know where you were this time last week?

0:34:050:34:07

-No. I haven't a clue.

-I don't even know what day it is.

0:34:070:34:10

-You don't know what day it is?

-No. What is it?

0:34:100:34:13

"We've been to the Hollywood Bowl and done the show, which was great.

0:34:260:34:29

"And the place was marvellous.

0:34:290:34:31

"The seats go right up the side of big hills.

0:34:310:34:35

"Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, came to see us,

0:34:350:34:38

"and gave us all real leather belts and holster sets. Cowboy things.

0:34:380:34:41

"And little covered wagons, which are television lamps.

0:34:410:34:44

"He was good too and said that Elvis wants to meet us

0:34:440:34:47

"and has invited us to his house in Memphis, Tennessee.

0:34:470:34:49

"Tonight, we were invited to Burt Lancaster's house and he made us very welcome.

0:34:490:34:54

"His house was a knockout and cost him a million dollars.

0:34:540:34:57

"I had a swim in his pool, which was great - and as hot as a bath almost.

0:34:570:35:02

"After that, the men organising the tour wanted us to go to

0:35:020:35:05

"this place called Whiskey A Go-Go, on Sunset Strip.

0:35:050:35:08

"They said we wouldn't be bothered.

0:35:080:35:10

"We got there and went in and fought our way, with Mal and a few big hard men, to a table

0:35:100:35:16

"where John and Derek were. And Jayne Mansfield."

0:35:160:35:18

"By this time, after fighting through the crowd,

0:35:180:35:21

"I was annoyed and threw some Coke on a cameraman.

0:35:210:35:24

"We all fought our way back out and jumped in the car and went home.

0:35:240:35:27

"It was a drag and we were there for about ten minutes altogether.

0:35:270:35:30

"You see why we don't usually bother going out now."

0:35:300:35:33

How did George deal with it?

0:35:330:35:35

George, you know, George had two incredible separate personalities.

0:35:350:35:39

He had the lovebag of beads personality and the bag of anger.

0:35:390:35:45

He was very black and white.

0:35:450:35:49

-Whether you will go along with any change in taste.

-Er, no.

0:35:490:35:53

Well, you never know, because we have.

0:35:530:35:56

-We change anyway, don't we?

-Yeah.

0:35:560:35:59

We hope you've enjoyed the show tonight. Have you enjoyed it?

0:35:590:36:03

CHEERING

0:36:030:36:04

# There's a fog upon LA

0:36:070:36:11

# And my friends have lost their way

0:36:130:36:19

# We'll be over soon, they say

0:36:190:36:24

# Now they've lost themselves instead

0:36:260:36:31

# Please don't be long... #

0:36:340:36:38

I was boss of Parlophone Records

0:36:380:36:40

and I'd made it my business, over the previous years,

0:36:400:36:43

to develop Parlophone as a comedy label. And, in fact,

0:36:430:36:47

when Brian Epstein desperately took us on, or hoped we would take him on,

0:36:470:36:53

he felt he'd hit rock bottom, cos he'd been everywhere else

0:36:530:36:56

and now he was ending up on a comedy label.

0:36:560:36:59

I first met The Beatles in 1962.

0:36:590:37:02

I wasn't terribly impressed with the first stuff they did.

0:37:020:37:05

I couldn't make out the sound. You know, it was something I hadn't heard before.

0:37:050:37:09

So I looked at these four guys, and thought,

0:37:090:37:12

"Well, none of them shines as being above all the others."

0:37:120:37:16

And I had to make up my mind,

0:37:160:37:18

in my silly mind, who the lead singer was going to be.

0:37:180:37:21

Suddenly, I realised I would take them as they were, as a group.

0:37:210:37:25

The hell with a lead singer. They would be singing together.

0:37:250:37:29

So we were struggling with the sound a bit.

0:37:290:37:32

And I said to the boys, after we'd done a few takes of rather nondescript songs,

0:37:320:37:38

"Come into the control room and have a listen

0:37:380:37:41

"and see what we've been doing.

0:37:410:37:43

"And if there's anything you don't like, tell us."

0:37:430:37:47

And George was the one who took the leap.

0:37:470:37:51

And he said, "Well, I don't like your tie for a start."

0:37:510:37:55

And the others were horrified. They thought, "God, he's blown it."

0:37:550:37:59

But, of course, I fell around laughing.

0:37:590:38:02

I thought it was so cheeky and so funny that I...

0:38:020:38:06

You know, he endeared himself to me at that point.

0:38:060:38:09

# I give her all my love

0:38:200:38:23

# That's all I do

0:38:230:38:27

# And if you saw my love

0:38:270:38:31

# You'd love her, too

0:38:310:38:35

# I love her... #

0:38:350:38:38

John and I would write the songs the week before the studio. Brian Epstein would ring us up and say,

0:38:380:38:43

"You're in the studio next week. You've got a week off." We'd go, "Yes!"

0:38:430:38:47

He'd say, "But you've got to write the album." We'd go, "Yes!"

0:38:470:38:51

So we'd just, you know... Each day we'd write a song,

0:38:510:38:53

so we can have seven or so songs to go in with,

0:38:530:38:57

which was enough to start with.

0:38:570:39:00

And we'd go in the studio, ten in the morning,

0:39:000:39:04

and this was the first time George and Ringo had heard any of the songs.

0:39:040:39:08

So this is how good they were. John and I would go, "It goes like this."

0:39:080:39:12

# She loves you, yeah... # Or whatever it was.

0:39:120:39:16

And they'd go, "Mmm-hmm."

0:39:160:39:17

George would cop the chords. He'd go, "Uh-huh," not writing them down.

0:39:170:39:21

It was just like, "Yeah, I can see what you're doing. Cos I'm one of you.

0:39:210:39:25

"I didn't write it, but I see what you did."

0:39:250:39:29

And Ringo would just stand around with his sticks and do a little thing.

0:39:290:39:32

I was just thinking actually about my song And I Love Her.

0:39:480:39:51

# And I give her all my love... # I had that,

0:39:510:39:55

but then George comes in with... # Do-do-do-do. #

0:39:550:39:58

Now, you think about that. That's the song.

0:39:580:40:01

But he made that up on the session. Cos knew the chords, and we said,

0:40:010:40:05

"It needs a riff." I didn't write that.

0:40:050:40:07

When we got together in the studio, whoever had written the song

0:40:070:40:12

would be the kind of boss in leading the other guys through it.

0:40:120:40:15

Paul and John, being the songwriters -

0:40:150:40:19

and at that stage, George wasn't showing himself to be a songwriter -

0:40:190:40:22

they were the dominant forces.

0:40:220:40:24

George and Ringo were slightly behind Paul and John,

0:40:240:40:29

because Paul and John were the writers and the lead singers.

0:40:290:40:32

I guess George was kind of a loner, really,

0:40:320:40:37

because he was outside the team that were providing the hits.

0:40:370:40:43

John and Paul had each other to play against.

0:40:430:40:47

And their collaboration was much more of a competition than a collaboration, really.

0:40:470:40:51

One would do something, and the other one would say, "Gosh, I think I can do better than that,"

0:40:510:40:56

and try and make something better.

0:40:560:40:58

George was the sole guy. He had no-one to work with.

0:40:580:41:02

GUITAR STRUMMING

0:41:030:41:05

The funny position I was in was that, in many ways, you know,

0:41:090:41:13

this whole focus of attention was on The Beatles,

0:41:130:41:16

so in that respect, I was part of it.

0:41:160:41:19

But from being in them...

0:41:190:41:21

..an attitude came over, which was John and Paul.

0:41:230:41:27

"OK, you know, we're the grooves and you two just watch it."

0:41:270:41:33

I mean, don't forget, I spent ten years in the back of the limousine with them.

0:41:330:41:37

-GUITAR STRUMMING

-That speed.

0:41:370:41:38

Don't Bother Me. This is remake recording, take ten.

0:41:380:41:43

'Don't Bother Me was the first song. It was written basically as an exercise

0:41:430:41:48

'to see if I could write a song, cos I thought,

0:41:480:41:52

'"Well, if John and Paul can write, everybody must be able to."'

0:41:520:41:56

Two, three, four.

0:41:560:41:58

# Since she's been gone I want no-one to talk to me... #

0:42:030:42:07

-Hang on, it's going too fast.

-Take 12.

-One, two...

0:42:090:42:13

'I wrote that in the hotel in Bournemouth.

0:42:130:42:16

'We were doing the summer season, and I was sick in bed.

0:42:160:42:19

'Maybe that's why it turned out Don't Bother Me.

0:42:190:42:21

-'Yeah.

-It's not a particularly good song,

0:42:210:42:24

'but it at least showed me that, you know, all I needed to do was keep on writing

0:42:240:42:29

'and maybe some day I'd...

0:42:290:42:33

'write something good.

0:42:330:42:35

'I still feel, right at this point,

0:42:350:42:37

'I still keep thinking, "I wish I could write something good."'

0:42:370:42:40

# Since she's been gone I want no-one to talk to me

0:42:400:42:46

# It's not the same but I'm to blame

0:42:460:42:48

# It's plain to see

0:42:480:42:52

# So go away, leave me alone, don't bother me

0:42:520:42:56

# I can't believe that she would leave me on my own

0:42:560:43:02

# It's just not right when every night I'm all alone

0:43:020:43:08

# I've got no time for you right now, don't bother me

0:43:080:43:15

# I know I'll never be the same

0:43:150:43:19

# If I don't get her back again

0:43:190:43:25

# Because I know she'll always be

0:43:250:43:31

# The only girl for me. #

0:43:310:43:36

When I saw George and Pattie together,

0:43:360:43:41

the way they fit into The Beatles thing, all of their domesticity

0:43:410:43:46

seemed to be like Camelot, you know. It was like...

0:43:460:43:51

And I was the Lancelot, in a way.

0:43:510:43:53

I was kind of this lone wolf

0:43:530:43:56

without really any direction.

0:43:560:44:00

I saw The Beatles

0:44:140:44:16

play at the Hammersmith Odeon

0:44:160:44:17

when I was bottom of the bill in The Yardbirds.

0:44:170:44:20

This band was like... They were like a single person.

0:44:200:44:24

It was an odd phenomenon, in fact, that they seemed to move together and think together.

0:44:240:44:29

It was almost like a little family unit.

0:44:290:44:31

I was very, very suspicious about what they were up to.

0:44:310:44:35

But when I saw them play, I mean, I was overwhelmed by their gift.

0:44:350:44:39

Each one of them seemed to be very well-endowed with their own musical capacity.

0:44:390:44:45

But the sad part was

0:44:450:44:47

that no-one listened to them, and that their audience,

0:44:470:44:51

which they had cultivated, I suppose,

0:44:510:44:54

they were 12-year-old girls.

0:44:540:44:57

He was clearly an innovator.

0:44:570:45:00

George, to me, was taking certain elements

0:45:000:45:04

of R&B and rock and rockabilly

0:45:040:45:09

and creating something unique.

0:45:090:45:11

They were very generous to everybody. They took time to come and talk to everybody.

0:45:110:45:16

I didn't feel threatened at all, because I had quite a lot

0:45:160:45:20

of self-confidence going in my concept of myself

0:45:200:45:23

as being this sort of blues missionary, as it were.

0:45:230:45:27

And I wasn't looking for any favours from anybody.

0:45:270:45:32

And George recognised me as an equal, because I had a level of proficiency even then

0:45:320:45:38

that he saw as being fairly unique too, you know.

0:45:380:45:41

George chose to move into a house in Esher.

0:45:410:45:45

And Esher is maybe eight miles north of where I was born.

0:45:450:45:49

And we became friends and I would go and visit them there.

0:45:490:45:53

Something grew out of the music and the kind of people we were.

0:45:530:45:57

I think we shared a lot of tastes, too.

0:45:570:46:00

You know, superficial things - cars or clothes, but...

0:46:000:46:04

And women, obviously.

0:46:040:46:06

But I think what George might have liked about me

0:46:060:46:11

was the fact that I was a kind of free agent.

0:46:110:46:14

And I think, if anything,

0:46:140:46:16

he may have already been wondering about whether he was in the right place being in a group,

0:46:160:46:21

cos the group politic is a tricky one. You know, there was a lot about

0:46:210:46:26

what he had going which I envied,

0:46:260:46:28

and there was a lot about what I had going that he envied.

0:46:280:46:32

What did he have going that you envied?

0:46:320:46:35

Well, I suppose, money, status.

0:46:350:46:39

You know, the classic things.

0:46:390:46:41

The Beatles, man, come on.

0:46:410:46:44

In the beginning, in the early days,

0:46:460:46:49

what was good about being George's friend

0:46:490:46:52

was that it was kind of like basking in the sunshine

0:46:520:46:55

of this immense creativity.

0:46:550:46:58

-CHEERING

-We'd like to carry on with a song

0:46:580:47:02

which is off our last LP.

0:47:020:47:04

The LP's called Rubber Soul, and the song,

0:47:060:47:09

which is sung by our guitarist George,

0:47:090:47:11

is called If I Needed Someone.

0:47:110:47:15

# If I needed someone to love

0:47:230:47:27

# You're the one that I'd be thinking of

0:47:270:47:32

# If I needed someone

0:47:330:47:36

# If I had some more time to spend

0:47:390:47:43

# I guess I'd be with you, my friend

0:47:430:47:48

# If I needed someone. #

0:47:490:47:52

This is largely an appeal to the feminine heart,

0:47:550:47:59

the heart of the young girl who worships love

0:47:590:48:03

and the goddess of love

0:48:030:48:05

and the heroes of love.

0:48:050:48:08

And this plays the dominant part in her life.

0:48:080:48:12

So the vast majority of the fans are girls,

0:48:120:48:16

who come there to worship at the shrine of the goddess

0:48:160:48:19

or the young god hero, as they did in the ancient past.

0:48:190:48:23

I've seen this with the most dramatic intensity

0:48:230:48:26

with The Beatles playing to 2,000 or 3,000 young girls in Manchester.

0:48:260:48:30

Apart from another journalist, I was the only male in the audience.

0:48:300:48:35

And I've never experienced anything like it myself.

0:48:350:48:38

If I were confronted with 10,000 Loch Ness monsters,

0:48:380:48:43

I wouldn't be so impressed by this whistling and wailing

0:48:430:48:47

and possession of the soul of these young girls.

0:48:470:48:50

Would you say it's true that the devotion your group attracts

0:48:500:48:54

-is essentially religious in nature?

-No.

0:48:540:48:57

-In what way is it not?

-Well, in what ways do you think it is?

0:48:570:49:02

The fervour, the excitement that it inspires in young people.

0:49:020:49:05

Would you say football crowds are any more religious,

0:49:050:49:07

or football fanatics have any more religion in them than Beatle fanatics? I don't think so.

0:49:070:49:12

CHEERING

0:49:120:49:15

One value divides the generations more sharply than any other -

0:49:150:49:19

religion. The gap is greatest between college students

0:49:190:49:22

and their parents.

0:49:220:49:24

The question was whether belonging to some organised religion

0:49:240:49:28

is important in a person's life.

0:49:280:49:30

Nine out of ten parents say it is.

0:49:300:49:34

Only four out of ten college students say religion is important.

0:49:340:49:38

And the more radical the youth, politically,

0:49:380:49:41

the more likely he is to reject the religious values of adult society.

0:49:410:49:46

Still, the gap is there, whatever the politics.

0:49:460:49:50

Well, some of the remarks attributed to you in some of the newspapers, the press here,

0:49:500:49:54

concerning the remark you made comparing the relative popularity of The Beatles with Jesus Christ,

0:49:540:50:00

and that The Beatles were more popular - created quite a controversy and furore here.

0:50:000:50:06

Would you clarify the remark?

0:50:060:50:08

Well, I've clarified it about 800 times.

0:50:080:50:10

I could have said TV, or something else, you know.

0:50:100:50:13

And that's as clear as it can be.

0:50:130:50:15

There were other evidences that that ol' time religion was under attack.

0:50:150:50:19

Evangelist Billy Graham went to London,

0:50:190:50:22

hoping he could stop England from swinging.

0:50:220:50:24

In the process, he was almost engulfed by sin on a Soho street.

0:50:240:50:28

And I think a great deal of what we see among young people today

0:50:280:50:31

is actually a spiritual search. These young people are searching for a creed to believe in,

0:50:310:50:36

a song to sing and a cause to follow.

0:50:360:50:39

# Carve your number on my wall

0:50:390:50:43

# And maybe you will get a call from me

0:50:430:50:48

# If I needed someone

0:50:480:50:51

# Ah

0:50:540:50:58

# Ah

0:50:580:51:01

# Ah

0:51:010:51:05

# Ah. #

0:51:050:51:09

Before we sort of made it, as they say,

0:51:090:51:12

money was part of the goal, but it still wasn't a sort of, "Let's get some money."

0:51:120:51:18

But we sort of got... We suddenly had money, and then it wasn't all that good.

0:51:180:51:23

By having the money, we found that money wasn't the answer,

0:51:230:51:26

because we had lots of material things

0:51:260:51:30

that people sort of spend their whole life to try to get.

0:51:300:51:34

And we managed to get them at quite an early age.

0:51:340:51:38

And it was good, really, because we learned that that wasn't it.

0:51:380:51:41

We still lacked something. And that something is the thing that religion

0:51:410:51:45

is trying to give to people.

0:51:450:51:46

Have they changed because of all this?

0:51:460:51:50

Altered....developed, perhaps, but not...um...

0:51:500:51:53

not changed too much. They're not in any way contaminated by it.

0:51:530:51:57

Not nearly as seriously contaminated as many of the people who...

0:51:570:52:00

um...occasionally surround us.

0:52:000:52:05

They remain very calm and bland and simple.

0:52:050:52:10

And they don't know what it's all about.

0:52:100:52:13

They simply want to play their music and write it.

0:52:130:52:16

They're very normal. Thank goodness.

0:52:160:52:19

I came home one day with the kids and Derek said, "Brian's just phoned."

0:52:200:52:25

Brian Epstein. "And he's having a housewarming in Sussex,

0:52:250:52:30

"and he wants us to go. He wants all his friends to be there."

0:52:300:52:33

So we rallied all our babysitters together

0:52:330:52:37

and we found ourselves on a plane.

0:52:370:52:41

And we arrived at Heathrow,

0:52:410:52:44

and waiting for us was John and George.

0:52:440:52:48

And they were dressed in this exotic way.

0:52:480:52:52

They had silk shirts, and they were this incredible colour.

0:52:520:52:55

And they hugged us and they kissed us, and they...

0:52:550:52:58

All of a sudden, it's like there are no barriers. No handshakes, it's...

0:52:580:53:03

.."What's happening?" And we were swept out to this...

0:53:050:53:10

to outside Heathrow Airport, where John's Rolls-Royce,

0:53:100:53:14

like a Romany caravan, was waiting for us.

0:53:140:53:18

George, in his Mini,

0:53:180:53:20

and us in the Rolls-Royce, with Procol Harum playing Whiter Shade Of Pale,

0:53:200:53:25

driving along the English country roads

0:53:250:53:28

from Surrey to Sussex. And Brian was waiting for us.

0:53:280:53:32

And there were all sorts of his friends, famous and not-so-famous.

0:53:320:53:37

And George gave Derek acid

0:53:370:53:40

and John gave me acid.

0:53:400:53:43

And then John gave Derek acid.

0:53:430:53:45

So Derek had a double dose.

0:53:450:53:48

And we spent the whole night with them...

0:53:480:53:54

on this mind adventure,

0:53:540:53:56

which Paul had described to us as "controlled weirdness".

0:53:560:54:01

I'm not quite sure how controlled it was, but it was weird.

0:54:020:54:06

But it was wonderful, and it bonded us, because they were so kind to us.

0:54:060:54:10

And we came through it

0:54:100:54:12

and we walked out into this English country garden

0:54:120:54:17

with the night receding

0:54:170:54:19

and the sun coming.

0:54:190:54:21

Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun - well,

0:54:210:54:24

that was what happened, literally, what happened.

0:54:240:54:27

When we took the notorious wonder drug LSD...

0:54:280:54:32

Yes.

0:54:320:54:34

..it was... We didn't know we were having it.

0:54:340:54:36

John and I had this drug and it was given...

0:54:360:54:40

We were having dinner with our dentist...

0:54:400:54:43

LAUGHTER

0:54:430:54:45

..and he put it in our coffee and never told us. And we'd we never heard of it.

0:54:450:54:49

I mean, it's a good job we hadn't heard of it, because there's been so much paranoia

0:54:490:54:53

created around the drug, that people now, if they take it,

0:54:530:54:57

they're already on a bad trip before they start.

0:54:570:54:59

Whereas for us, we didn't know anything. We were so naive.

0:54:590:55:03

So we had it and we went out to a club and it was incredible.

0:55:030:55:07

It was really incredible.

0:55:070:55:10

Something like a very concentrated version

0:55:130:55:16

of the best feeling I'd ever had in my life.

0:55:160:55:20

It was just, like, fantastic.

0:55:200:55:23

I just felt, like, in love.

0:55:230:55:27

But not with anything in particular, or anybody, just with everything.

0:55:270:55:32

Just everything was perfect.

0:55:320:55:34

And we walked and things weren't the same that night as they'd been.

0:55:340:55:40

It was... All this Alice In Wonderland stuff was going on,

0:55:400:55:43

but strange things.

0:55:430:55:45

I remember Pattie was, you know, half playfully,

0:55:450:55:50

but half kind of crazy,

0:55:500:55:53

was trying to smash a shop window.

0:55:530:55:57

And I was kind of being like, "Come on now, don't be silly.

0:55:570:56:00

"This way." And we got round this corner

0:56:000:56:06

and there were all these lights and taxis.

0:56:060:56:09

It looked like there was a big film premiere going on. It was probably just the doorway to the nightclub.

0:56:090:56:15

It seemed like, you know, it looked very bright.

0:56:150:56:18

And all these people with makeup that was like, this thick on their faces.

0:56:180:56:24

You know, like masks.

0:56:240:56:26

I had this lingering thought

0:56:260:56:28

that just stayed with me after that.

0:56:280:56:34

And this thought was the Yogis of the Himalayas.

0:56:340:56:38

I don't know why. It just... I'd never thought about them for the rest of my life.

0:56:380:56:42

But suddenly this thought was in the back of my consciousness.

0:56:420:56:46

It was like somebody was whispering to me, you know.

0:56:460:56:50

"The Yogis of the Himalayas."

0:56:500:56:52

# Prabhujee

0:56:570:56:59

# Dayaa karo

0:57:010:57:06

# Prabhujee dayaa karo

0:57:060:57:14

# Maname aana baso

0:57:140:57:21

# Maname aana baso

0:57:230:57:30

# Prabhujee. #

0:57:300:57:33

Interview du Mister George Harrison et Ravi Shankar par Michel Guillard.

0:57:330:57:37

Sound is God.

0:57:410:57:43

And through sound, or that is true good music,

0:57:430:57:48

there can be also music which can be devil.

0:57:480:57:52

I don't want to name which music.

0:57:520:57:54

But music can excite you and make you, ahh, and go mad.

0:57:560:58:00

People go, you know, crazy. That is also music.

0:58:000:58:03

But it didn't...doesn't lead you

0:58:030:58:06

spiritually towards God. But music has this power,

0:58:060:58:11

whether it is through the Gregorian chants

0:58:110:58:14

or beautiful Baroque music,

0:58:140:58:15

or Indian music, or even folk songs,

0:58:150:58:18

beautifully sung by people with beautiful voices.

0:58:180:58:22

Our music has been handed down from person to person.

0:58:220:58:26

It's an oral tradition. It's not a written-down music.

0:58:260:58:30

And the guru passes not just the technique,

0:58:300:58:32

but the whole spiritual, uh, aspect.

0:58:320:58:35

All the meaning of life, philosophy,

0:58:350:58:39

everything is passed along with the music.

0:58:390:58:41

FURIOUS SITAR MUSIC

0:58:410:58:44

The fact that I met so many people, I can meet anybody, you know.

0:59:180:59:22

You could go in all the film stars' houses and Elvis and everybody.

0:59:220:59:26

And we met a lot of really good people, but we didn't...I never met one person who really impressed me.

0:59:260:59:32

The first person who ever impressed me in my life

0:59:320:59:35

was Ravi Shankar and he was the only person who didn't try to impress me.

0:59:350:59:38

-Why did he impress you?

-Because it was by his being.

0:59:380:59:42

He taught me so much without actually saying a word.

0:59:420:59:46

It's by example.

0:59:460:59:47

-Now try to count five, five and six. Five, five makes ten.

-Yeah.

0:59:470:59:53

And six makes 16.

0:59:530:59:55

Nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14.

0:59:550:59:57

One, two, three, four, five.

0:59:570:59:59

-One, two, three, four, five.

-One two, three, four, five. One, two.

0:59:591:00:03

Five. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

1:00:031:00:05

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

1:00:051:00:07

One, two, three, four, five, six.

1:00:071:00:09

What you can do, if it is difficult for you to touch,

1:00:091:00:12

one, two, three, four. Just...

1:00:121:00:15

THEY LAUGH

1:00:151:00:17

It's very difficult.

1:00:171:00:18

Two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four,

1:00:181:00:22

-one, two...

-No, one.

-One, two, three...

1:00:221:00:24

If you're trying to find something,

1:00:241:00:26

to find the source of that thing is very difficult,

1:00:261:00:32

but my blessing was to be able to have Ravi as my, uh, patchcord.

1:00:321:00:39

He could plug me in to the real thing,

1:00:391:00:42

so my experience of it was always the best quality.

1:00:421:00:46

# Each day just goes so fast

1:01:251:01:29

# I turn around, it's past

1:01:291:01:32

# You don't get time to hang a sign on me

1:01:321:01:40

# Love me while you can

1:01:441:01:49

# Before I'm a dead old man... #

1:01:491:01:51

Ravi and the sitar was kind of like an excuse to try and find

1:01:541:01:59

this spiritual connection.

1:01:591:02:01

I read stuff by various holy men and Swamis

1:02:011:02:05

and mystics and I went around and looked for them.

1:02:051:02:09

Ravi and his brother gave me a lot of books by some wise men.

1:02:091:02:14

One of the books, which was by a Swami Vivekananda, who said,

1:02:141:02:18

"If there's a God you must see Him

1:02:181:02:20

"and if there's a soul, we must perceive it.

1:02:201:02:23

"Otherwise it's better not to believe.

1:02:231:02:25

"It's better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite."

1:02:251:02:29

And after all my life I've been brought up, well, they tried to bring me up as a Catholic.

1:02:291:02:35

They had told you to just believe what they're telling you,

1:02:351:02:39

and, you know, not to have the direct experience.

1:02:391:02:43

And this, for me, going to India

1:02:431:02:45

and hearing somebody saying, you know,

1:02:451:02:48

"No, you can't believe anything until you have direct perception of it".

1:02:481:02:53

And I thought, "Wow, you know, fantastic! At last, you know,

1:02:531:02:56

"found somebody who... makes some sense."

1:02:561:03:00

And so I wanted to go deeper and deeper into that.

1:03:001:03:04

I think that George's experiences of expanding his mind with acid...

1:03:041:03:10

led him to looking for something that didn't need chemicals.

1:03:101:03:17

He knew that there was a point where you couldn't keep on doing that.

1:03:171:03:22

And it wouldn't be good for you, if you did keep on using chemicals.

1:03:221:03:27

So he was looking for...

1:03:271:03:30

He was always looking for the truth

1:03:321:03:34

and he was also looking for peace of mind...

1:03:341:03:37

..because it was... it was pretty crazy.

1:03:391:03:43

John would pick us up in this big Rolls Royce with blacked-out windows,

1:03:431:03:47

and Ringo, John and I all moved out of town to Surrey.

1:03:471:03:51

And then he'd pick up Ringo and then pick me up

1:03:511:03:54

and then we'd head into town and, by the time we got to Hammersmith, we were just loaded

1:03:541:03:59

and feeling ill, cos, you know, a Rolls Royce doesn't have the proper springs.

1:03:591:04:03

They just roll around. And the black windows,

1:04:031:04:06

you couldn't see anything out and the windows would be shut

1:04:061:04:10

and so you'd just be getting double doses of these reefers.

1:04:101:04:15

And then we'd pull up at Abbey Road Studio and just be, like, fall out of the car.

1:04:151:04:20

We have to thank Paul that we made as many records as we did because,

1:04:201:04:24

you know, John and I, cos we lived in the same area,

1:04:241:04:27

would be hanging out.

1:04:271:04:29

It's like a beautiful day in the garden in England

1:04:291:04:32

and the phone'd ring and we'd always know it was him.

1:04:321:04:35

"He wants us to work!"

1:04:351:04:36

I mean, everywhere we went, people were smiling and,

1:04:361:04:41

you know, sitting on lawns, drinking tea.

1:04:411:04:44

I went to Haight-Ashbury, expecting it to be this brilliant place,

1:04:441:04:49

I thought it was going to be all these groovy

1:04:491:04:53

kind of gypsy kind of people, with little shops making works of art

1:04:531:04:57

and paintings and carvings.

1:04:571:05:00

But, instead, it turned out to be just a lot of bums.

1:05:001:05:04

And many of them, they were just very young kids

1:05:041:05:07

who'd come from all over America

1:05:071:05:09

and dropped acid and gone to this Mecca of LSD.

1:05:091:05:14

We'd walk down the street

1:05:141:05:15

and I was, like, being treated like the Messiah or something.

1:05:151:05:19

I was really afraid, because I could see all these spotty youths and they were...

1:05:191:05:25

still an undercurrent of Beatlemania,

1:05:251:05:30

but from a, kind of, twisted angle.

1:05:301:05:34

And they were... People were handing me things,

1:05:341:05:37

like there was this big pipe,

1:05:371:05:40

like a big Indian pipe with feathers on it

1:05:401:05:43

and books and incense and, you know, all kinds of stuff.

1:05:431:05:47

And trying to give me drugs and,

1:05:471:05:50

you know, I'd say "No, thanks, I don't want it."

1:05:501:05:52

We were walking quicker and quicker. We went through the park

1:05:521:05:55

and back out of the park, and in the end, we just said,

1:05:551:05:58

"Let's get out of here."

1:05:581:06:00

And we drove back to the airport, got on the jet, and as it took off,

1:06:001:06:04

the plane went into a stall, and the whole dashboard lit up,

1:06:041:06:08

saying "Unsafe" right across.

1:06:081:06:10

It certainly showed me what was really happening in the drug cult.

1:06:101:06:15

It wasn't what I thought of all these groovy people getting...

1:06:151:06:18

having spiritual awakenings and being artistic.

1:06:181:06:22

It was like any addiction.

1:06:221:06:25

So, at that point, I stopped taking it, actually,

1:06:251:06:29

the dreaded Lysergic.

1:06:291:06:32

That's where I really went for the meditation.

1:06:321:06:35

CRASHING WAVES

1:06:351:06:40

# Let me take you down

1:07:141:07:17

# Cos I'm going to Strawberry Fields

1:07:171:07:23

# Nothing is real

1:07:251:07:28

# And nothing to get hung about

1:07:291:07:32

# Strawberry Fields forever

1:07:331:07:37

# Living is easy with eyes closed

1:07:381:07:43

# Misunderstanding all you see... #

1:07:431:07:47

We'd stopped touring. We were now in the mid-60s.

1:07:501:07:54

We were partying

1:07:541:07:56

and I think we, kind of, lost, sort of, our spiritual direction.

1:07:561:08:02

Not that we ever had one, but we lost it.

1:08:021:08:05

So we were, kind of, experimenting in anything.

1:08:051:08:09

It was the time of Sgt Pepper,

1:08:091:08:12

and I'd written a song, the title song,

1:08:121:08:15

and I put it to the guys that what we should do,

1:08:151:08:19

we could make this record now under another persona.

1:08:191:08:22

We'll be this other band. And it will free us.

1:08:221:08:26

The idea was we could bring anything we wanted,

1:08:261:08:30

because now, you know, there was no lid on what we could do.

1:08:301:08:34

When we were doing Sgt Pepper, he presented us with a song which I thought was boring.

1:08:341:08:41

And I had to tell him so. And I said,

1:08:421:08:44

"George, honestly, I think we could do...you could do something better for this record,

1:08:441:08:49

"because it's going to be an astonishing record.

1:08:491:08:51

"There's so many great moments in it.

1:08:511:08:54

"And do you mind going away and thinking about it and coming up with something else?"

1:08:541:08:59

# We were talking

1:09:081:09:12

# About the space between us all

1:09:121:09:19

# And the people

1:09:191:09:24

# Who hide themselves behind

1:09:241:09:30

# A wall of illusion

1:09:301:09:34

# Never glimpse the truth

1:09:361:09:39

# Then it's far too late

1:09:391:09:42

# When they pass away-ay-ay... #

1:09:421:09:48

He came up with Within You Without You.

1:09:511:09:54

Now, Within You Without You

1:09:541:09:56

was not a commercial song, by any means.

1:09:561:09:59

But it was very interesting.

1:09:591:10:01

He had the way of communicating music by the Indian system

1:10:011:10:06

of, kind of, a separate language, like, tiki-tiki-ta-ta-ta,

1:10:061:10:11

tiki-tik, tika-da - the kind of things that would be the rhythms suggested

1:10:111:10:16

by the tabla player. And you had to get inside that to find out

1:10:161:10:21

what it was about. So it was like working out a puzzle with George.

1:10:211:10:25

He had Ravi play at his house once. And we all went.

1:10:251:10:29

And we're sitting on the floor and Ravi made the announcement,

1:10:291:10:33

"Please don't smoke while I'm playing."

1:10:331:10:36

And, uh, anyway, there was like a crowd of us and a crowd of Ravi's friends just sitting around

1:10:361:10:41

and Ravi's playing away and this is how little we understood at the time,

1:10:411:10:45

that Ravi's pals are all like going...

1:10:451:10:50

"Aw!

1:10:501:10:52

"Aw!"

1:10:521:10:54

Which it sounded like to us they were saying, "Aw, God, crap!"

1:10:541:10:58

But they were really going, "Ohhhh. Ohhhh."

1:10:581:11:03

We were like, "Keep the noise down"!

1:11:031:11:05

# When you've seen beyond yourself

1:11:081:11:11

# Then you may find peace of mind is waiting there

1:11:111:11:17

# And the time will come

1:11:191:11:22

# When you see we're all one

1:11:221:11:25

# And life flows on within you and without you. #

1:11:251:11:30

When you get a sort of typical westernized Englishman coming to you,

1:11:301:11:37

what is the most important thing you have to teach? Concentration?

1:11:371:11:41

No. Just allowing the mind to take its natural course.

1:11:411:11:47

Just that.

1:11:471:11:48

Say, it was surprising someone one day, uh,

1:11:481:11:51

started to meditate. Next day he came for checking and he said,

1:11:511:11:55

"I feel wonderful. I slept very deep

1:11:551:11:59

"and the whole thing is good, but tell me what you have taught me."

1:11:591:12:02

THEY LAUGH

1:12:021:12:04

I said, "Nothing."

1:12:041:12:06

LAUGHTER

1:12:061:12:08

Because the process of thinking has not to be learned.

1:12:081:12:13

We are used to think. We know how to think from birth.

1:12:131:12:16

CROWD SCREAMS

1:12:161:12:19

I got a message from John and a message from George, saying,

1:12:221:12:25

"We're going to Wales. We've met this guy.

1:12:251:12:27

"We listened to him. He's great. Come."

1:12:271:12:29

We'd seen this giggly little Indian guy with a beard coming on TV, and we liked him.

1:12:291:12:35

He was a funny little character, who was going to save the world.

1:12:351:12:39

So he came around and we were ripe for saving.

1:12:391:12:42

You know, I wanted to get into meditation.

1:12:421:12:45

But it's one thing reading about it and the other thing of how do you do it?

1:12:451:12:49

So I got myself to the point where, "OK, I need a mantra."

1:12:491:12:52

You know, where do you go?

1:12:521:12:54

You know, do you go to Harrods and get a mantra?

1:12:541:12:57

But then David Wynn showed me this picture and said,

1:12:571:12:59

"Oh, he's coming to do a lecture at the Hilton.

1:12:591:13:02

"He's called Maharishi."

1:13:021:13:04

-You give each person a sound, don't you?

-Yes.

1:13:041:13:07

Is that the same sound that you give to each person?

1:13:071:13:10

-No. Each person gets different.

-How many sounds are there?

1:13:101:13:15

-Oh, there are lots of them.

-I mean, hundreds or thousands or...?

1:13:151:13:19

We could say thousands.

1:13:191:13:21

And when a person has been given their own particular sound,

1:13:211:13:24

how do they use it? I mean, when they're meditating,

1:13:241:13:27

how do they use the sound you've given them. Why is that sound useful to them?

1:13:271:13:32

Ah!

1:13:321:13:33

See, every man has his own impulse of individuality, yes?

1:13:331:13:39

Some man goes by and you feel attracted towards him.

1:13:401:13:43

Other man goes and you feel repulsed. Something exchanged

1:13:431:13:47

in the rhythm of the individual. Like, everyone has his own rhythm.

1:13:471:13:51

Now, the rhythm of a sound which will resonate to the existing rhythm of the individual.

1:13:511:13:59

-And that will be the sound suitable to him.

-Got it.

1:14:001:14:03

So that you try to find, give the person the sound

1:14:031:14:06

-that fits in with the rhythm of their own lives and being?

-Right.

1:14:061:14:10

We were at Maharishi's meditation camp

1:14:101:14:13

when the news came through about Brian.

1:14:131:14:16

And it was horrifying, because we'd experienced loss,

1:14:161:14:20

but with Brian dying,

1:14:201:14:22

it was like one of us dying.

1:14:221:14:23

Uh, and you can kind of come to terms with your parent dying,

1:14:231:14:27

because you know they'll probably die before you.

1:14:271:14:30

But Brian, it was, "Woah!"

1:14:301:14:32

He was such a big part of the equation. People used to call him "the fifth Beatle".

1:14:321:14:37

So it was like, "Oh, my God, now we're on our own."

1:14:371:14:40

It was very strange for it to happen at that precise moment.

1:14:401:14:45

We'd just got involved with this meditation.

1:14:451:14:48

You know, I mean, that may not sound like a big deal,

1:14:481:14:51

but it actually was. It was... It's a big change in your life

1:14:511:14:55

when, you know, when you start making the journey inward.

1:14:551:15:02

And for Brian to, like, kick the bucket that particular day,

1:15:021:15:06

it was pretty far out.

1:15:061:15:08

Is the mantra something you use to get back to the subject

1:15:081:15:14

if you find earthly or irrelevant thoughts intruding?

1:15:141:15:18

-Yes, sort of.

-Or is it more than that?

1:15:181:15:20

You know, you just sort of sit there and you let your mind go,

1:15:201:15:23

whatever it's going, no matter what you're thinking about.

1:15:231:15:26

Just let it go. Then you just introduce the mantra or vibration

1:15:261:15:31

just to take over from a thought.

1:15:311:15:33

You don't will it or use your willpower.

1:15:331:15:35

If you find yourself thinking

1:15:351:15:38

then the moment you realise you've been thinking about things again,

1:15:381:15:41

then you replace that thought with the mantra again.

1:15:411:15:46

Sometimes you can go on

1:15:461:15:48

and you find that you haven't even had the mantra in your mind.

1:15:481:15:51

There's just been a complete blank. But when you reach that point,

1:15:511:15:55

because it's beyond all experience,

1:15:551:15:57

then it's down there and that level is timeless,

1:15:571:16:01

spaceless, so you can be there for five minutes and come out.

1:16:011:16:05

You don't know how long you've been there.

1:16:051:16:07

Then the aim, as opposed to sitting and thinking, or anything

1:16:071:16:12

is to reach a part of the sense where you have no thoughts?

1:16:121:16:14

JOHN CHANTS MUMBO-JUMBO, LAUGHTER

1:16:141:16:19

# Without going out of my door

1:16:191:16:24

# I can know all things on Earth

1:16:241:16:29

# Without looking out of my window

1:16:291:16:34

# I could know the ways of heaven

1:16:341:16:40

# The farther one travels

1:16:401:16:44

# The less one knows

1:16:441:16:48

# The less one really knows. #

1:16:501:16:55

The word, for instance, the word "God", I mean has...

1:17:021:17:06

Does it mean something different to you now

1:17:061:17:09

than it did before the Maharishi?

1:17:091:17:11

-It could be.

-It means all sorts of things to me.

1:17:111:17:14

It means... I mean, the first concept of a man in the sky,

1:17:141:17:18

well, I kicked that one a few years ago.

1:17:181:17:20

But I've got back to that now,

1:17:201:17:21

because it's a man in the sky as well, if you like.

1:17:211:17:24

It's just everything. The whole thing that...

1:17:241:17:27

It's just everything.

1:17:271:17:28

Every aspect of creation is part of God.

1:17:281:17:33

I think that perhaps we should try and get it a little clearer

1:17:331:17:36

what we're talking about.

1:17:361:17:38

If we're talking about a mystical religious belief,

1:17:381:17:42

which I think that George is,

1:17:421:17:43

but are we really talking about mysticism

1:17:431:17:46

or are we talking about a technique of improving yourself

1:17:461:17:49

-which is totally scientific and rational?

-You can take it either way.

1:17:491:17:53

You can take it either way.

1:17:531:17:55

This is because it is a perceptual method.

1:17:551:17:57

If a man has got a great conceptual apparatus and he meditates,

1:17:571:18:00

he will begin to understand the nature of a conceptual apparatus and if he's wrong about it,

1:18:001:18:05

he'll begin to understand where he's wrong about it.

1:18:051:18:08

If he's got no conceptual apparatus, he simply perceives an abstract experience.

1:18:081:18:14

Now, when he's had an abstract experience,

1:18:141:18:16

he may wish then to give himself explanations of it.

1:18:161:18:19

But it's primarily a perceptual method.

1:18:191:18:23

-And so what this offers is an experience?

-Yes.

1:18:231:18:26

Why should this abstract experience be any more valuable than any other experiences?

1:18:261:18:30

George talks about a bliss experience.

1:18:301:18:32

You can have a bliss experience by drinking a bottle of whisky.

1:18:321:18:35

MURMURS OF DISAGREEMENT

1:18:351:18:37

-Speak for yourself.

-Now, why is a bliss experience...

1:18:371:18:42

You'd have a non-bliss experience the next morning.

1:18:421:18:44

..more valuable than anybody else's experience? Or are we talking about a universe

1:18:441:18:49

which has some hidden laws

1:18:491:18:52

and a hidden creator, who manifests himself only to people like

1:18:521:18:56

Mr Harrison and the Maharishi, when they get into a state of trance? That's what I want to know.

1:18:561:19:00

Well, let's face it.

1:19:001:19:01

These laws that you say - hidden laws - they are hidden.

1:19:011:19:04

But they're only hidden by our own ignorance.

1:19:041:19:07

And the word mysticism is just being arrived at

1:19:071:19:11

through people's ignorance.

1:19:111:19:12

There's nothing mystical about it,

1:19:121:19:14

only that you're ignorant of what that entails.

1:19:141:19:17

# Arrive without travelling

1:19:191:19:21

# See all without looking

1:19:261:19:28

# Do all without doing. #

1:19:281:19:31

He wanted to be a spiritual being, more than anything,

1:19:381:19:42

but he couldn't, because he had to deal with this life.

1:19:421:19:45

So he could be loving, because that was really his true nature,

1:19:461:19:49

and sweet and kind and gentle.

1:19:491:19:53

But then the anger came from the frustration

1:19:531:19:56

that he had -

1:19:561:19:58

when you glimpse something that you understand,

1:19:581:20:02

but you can't be there,

1:20:021:20:04

because there's something earthly holding you back.

1:20:041:20:08

And he was very aware of that.

1:20:081:20:11

What were the earthly things that pulled on him the most?

1:20:111:20:16

Well, the other three Beatles

1:20:181:20:22

and what they were creating and were continuing to create -

1:20:221:20:26

this huge empire, Apple.

1:20:261:20:30

I think he felt that he'd found

1:20:301:20:33

something that he totally understood and wanted to just be there.

1:20:331:20:38

Be in it. He became

1:20:381:20:40

totally absorbed with meditation.

1:20:401:20:44

"Dear Mum, Thanks for your letter last week

1:20:441:20:47

"and if it's any comfort to you, don't worry about me

1:20:471:20:50

"or don't think anything negative about Maharishi, because he's not phoney.

1:20:501:20:54

"It's only the bullshit that's written about him that's phoney. He's not taking any of our money.

1:20:541:20:59

"All he's doing is teaching us how to contact God

1:20:591:21:02

"and as God isn't divided into different sects,

1:21:021:21:04

"as religious leaders here make out,

1:21:041:21:06

"then it doesn't affect my dedication to Sacred Heart in any way. It only strengthens it.

1:21:061:21:11

"But we will help to spread his teachings,

1:21:111:21:13

"so that everybody can attain this and new generations

1:21:131:21:16

"will grow up and have this right from the start,

1:21:161:21:19

"instead of going through the ignorance that seems to dominate

1:21:191:21:22

"everything and everyone at the moment, causing them to feel that it's mysticism or black magic.

1:21:221:21:28

"Don't think that I've gone off my rocker, because I haven't.

1:21:281:21:31

"I now love you and everybody else much more than ever.

1:21:311:21:34

"So it's not that bad, is it?"

1:21:341:21:35

# Creme tangerine and Montlimar

1:21:411:21:45

# A ginger sling with a pineapple heart

1:21:501:21:53

# A coffee dessert, yes

1:21:571:21:59

# You know it's good news

1:21:591:22:01

# But you'll have to have them all pulled out

1:22:041:22:07

# After the Savoy truffle. #

1:22:071:22:12

Whenever we were together, in the public,

1:22:121:22:17

say, for instance, I would turn... I mean, for all of the amount

1:22:171:22:21

of weight that I thought I carried, would turn to nobody.

1:22:211:22:25

If we were going into a restaurant or a club,

1:22:251:22:28

the way people would behave around their aura, you know.

1:22:281:22:33

I mean, by "their", I mean, the Beatles, was beyond belief.

1:22:331:22:37

George had two sides to his character.

1:22:371:22:40

I mean, you know, I'm his mate, so I can't tell too much, but he was a guy.

1:22:401:22:45

You know what I'm talking about.

1:22:451:22:49

He was a red-blooded man, you know.

1:22:491:22:53

So he would like, you know, the things guys like.

1:22:531:22:56

# But you'll have to have them all pulled out

1:23:201:23:23

# After the Savoy truffle. #

1:23:231:23:27

I distinctly remember putting the saxes on and I got

1:23:271:23:33

what I considered to be a good sax sound. They blended well.

1:23:331:23:40

It was very nice and George comes up, after teaching the parts,

1:23:401:23:44

and says "Yeah, they sound great.

1:23:441:23:46

"Now distort them."

1:23:461:23:47

It was, "What?!" "Yeah, they're too clean, they're too nice.

1:23:471:23:51

"Distort them." "OK."

1:23:511:23:53

So I had to, one way or another, mess them up.

1:23:531:23:56

When we were mixing it, George Martin walks into the control room.

1:23:561:24:00

He says, "Uh isn't it a bit bright?

1:24:001:24:03

"Isn't it a bit toppy?" And George turned around to him

1:24:031:24:06

and said, "Yeah. And I like it."

1:24:061:24:09

And he just turns around and we carry on working.

1:24:091:24:11

And George Martin just upped and walked out, went to a studio where they were doing other work.

1:24:111:24:17

They were like the kids that just left home,

1:24:171:24:19

whose parents aren't looking after them anymore.

1:24:191:24:22

A guy called Joe Massot was making this film

1:24:361:24:38

and he'd asked George to do the soundtrack.

1:24:381:24:41

It was really just, um.

1:24:411:24:42

I showed up, you know.

1:24:421:24:43

George told me he'd like me to play on something

1:24:431:24:46

and we'd write as we went along.

1:24:461:24:48

We put down this thing and George then put backwards guitar on top

1:24:481:24:53

and was, you know, it was very experimental and it was good fun.

1:24:531:24:56

MUSIC: "Wonderwall" score by George Harrison

1:24:561:25:00

I think that, in England, there was a sort of cultural revolution

1:25:101:25:14

in the '60s

1:25:141:25:15

which touched on every branch of life.

1:25:151:25:18

Wake up!

1:25:181:25:19

CAMERA CLICKS

1:25:191:25:22

You can thank your lucky stars you're working with me.

1:25:221:25:25

CAMERA CLICKS

1:25:251:25:26

And a smile now. Come on.

1:25:261:25:28

CAMERA CLICKS

1:25:281:25:29

Smile... Smile!

1:25:291:25:33

CAMERA CLICKS

1:25:331:25:38

God.

1:25:381:25:39

'That's why Antonioni decided to do Blow-Up in England

1:25:391:25:43

because of it being the spot where everything was going on.

1:25:431:25:47

What do they call you in bed?

1:25:481:25:51

I only go to bed to sleep.

1:25:521:25:54

'I remember the mystery that was around'

1:26:031:26:05

George Harrison.

1:26:051:26:07

I wouldn't have asked him a question.

1:26:071:26:10

I wouldn't have dared, because of feeling

1:26:101:26:14

he was onto something else.

1:26:141:26:18

There was a lot of energy around.

1:26:181:26:20

Everybody was inspiring everybody else.

1:26:201:26:23

We'd go to David Hockney's studio and watch him paint.

1:26:231:26:27

"Oh, David, can I just have that little sketch?"

1:26:291:26:32

And he'd say, "No, you can't."

1:26:321:26:33

And then we'd go off and he'd say,

1:26:331:26:37

"Oh, let's go and see the Stones.

1:26:371:26:38

"They're recording at so and so."

1:26:381:26:40

Then off we'd go there.

1:26:401:26:41

So we could just do anything. Nobody minded.

1:26:411:26:44

Everybody was flying around like that.

1:26:441:26:46

It was all so possible and so easy and we didn't think twice about it.

1:26:461:26:50

LAYERED VOICES

1:26:501:26:54

I was in New York and some people came and said,

1:27:051:27:09

"Aren't you coming to London?

1:27:091:27:11

"London is swinging. London's great!" And I think, "Well, I don't know."

1:27:111:27:15

I was so New York, you know,

1:27:151:27:18

I didn't want to, sort of, leave New York.

1:27:181:27:20

But then things happened and I went to London and it was great.

1:27:201:27:23

There was a, kind of, feeling of freedom

1:27:231:27:27

and I felt that it's almost like the air was, kind of,

1:27:271:27:31

had an intelligent smell about it, yeah?

1:27:311:27:36

George and John and I made...Number Nine.

1:27:361:27:42

And that was actually George who, sort of, instigated it.

1:27:421:27:46

He said, "Let's do it, let's do it".

1:27:461:27:48

And he didn't have that feeling of,

1:27:481:27:51

"Well, Yoko is a separate thing and, you know, we shouldn't

1:27:511:27:55

"be nice to her or anything like that."

1:27:551:27:58

He was just very nice.

1:27:581:27:59

I thought it's very interesting

1:27:591:28:04

to know about what the Beatles do,

1:28:041:28:06

because, you know, I come from an avant-garde background

1:28:061:28:09

and all that and here they were making music in a way

1:28:091:28:13

that was very different from what we used to do.

1:28:131:28:16

It had power of its own.

1:28:161:28:18

And I thought, "Well, this is what you can do."

1:28:181:28:21

George had two sides, like we all do, you know.

1:28:381:28:41

Sometimes he was very nice and sometimes he was

1:28:411:28:45

just being too honest or something -

1:28:451:28:47

frank about things, yeah?

1:28:471:28:49

He would say something right away, before he's thinking.

1:28:491:28:53

So he didn't, uh, mince words.

1:28:531:28:55

And sometimes it's, you know, "Oh, dear, you think that?" or something.

1:28:551:28:59

He'd just hurt me, maybe.

1:28:591:29:02

But John said, "Oh, that's George, you know."

1:29:021:29:05

And I got used to that, too. It was very nice.

1:29:051:29:08

I remember a particular occasion, when I'd written Hey, Jude,

1:29:081:29:12

and I brought it in.

1:29:121:29:14

And I'd go, # Hey, Jude, don't make it bad. #

1:29:141:29:16

And George was playing, # Hey, Jude... #

1:29:161:29:18

# Don't make it bad... #

1:29:191:29:21

And I had to sort of say, "No, George, look, I really don't think

1:29:221:29:25

"you can put a guitar riff after every line, you know."

1:29:251:29:30

And it was like a real, "Oh, OK, then."

1:29:301:29:33

But, you know, I knew he couldn't do it.

1:29:331:29:37

Maybe he knew he couldn't do it.

1:29:371:29:39

But it created tension, you know. And it was like...

1:29:391:29:41

Then this feeling that I was just dictating things

1:29:431:29:46

started to grow, you know.

1:29:461:29:47

And I was dictating things, cos I knew how I wanted my song to go.

1:29:471:29:51

Similarly, John would say how he wanted his song to go

1:29:511:29:54

or George would say how he wanted his to go.

1:29:541:29:56

The intensity that they had together must have had its limits

1:29:561:30:01

and it had to explode at some point.

1:30:011:30:03

Now they were out in London, travelling a lot and getting...

1:30:031:30:09

having different people influence them.

1:30:091:30:13

So coming back together, it didn't work as well.

1:30:131:30:15

I quit the band in '67, on the White Album,

1:30:151:30:19

because...I was just in,

1:30:191:30:24

I don't know, in some emotional state

1:30:241:30:27

where I honestly felt that I wasn't playing well.

1:30:271:30:30

For some reason, I felt I just wasn't playing good.

1:30:301:30:35

And those three were really close.

1:30:351:30:37

And I thought, "Well, I've got to deal with this, anyway."

1:30:391:30:42

So, I went over to John's - he was staying with Yoko in my apartment -

1:30:421:30:46

and I said, "Look, man," I said,

1:30:461:30:49

"You know, I have to say, look, I feel I'm not playing really good.

1:30:491:30:53

"And you three are really close."

1:30:531:30:55

And he goes, "I thought it was you three."

1:30:551:30:57

And I went to Paul's and knocked on his door and I said the same thing.

1:30:581:31:02

I said, "You know, you three are really close."

1:31:021:31:05

"I thought it was you three!"

1:31:051:31:07

And I thought, "Oh, shit, I'm goin' on holiday.

1:31:071:31:10

I'm off. And I went to Sardinia.

1:31:101:31:12

When I got back, it was, "Oh, come on back.

1:31:121:31:15

"We love you", blah, blah, blah."

1:31:151:31:17

George had decorated the whole studio with flowers, you know.

1:31:171:31:21

And, you know, that was a beautiful moment for me.

1:31:211:31:26

# I look at you all

1:31:421:31:46

# See the love there that's sleeping

1:31:461:31:51

# While my guitar gently weeps

1:31:511:31:56

# I look at the floor

1:32:001:32:02

# And I see it needs sweeping

1:32:021:32:07

# Still my guitar

1:32:081:32:11

# Gently weeps

1:32:111:32:13

# I don't know why

1:32:171:32:20

# Nobody told you

1:32:201:32:23

# How to unfold your love. #

1:32:261:32:30

It was crap, you know.

1:32:331:32:35

We were trying to do the song and it wasn't happening.

1:32:351:32:37

You know, they weren't taking it serious.

1:32:371:32:40

And, uh, I don't think they were even all playing on it.

1:32:401:32:43

And so, I went home that night and I just thought,

1:32:431:32:46

"Well, that's a shame, cos I know this song is pretty good."

1:32:461:32:49

And then the next day, I was driving into London with Eric,

1:32:491:32:53

and I said, "Hey, what're you doing?

1:32:531:32:56

"Why don't you come to the studio

1:32:561:32:58

"and play on this song for me?"

1:32:581:33:01

And he says, "Oh, no, I can't do that.

1:33:011:33:04

"Nobody's ever played on a Beatles' record.

1:33:041:33:06

"And the others wouldn't like that."

1:33:061:33:09

And I said, "Well, you know, look, it's my song

1:33:091:33:12

"and I'd like you to play on it."

1:33:121:33:13

We'd all learned to grow together and, you know,

1:33:131:33:17

some days one'd grow a little taller, and the next day

1:33:171:33:20

someone else'd grow a little taller, you know? It's how we were.

1:33:201:33:24

It had been a few years since I'd seen them and they had changed.

1:33:241:33:29

And this particular song

1:33:291:33:31

was a strong view of... It was coming very much from where George had found himself,

1:33:311:33:37

as a result of becoming involved with, um, mysticism.

1:33:371:33:41

And seeing John and George and Paul sing together,

1:33:411:33:46

when they were doing harmonies and things, and Paul playing, I mean, it was fantastic.

1:33:461:33:51

# I look at you all

1:33:511:33:53

# Still my guitar

1:34:001:34:02

# Gently weeps. #

1:34:021:34:10

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