Part 2

0:00:02 > 0:00:10This programme contains some strong language

0:00:21 > 0:00:27# I look at the trouble and hate that is raging

0:00:27 > 0:00:31# While my guitar gently weeps

0:00:31 > 0:00:38# As I'm sitting here doing nothing but ageing

0:00:38 > 0:00:43# Still my guitar gently weeps

0:00:43 > 0:00:45# Gently weeps

0:00:47 > 0:00:53# Still my guitar gently weeps... #

0:00:55 > 0:00:59I always felt really close to the public and where I grew up

0:00:59 > 0:01:04and that's why, I suppose, I wrote some songs that were like,

0:01:04 > 0:01:08"Hey, you can all experience this," you know?

0:01:08 > 0:01:10It is, it's available for everyone.

0:01:10 > 0:01:13Ravi, really, it was him who helped me

0:01:13 > 0:01:16to get back into being a pop singer.

0:01:16 > 0:01:17# Da

0:01:18 > 0:01:20# Da-da-da-da-da

0:01:22 > 0:01:25# Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da... #

0:01:27 > 0:01:29He was the one who said to me, you know,

0:01:29 > 0:01:33try to find my background, or some roots. What's my roots?

0:01:33 > 0:01:36I mean, the first thing that meant something, really,

0:01:36 > 0:01:40that I could call a root was riding down the road on my bike

0:01:40 > 0:01:44and hearing Heartbreak Hotel coming out of somebody's house.

0:01:44 > 0:01:46So, "Right, it's Heartbreak Hotel."

0:01:46 > 0:01:51So from then, I went from Los Angeles,

0:01:51 > 0:01:55where I was with Ravi with my sitar, went to New York on my way home.

0:01:55 > 0:01:57That was the last time I really played sitar.

0:01:57 > 0:01:59I checked in the hotel in New York.

0:01:59 > 0:02:02Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton happened to be staying there.

0:02:02 > 0:02:07Then I thought, well, maybe I'm better off to get back into being

0:02:07 > 0:02:10a guitar player, songwriter, whatever I'm supposed to be.

0:02:10 > 0:02:13Because I'm never going to be a sitar player, because I've seen

0:02:13 > 0:02:181,000 sitar players in India who's twice as better than I'll ever be.

0:02:18 > 0:02:21You want to hear the song I wrote last night?

0:02:21 > 0:02:24- Yeah.- It's just a very short one.

0:02:24 > 0:02:28# ..doesn't last all morning

0:02:32 > 0:02:39# A cloudburst doesn't last all day... #

0:02:39 > 0:02:43If there's people joining in, I'd appreciate it too.

0:02:43 > 0:02:46It seems I've got... We can forget about the second part of it.

0:02:46 > 0:02:48The only thing... The main thing is...

0:02:48 > 0:02:51"January 2nd. Started rehearsing at Twickenham.

0:02:51 > 0:02:54"Derek and I are going to do the musical Hey Man.

0:02:54 > 0:02:58"January 3rd. Rehearsing at Twickenham.

0:02:58 > 0:03:02"January 10th. Got up, went to Twickenham, rehearsed until lunchtime,

0:03:02 > 0:03:08"left The Beatles, went home and, in the evening, did King Of Fuh at Trident Studios."

0:03:08 > 0:03:14'January 11th. Got up. John and Yoko came and diverted me at breakfast.'

0:03:14 > 0:03:17I just thought, "Well, what's the point of this?"

0:03:17 > 0:03:23I thought, I'm quite capable of being relatively happy on my own,

0:03:23 > 0:03:26And I'm not able to be happy in this situation.

0:03:26 > 0:03:28You know, "I'm getting out of here."

0:03:28 > 0:03:34It's like... It's complicated now. See, if we can get it simpler...

0:03:34 > 0:03:37and then complicate it where it needs complications.

0:03:37 > 0:03:40- But it's complicated in the bit... - It's not complicated.

0:03:40 > 0:03:42But, no, I mean, you know....

0:03:42 > 0:03:44I'll play just the chord if you like, and...

0:03:44 > 0:03:47C'mon, you always get... Always get annoyed when I say that.

0:03:47 > 0:03:52I'm trying to help, but I always hear myself annoying you.

0:03:52 > 0:03:55Shall we...try it like this, you know?

0:03:55 > 0:03:59It's funny that I don't...

0:03:59 > 0:04:02It's this one, it's like should we play guitar

0:04:02 > 0:04:04through "Hey, Jude"? Well, I don't think we should.

0:04:04 > 0:04:06Yeah, OK, well, I don't mind.

0:04:06 > 0:04:08I'll play, you know, whatever you want me to play.

0:04:08 > 0:04:11Or I won't play at all if you don't want me to play.

0:04:11 > 0:04:14You know, whatever it is that will please you, I'll do it.

0:04:14 > 0:04:17I wish we could start hearing the tapes now.

0:04:17 > 0:04:20Like, do it and then hear what it is.

0:04:20 > 0:04:24It was just a very, very difficult, stressful time.

0:04:24 > 0:04:27And to be, you know, even under pressure,

0:04:27 > 0:04:30being filmed having a row as well.

0:04:30 > 0:04:32That's what happened. I just got up and I thought,

0:04:32 > 0:04:35"Well, I'm not doing this anymore. I'm out of here."

0:04:35 > 0:04:38And so I got my guitar and I just went home.

0:04:38 > 0:04:39And wrote Wah-Wah.

0:04:39 > 0:04:43Did you ever hear the thing about John Lennon saying,

0:04:43 > 0:04:47when George walked out of the Let It Be session in frustration,

0:04:47 > 0:04:49"Let's get Eric Clapton"?

0:04:49 > 0:04:53- Yeah.- Did you ever think what it would be like to be in The Beatles?

0:04:53 > 0:04:56HE LAUGHS

0:04:58 > 0:05:00Yeah.

0:05:00 > 0:05:03The pros and cons of being in a band like that...

0:05:03 > 0:05:05were massively extreme.

0:05:05 > 0:05:07They were times when you just...

0:05:07 > 0:05:11it was like the closest knit family you've ever seen in your life.

0:05:11 > 0:05:13But as that can be, too,

0:05:13 > 0:05:16the cruelty and the viciousness was unparalleled.

0:05:16 > 0:05:21We didn't underestimate George. We knew that he was peaking,

0:05:21 > 0:05:24you know, as we got to those records.

0:05:24 > 0:05:28He'd not been really interested in the beginning, I don't think.

0:05:28 > 0:05:30And because John and I did so much of the writing,

0:05:30 > 0:05:31he could just leave it to us.

0:05:31 > 0:05:33But, erm...

0:05:33 > 0:05:36I think he realised, you know, that there was something in this.

0:05:36 > 0:05:40That artistically and financially, it was a good thing to get into.

0:05:40 > 0:05:43So by that time, erm, yeah,

0:05:43 > 0:05:46we realised that he was really coming up with the goods.

0:05:46 > 0:05:49I think, you know, with George, you know,

0:05:49 > 0:05:54it wasn't his ambition to be in The Beatles for his whole life.

0:05:54 > 0:06:00Sometimes it could be quite difficult to get a song on an album.

0:06:00 > 0:06:04When you think that in Let It Be,

0:06:04 > 0:06:08they rehearsed All Things Must Pass and a couple of other

0:06:08 > 0:06:12of George's songs that didn't make it on to Let It Be, right,

0:06:12 > 0:06:15and didn't make it on to Abbey Road, right,

0:06:15 > 0:06:18but made it onto his first solo album,

0:06:18 > 0:06:22he was stockpiling stuff. You know, stuff was building up.

0:06:22 > 0:06:27# Something in the way she moves

0:06:30 > 0:06:33# Attracts me like no other lover

0:06:36 > 0:06:41# Something in the way she woos me

0:06:42 > 0:06:45# I don't want to leave her now

0:06:45 > 0:06:48# You know I believe and how... #

0:06:53 > 0:06:55I don't honestly believe that giving

0:06:55 > 0:07:00Something to Joe Cocker, or giving My Sweet Lord to Billy Preston

0:07:00 > 0:07:04had anything to do with his confidence as a songwriter.

0:07:04 > 0:07:09I think he was totally confident about the songs.

0:07:09 > 0:07:12The insecurity may have been if The Beatles kept going,

0:07:12 > 0:07:15"How many songs am I going to be able to get on each album?"

0:07:15 > 0:07:19And with the backlog sort of mounting up of songs

0:07:19 > 0:07:22that he had, get it out there and get something from it.

0:07:22 > 0:07:28# Somewhere in her smile she knows

0:07:31 > 0:07:34# That I need no other lover

0:07:37 > 0:07:43# Something in her style that shows me

0:07:45 > 0:07:47# I don't want to leave her now

0:07:48 > 0:07:50# You know I believe and how. #

0:07:55 > 0:08:00Something was a great song, is a great song,

0:08:00 > 0:08:03and John just said, "That should be a single."

0:08:04 > 0:08:09And that was the first time that George's song was a single.

0:08:09 > 0:08:13It was usually Paul's, and George was usually the B-side.

0:08:13 > 0:08:16But, you know, he just said, "This should be the single."

0:08:16 > 0:08:18Because he always cared about George.

0:08:18 > 0:08:21They had something going, you know.

0:08:21 > 0:08:25# You're asking me Will my love grow?

0:08:26 > 0:08:32# I don't know, I don't know

0:08:34 > 0:08:40# You stick around, now it may show

0:08:40 > 0:08:45# I don't know, I don't know... #

0:08:48 > 0:08:52Can you describe the scene at Apple Corps, a typical day?

0:08:52 > 0:08:55It was a bit like spin the top and see where it goes.

0:08:55 > 0:08:58You know, George met the Hells Angels, right, and said,

0:08:58 > 0:09:01"Hey, if you're ever in London, pop in to Apple.

0:09:01 > 0:09:03"We'd love to see you." You know.

0:09:03 > 0:09:05Never thinking it's going to happen.

0:09:05 > 0:09:09Six months later, you know, 30 motorbikes, you know,

0:09:09 > 0:09:13Harley Davidsons, are outside the offices in Savile Row,

0:09:13 > 0:09:18you know, with the Hells Angels. "Well, George said it was OK."

0:09:18 > 0:09:20Right, they're all living in Apple.

0:09:22 > 0:09:24At a Christmas party,

0:09:24 > 0:09:27John and Yoko came as Father and Mother Christmas,

0:09:27 > 0:09:30and we had this 24-pound turkey

0:09:30 > 0:09:35that only had to make it from here to that couch.

0:09:35 > 0:09:39That's where the table was. Didn't make it, right?

0:09:39 > 0:09:41Two guys were carrying it in,

0:09:41 > 0:09:43and the Hells Angels just ripped it to pieces.

0:09:43 > 0:09:47By the time it got to the table, there was nothing left.

0:09:47 > 0:09:52And then, you know, they were sleeping in the studio and stuff

0:09:52 > 0:09:54and so we asked them to go.

0:09:54 > 0:09:57You know, "Could you please leave." And they said, "No.

0:09:57 > 0:10:01"George asked us. It's nothing to do with you. George said it was OK."

0:10:01 > 0:10:07Right. "Well, George is going to have to tell them to leave." Right?

0:10:07 > 0:10:09So...

0:10:09 > 0:10:14George knew the situation and knew he would have to ask them to leave

0:10:14 > 0:10:17but he had to figure out how he was going to ask them.

0:10:17 > 0:10:19And, er...

0:10:19 > 0:10:24So he did it very well. He was talking to them and he said,

0:10:24 > 0:10:30"You know, there's yin and yang, in and out, up and down,

0:10:30 > 0:10:32"you're here, you go."

0:10:32 > 0:10:35And they said, "OK." And went.

0:10:35 > 0:10:38I think we'd kind of come to the end of our tether.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41We'd sort of done about all we wanted to do.

0:10:41 > 0:10:45We would get a bit testy with each other. It was like a marriage.

0:10:45 > 0:10:49You know, you love each other, but you're getting fed up.

0:10:49 > 0:10:52And then we'd solve it, and we're good friends.

0:10:52 > 0:10:55We'd realise we loved each other, and it was all cool.

0:10:55 > 0:10:57But then we'd argue again, you know.

0:10:57 > 0:11:00My house was like the reconciliation house.

0:11:00 > 0:11:03We all shouted at each other and talked it over

0:11:03 > 0:11:05and then we went back to work.

0:11:05 > 0:11:07He comes in, he'd been to India again, I think,

0:11:07 > 0:11:12and he says, "I've got this song. It's like seven-and-a-half time."

0:11:12 > 0:11:13"Yeah, so?"

0:11:13 > 0:11:16You know, he might as well have talked to me in Arabic,

0:11:16 > 0:11:18you know what I mean?

0:11:19 > 0:11:22# Here comes the sun, do-do-do-do-do

0:11:22 > 0:11:24# Here comes the sun

0:11:24 > 0:11:28# And I say, It's all right... #

0:11:30 > 0:11:33- PATS HIS KNEES - Da-da! And that's how I come off.

0:11:33 > 0:11:37I had to find some way that I could physically do it,

0:11:37 > 0:11:40and do it every time so it came off on the time.

0:11:40 > 0:11:42That's one of those Indian tricks.

0:11:42 > 0:11:46I had no way of going, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."

0:11:46 > 0:11:48It's not my brain.

0:11:48 > 0:11:53So as long as I did, "Der-der-ler, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do da-da!"

0:11:53 > 0:11:55"OK, that's seven. Good. Got it."

0:11:55 > 0:11:59It was one of those beautiful spring mornings. I think it was April.

0:11:59 > 0:12:02We were just walking round the garden with our guitars.

0:12:02 > 0:12:04And that was... I don't do that, you know.

0:12:04 > 0:12:08I'd only ever do... This was what George brought to the situation.

0:12:08 > 0:12:12He was just a magical guy and he would show up with his guitar,

0:12:12 > 0:12:15get out the guitar, get out of the car with the guitar

0:12:15 > 0:12:17and come in and you'd start playing.

0:12:17 > 0:12:19And we'd walk around the garden.

0:12:19 > 0:12:24We sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking out over the...

0:12:24 > 0:12:27And the sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning

0:12:27 > 0:12:29and he started to sing.

0:12:29 > 0:12:35Started to sing Here Comes The Sun, the opening lines, you know, and...

0:12:35 > 0:12:37and I just watched this thing come to life.

0:12:37 > 0:12:39# Little darling

0:12:39 > 0:12:43# It's been a long, cold, lonely winter

0:12:44 > 0:12:46# Little darling

0:12:46 > 0:12:50# It feels like years since it's been here

0:12:52 > 0:12:55# Here comes the sun, do-do-do-do

0:12:55 > 0:12:58# Here comes the sun

0:12:58 > 0:13:01# And I say, it's all right... #

0:13:09 > 0:13:12What would you say you learned from each other?

0:13:12 > 0:13:14I'd say we just learned a bunch of stuff.

0:13:14 > 0:13:16What it was, we'll never know.

0:13:16 > 0:13:20And I always liken us to like, four corners of a square.

0:13:20 > 0:13:22People say, "You know, John was the impor..."

0:13:22 > 0:13:25or "John and Paul were the important ones."

0:13:25 > 0:13:26And so and so and so and so.

0:13:26 > 0:13:28But I say, "No, no, no, it's a square."

0:13:28 > 0:13:32Without any of those corners, you collapse.

0:13:32 > 0:13:34The days that we spent as these Beatles,

0:13:34 > 0:13:37and we'll probably die as Beatles, err...

0:13:37 > 0:13:39you know, we understood it.

0:13:39 > 0:13:42No one else will ever understand that.

0:13:42 > 0:13:44And, you know,

0:13:44 > 0:13:48we actually understood it cos we experienced it.

0:13:48 > 0:13:51How did you feel when the band finally called it quits?

0:13:51 > 0:13:53It was very difficult.

0:13:53 > 0:13:57We'd done this a long time, and as I said before, you know,

0:13:57 > 0:13:58no matter how bad it was -

0:13:58 > 0:14:00and some days it was very bad in the studio,

0:14:00 > 0:14:05just the atmosphere and the tension and the distance -

0:14:05 > 0:14:09but...we, you know... If the count-in came in,

0:14:09 > 0:14:11if someone counted it in, we all gave everything.

0:14:11 > 0:14:16It was quite obvious that the Beatles gave us

0:14:16 > 0:14:20the vehicle to be able to do so much.

0:14:20 > 0:14:23When we were younger we grew right through that,

0:14:23 > 0:14:26but it got to a point where it was stifling us.

0:14:26 > 0:14:29There was too much restriction.

0:14:29 > 0:14:32You know, it had to self-destruct.

0:14:32 > 0:14:36And I wasn't feeling bad about anybody wanting to leave.

0:14:36 > 0:14:37I wanted out myself.

0:14:37 > 0:14:42I could see a much, you know, better time for myself by, you know,

0:14:42 > 0:14:45being away from the band.

0:14:45 > 0:14:46# What I feel

0:14:49 > 0:14:50# I can't say

0:14:52 > 0:14:58# But my love is there for you any time of day

0:15:00 > 0:15:03# But if it's not love

0:15:03 > 0:15:05# That you need

0:15:07 > 0:15:13# Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed

0:15:14 > 0:15:20# Tell me, what is my life without your love?

0:15:22 > 0:15:29# Tell me who am I without you

0:15:29 > 0:15:31# By my side?

0:15:33 > 0:15:34# What I know

0:15:36 > 0:15:37# I can do... #

0:15:37 > 0:15:40The band that I was in, we had more stress than everybody.

0:15:40 > 0:15:44And yet, it's all these other people who are all offing themselves

0:15:44 > 0:15:45left right and centre.

0:15:45 > 0:15:48And sometimes, I'd be in a crazy mode

0:15:48 > 0:15:52and then Ravi would come and I'd think, "Oh, what am I going to do?"

0:15:52 > 0:15:53But the moment you just go for it,

0:15:53 > 0:15:57then it would turn out much better than you would expect.

0:15:57 > 0:15:59And I used to have the same feeling with...

0:15:59 > 0:16:03I became quite friendly at one point with, erm,

0:16:03 > 0:16:08Swami Bhaktivedanta, who formed the Krishna temple.

0:16:08 > 0:16:11But I... You know, they'd call me up and say, "Come to the temple,"

0:16:11 > 0:16:14and, "The Swami's here and he'd love to see you."

0:16:14 > 0:16:18And I'd be like, going through some private nightmare or something,

0:16:18 > 0:16:22and I'd think, "How can I go to the temple when I'm like this?"

0:16:22 > 0:16:23But then I'd go.

0:16:23 > 0:16:26I'd always walk out of there thinking, "Oh, thank you, Lord."

0:16:26 > 0:16:30I think everything George did, including the songs that he wrote

0:16:30 > 0:16:33that didn't have spiritual words directly in them, were spiritual

0:16:33 > 0:16:36and that that was always on his mind.

0:16:36 > 0:16:38Even the song Something,

0:16:38 > 0:16:42that is considered one of the greatest love songs ever written -

0:16:42 > 0:16:46I think Frank Sinatra said that - can be seen as a love song to God.

0:16:46 > 0:16:50What about the music makes it spiritual, aside from the words?

0:16:50 > 0:16:53I think the thing about the music that makes it spiritual

0:16:53 > 0:16:56is the person who's singing it, namely George.

0:16:56 > 0:16:59That he wanted to be spiritual, he had a spiritual dimension to him,

0:16:59 > 0:17:02he was known to be involved in spirituality.

0:17:02 > 0:17:05A mantra as we know it in English means

0:17:05 > 0:17:07some phrase that's repeated again and again.

0:17:07 > 0:17:10Actually, mantra is a Sanskrit word originally.

0:17:10 > 0:17:14It meant a sacred chant, to this maha mantra.

0:17:14 > 0:17:16Maha means great in Sanskrit.

0:17:16 > 0:17:19It means the great chant for deliverance.

0:17:19 > 0:17:23In 1966, I had gone to San Francisco

0:17:23 > 0:17:27and I'd heard that the devotees had recorded a record at that time.

0:17:27 > 0:17:31I had also heard that The Beatles had ordered 300 copies of that LP,

0:17:31 > 0:17:3433 1/3 LP vinyl recording.

0:17:34 > 0:17:37And it was a kind of thing where it just sort of passed.

0:17:37 > 0:17:39"OK, the Beatles got 300 copies, so..."

0:17:39 > 0:17:43After about a week, we just sort of forgot about it.

0:17:43 > 0:17:47But I found out later that George had gotten that record himself

0:17:47 > 0:17:50and that he and John had chanted the Hare Krishna mantra

0:17:50 > 0:17:53while sailing somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea,

0:17:53 > 0:17:57for so long that he said that his jaws were aching.

0:17:58 > 0:18:01I think that chanting helped George a lot

0:18:01 > 0:18:05to overcome feelings of distress and anger.

0:18:05 > 0:18:07He once said to me... George once said that,

0:18:07 > 0:18:10"Once you start chanting, you don't want to stop."

0:18:10 > 0:18:13I think that he was very attached to the chanting

0:18:13 > 0:18:15and also to people like myself

0:18:15 > 0:18:18who were of his age and who were on a spiritual path.

0:18:18 > 0:18:21Sometimes I called him a closet Krishna

0:18:21 > 0:18:24because he didn't shave his head, he didn't wear robes.

0:18:24 > 0:18:26# Hare Krishna

0:18:26 > 0:18:28# Hare Krishna

0:18:28 > 0:18:31# Krishna Krishna

0:18:31 > 0:18:33# Hare Hare

0:18:33 > 0:18:35# Hare Rama

0:18:35 > 0:18:37# Hare Rama

0:18:37 > 0:18:39# Rama Rama

0:18:39 > 0:18:41# Hare Hare

0:18:41 > 0:18:43# Hare Krishna

0:18:43 > 0:18:46# Hare Krishna

0:18:46 > 0:18:48# Krishna Krishna

0:18:48 > 0:18:50# Hare Hare... #

0:18:50 > 0:18:54He wanted to make an album for the Radha Krishna Temple.

0:18:54 > 0:18:58All of these people in their white robes, bald heads,

0:18:58 > 0:19:00going round, hitting the Indian bells -

0:19:00 > 0:19:04just trying to, at times, record all of them with them

0:19:04 > 0:19:08not necessarily keeping still all the time,

0:19:08 > 0:19:11and some of the weird instruments that were being

0:19:11 > 0:19:15brought in to be recorded, it was absolutely fascinating.

0:19:15 > 0:19:17# Hare Krishna

0:19:17 > 0:19:18# Hare Krishna

0:19:18 > 0:19:20# Krishna Krishna

0:19:20 > 0:19:21# Hare Hare

0:19:21 > 0:19:23# Hare Rama

0:19:23 > 0:19:25# Hare Rama

0:19:25 > 0:19:26# Rama Rama

0:19:26 > 0:19:28# Hare Hare. #

0:19:31 > 0:19:34I remember hearing it on a car radio somewhere in the east part of...

0:19:34 > 0:19:38east London, and the disc jockey saying,

0:19:38 > 0:19:41"That was a song by a group of bald-headed Americans."

0:19:41 > 0:19:43George said about taking on this project himself,

0:19:43 > 0:19:46recording the devotees singing the Hare Krishna mantra,

0:19:46 > 0:19:49was that he wanted to get across what he believed

0:19:49 > 0:19:51through a medium that he was familiar with.

0:19:51 > 0:19:54And that was chanting, that was a 45 record.

0:19:54 > 0:19:57And it was quite amazing because myself and none of us thought

0:19:57 > 0:19:59that this was going to be a popular record,

0:19:59 > 0:20:01and yet it became very popular.

0:20:01 > 0:20:05It was played in the intermission at the Isle of Wight concert,

0:20:05 > 0:20:07when Bob Dylan was setting up.

0:20:07 > 0:20:09And then it was played at the intermission

0:20:09 > 0:20:11in a football game in Manchester,

0:20:11 > 0:20:15where Manchester United was a very popular soccer team.

0:20:15 > 0:20:18All the fans, who were probably just there to watch the soccer,

0:20:18 > 0:20:21started singing along because it was only three words

0:20:21 > 0:20:22and they could do it.

0:20:22 > 0:20:25There were 5,000 football fans singing Hare Krishna.

0:20:25 > 0:20:28People always say I'm the Beatle who changed the most.

0:20:28 > 0:20:31But really that's what I see life is about.

0:20:31 > 0:20:34The point is, unless you're God-conscious

0:20:34 > 0:20:40then you have to change, because... because it's a waste of time.

0:20:40 > 0:20:43Everybody is so limited and so really useless

0:20:43 > 0:20:46when you think about the limitations on yourself.

0:20:46 > 0:20:48And the whole thing is to change,

0:20:48 > 0:20:51try and make everything better and better.

0:20:51 > 0:20:53That's what the physical world is about, change.

0:20:53 > 0:21:01# Sunrise doesn't last all morning

0:21:04 > 0:21:09# A cloudburst doesn't last all day

0:21:11 > 0:21:13# Seems my love is up

0:21:13 > 0:21:17# And has left you with no warning

0:21:17 > 0:21:25# It's not always going to be this grey

0:21:27 > 0:21:31# All things must pass

0:21:34 > 0:21:39# All things must pass away... #

0:21:39 > 0:21:43Well, I'm trying to, I think, but...

0:21:45 > 0:21:51# Sunset doesn't last all evening... #

0:21:51 > 0:21:56He just lived by his deeds. He was spiritual and you knew it.

0:21:56 > 0:21:59And there was no salesmanship involved.

0:21:59 > 0:22:02And it made you spiritual being around him.

0:22:02 > 0:22:04Uh, it made you like those Krishnas,

0:22:04 > 0:22:08who could sometimes be the biggest pain in the necks in the world,

0:22:08 > 0:22:11running around with their robes and their shaved heads

0:22:11 > 0:22:14and their white powder all over their face.

0:22:14 > 0:22:17Scaring you half to death coming out of a dark studio, glowing.

0:22:17 > 0:22:20It was a very unusual choice, I thought,

0:22:20 > 0:22:21to work with Phil Spector

0:22:21 > 0:22:24with the kind of songs you were making on that album.

0:22:24 > 0:22:26Yeah, I suppose it was,

0:22:26 > 0:22:29but he needed a job at the time.

0:22:30 > 0:22:32And I needed somebody to help me

0:22:32 > 0:22:37because, you know, I mean, after being in a group all the time

0:22:37 > 0:22:41with a producer suddenly to be a solo artist with no producer,

0:22:41 > 0:22:44- you know, and no group, you know? - Yeah.

0:22:44 > 0:22:47So it's like, you know, it's quite a big jump.

0:22:47 > 0:22:48John phoned me up in the morning.

0:22:48 > 0:22:52He said, "I've just written this song and I'm going to record it today

0:22:52 > 0:22:55"and have it out tomorrow. It's called Instant Karma.

0:22:55 > 0:22:57"Will you come and play on it?" I said, "OK."

0:22:57 > 0:23:02Got my guitar, went into town, went in the office and Phil was there.

0:23:02 > 0:23:05And I said, "Come on, let's go and do this song with John."

0:23:05 > 0:23:09And he said, "Whoa, no, no. I can't go. I haven't been invited."

0:23:09 > 0:23:11And I said, "Don't worry. Just come on."

0:23:11 > 0:23:15And so he stood at the back of the control room in studio three,

0:23:15 > 0:23:17it was, in Abbey Road.

0:23:17 > 0:23:19And he stood there, and like the engineer

0:23:19 > 0:23:22was getting all paranoid and Phil wouldn't say anything.

0:23:22 > 0:23:25And after about a couple of hours, I said,

0:23:25 > 0:23:27"Come on, do something."

0:23:27 > 0:23:29So then he started putting the echo on it.

0:23:29 > 0:23:33McCartney was making an album. John had a single ready to go.

0:23:33 > 0:23:37And now John was talking about making an album already.

0:23:37 > 0:23:39The Plastic Ono Band.

0:23:39 > 0:23:45And I said to George, "You know, you ought to consider making an album."

0:23:45 > 0:23:49And I'd only been there 12 hours.

0:23:49 > 0:23:54I went to George's, Friar Park, which he had just purchased,

0:23:54 > 0:23:57and he said, "I have a few ditties for you to hear."

0:23:57 > 0:24:02It was endless! He had literally hundreds of songs.

0:24:02 > 0:24:05And each one was better than the rest.

0:24:05 > 0:24:10He had all this emotion built up when it released to me.

0:24:10 > 0:24:13I don't think he had played it to anybody.

0:24:13 > 0:24:14Maybe Pattie.

0:24:39 > 0:24:40# Wah-wah

0:24:43 > 0:24:46# You've given me a wah-wah... #

0:24:46 > 0:24:49We worked over and over on the songs in the studio

0:24:49 > 0:24:51so that everybody got the right routine.

0:24:51 > 0:24:54And it sounded really nice and in the control room,

0:24:54 > 0:25:00Phil was in there with the engineer making it sound like this noise.

0:25:00 > 0:25:05The first track we ever did was a song called Wah-Wah.

0:25:05 > 0:25:10And it sounded really nice in the studio.

0:25:10 > 0:25:14All this nice acoustics and piano and no echo on anything.

0:25:14 > 0:25:17We did it for hours until we, you know,

0:25:17 > 0:25:19he had it right in the control room.

0:25:19 > 0:25:23- Yeah.- We went in to listen to it and I thought,

0:25:23 > 0:25:26I hate it. It's so horrible.

0:25:26 > 0:25:29- Did you say that to him?- Yeah, I said, "It's horrible. I hate it."

0:25:29 > 0:25:31Eric said, "Oh, I love it."

0:25:31 > 0:25:34So I said, "Well, you can have it on your album then."

0:25:34 > 0:25:36But I grew to like it.

0:25:36 > 0:25:38He wouldn't let anything go until it was right.

0:25:38 > 0:25:43My Sweet Lord must have taken about 12 hours

0:25:43 > 0:25:46to overdub the guitar solos.

0:25:46 > 0:25:48He had nine harmonies working on.

0:25:48 > 0:25:50Bwa, bwa, bwa, bwa, bwa, bwa, bwa.

0:25:50 > 0:25:54He must've had that in triplicate, six-part harmony

0:25:54 > 0:25:59before we decided on two-part harmony.

0:25:59 > 0:26:01He had it metic...

0:26:01 > 0:26:05He was a... Perfectionist is not the word.

0:26:05 > 0:26:09Anyone can be a perfectionist. He was beyond that.

0:26:09 > 0:26:14He just had to have it so right, and he would try and try

0:26:14 > 0:26:18and experiment and experiment and experiment upon experiment.

0:26:20 > 0:26:22Whoa.

0:26:22 > 0:26:24One, two, one, two, three, four.

0:26:35 > 0:26:37# You don't need a love... #

0:26:37 > 0:26:41You don't need a... HE HUMS

0:26:41 > 0:26:44I was just going to bed and I was cleaning me teeth

0:26:44 > 0:26:47and suddenly in me head came this

0:26:47 > 0:26:50# You don't need a... # HE HUMS

0:26:51 > 0:26:53All I had to do was pick up the guitar,

0:26:53 > 0:26:57find what key it was in and fill in the missing words.

0:26:57 > 0:26:59# You don't need a love in

0:26:59 > 0:27:00# You don't need a bedpan

0:27:00 > 0:27:02# You don't need a horoscope

0:27:02 > 0:27:06# Or a microscope to see the mess that you're in

0:27:06 > 0:27:08# If you open up your heart

0:27:08 > 0:27:10# You know what I mean

0:27:10 > 0:27:13# Been polluted so long

0:27:13 > 0:27:16# Here's a way for you to get clean

0:27:16 > 0:27:20# While the Pope owns 51% of General Motors

0:27:22 > 0:27:23# And the stock exchange

0:27:23 > 0:27:26# Is the only thing he's qualified to quote us

0:27:27 > 0:27:31# But the Lord is awaiting on you all To awaken and see

0:27:33 > 0:27:37# By chanting the names of the Lord And you'll be free

0:27:46 > 0:27:48# You don't need a love in

0:27:48 > 0:27:51# You don't need no bedpan

0:27:51 > 0:27:53# You don't need a horoscope

0:27:53 > 0:27:56# Or a microscope To see the mess that you're in

0:27:56 > 0:27:59# If you open up your heart

0:27:59 > 0:28:00# You will know what I mean

0:28:00 > 0:28:04# We've been polluted so long

0:28:04 > 0:28:08# Now here's a way for you to get clean

0:28:08 > 0:28:10# By chanting the names of the Lord

0:28:10 > 0:28:12# And you'll be free

0:28:12 > 0:28:16# The Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see

0:28:16 > 0:28:23# By chanting the names of the Lord and you'll be free

0:28:23 > 0:28:27# The Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see... #

0:28:37 > 0:28:39The album took six months to make.

0:28:39 > 0:28:43And George had endless time.

0:28:43 > 0:28:47He never really knew if he wanted the album to come out.

0:28:47 > 0:28:49So the longer it took to make,

0:28:49 > 0:28:52the better George, the happier George was.

0:28:52 > 0:28:55I picked My Sweet Lord of all the songs.

0:28:55 > 0:28:57cos I told him that's the hit.

0:28:57 > 0:28:59And everybody fought me on that

0:28:59 > 0:29:03cos they said it's got religious overtones in it.

0:29:03 > 0:29:05I just said it didn't matter.

0:29:05 > 0:29:08It's the most commercial song in it.

0:29:08 > 0:29:11And George was even nervous about it

0:29:11 > 0:29:12because of Hare Krishna in it

0:29:12 > 0:29:15and My Sweet Lord and was the public ready for it.

0:29:15 > 0:29:17I said, "It doesn't matter. It's a hit record."

0:29:17 > 0:29:20I thought a lot about whether to do My Sweet Lord or not.

0:29:20 > 0:29:22Having written it,

0:29:22 > 0:29:25I thought it's really committing myself to something.

0:29:25 > 0:29:29There's going to be a lot of people are going to really hate me.

0:29:29 > 0:29:33Because people fear the unknown, you see.

0:29:33 > 0:29:36It's some sort of instinct in people.

0:29:36 > 0:29:41The point was that I was sticking my neck out on the chopping block.

0:29:41 > 0:29:44- But at the same time, I thought, "Well, nobody's saying it."- Yeah.

0:29:44 > 0:29:46I wish somebody else was doing it.

0:29:46 > 0:29:50So that, you know, to represent, you know, cos everything

0:29:50 > 0:29:53should be represented in a way.

0:29:53 > 0:29:56If everybody's just going "Be bop, baby" you know, OK.

0:30:00 > 0:30:03We were on tour with Bonnie & Delaney.

0:30:03 > 0:30:05They came over to England and George was a big fan.

0:30:05 > 0:30:09And one place we were, we had a piano in the dressing room.

0:30:09 > 0:30:13And, uh, the discussion was, how do you write a gospel song?

0:30:13 > 0:30:16So I went to the piano and started playing some gospel changes.

0:30:16 > 0:30:18And I don't know if it was Delaney or Bonnie,

0:30:18 > 0:30:20but one of them starts, # Oh, my Lord.

0:30:20 > 0:30:23And then they went on # We say hallelu... #

0:30:23 > 0:30:28# My sweet Lord Mmm, my Lord

0:30:30 > 0:30:31# My sweet Lord... #

0:30:31 > 0:30:36# Well, I really wanna see you

0:30:37 > 0:30:40# I really want to be with you

0:30:40 > 0:30:43# I really want to see you, Lord

0:30:43 > 0:30:45# But it takes so long, oh, Lord

0:30:45 > 0:30:50# My sweet Lord. #

0:30:50 > 0:30:54VOICES IN HARMONY

0:30:54 > 0:30:58# My sweet Lord

0:31:04 > 0:31:06# Oh, my sweet Lord

0:31:06 > 0:31:09# Oh, my... #

0:31:09 > 0:31:12What is it about it that makes it so timeless?

0:31:14 > 0:31:18Well, is it? Uh, first it's simple,

0:31:18 > 0:31:20you know, and the repetition.

0:31:20 > 0:31:25You know, really, I think, the thing about a mantra,

0:31:25 > 0:31:27you see, it's got a mantra in there.

0:31:27 > 0:31:29And, uh, mantras are...

0:31:31 > 0:31:37Well, they call it a mystical sound vibration

0:31:37 > 0:31:39encased in a syllable.

0:31:39 > 0:31:45It has this power within it, and you know, it's just hypnotic

0:31:45 > 0:31:49and it's kinda nice. You know, it's nice.

0:31:49 > 0:31:52I mean, I'd have done that mantra for ages.

0:31:52 > 0:31:56Once I chanted it for, like, three days non-stop

0:31:56 > 0:31:58just driving through Europe.

0:31:58 > 0:32:02And you just get like hypnotised. You get a...

0:32:02 > 0:32:05on some subtle level which makes you feel

0:32:05 > 0:32:07so good that you don't want to stop.

0:32:07 > 0:32:10MUSIC: "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison

0:32:59 > 0:33:04George's huge commitment to Indian spirituality

0:33:04 > 0:33:08and how that would lead him to be fairly dismissive of

0:33:08 > 0:33:11the material things that we'd all come to enjoy,

0:33:11 > 0:33:16you know, and so he was trying to remove himself from that in some way,

0:33:16 > 0:33:20and even in a physical way, you know?

0:33:20 > 0:33:23And I had become, bit by bit,

0:33:23 > 0:33:28more and more obsessed with his wife Pattie.

0:33:28 > 0:33:31And was making amateur kind of inroads

0:33:31 > 0:33:33into finding out what was going on

0:33:33 > 0:33:37and what was happening to their relationship.

0:33:37 > 0:33:41And at the same time trying to balance my relationship with him.

0:33:41 > 0:33:44And when we finally did start to act it out,

0:33:44 > 0:33:47I mean, I went to George right away and said,

0:33:47 > 0:33:49"Look, I think this is going to happen,

0:33:49 > 0:33:52"and I think, you know, it is already,

0:33:52 > 0:33:53"there's the feelings there.

0:33:53 > 0:33:58I have to know what you feel about that."

0:33:58 > 0:34:03It was almost like, well, if you want me to stop and go away,

0:34:03 > 0:34:05I will, you know. But I need to know what...

0:34:05 > 0:34:09And he was very kind of cavalier, you know?

0:34:09 > 0:34:13He said, "Well, take her. She's yours," kind of thing,

0:34:13 > 0:34:16"But, in fact, can I have that, we'll swap."

0:34:16 > 0:34:22And to be honest, it had kind of almost got to that before anyway.

0:34:22 > 0:34:25There was a lot of kind of swapping going on,

0:34:25 > 0:34:26and a lot of fooling around.

0:34:26 > 0:34:29And this is, you know, '60s free-love stuff.

0:34:29 > 0:34:30I mean, so...

0:34:30 > 0:34:36And George's attitude seemed to have more wisdom in it than anyone else's,

0:34:36 > 0:34:39in that this is all material, it's all Maya,

0:34:39 > 0:34:43it's all irrelevant to the bigger picture.

0:34:43 > 0:34:45Doesn't really matter, in other words.

0:34:45 > 0:34:47And I thought, phew, God, you know, well,

0:34:47 > 0:34:50that's almost like giving me carte blanche.

0:34:50 > 0:34:55- PATTIE:- From time to time, during the spring and summer of 1970

0:34:55 > 0:34:57Eric and I saw each other.

0:34:57 > 0:35:00One day we were walking down Oxford Street when

0:35:00 > 0:35:03Eric said, "Do you like me, then, or are you seeing me

0:35:03 > 0:35:05"because I'm famous?"

0:35:05 > 0:35:08I replied, "Oh, I thought you were seeing me because I'm famous."

0:35:08 > 0:35:10And we both laughed.

0:35:10 > 0:35:13He always found it difficult to talk about his feelings.

0:35:13 > 0:35:15Instead, he poured them into his music and writing.

0:35:15 > 0:35:18Another of our secret meetings took place at a flat

0:35:18 > 0:35:20in South Kensington in London.

0:35:20 > 0:35:23Eric wanted me to listen to a song he'd written.

0:35:23 > 0:35:26He switched on the tape machine, turned up the volume,

0:35:26 > 0:35:30and played me the most powerful, moving song I'd ever heard.

0:35:30 > 0:35:33It was Layla, about a man who falls hopelessly in love with a woman

0:35:33 > 0:35:36who loves him but is unavailable.

0:35:36 > 0:35:37My first thought was,

0:35:37 > 0:35:40"Oh, God, everyone's going to know who this is."

0:35:40 > 0:35:43I felt uncomfortable that he was pushing me in a direction

0:35:43 > 0:35:45I wasn't certain I wanted to go.

0:35:45 > 0:35:48But the song got the better of me with the realisation that

0:35:48 > 0:35:52I had inspired such passion and such creativity.

0:35:52 > 0:35:55I could no longer resist.

0:35:55 > 0:35:56That evening, I went to a party

0:35:56 > 0:35:59at the rock manager Robert Stigwood's house

0:35:59 > 0:36:01in Stanmore, North London.

0:36:01 > 0:36:05George had said he didn't want to go. Eric was there.

0:36:05 > 0:36:08And I felt elated by what had happened earlier in the day.

0:36:08 > 0:36:10But also felt deeply guilty.

0:36:10 > 0:36:12# Isn't it a pity... #

0:36:12 > 0:36:15Much later in the evening, George appeared.

0:36:15 > 0:36:16He kept asking "Where's Pattie?"

0:36:16 > 0:36:18# Isn't it a shame... #

0:36:18 > 0:36:22He was about to leave when he spotted me in the garden with Eric.

0:36:23 > 0:36:25# How we break each other's hearts... #

0:36:25 > 0:36:28He came over to us and said, "What's going on?"

0:36:28 > 0:36:32# And cause each other pain... #

0:36:32 > 0:36:36Eric said, "I have to tell you, man, that I'm in love with your wife.

0:36:36 > 0:36:39# How we take each other's love... #

0:36:39 > 0:36:41George was furious. He turned to me and said...

0:36:41 > 0:36:44# Without thinking any more... #

0:36:44 > 0:36:48.."Well, are you going with him or coming with me?"

0:36:48 > 0:36:51# Forgetting to give back... #

0:36:51 > 0:36:54And I said, "George, I'm coming home."

0:36:54 > 0:36:56# Isn't it a pity... #

0:37:25 > 0:37:27# Wah-wah

0:37:28 > 0:37:31# You've given me a wah-wah

0:37:35 > 0:37:39# And I'm thinking of you

0:37:40 > 0:37:45# And all the things that we used to do

0:37:45 > 0:37:48# Wah-wah

0:37:49 > 0:37:52# Wah-wah... #

0:38:03 > 0:38:07George was always so in tune with people. He loved Ravi.

0:38:07 > 0:38:09When Ravi told him how bad it was,

0:38:09 > 0:38:12I think he just started making calls immediately.

0:38:12 > 0:38:16Ravi came to me and he said if he was to do a concert, maybe

0:38:16 > 0:38:20play to so many thousand people, but to the size of the problem,

0:38:20 > 0:38:24the money, the funds that would be made would just be so small.

0:38:24 > 0:38:28So that's where I came along.

0:38:28 > 0:38:33I can generate money by doing concerts and by making records.

0:38:33 > 0:38:36George, how much money do you hope to get from this?

0:38:36 > 0:38:39Well, it depends really.

0:38:39 > 0:38:42Maybe through the concerts, we could estimate maybe about...

0:38:42 > 0:38:44How much?

0:38:44 > 0:38:48- Quarter of a million.- Maybe 250,000 from the concert.

0:38:48 > 0:38:51But if we record the concert and film the concert

0:38:51 > 0:38:55then maybe that would be a greater way of making the money.

0:38:55 > 0:39:00You know, a record could possibly sell a million, two million.

0:39:13 > 0:39:17APPLAUSE

0:39:21 > 0:39:23Thank you. If you appreciate the tuning so much,

0:39:23 > 0:39:28I hope you'll enjoy the playing more. Thank you.

0:40:17 > 0:40:19# Watch out now, take care

0:40:19 > 0:40:22# Beware of falling swingers

0:40:27 > 0:40:30# Dropping all around you

0:40:34 > 0:40:36# The pain that often mingles

0:40:39 > 0:40:44# In your fingertips

0:40:44 > 0:40:49# Beware of darkness

0:40:55 > 0:40:58# Watch out now, take care

0:40:58 > 0:41:02# Beware of the thoughts that linger

0:41:07 > 0:41:09# Winding up inside your head

0:41:14 > 0:41:18# The hopelessness around you

0:41:18 > 0:41:21# In the dead of night

0:41:25 > 0:41:28# Beware of sadness

0:41:28 > 0:41:31# It can hit you

0:41:33 > 0:41:36# It will hurt you

0:41:37 > 0:41:42# Make you sore and what is more

0:41:42 > 0:41:47# That is not what you are here for. #

0:41:48 > 0:41:52There were two concerts. One in the afternoon at two

0:41:52 > 0:41:54and one at eight o'clock.

0:41:54 > 0:41:59It was the first of its kind, benefit by stars

0:41:59 > 0:42:03for a relief concert and it was magical.

0:42:03 > 0:42:05That's the only word to describe it

0:42:05 > 0:42:08because nobody had ever seen anything like that before,

0:42:08 > 0:42:14that amount of star power on stage since Woodstock.

0:42:14 > 0:42:18And this was all in two hours on stage at one time.

0:42:18 > 0:42:21Eric was there. Leon Russell was there.

0:42:21 > 0:42:23Ringo was there.

0:42:23 > 0:42:26Dylan was a no-show up until the last minute.

0:42:26 > 0:42:31I had to go down to his apartment and literally get him.

0:42:31 > 0:42:32It was chaos.

0:42:32 > 0:42:35So we didn't know what we were doing,

0:42:35 > 0:42:39and mics were all over the place.

0:42:39 > 0:42:42We only had three hours to mic the band.

0:42:42 > 0:42:44Then the audience came in.

0:42:44 > 0:42:47We didn't know how to mic the audience.

0:42:47 > 0:42:52So the mixing took six months. The concert took,

0:42:52 > 0:42:55the two concerts took four hours.

0:42:55 > 0:42:59And we had to put together what was a Grammy-winning album.

0:42:59 > 0:43:02George knew all these people.

0:43:02 > 0:43:07You know, they were his close friends. I got that second-hand.

0:43:07 > 0:43:10You know, I got to meet the great Alla Rakha,

0:43:10 > 0:43:13the greatest tabla player who ever lived, you know?

0:43:13 > 0:43:14George was always saying,

0:43:14 > 0:43:17"Ask Alla Rakha to show you some things."

0:43:17 > 0:43:20And so, I think he finally

0:43:20 > 0:43:23got the picture that he oughta show me some things.

0:43:23 > 0:43:26- So he would hold his hands and he'd go... - HE HUMS

0:43:26 > 0:43:28And he'd do this whole thing,

0:43:28 > 0:43:30this Indian-technique thing and George would be watching.

0:43:30 > 0:43:33I'd look up a few times and George would be watching

0:43:33 > 0:43:34and laughing, you know?

0:43:34 > 0:43:37How am I supposed to understand what it is he's doing.

0:43:37 > 0:43:39This genius trying to teach a rock drummer.

0:43:39 > 0:43:43I really appreciated in later days that he actually

0:43:43 > 0:43:47went in front of that audience on the Bangladesh concert

0:43:47 > 0:43:49because he did it for his friends.

0:43:49 > 0:43:52That he actually went up there and talked to an audience.

0:43:52 > 0:43:56I think that must have been about the first time he's ever done this.

0:43:56 > 0:43:59You see, a few things in English, or a few things in German

0:43:59 > 0:44:03on the stage where it didn't matter, is a big difference than

0:44:03 > 0:44:06to an audience where he knew it was going to be filmed and used.

0:44:06 > 0:44:09To talk to an audience was very, very difficult for him.

0:44:09 > 0:44:12There's somebody on bass who many people have heard about

0:44:12 > 0:44:14but they never actually have seen him.

0:44:14 > 0:44:16Klaus Voormann.

0:44:16 > 0:44:18APPLAUSE

0:44:18 > 0:44:19'And one day,'

0:44:19 > 0:44:23I was pretty upset. And we walked in the garden.

0:44:23 > 0:44:26And we didn't say much for a long time.

0:44:26 > 0:44:30We sat down on a bench, and we really...

0:44:32 > 0:44:34..went inside of me.

0:44:34 > 0:44:41He wanted to really find out what made me so sad.

0:44:41 > 0:44:43And he did it in such a fantastic way.

0:44:43 > 0:44:47I can't repeat the words, or I can't tell you

0:44:47 > 0:44:52exactly what it is, but he just, in a fantastic way,

0:44:52 > 0:44:54made me feel good.

0:44:54 > 0:44:58Found out what the problem is in no time.

0:44:58 > 0:45:03You know, nobody's ever done this before and will never do it again.

0:45:03 > 0:45:09George is a very extreme character. He always goes to the extreme.

0:45:09 > 0:45:13If it's taking coke, you know, sniffing coke,

0:45:13 > 0:45:18or if it is being open to meditation.

0:45:18 > 0:45:22He was in New York, and one time I said,

0:45:22 > 0:45:24"I'll come over and watch you."

0:45:24 > 0:45:27And he said, "OK." And then he said, "Oh, Klaus is coming.

0:45:27 > 0:45:31"Hide the stuff." And that made me very, very sad.

0:45:31 > 0:45:36I lived first in the main house, in a room. Old Victorian house.

0:45:36 > 0:45:40Beautiful old kitchen. In the early days, you had your servants.

0:45:40 > 0:45:43They were going from the kitchen to the front room

0:45:43 > 0:45:45and bringing you the food.

0:45:45 > 0:45:49They had to walk through five doors, "Oh, I left the spoons."

0:45:49 > 0:45:55Had to go back. It was really crazy. It was not meant to be lived in

0:45:55 > 0:45:58by normal people.

0:45:58 > 0:46:01So I at a certain point suggested to George,

0:46:01 > 0:46:06"Why don't you put the kitchen where you are? Just build a kitchen!"

0:46:06 > 0:46:08He said, "That's a good idea."

0:46:08 > 0:46:13So he actually built a kitchen downstairs where you look into the garden.

0:46:13 > 0:46:16The man who built the house, he must have been a nutcase.

0:46:16 > 0:46:19Just a complete maniac.

0:46:19 > 0:46:20One thing, for example,

0:46:20 > 0:46:28he has a picture of a friar with a frying pan in his hand.

0:46:28 > 0:46:33And with holes in it. And it says underneath, "Two holy friars."

0:46:35 > 0:46:37You know. Stupid stuff, in a way.

0:46:37 > 0:46:41It's not really very bright. But that's what the whole place was.

0:46:41 > 0:46:44It was like a joke, in a way.

0:46:44 > 0:46:45"Before I bought it, the house

0:46:45 > 0:46:49"was going to be knocked down because the Catholics would not pay

0:46:49 > 0:46:50"for the upkeep.

0:46:50 > 0:46:52"What a thing to knock down a house like this.

0:46:52 > 0:46:54"Sir Frank helped my awareness.

0:46:54 > 0:46:58"Whatever it was I felt became stronger or found more expression

0:46:58 > 0:46:59"by moving into that house,

0:46:59 > 0:47:02"because everything stepped up or was heightened.

0:47:02 > 0:47:05"There were disasters all around at that time.

0:47:05 > 0:47:08"Some were great, some were awful, some were drawn out,

0:47:08 > 0:47:10"painful, miserable.

0:47:10 > 0:47:12"Some were not disasters after all.

0:47:12 > 0:47:15"But the thing about Sir Frank with his advice like,

0:47:15 > 0:47:18"'Scan not a friend with microscopic glass.'

0:47:18 > 0:47:20"I mean, that helped me

0:47:20 > 0:47:23"actively to ease up on whomsoever I thought I loved.

0:47:23 > 0:47:27"It gave me the consciousness not to hang onto the negative side

0:47:27 > 0:47:29"of it, to be more forgiving."

0:47:31 > 0:47:37One way of starting a day was for him to get up when the sun gets up,

0:47:37 > 0:47:39sit down and meditate.

0:47:39 > 0:47:42For a long time he had a special room in the house

0:47:42 > 0:47:45where he was going to meditate.

0:47:45 > 0:47:46And he was very proud of this.

0:47:46 > 0:47:50He would come to me and tell me about it, how strong he was,

0:47:50 > 0:47:55and he was fighting the bad parts in his body and, uh,

0:47:55 > 0:47:57he was really opening up.

0:47:59 > 0:48:03JOAN TAYLOR: George liked turning you on to things that he liked

0:48:03 > 0:48:06and was interested in, whether you were a little kid

0:48:06 > 0:48:08or whether you were a grown up.

0:48:08 > 0:48:16For our kids their first experiences at George's house were not unlike

0:48:16 > 0:48:18the experience that Derek and I had

0:48:18 > 0:48:23when we went on that weekend to Sussex, but without the drugs.

0:48:23 > 0:48:28The impression it made upon them, it's such a wonderful place.

0:48:28 > 0:48:33The caves, the lake, the shape of the house. Everything.

0:48:33 > 0:48:36The detail. It was just a dream.

0:48:36 > 0:48:39# Give me love, give me love

0:48:39 > 0:48:42# Give me peace on Earth

0:48:42 > 0:48:45# Give me light, give me life

0:48:45 > 0:48:48# Keep me free from birth

0:48:48 > 0:48:51# Give me hope, help me cope

0:48:51 > 0:48:54# With this heavy load

0:48:54 > 0:48:58# Trying to touch and reach you

0:48:58 > 0:49:02# With heart and soul

0:49:02 > 0:49:04# Oh

0:49:08 > 0:49:11# My Lord

0:49:14 > 0:49:20# Please

0:49:20 > 0:49:23# Take hold of my hand... #

0:49:23 > 0:49:25He created an atmosphere in the studio.

0:49:25 > 0:49:29He put up joss sticks, make a nice smell. He put the lights down.

0:49:29 > 0:49:34He really made it into a real tranquil, nice sort of surrounding.

0:49:34 > 0:49:37Everybody felt just great.

0:49:37 > 0:49:41He would sit down with the guitar most of the time,

0:49:41 > 0:49:42play the song to us.

0:49:42 > 0:49:45And then slowly we'd start

0:49:45 > 0:49:48picking up on what the feel of the song was.

0:49:48 > 0:49:51We could take our time, find our sound,

0:49:51 > 0:49:54do what we wanted, make suggestions.

0:50:12 > 0:50:15George had such a beautiful touch

0:50:15 > 0:50:16on the slide, you know.

0:50:16 > 0:50:20George had that kind of sound that'd make you cry.

0:50:20 > 0:50:23When I hear certain songs he's played slide on,

0:50:23 > 0:50:26it just takes me right to a place.

0:50:26 > 0:50:30He loved to find the right note and, you know, if you listen to

0:50:30 > 0:50:33anything he's playing the solo on, he certainly did.

0:50:34 > 0:50:37If I had him on my records, you didn't have to read it,

0:50:37 > 0:50:39"Oh, that's George." You know?

0:50:39 > 0:50:42He found that incredible, it's like a haunting

0:50:42 > 0:50:47and emotional sound he got from his slide-ish guitar.

0:50:47 > 0:50:52- GEORGE:- With Ravi, the times when he's completely absorbed

0:50:52 > 0:50:55so much into the music where he's forgotten

0:50:55 > 0:50:58- that he's even sitting there playing.- Mm-hm.

0:50:58 > 0:51:01And he only remembers when he's finished the piece

0:51:01 > 0:51:03and he comes out and the audience applaud.

0:51:03 > 0:51:06That's the moment when he realises he's transcended

0:51:06 > 0:51:09and been somewhere, which is the same in meditation.

0:51:09 > 0:51:15Sometimes, I think great people can project their greatness.

0:51:15 > 0:51:18They don't have to shout about it.

0:51:18 > 0:51:19The concert Eric did,

0:51:19 > 0:51:22Eric Clapton at the Rainbow.

0:51:22 > 0:51:25Watching the concert, I was so aware of Eric.

0:51:25 > 0:51:27All he did was he had his eyes closed

0:51:27 > 0:51:31and he was playing some fantastic guitar,

0:51:31 > 0:51:33and his foot was tapping.

0:51:33 > 0:51:37The thing was that the magic was coming out of Eric's...

0:51:38 > 0:51:39- ..soul, or whatever.- Mm.

0:51:39 > 0:51:41- Through his guitar.- Yeah.

0:51:41 > 0:51:44And it was at that point where he just looked like an angel.

0:51:45 > 0:51:48- JIM KELTNER:- When George was ready to make a record,

0:51:48 > 0:51:50he'd just say he's got some new songs,

0:51:50 > 0:51:54and, uh, would I be wanting to, you know, come and play on 'em.

0:51:54 > 0:51:57When he put out Living In The Material World, on the back

0:51:57 > 0:52:00of the record he put, "Jim Keltner Fan Club -

0:52:00 > 0:52:06"send a self-undressed elephant to Jim Keltner Fan Club." All that.

0:52:06 > 0:52:09And so I saw that, I went, "George, what's that, man?

0:52:09 > 0:52:11"What did you do?"

0:52:11 > 0:52:15And he said, "Well, I figured if I'm going to do a fan club,

0:52:15 > 0:52:18I'm going to make it about somebody who I'm a big fan of."

0:52:18 > 0:52:20What a tremendous thing, you know?

0:52:20 > 0:52:24It was a little embarrassing, but yet it just, you know,

0:52:24 > 0:52:27George was always having fun.

0:52:27 > 0:52:30I was getting, uh, weird letters from crazy people.

0:52:30 > 0:52:34I got a couple of Polaroids from this crazy guy.

0:52:34 > 0:52:36There was an arrow through a piece of meat,

0:52:36 > 0:52:39I think it was a heart, I think he bought a heart or something,

0:52:39 > 0:52:43some kind of big piece of meat, and there was an arrow going through it.

0:52:43 > 0:52:45You know, and then there was like,

0:52:45 > 0:52:48one with a knife and blood dripping, and that was

0:52:48 > 0:52:53right about the time that I, uh, had bars put on our windows.

0:52:54 > 0:52:56George stepped back.

0:52:56 > 0:53:03And that step back to me means that he got very heavily into drugs

0:53:03 > 0:53:08and things, which, I don't know the reason why that happened.

0:53:25 > 0:53:28# What I feel

0:53:28 > 0:53:31- # I can't say- I can't say

0:53:31 > 0:53:38# My love is there for you every time of day

0:53:40 > 0:53:43- # If it's not love- If it's not love

0:53:43 > 0:53:46- # That you need - That you really, really need

0:53:46 > 0:53:52# I try my best to make everything succeed

0:53:54 > 0:53:59# Tell me what is my life without your love?

0:53:59 > 0:54:01# Hey, man

0:54:01 > 0:54:06# Tell me who am I without you

0:54:09 > 0:54:11# By my side?

0:54:11 > 0:54:12# Oh, tell me... #

0:54:15 > 0:54:17GEORGE GURGLES

0:54:19 > 0:54:24Recommended by Eric Clapton,

0:54:24 > 0:54:29Barbra Streisand and many other top-notch singers and entertainers.

0:54:29 > 0:54:34Secret mixture of honey, vinegar and...

0:54:34 > 0:54:36warm water.

0:54:41 > 0:54:44And your throat will never bother you again.

0:54:44 > 0:54:46You just won't have a throat!

0:54:49 > 0:54:53But it coats what you don't have, so they tell me.

0:54:53 > 0:54:55And...

0:56:09 > 0:56:11Hey, the ex-Beatle himself. Get a programme!

0:56:11 > 0:56:13Hey, today's two-head programme!

0:56:13 > 0:56:17Hey, George, ex-Beatle, Harrison programme!

0:56:17 > 0:56:20# You thought that you knew where I was and when

0:56:21 > 0:56:24# It looks like you've been foolin' you again

0:56:26 > 0:56:30# You thought that you had got me all staked out

0:56:31 > 0:56:35# But, baby, looks like I've been breaking out

0:56:37 > 0:56:39# I'm a dark horse

0:56:42 > 0:56:44# I'm running on a dark race course

0:56:46 > 0:56:49# And now I'm a blue moon

0:56:52 > 0:56:55# Since I stepped out of the womb

0:56:57 > 0:56:59# I've been a cool jerk

0:57:02 > 0:57:04# Looking for the source

0:57:06 > 0:57:09# I'm a dark horse. #

0:57:12 > 0:57:14The critics were brutal.

0:57:14 > 0:57:17I remember that about Ravi opening the show

0:57:17 > 0:57:21and then about George's voice being gone and shot.

0:57:21 > 0:57:25Yeah, it probably, his voice probably was very weak or, you know, and beat-up.

0:57:25 > 0:57:29And maybe a lot of people they saw bored with the Indian set.

0:57:29 > 0:57:33But that did not deter George. And, by the way, not everybody was bored with it.

0:57:33 > 0:57:36And not everybody thought that his voice sounded horrible.

0:57:36 > 0:57:39They just loved hearing those songs and him trying...

0:57:39 > 0:57:40to deliver them the best he could.

0:57:40 > 0:57:45My next move will be Madison Square Garden.

0:57:45 > 0:57:48After that, I'll go back to the hotel,

0:57:48 > 0:57:51then it'll be Madison Square Garden again.

0:57:51 > 0:57:52# Baby, looks like you...#

0:57:52 > 0:57:56After that, I'll probably just collapse. I don't know.

0:58:03 > 0:58:04He liked the moon.

0:58:04 > 0:58:08You know, if the wind was blowing and the full moon was up,

0:58:08 > 0:58:11he'd put on Bing Crosby singing Sweet Leilani

0:58:11 > 0:58:15and just make the moment even better.

0:58:15 > 0:58:17And then he might hand you a gardenia.

0:58:17 > 0:58:21He just painted life like that.

0:58:21 > 0:58:25He drew all the elements in. He was a very sensual person.

0:58:26 > 0:58:32Sensual in the way that whatever you ate had to have a flavour.

0:58:32 > 0:58:35You know, had to have some special flavour.

0:58:35 > 0:58:39If there was a flower, he wanted it to smell or be bright.

0:58:39 > 0:58:42When I first met him, he said, "I don't want you to think

0:58:42 > 0:58:45"you've discovered something about me I don't know.

0:58:45 > 0:58:49"I'm not claiming to be this or that or anything.

0:58:50 > 0:58:54"People think they've found you out when I'm not hiding anything."

0:58:57 > 0:59:01For whatever his, you know, faults were, and his....

0:59:01 > 0:59:03He had karma to work out.

0:59:03 > 0:59:06And he wasn't going to come back and be bad.

0:59:06 > 0:59:10He was going to be good and bad and loving and angry

0:59:10 > 0:59:11and everything all at once.

0:59:11 > 0:59:15You know, if someone said to you "OK, you can go through your life

0:59:15 > 0:59:18"and you can have everything in five lifetimes,

0:59:18 > 0:59:20"or you can have a really intense one and have it in one,

0:59:20 > 0:59:23"and then you can go and be liberated",

0:59:23 > 0:59:26he would've said, "Give me the one. I'm not coming back here."

0:59:26 > 0:59:28I thought he was really...

0:59:28 > 0:59:31somebody who was saying something that I connected with.

0:59:31 > 0:59:33He was really a very captivating person.

0:59:33 > 0:59:36And we seemed, he was working.

0:59:36 > 0:59:39And I liked, uh, you know, I liked the music.

0:59:39 > 0:59:42I liked what he was doing. We just seemed like partners...

0:59:42 > 0:59:44from the very beginning.

0:59:46 > 0:59:48- Jim Keltner's here?- Yeah.

0:59:49 > 0:59:52About how long does it look like?

0:59:52 > 0:59:54- About three minutes.- Good.

0:59:54 > 0:59:58# Everyone has choice

0:59:58 > 1:00:02# When to or not to raise their voices

1:00:02 > 1:00:05# It's you that decides

1:00:05 > 1:00:08# Which way you will turn

1:00:08 > 1:00:12# While feeling that our love's not your concern

1:00:13 > 1:00:15# It's you that decides

1:00:16 > 1:00:22# No-one around you will carry the blame for you

1:00:22 > 1:00:24# No-one around you

1:00:24 > 1:00:28# Will love you today and throw it all away

1:00:28 > 1:00:30# Tomorrow when you rise...#

1:00:30 > 1:00:35'There was this amazing sunset. Just orange sky.'

1:00:35 > 1:00:39And he said, "That is what I want to do."

1:00:41 > 1:00:45Now...somebody might say, "What?"

1:00:45 > 1:00:47You know, "What do you want to do?"

1:00:47 > 1:00:52What? He wanted to make, he wanted to be able to create that sunset.

1:00:52 > 1:00:54When we were first on tour,

1:00:54 > 1:00:57and we were in customs and they were going through my baggage,

1:00:57 > 1:00:59I hadn't revealed anything to George, really.

1:00:59 > 1:01:03They're going through my handbag. He said, "Oh, you've got that book, do you..?"

1:01:03 > 1:01:08He was like going through my bag with the customs. "You read that, you've read that. That's good."

1:01:08 > 1:01:12He was approving of...

1:01:13 > 1:01:15..of my journey,

1:01:15 > 1:01:23and he, I think, considered himself a bit of an expert on spiritual matters.

1:01:23 > 1:01:26Yeah, we had our differences.

1:01:26 > 1:01:28I might have done a different technique than he did.

1:01:28 > 1:01:30But we both had the same goal.

1:01:30 > 1:01:35And I think that was really the key to everything in our lives.

1:01:35 > 1:01:40He had this ability to bottom line everything by pulling focus

1:01:40 > 1:01:43and showing you the cosmic world of this galaxy

1:01:43 > 1:01:47and there you were suddenly, just this little person

1:01:47 > 1:01:50with his own little problems, fretting away on the surface.

1:01:50 > 1:01:53So, I had heard a little about George, uh, liking Python,

1:01:53 > 1:01:56and I'd been a bit wary because, you know...

1:01:56 > 1:01:59I don't want to know about somebody famous, you know.

1:01:59 > 1:02:01We had the screening of The Holy Grail

1:02:01 > 1:02:06and it went really well and suddenly there he was, going "Well, this is fucking great."

1:02:06 > 1:02:07And he said, "Let's go upstairs."

1:02:07 > 1:02:11And then we started a dialogue which went on for about 48 hours.

1:02:11 > 1:02:15It was extraordinary. I mean, it was like bla, bla, bla...

1:02:15 > 1:02:19Well, George was very fond of Rutland Weekend Television.

1:02:19 > 1:02:24On Rutland Weekend Television, we did a send-up called The Rutles.

1:02:24 > 1:02:26It was like a Hard Day's Rut.

1:02:26 > 1:02:28We were on Abbey Road filming.

1:02:28 > 1:02:31And I'm dressed as...Paul.

1:02:31 > 1:02:38And then Neil was dressed as John with a huge big beard.

1:02:38 > 1:02:43And we're there, we're on Abbey Road, and these people, "You're the Beatles!

1:02:43 > 1:02:45"You're the Beatles!" It's 20 years later, you know.

1:02:45 > 1:02:49"You think they're still here?" But George is standing with us,

1:02:49 > 1:02:52and they don't recognise him. He's laughing his ass off.

1:02:52 > 1:02:56We're getting signed autographs, and they don't notice it's George.

1:02:56 > 1:03:01Existence is kind of funny because of our temporality.

1:03:01 > 1:03:03Here we go round pretending to be kings and emperors,

1:03:03 > 1:03:07and you're going to die. You're in a box in a minute or two.

1:03:07 > 1:03:11So we are constantly undercut by our own physicality,

1:03:11 > 1:03:15our own physical bodies, which let us down.

1:03:15 > 1:03:17And you find all these evangelicals,

1:03:17 > 1:03:20and suddenly they're having gay sex in Aspen.

1:03:20 > 1:03:22"Oh, this body's letting me down all the time."

1:03:22 > 1:03:24that's what makes us funny.

1:03:24 > 1:03:27George's grounding in what was...

1:03:27 > 1:03:31both true and what was, he would test things by what made him laugh

1:03:31 > 1:03:34or what was close to his heart.

1:03:34 > 1:03:36I've always been surprised Python's proved to be

1:03:36 > 1:03:41as long living as it has, cos we were just having fun,

1:03:41 > 1:03:45just like they were having fun. We were entertaining ourselves.

1:03:45 > 1:03:47We weren't thinking about the audience.

1:03:47 > 1:03:51It's like John Lennon said, "You're still fucking peasants to me."

1:03:51 > 1:03:54Certain things... There was a kind of arrogance there that...

1:03:54 > 1:03:56you're not out there to, you know,

1:03:56 > 1:04:00want to be loved so desperately that you'll do anything.

1:04:00 > 1:04:01It's about...

1:04:01 > 1:04:04maintaining your own integrity and your own view of the world,

1:04:04 > 1:04:07whatever that is, and trying to be truthful about it.

1:04:07 > 1:04:09We'd written Life of Brian.

1:04:09 > 1:04:13We had EMI putting up the money for the movie.

1:04:13 > 1:04:17We had designed it. We were heading out on the Saturday

1:04:17 > 1:04:21with the crew to Tunisia to start building.

1:04:21 > 1:04:23And on Thursday, we get a call.

1:04:23 > 1:04:26And Lord Delfont - Bernie to his friends -

1:04:26 > 1:04:30had finally got around to reading the script apparently. He hadn't read it before.

1:04:30 > 1:04:32He was shocked and horrified,

1:04:32 > 1:04:37and said, "There's no way EMI's going to be involved in this blasphemous filth."

1:04:37 > 1:04:39And pulled the plug on the Thursday.

1:04:39 > 1:04:41And we were dead.

1:04:41 > 1:04:44I'd be calling George and he said, "No, I'll pay for it."

1:04:44 > 1:04:47So I thought, yeah! All the time he said, "No, I'll take care of it."

1:04:47 > 1:04:52And I thought, yeah. We were looking for 4 million,

1:04:52 > 1:04:54and nobody has that amount of money, you know.

1:04:54 > 1:04:58Eventually, when we got to California, George says, "I've figured it out.

1:04:58 > 1:05:03"We're going to create a company and we're going to give you the money."

1:05:03 > 1:05:07And it's 4 million and he'd mortgaged his house

1:05:07 > 1:05:11to put up the money for this movie, because he wanted to see it.

1:05:11 > 1:05:14Which is still the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket.

1:05:14 > 1:05:16Thank God you've come, Reg.

1:05:16 > 1:05:21I think I should point out first, in all fairness, that we are not, in fact, the rescue committee.

1:05:21 > 1:05:26However, I have been asked to read the following prepared statement on behalf of the movement.

1:05:26 > 1:05:30"We the People's Front of Judea, brackets, officials, end brackets

1:05:30 > 1:05:34"do hereby convey our sincere fraternal and sisterly greetings to you, Brian,

1:05:34 > 1:05:37"on this, the occasion of your martyrdom."

1:05:37 > 1:05:39- What?!- Goodbye, Brian. And thanks.

1:05:39 > 1:05:44If you care about what constitutes what we call western civilisation

1:05:44 > 1:05:47and which now probably is coming to an end,

1:05:47 > 1:05:52and you were to consider the role that's been played in that,

1:05:52 > 1:05:56by this thing that you treat as a piece of buffoonery,

1:05:56 > 1:06:00you would have a certain humility in saying

1:06:00 > 1:06:05that you have been able, through making it, to shed light.

1:06:05 > 1:06:09What we're saying is take a critical view, find out about it.

1:06:09 > 1:06:12Don't just believe because somebody tells you to.

1:06:12 > 1:06:15Somebody in the pulpit says something, question it.

1:06:15 > 1:06:19You keep making the basic assumption that we are ridiculing Christ

1:06:19 > 1:06:23and Christ's teaching. And I say that we are not.

1:06:23 > 1:06:27Would you imagine your scene, for instance, the sermon on the mount,

1:06:27 > 1:06:30- the scene in your film of The Sermon on the Mount...- Right.

1:06:30 > 1:06:33..is not ridiculing one of the most sublime utterances

1:06:33 > 1:06:37that any human being has ever spoken on this Earth? Of course it is.

1:06:37 > 1:06:41A lot of people looking in will think we have actually ridiculed Christ...

1:06:41 > 1:06:44- Yes.- ..physically. Christ is played by an actor, Ken Colley.

1:06:44 > 1:06:50He speaks the words from the sermon on the mount. It's treated absolutely respectfully.

1:06:50 > 1:06:54The camera pans away, we go right to the back of the crowd to someone who shouts "Speak up!"

1:06:54 > 1:06:58- Because they cannot hear him. Now if that utterly....- No...

1:06:58 > 1:07:03..undermines one's faith in Christ, then I think their faith cannot be terribly strong.

1:07:03 > 1:07:06I think he enjoyed the scandal of the whole thing.

1:07:06 > 1:07:09He pretended not to, but I think when you actually can alienate

1:07:09 > 1:07:14Protestants, Catholics and Jews all at one go, you know, you're doing something.

1:07:14 > 1:07:16# Let me in here

1:07:17 > 1:07:18# I know I've been here

1:07:20 > 1:07:28# Let me into your heart

1:07:30 > 1:07:31# Let me know you

1:07:33 > 1:07:36# Let me show you

1:07:36 > 1:07:44# Let me roll it to you

1:07:45 > 1:07:48# All I have is yours

1:07:51 > 1:07:56# All you see is mine

1:07:56 > 1:08:00# And I'm glad to hold you in my arms

1:08:00 > 1:08:05# I'd have you any time... #

1:08:08 > 1:08:11When we were editing Life of Brian

1:08:11 > 1:08:15and we just had a screening, and George was there,

1:08:15 > 1:08:17and we then had a meeting afterwards with all of us,

1:08:17 > 1:08:21Denis O'Brien, who was our manager, George and his manager at the time,

1:08:21 > 1:08:25and George and it was a shocking moment for him

1:08:25 > 1:08:27because there we were disagreeing about everything.

1:08:27 > 1:08:32We were arguing what should stay in, what should go out, what was working, what didn't

1:08:32 > 1:08:35And I think he was genuinely disturbed

1:08:35 > 1:08:37and I think it was the last meeting he ever came to

1:08:37 > 1:08:41of the group cos I think after, I think he wanted to believe in something.

1:08:41 > 1:08:45He may talk about the spirit of the Beatles going into Python,

1:08:45 > 1:08:48but I don't think he wanted the divisive nature of the spirit.

1:08:48 > 1:08:50In 1979 I'd finished...

1:08:50 > 1:08:54a two-man tour with Elton John.

1:08:54 > 1:08:58And, as always when George was around in my life,

1:08:58 > 1:09:00the phone would ring.

1:09:00 > 1:09:03"What are you doing?" I said, "Well, I'm not doing a lot."

1:09:03 > 1:09:07And he said, "Well, I think I've got a film company."

1:09:07 > 1:09:10He said, "You know all these theatre people,

1:09:10 > 1:09:13"and you love all that stuff, why don't you be me in the office?"

1:09:13 > 1:09:16And it was as simple a statement as that.

1:09:16 > 1:09:19I said, "When can we start?" He said, "I've started. Life Of Brian's on its way.

1:09:19 > 1:09:22"We're thinking about the next one, called Time Bandits.

1:09:22 > 1:09:25"There's this madman called Terry Gilliam, you know.

1:09:25 > 1:09:29"You'll love him." I said, "I know Terry." "I thought you might know him,"

1:09:29 > 1:09:30And off we went.

1:09:30 > 1:09:33HandMade was called HandMade because we were handmade.

1:09:33 > 1:09:36Everything was done in-house,

1:09:36 > 1:09:39including, er, quite a lot of the marketing strategy.

1:09:39 > 1:09:43We designed posters because we had people like Terry Gilliam who would do those designs.

1:09:43 > 1:09:46We had people like Michael Palin and Derek Taylor,

1:09:46 > 1:09:49who would come up with great by-lines, all in-house.

1:09:49 > 1:09:53So this was again, this was like a giant band, and George loved being in a band.

1:09:53 > 1:09:56He missed The Beatles. He missed his mates.

1:09:56 > 1:09:58He missed working with people.

1:09:58 > 1:10:02He was a great collaborator. He loved being there.

1:10:09 > 1:10:12Why is minority music important?

1:10:12 > 1:10:16All the music that isn't really sold in your local record store

1:10:16 > 1:10:20- in the top hundred... - Well... You're asking me?

1:10:20 > 1:10:23Everybody on the charts gets it from somewhere, don't they?

1:10:23 > 1:10:27They get it from these little guys in other countries who invented the stuff.

1:10:27 > 1:10:29That's how I feel about it.

1:10:29 > 1:10:33So it's important purely so they've got something to steal and put in the charts?

1:10:33 > 1:10:36No, it's important... LAUGHS That's a good answer.

1:10:38 > 1:10:40- Hi, Liv.- Hi.

1:10:40 > 1:10:46So why is it important to have all these people at our house?

1:10:46 > 1:10:49It's important to have to worry about lots of things and make sure everything's right.

1:10:49 > 1:10:53And, uh, well, it's nice to see everyone.

1:10:53 > 1:10:57Wonderful people, good food. You like it, don't you, after all? See?

1:10:57 > 1:10:59- Thank you.- Yes.

1:10:59 > 1:11:01I feel very strongly about major issues.

1:11:01 > 1:11:03I don't talk about them an awful lot.

1:11:03 > 1:11:07But I feel, uh, very strongly about unfairness.

1:11:07 > 1:11:13What do you think we should be doing to make our lives better?

1:12:01 > 1:12:03Thank you.

1:12:03 > 1:12:06# Give peace a chance

1:12:06 > 1:12:09# All we are saying

1:12:10 > 1:12:12# Is give peace a chance... #

1:12:14 > 1:12:19Mr Chapman came up behind them and called to him Mr Lennon

1:12:19 > 1:12:21as he arrived at that doorway.

1:12:21 > 1:12:24And then in a combat stance,

1:12:24 > 1:12:29he fired, he emptied the Charter Arms 38 calibre gun that he had with him

1:12:29 > 1:12:34and...shot John Lennon.

1:12:40 > 1:12:45# I bless the day I found you

1:12:45 > 1:12:52# I want to stay around you

1:12:53 > 1:12:56# And so I beg you

1:12:58 > 1:13:01# Let it be me

1:13:03 > 1:13:08# Don't take this heaven from one

1:13:10 > 1:13:14# If you must cling to someone

1:13:15 > 1:13:18# Now and forever

1:13:21 > 1:13:24# Let it be me. #

1:13:34 > 1:13:36I wonder what you felt, losing someone

1:13:36 > 1:13:40who was close to you for all those years.

1:13:40 > 1:13:43It's like, uh, losing your parents,

1:13:43 > 1:13:45or anybody you know and love.

1:13:45 > 1:13:47- He was no angel.- He wasn't.

1:13:47 > 1:13:50But he was, as well.

1:13:50 > 1:13:52- Was he?- Yeah.

1:13:53 > 1:13:58He was really angry that John didn't have a chance

1:13:58 > 1:14:02to leave his body in a better way.

1:14:02 > 1:14:06Because George put so much emphasis and importance

1:14:06 > 1:14:09on the moment of death, of leaving your body.

1:14:09 > 1:14:11That was very, um...

1:14:12 > 1:14:15That's really what he was practising for.

1:14:16 > 1:14:19It's like the Dalai Lama said something that,

1:14:19 > 1:14:22we really, um, made us smile.

1:14:22 > 1:14:25He said, "What do you do in the morning?"

1:14:25 > 1:14:27He said, "I do my practice, I do my mantras,

1:14:27 > 1:14:29"I do my spiritual practice."

1:14:29 > 1:14:33"How do you know it will work?" He said, "I don't. I'll find out when I die."

1:14:33 > 1:14:37And, you know, it's so great. It's like that was it.

1:14:37 > 1:14:40I'll, I'm practising this so that when I die I will know

1:14:40 > 1:14:45how to leave my body and I'll be familiar and I won't be frightened.

1:14:45 > 1:14:48George had a maximum amount of diversion in life.

1:14:48 > 1:14:51And, you know, towards the end of his life, he'd say, like,

1:14:51 > 1:14:55I'd say, "Oh, you know they want to give you this award thing".

1:14:55 > 1:14:57And he said, "Well, I don't want it.

1:14:57 > 1:15:00"Tell them to get another monkey."

1:15:00 > 1:15:03I'd say, "Yeah, but, you know, it's really a nice one.

1:15:03 > 1:15:05"You should have this."

1:15:05 > 1:15:09And he'd say, "Well, if you want it so bad, you go and get it."

1:15:09 > 1:15:11You know. "I'm not going.

1:15:11 > 1:15:12"I'm not doing that any more.

1:15:14 > 1:15:18"Because it's just a big diversion. "I want to plant trees.

1:15:18 > 1:15:21"I want to be quiet. I want to meditate."

1:15:21 > 1:15:24And he really did draw the line.

1:15:24 > 1:15:26And I really admired him for that.

1:15:26 > 1:15:31I mean, I've always been intrigued with George's "spirituality",

1:15:31 > 1:15:33which is absolutely essential to him.

1:15:33 > 1:15:35You know, living in the material world.

1:15:35 > 1:15:39So he was caught in these two worlds of a very spiritual world

1:15:39 > 1:15:41and a very material world.

1:15:41 > 1:15:45And... And they're both, I think, related in the sense that

1:15:45 > 1:15:49it's about finding the beauty in the real world.

1:15:49 > 1:15:52To make the real world as beautiful as it can be.

1:15:52 > 1:15:55And that's, I think, what he was doing in...

1:15:55 > 1:15:57in Friar Park.

1:15:57 > 1:16:00He created such, you know, exquisite beauty there.

1:16:00 > 1:16:02But there was nothing airy-fairy about it.

1:16:02 > 1:16:05And it wasn't about somebody snapping his fingers

1:16:05 > 1:16:08and having somebody else do it for him. He had to do the work.

1:16:16 > 1:16:19- OK, back up now.- Back up!

1:16:21 > 1:16:23Our friends would joke, calling him Capability George,

1:16:23 > 1:16:26you know, like after Capability Brown.

1:16:26 > 1:16:28And he'd be like, "Get that pond...

1:16:28 > 1:16:32"put it over there, move that hill...

1:16:32 > 1:16:33"Don't like that hill." You know.

1:16:33 > 1:16:38And the next week, it would be, pond over there, hill over there.

1:16:38 > 1:16:39And it would look better, you know.

1:16:39 > 1:16:42And he'd garden at night-time, he'd garden until...

1:16:42 > 1:16:44you know, till midnight.

1:16:44 > 1:16:47And he'd be out there squinting cos he could see,

1:16:47 > 1:16:49at midnight, you know, he could see

1:16:49 > 1:16:52the kind of moonlight and he could see the shadows.

1:16:52 > 1:16:56And that was his way of not seeing any of the weeds and imperfections

1:16:56 > 1:16:59that were, you know, that would plague him during the day.

1:16:59 > 1:17:02So he'd be able to imagine what it was going to look like

1:17:02 > 1:17:03when it was done.

1:17:03 > 1:17:05LOUD GUITAR MUSIC

1:17:08 > 1:17:11DHANI PLAYS A SOLO

1:17:14 > 1:17:18# Well, I'm alone but that's all right... #

1:17:18 > 1:17:20'He used to say to me every day,

1:17:20 > 1:17:22'"You don't have to go to school today.

1:17:22 > 1:17:25'"Do you want to just go on a yacht in the South Pacific

1:17:25 > 1:17:26'"and run away forever?"'

1:17:26 > 1:17:29# I'll be fine anywhere... #

1:17:32 > 1:17:35'A lot of people would probably say,

1:17:35 > 1:17:37'"You're an idiot for not doing that."

1:17:37 > 1:17:39'And maybe in a way I am. But I....'

1:17:39 > 1:17:41To rebel in my family was to go to school.

1:17:41 > 1:17:43I went to like a semi-military school.

1:17:43 > 1:17:48We did CCF one day a week, and that used to piss him off,

1:17:48 > 1:17:51me walking around in an Air Force uniform.

1:17:51 > 1:17:56I was...15, and then, er...

1:17:58 > 1:18:01..had some, er, little run-in with some policemen.

1:18:03 > 1:18:07And, er, he told the policemen to fuck off!

1:18:07 > 1:18:10And, uh, that was when I realised that he was actually cool,

1:18:10 > 1:18:14on my side, and not just a scary dad, you know.

1:18:14 > 1:18:18And, er, he was very, very close to me after that.

1:18:18 > 1:18:20And we kind of...

1:18:20 > 1:18:23would run off down the garden and hide.

1:18:23 > 1:18:25"Don't tell your mum" kind of stuff, you know.

1:18:27 > 1:18:30He was really a free person

1:18:30 > 1:18:33and he did not like to be bound by rules.

1:18:33 > 1:18:37But he did like women. And he did, erm, he was...

1:18:37 > 1:18:41Women did like him. And he was... uh...

1:18:41 > 1:18:42Whether...

1:18:44 > 1:18:48If he just said a couple of words to a woman, honestly,

1:18:48 > 1:18:50he had a profound effect...

1:18:50 > 1:18:51on people.

1:18:51 > 1:18:56So that was always something that was, you know...

1:18:56 > 1:18:58And I'm not the only one who's had to deal with this,

1:18:58 > 1:19:01you know, person who's... well-loved.

1:19:01 > 1:19:04So it was always a challenge. Uh...

1:19:07 > 1:19:10Sometimes people say, you know,

1:19:10 > 1:19:13"What's the secret of a long marriage?"

1:19:13 > 1:19:15It's like, "You don't get divorced."

1:19:18 > 1:19:20And I think, you know,

1:19:20 > 1:19:26you go through challenges in your marriage and here's what I found.

1:19:26 > 1:19:30First time we had a big hiccup in the road, I, you know,

1:19:30 > 1:19:32you go through things, you go, "Wow."

1:19:32 > 1:19:35There is a reward at the other end of it.

1:19:35 > 1:19:39There's this incredible reward. You love each other more.

1:19:39 > 1:19:42You...learn something.

1:19:42 > 1:19:44You let go of something.

1:19:44 > 1:19:47You get... Those hard edges get softened.

1:19:47 > 1:19:50You know, you're that block of stone.

1:19:50 > 1:19:55And, you know, life shapes you and takes away those hard edges.

1:19:55 > 1:19:58You have kept to yourself, in recent years.

1:19:58 > 1:20:03This led to some wild stories about the Howard Hughes of Henley.

1:20:03 > 1:20:07Because I don't go discothequeing and things like that,

1:20:07 > 1:20:10where people hang out with their cameras,

1:20:10 > 1:20:14so they presumed that I was Howard Hughes,

1:20:14 > 1:20:17with my big fingernails and Kleenex tissues and that kind of stuff.

1:20:17 > 1:20:20Bottles of urine all around the house, and, uh....

1:20:20 > 1:20:22But I wasn't like that at all.

1:20:22 > 1:20:26I go out all the time, or a lot of the time, see friends,

1:20:26 > 1:20:28have dinner, go to parties...

1:20:28 > 1:20:32I'm even more normal than, you know, normal people.

1:20:32 > 1:20:34CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1:20:47 > 1:20:49I've met you before.

1:20:49 > 1:20:53- You know, all his lines about, "I was never at a discotheque..." - Well, I wasn't.

1:20:53 > 1:20:55- We had to drag him out of them, you know. - LAUGHTER

1:20:55 > 1:20:59- Well, that was back in '64, '65. - Before the limp.

1:20:59 > 1:21:03Yeah. No, I stopped going to 'em around 1967, I think.

1:21:03 > 1:21:06Yeah, I stopped in 1980.

1:21:06 > 1:21:09What about now? What makes you cross with each other now?

1:21:09 > 1:21:13Well, the last time we were cross was when George was suing me.

1:21:13 > 1:21:14LAUGHTER

1:21:14 > 1:21:17Er, the last time he calls me was to say, "I'm going to sue you."

1:21:17 > 1:21:18I said, "No, George, don't be silly."

1:21:18 > 1:21:20"No, I'm going to sue you. I don't like what you've done."

1:21:20 > 1:21:23Cos he wrote this song and I had it mixed by somebody else...

1:21:23 > 1:21:25and, er, he didn't like the mix.

1:21:25 > 1:21:27So he was going to sue me.

1:21:27 > 1:21:29So, in the end I have to...

1:21:29 > 1:21:32I said, "Sue me if you want, but I'll always love you."

1:21:32 > 1:21:33LAUGHTER

1:21:33 > 1:21:37# I don't want you

1:21:37 > 1:21:41# But I hate to lose you

1:21:41 > 1:21:45# You got me in between

1:21:45 > 1:21:49# The devil and the deep blue sea

1:21:49 > 1:21:53# I forgive you

1:21:53 > 1:21:57# Cos I can't forget you

1:21:57 > 1:22:00# You got me in between

1:22:00 > 1:22:05# The devil and the deep blue sea

1:22:05 > 1:22:09# I want to cross you off my list

1:22:09 > 1:22:13# But when you come knocking at my door

1:22:13 > 1:22:16# Fate seems to give my heart a twist

1:22:16 > 1:22:20# And I come running back for more... #

1:22:28 > 1:22:29'You're going very fast.

1:22:29 > 1:22:32'You're going at the absolute limit of the car's tyres

1:22:32 > 1:22:33'and its suspension'

1:22:33 > 1:22:37and you, yourself are right on the very edge of your limit,

1:22:37 > 1:22:39taking it to the finest point.

1:22:39 > 1:22:43When that happens, your senses are so strong

1:22:43 > 1:22:47and, in my case, I relate it to a real experience, where I went...

1:22:47 > 1:22:52came to a corner and before I got to the corner I smelled grass.

1:22:56 > 1:22:59My senses were so...

1:22:59 > 1:23:02so sharp, so exaggerated

1:23:02 > 1:23:05that a car had gone off the road in front of me, out of my sight.

1:23:05 > 1:23:10My senses told me there was something wrong. That was grass.

1:23:10 > 1:23:12The car was on a tarmacadam road.

1:23:12 > 1:23:14So, I immediately backed off.

1:23:14 > 1:23:19The millisecond that you're talking about is so small.

1:23:19 > 1:23:22Now, that's what I think George saw

1:23:22 > 1:23:24and that was heightened senses to a point,

1:23:24 > 1:23:26not only of your feel and your touch,

1:23:26 > 1:23:30but your feet because of the pedals, the gas pedal, the brake pedal,

1:23:30 > 1:23:32the sensitivity of the function of those.

1:23:32 > 1:23:36It's the kind of thing if George and I talked about it, he would love that.

1:23:36 > 1:23:39And if you listen to a really top guitarist,

1:23:39 > 1:23:42how he can make that guitar talk,

1:23:42 > 1:23:48that's another heightening of senses that is beyond the ken, the know,

1:23:48 > 1:23:51the knowledge of any normal man or woman.

1:23:51 > 1:23:55George had a huge circle of friends and I think I was kind of, er...

1:23:57 > 1:23:58..I was just one of them, really.

1:23:58 > 1:24:02I mean, I like to think that there was something special about our relationship.

1:24:02 > 1:24:07In many ways there was, but after George died, when, you know,

1:24:07 > 1:24:09and I, and we all got together,

1:24:09 > 1:24:13"God," I thought, "he's got, how do these guys all fit together?"

1:24:13 > 1:24:14And there was a whole other mob,

1:24:14 > 1:24:16they used to call them the Thames Valley gang,

1:24:16 > 1:24:20and these were all old, you know, ageing rock stars, if you like.

1:24:20 > 1:24:24That had, you know, got little, nice little houses,

1:24:24 > 1:24:27and he was... He had something going on with everybody.

1:24:27 > 1:24:29Anything to do with racing and cars and motorbikes,

1:24:29 > 1:24:30that was part of the world,

1:24:30 > 1:24:33then there was the music side, and then there was the movie side,

1:24:33 > 1:24:36and then there was the comedian side, and...

1:24:36 > 1:24:39and there was always this wonderful crowd of people,

1:24:39 > 1:24:42all pretending to be grown-ups!

1:24:42 > 1:24:45That's what was really funny about it and we all just giggled a lot,

1:24:45 > 1:24:47because, look at this, and we're all in this place.

1:24:47 > 1:24:51He showed up one day and he came in with two ukuleles

1:24:51 > 1:24:52and he gave me one.

1:24:52 > 1:24:56He goes, "You gotta play this thing, it's great," you know,

1:24:56 > 1:24:57"let's jam," you know.

1:24:57 > 1:25:01And I said, "I have no idea how to play a ukulele."

1:25:01 > 1:25:05"Ah, it's no problem, I'll show you," you know.

1:25:05 > 1:25:10So we spent the rest of the day playing ukuleles

1:25:10 > 1:25:12and, I mean, playing ukuleles...

1:25:12 > 1:25:15Strolling around the yard playing ukulele -

1:25:15 > 1:25:17my wrist hurt the next day!

1:25:17 > 1:25:19But he taught me how to play it, you know,

1:25:19 > 1:25:23and I learned the chord formations.

1:25:23 > 1:25:26And when he was going, I walked out to the car and he said,

1:25:26 > 1:25:28"Well, wait, I want to...

1:25:28 > 1:25:31"I want to leave some ukuleles here."

1:25:31 > 1:25:33And he'd already given me one, you know,

1:25:33 > 1:25:35I said, "Well, I've got thi..." "No, we may need more."

1:25:35 > 1:25:38HE LAUGHS

1:25:38 > 1:25:40And he opened his trunk and he...

1:25:40 > 1:25:42he had a lot of ukuleles in the trunk.

1:25:44 > 1:25:47And I think he left four at my house

1:25:47 > 1:25:50and he said, "Well, you know, you never know when we might need 'em

1:25:50 > 1:25:53"because everybody doesn't carry one around."

1:25:53 > 1:25:57# Yippie yi yaaaay

1:25:57 > 1:26:02# Yippie yi ohhhhh

1:26:02 > 1:26:10# Ghost riders in the sky... #

1:26:10 > 1:26:14'He and Jeff had kind of pictured this group, The Traveling Wilburys,'

1:26:14 > 1:26:19and George's idea was that he would hand-pick everybody in the band

1:26:19 > 1:26:22and it'd be the perfect little band,

1:26:22 > 1:26:28but I think the qualifications were more about who you could hang out with,

1:26:28 > 1:26:34you know, more so than, like, trying to find the best guy that did this or that.

1:26:34 > 1:26:38Though George liked to surround himself with people that were good...

1:26:38 > 1:26:40at something, you know.

1:26:40 > 1:26:45George rang my bell one night and came in and said,

1:26:45 > 1:26:50"God, I just had dinner with Roy Orbison and Jeff," you know.

1:26:50 > 1:26:54"I got this idea, I've got to do an extra side...

1:26:54 > 1:26:56"for a single that I'm bringing out.

1:26:56 > 1:27:00"I need a studio, so I called Bob Dylan, and...

1:27:00 > 1:27:03"You know, Bob has a little studio out at his house

1:27:03 > 1:27:07"and so he's agreed to let me use the studio.

1:27:07 > 1:27:09"I'm going to try to write something tonight

1:27:09 > 1:27:12"and we'd just do it, but I thought I'd have Roy on it, too,

1:27:12 > 1:27:15"and if you want, you know, maybe you'd come too."

1:27:15 > 1:27:19And I said, "Yeah, well, I'd love to come."

1:27:19 > 1:27:23# Been beat up and battered around

1:27:24 > 1:27:27# Been sent up and I've been shot down

1:27:27 > 1:27:32# You're the best thing that I've ever found

1:27:32 > 1:27:36# Handle me with care

1:27:36 > 1:27:40# I'm so tired of being lonely

1:27:40 > 1:27:44# I still have some love to give

1:27:44 > 1:27:50# Won't you show me that you really care?

1:27:52 > 1:27:56# Everybody's got somebody

1:27:56 > 1:27:59# To lean on... #

1:27:59 > 1:28:02'Bob said, "Well, what's it going to be called, George?

1:28:02 > 1:28:04'"You gotta have a name for your song."'

1:28:04 > 1:28:08And there was a packing crate that said, "Handle With Care,"

1:28:08 > 1:28:13and...I witnessed him look over at the crate and look back and say,

1:28:13 > 1:28:15"Oh, it's Handle With Care."

1:28:15 > 1:28:16HE LAUGHS

1:28:16 > 1:28:20So, we cut the track and then we took a break to eat and...

1:28:20 > 1:28:24he said, "OK, well, now we gotta write some words, guys."

1:28:24 > 1:28:27You know, "I got these songwriters here...

1:28:27 > 1:28:31"Time to write a song," you know, "let's write one," you know.

1:28:31 > 1:28:34So, everyone...

1:28:34 > 1:28:37Everyone'd just throw a line out and you'd get, "No!",

1:28:37 > 1:28:40or, you know, sometimes a line'd come out and you'd get,

1:28:40 > 1:28:43"Woo, that's good, that's a good one. Oh, I like that."

1:28:43 > 1:28:45You know, and, so that's how we did it.

1:28:49 > 1:28:51# It was in Pittsburgh

1:28:52 > 1:28:53# Late one night

1:28:55 > 1:28:56# I lost my hat

1:28:57 > 1:28:59# Got into a fight. #

1:29:01 > 1:29:03OK. That's sort of like...

1:29:03 > 1:29:07- Yeah?- Yeah, if you ignore those chords, then just sing it over,

1:29:07 > 1:29:09the same sort of phrasing over the next bit, we can change the chord.

1:29:09 > 1:29:11Or, or if he...

1:29:11 > 1:29:13Or the other thing would be,

1:29:13 > 1:29:15you know, if we back it up now, don't play you that

1:29:15 > 1:29:18and you sing the second off the lyrics of the same chords

1:29:18 > 1:29:20and we'll copy it and put in, all right?

1:29:20 > 1:29:21- All right.- Yeah, do that. Yeah.

1:29:21 > 1:29:24- That'll be... Yeah.- Let's try that then...- Yeah, that sounded good...

1:29:24 > 1:29:29You could have chosen to retire into contented middle age

1:29:29 > 1:29:33and get together with a few friends in the musical business

1:29:33 > 1:29:35and play together occasionally.

1:29:35 > 1:29:39Well, that's what the real reason is! Really.

1:29:39 > 1:29:41Contented middle age?

1:29:41 > 1:29:43Yeah, I suppose so.

1:29:44 > 1:29:46# Everybody loves your

1:29:46 > 1:29:48# Electric dumplings

1:29:48 > 1:29:51- # He loves your - Clothes that stretch

1:29:51 > 1:29:52# He loves your

1:29:52 > 1:29:53# Fuel injection

1:29:53 > 1:29:54# He loves your

1:29:54 > 1:29:56# Service charge

1:29:56 > 1:29:57# He loves your

1:29:57 > 1:29:59# Five-speed gearbox

1:29:59 > 1:30:02- # He loves your - Long endurance

1:30:02 > 1:30:03# He loves your

1:30:03 > 1:30:05# Quest for junk food

1:30:05 > 1:30:06# He loves your

1:30:06 > 1:30:08# Big refrigerator. #

1:30:08 > 1:30:10- That was all right.- It was OK.

1:30:10 > 1:30:12I'm not mad about, "clothes that stretch."

1:30:12 > 1:30:15It sounds very English, # Clothes that stretch. #

1:30:15 > 1:30:17THEY LAUGH

1:30:17 > 1:30:20It's a bit of a joke, the idea of a comeback, you know.

1:30:20 > 1:30:22Especially to me, you know. Seems...

1:30:22 > 1:30:25- Why?- I don't know, because I don't really see myself

1:30:25 > 1:30:31as a fully-fledged showbiz star, anyway, you know, like that.

1:30:31 > 1:30:35George, why do you play music?

1:30:35 > 1:30:38- Why do you still play music? Just to enjoy?- Yeah.

1:30:38 > 1:30:42Now, just, well, we gotta do something, you know, with our lives.

1:30:42 > 1:30:47- Yeah.- That's the one thing that I know what to do, you know, how to do.

1:30:47 > 1:30:50- Hello, Neil, how are you? - Hello, George. Very well, thank you.

1:30:50 > 1:30:52Nice to see you. Very nice.

1:30:53 > 1:30:57- Hello!- Oh, a vegetarian leather jacket! THEY LAUGH

1:30:57 > 1:30:59- Yeah?- Yes.

1:30:59 > 1:31:01- Oh, is that a filmer? - Yeah, I've got you!

1:31:01 > 1:31:03Oh, I've seen that, that's the one I can see.

1:31:03 > 1:31:05Go on, turn it off. You know, I can see...

1:31:05 > 1:31:07No, I don't want to turn it off!

1:31:07 > 1:31:10I've seen that, Sharp, you know, I've seen the adverts for those.

1:31:10 > 1:31:13- And who is this?- It's Stephan. - It's John.- Oh, is it?

1:31:13 > 1:31:16- John Lennon, of the Beatles. - Oh, that's what's her name.

1:31:16 > 1:31:17- Pat!- Pat!- Who's this? - Cilla's friend.

1:31:17 > 1:31:20- We don't know who that is.- Ho-ho-ho! - Some other lady, lady of the night!

1:31:20 > 1:31:22They were horrible girls, weren't they?

1:31:22 > 1:31:26No, George, it's a very fine leg, it's a nice bit of stocking top!

1:31:26 > 1:31:29- Hmm.- Just cos you've graduated in the world.

1:31:30 > 1:31:32They're fine ladies!

1:31:34 > 1:31:39- # Ahh- Ahh

1:31:39 > 1:31:47- # Ahh- Ahh. #

1:31:48 > 1:31:50'You know, they say,

1:31:50 > 1:31:53'in this life you have to perfect one human relationship

1:31:53 > 1:31:55'in order to really love God.'

1:31:55 > 1:31:59You practise loving God by loving another human

1:31:59 > 1:32:03and by giving unconditional love.

1:32:03 > 1:32:06George's most important relationships

1:32:06 > 1:32:09really were conducted through their...

1:32:09 > 1:32:10their music

1:32:10 > 1:32:15and their lyrics. I mean, George, er...

1:32:15 > 1:32:17that's, I'd Have You Anytime,

1:32:17 > 1:32:20the song that George and Bob wrote together, you know,

1:32:20 > 1:32:23"Let me in here, I know I've been here, let me into your heart."

1:32:23 > 1:32:26He was talking directly to Bob because, you know, he'd seen Bob

1:32:26 > 1:32:30and then he'd seen Bob another time and he didn't seem as open

1:32:30 > 1:32:33and so, that was his way of saying,

1:32:33 > 1:32:35"let me in here, let me into your heart."

1:32:35 > 1:32:39And he was very unabashed and...

1:32:39 > 1:32:42romantic about it, in a sense.

1:32:42 > 1:32:45You know, I found that he was very, er...

1:32:45 > 1:32:49he had these love relationships with his friends. He loved them.

1:32:49 > 1:32:53It was very early in the morning when I think my wife took the call

1:32:53 > 1:32:57and then woke me up and told me that Roy had passed away.

1:32:57 > 1:33:00And then the next call was George.

1:33:02 > 1:33:06I don't even know if I should say what he said to me, you know,

1:33:06 > 1:33:08but I will anyway!

1:33:10 > 1:33:14When I came to the phone, he said, "Aren't you glad it's not you?"

1:33:16 > 1:33:19I said, "Yeah, yeah, I am," you know.

1:33:19 > 1:33:23Just, you know, he said, "He'll be OK.

1:33:23 > 1:33:27"He'll be OK.

1:33:27 > 1:33:31"He's still around, so just listen, he's still around,"

1:33:31 > 1:33:34and then, that was all he had to say about it, you know.

1:33:46 > 1:33:49We say farewell to the end of this reel.

1:34:18 > 1:34:21You know, you want to just write it so that, you know,

1:34:21 > 1:34:24I mean, you don't want to milk it into some huge big thing, you know.

1:34:24 > 1:34:25No, of course.

1:34:25 > 1:34:28- I mean, I prefer you were to be honest about it.- No. No, that's fine.

1:34:28 > 1:34:30You know, there's nothing worse than, you know...bullshit.

1:34:30 > 1:34:32- You know what I mean? - Yeah, I agree, I agree.

1:34:32 > 1:34:36And then all it does is it means everybody else starts phoning up

1:34:36 > 1:34:38- and then they want their version of it.- I know.

1:34:38 > 1:34:41I'm sorry, I mean, we're all going to die one day,

1:34:41 > 1:34:44but I'm not going to die for you quite yet.

1:34:44 > 1:34:47We wouldn't want that.

1:34:47 > 1:34:48Well...you never know.

1:34:48 > 1:34:50I think it makes a good story, doesn't it?

1:34:50 > 1:34:52W-what... When it was first...

1:34:52 > 1:34:58When he was first diagnosed with cancer, he told me,

1:34:58 > 1:35:02and in a way as, you know, his main thing was not to upset me.

1:35:02 > 1:35:04I mean, there is a man who's,

1:35:04 > 1:35:07who was not well, who's worrying about me

1:35:07 > 1:35:09and all the people around him.

1:35:09 > 1:35:12So, that was the measure of the man.

1:35:12 > 1:35:15And then, of course, it was with great joy that,

1:35:15 > 1:35:19that he actually got better initially

1:35:19 > 1:35:21and so things were back on track

1:35:21 > 1:35:27and we all put it to the back of our minds that this was gone now.

1:35:27 > 1:35:31I woke up, I just heard smashing of glass.

1:35:31 > 1:35:33I jumped up and woke up George.

1:35:33 > 1:35:36It was about, it must've been about 4.30 in the morning...

1:35:36 > 1:35:41and I said, "Somebody's smashed a window,"

1:35:41 > 1:35:44and he said, "How do you know?" I said, "I heard it!"

1:35:44 > 1:35:48So he jumped up and I ran to the door and I locked the door.

1:35:48 > 1:35:50And he said, "Why are you locking the door?"

1:35:50 > 1:35:53I said, "Why?! Because I'm afraid. That's why I'm locking the door."

1:35:53 > 1:35:55He said, "No, no, no, I'm going out there."

1:35:57 > 1:35:59And so he ran downstairs, um...

1:36:01 > 1:36:05..which he really didn't have to do, but he felt he had to do

1:36:05 > 1:36:09cos my mother was upstairs, and he didn't want...

1:36:09 > 1:36:12You know, he didn't know if she was OK.

1:36:12 > 1:36:14We had a statue of Saint Michael.

1:36:14 > 1:36:17And the wing from the statue of Saint Michael -

1:36:17 > 1:36:20it was made of stone - had been thrown through the window.

1:36:20 > 1:36:24And George was on one side and I was on the other

1:36:24 > 1:36:29and we looked down and this maniac just ran in like Beelzebub...

1:36:31 > 1:36:38..with a stick from Saint Michael in one hand -

1:36:38 > 1:36:43you know, he slays the dragon with his spear.

1:36:43 > 1:36:47He had that in one hand and I didn't see what he had in the other.

1:36:49 > 1:36:54Anyway, George started chanting really loud at him,

1:36:54 > 1:36:58and this guy was saying, "Get down here, get down here."

1:37:00 > 1:37:01"What do you want?"

1:37:01 > 1:37:04He said, "You know what I want," it was just horrible.

1:37:04 > 1:37:08It was just like this voice from the bowels of hell.

1:37:08 > 1:37:13And, uh...and then he just ran up, tore up the stairs.

1:37:13 > 1:37:16He was in a florid psychotic state.

1:37:16 > 1:37:18And he was tall and young.

1:37:18 > 1:37:23And then they'd come closer to where the room was.

1:37:23 > 1:37:27And this man was on top of George, um...

1:37:27 > 1:37:31trying to kill him, just laying on him,

1:37:31 > 1:37:35in just, I think, the worst way.

1:37:35 > 1:37:41To have some, you know, physical contact with some horrible person.

1:37:41 > 1:37:45Anyway, I just ran back in the room and, uh...

1:37:45 > 1:37:48I don't know, something just took over,

1:37:48 > 1:37:51and I grabbed a poker.

1:37:51 > 1:37:55My dad was a big baseball fan and he used to always say, "Follow through."

1:37:55 > 1:37:59That's all I could think of was, "Don't throw like a girl."

1:37:59 > 1:38:01"Follow through."

1:38:01 > 1:38:05I mean, it got worse, cos I hit the guy several times, you know,

1:38:05 > 1:38:07I could see the blood spreading down his blond hair.

1:38:07 > 1:38:09And then, he got up.

1:38:09 > 1:38:12You know, he got up and he chased me and had me around the neck.

1:38:12 > 1:38:15And then George got up and jumped on his back.

1:38:15 > 1:38:17And, poor George, he said, "You know, God,

1:38:17 > 1:38:20"just when he got off of me, I was thinking 'Oh, good,'

1:38:20 > 1:38:22"then I had to get up and fight him again."

1:38:22 > 1:38:24And he'd already been stabbed.

1:38:24 > 1:38:27But we all fell into a big pile, and I managed to get out

1:38:27 > 1:38:29from underneath, and George pinned him down.

1:38:29 > 1:38:32And George said to me, "I've got the knife!"

1:38:32 > 1:38:33And I thought, "What knife?!"

1:38:33 > 1:38:36I didn't know, I thought he was just kidding.

1:38:36 > 1:38:39I thought he was just trying to fake the guy out.

1:38:39 > 1:38:42It's like, I hadn't seen that.

1:38:42 > 1:38:44Afterwards, we were...

1:38:44 > 1:38:49We were, um, taken to a good old National Health hospital

1:38:49 > 1:38:53with these rickety wheelchairs at four in the morning

1:38:53 > 1:38:57and it was like freezing, it was so cold, I was just shaking,

1:38:57 > 1:38:59I didn't realise I was in shock.

1:38:59 > 1:39:03But, you know, they were pushing us down and we were looking at each other

1:39:03 > 1:39:07and they've got us in these beds and they put the curtain around us

1:39:07 > 1:39:13and he had a collapsed lung, he had things in and out the other side and outside of his leg...

1:39:14 > 1:39:17You know, I had my head open and, you know...

1:39:20 > 1:39:23But just looking into each other's eyes,

1:39:23 > 1:39:26our eyes must have been like...

1:39:27 > 1:39:29I said, "What the hell was that?"

1:39:29 > 1:39:32He said, "I don't know, it's like, I never tried to kill anybody before,"

1:39:32 > 1:39:35and I said, "No, neither did I."

1:39:35 > 1:39:36It's like this...

1:39:36 > 1:39:38you know, phew.

1:39:41 > 1:39:43But what...

1:39:43 > 1:39:46You know, honestly, we talked about it a lot,

1:39:46 > 1:39:50and the next day George said, "You know, I was lying there

1:39:50 > 1:39:52"and I was thinking, I can't believe it,

1:39:52 > 1:39:55"after everything's that's happened to me,

1:39:55 > 1:39:58"I'm going to be murdered, I'm being murdered in my own home.

1:39:58 > 1:40:03"And since I'm being murdered and I'm going to die,

1:40:03 > 1:40:08"I better start letting go of this life,

1:40:08 > 1:40:13"and I better start doing what I've been practising my whole life

1:40:13 > 1:40:16"so that I can leave my body the way I want to."

1:40:16 > 1:40:19He was so defiant, and so determined.

1:40:19 > 1:40:24Nothing was going to stop him from leaving his body

1:40:26 > 1:40:29and leaping as high as he could go.

1:40:29 > 1:40:30It was the millennium,

1:40:30 > 1:40:33and we were staying in Santa Barbara with some friends,

1:40:33 > 1:40:36and then this awful news came through.

1:40:36 > 1:40:38I said to Tania, "We have to go,"

1:40:38 > 1:40:42and so I called up and said, "Should we come?"

1:40:42 > 1:40:44And he said, "Where are you?"

1:40:44 > 1:40:47OK, so, we got on a plane and came immediately,

1:40:47 > 1:40:51and, um...it was very...

1:40:51 > 1:40:53You know, it was very powerful.

1:40:53 > 1:40:58I mean, they would walk us round where the various stages of the attack took place.

1:40:58 > 1:41:01When they picked him up, they put him on this stretcher

1:41:01 > 1:41:04and they're carrying him downstairs,

1:41:04 > 1:41:09and there were two people who had just started work that weekend.

1:41:09 > 1:41:11And he's being carried out, stabbed,

1:41:11 > 1:41:14he'd eight stab wounds, and he looks over and he says,

1:41:14 > 1:41:16"So what do you think of the job so far?"

1:41:17 > 1:41:20Which is a great kind of...very George.

1:41:20 > 1:41:24So Dhani and Livy and George...

1:41:24 > 1:41:28came up to this house...

1:41:28 > 1:41:32and he just was so distraught.

1:41:32 > 1:41:37I've never, ever had a time when there's so many tears have been shed -

1:41:37 > 1:41:42just total grief - of no death.

1:41:42 > 1:41:47Just grief of what a horrible thing somebody could do

1:41:47 > 1:41:52to another person, without actually killing them.

1:41:52 > 1:41:57He was very, very badly attacked, and...

1:41:57 > 1:42:00by the time he died, he didn't even have a single scar on him.

1:42:00 > 1:42:03I mean, he was like a yogi.

1:42:03 > 1:42:06He moved on from that, physically and mentally,

1:42:06 > 1:42:07and didn't let it affect him.

1:42:07 > 1:42:10But it definitely took years off his life, you know.

1:42:10 > 1:42:12If you're trying to fight cancer

1:42:12 > 1:42:15and then you're trying to stay alive for something like that, you know,

1:42:15 > 1:42:18it's got to take it out of you, you know?

1:42:18 > 1:42:20We went to Fiji to be,

1:42:20 > 1:42:24"Take us to the island where there isn't anybody,

1:42:24 > 1:42:26"and then take us in a boat and drop us off at the cove

1:42:26 > 1:42:30"where there isn't anyone on the beach, where there isn't anyone."

1:42:30 > 1:42:32And then he'd disappear.

1:42:32 > 1:42:35It's like, he's only with me, and then he would go off on his own.

1:42:35 > 1:42:39But he'd come out, like, dressed in banana leaves, or something,

1:42:39 > 1:42:42you know, with, like, heliconias and things.

1:42:42 > 1:42:49He liked to...for him, I think that was just like building a fort out of bracken.

1:42:49 > 1:42:53I had an experience which, um...

1:42:54 > 1:42:57..speeds up the whole idea of, um...

1:42:57 > 1:43:02You know, if you have something happen to you physically, then,

1:43:02 > 1:43:07you know, people go in hospital, or have, you know, something wrong with them

1:43:07 > 1:43:11and, um, you know, have a shock or something like that,

1:43:11 > 1:43:15and then you think, "Wow, yeah, I could be dying now."

1:43:15 > 1:43:19Now, if I was dying now, what would I think?

1:43:19 > 1:43:21What would I miss?

1:43:21 > 1:43:25If I had to leave my body, you know, in an hour's time,

1:43:25 > 1:43:28what is it that I would miss?

1:43:28 > 1:43:33And I think, "Well, I've got a son who needs a father,

1:43:33 > 1:43:37"So I have to stick around for him. as long as I can.

1:43:37 > 1:43:39"But, um...

1:43:39 > 1:43:44"other than that, I can't think of much reason to be here."

1:43:44 > 1:43:46HE LAUGHS

1:43:51 > 1:43:55We had this whole 30 years together,

1:43:55 > 1:44:00and then at the end you're able to just decant that time.

1:44:00 > 1:44:04We spent that summer together and we had so much fun.

1:44:06 > 1:44:11It's amazing, you know, at the end of your life, here's the conversation -

1:44:11 > 1:44:13"I hope I wasn't a bad husband."

1:44:15 > 1:44:18"Well, I hope I was an OK wife.

1:44:18 > 1:44:22"How did we do? How did we do?"

1:44:22 > 1:44:26And then you think, "I'm so glad.

1:44:26 > 1:44:30"I am so glad that we just kept walking this path together."

1:44:30 > 1:44:33And all those other things that came and went

1:44:33 > 1:44:38we just swatted away and batted away in between us, you know?"

1:44:52 > 1:44:55He had a long battle with his cancer.

1:44:55 > 1:44:57He's such a brave lad.

1:44:58 > 1:45:02What do you miss the most about George?

1:45:02 > 1:45:07Uh, his humour, his friendship...

1:45:07 > 1:45:09his, um, love.

1:45:11 > 1:45:17I've lost racing drivers, phew, so many of my friends have been killed.

1:45:17 > 1:45:19I've been with them when they've died.

1:45:19 > 1:45:25I've had an enormous exposure to emotional experiences.

1:45:25 > 1:45:30And yet, I don't think there's much else that's ever given me

1:45:30 > 1:45:33such a long-lasting...

1:45:33 > 1:45:37bereavement as George's loss.

1:45:37 > 1:45:41And I can't say that I was one of George's very best friends,

1:45:41 > 1:45:46cos a lot more people spent a lot more time with him than I did.

1:45:46 > 1:45:50But I, at least, felt such a closeness to him

1:45:50 > 1:45:52that it still affects me to this day.

1:45:52 > 1:45:54I could give you a dozen names,

1:45:54 > 1:45:57and I'll bet you they would say the same as I'm saying.

1:45:57 > 1:46:00It wasn't a skill.

1:46:00 > 1:46:05It was just an aura which provided us with a feel-good factor

1:46:05 > 1:46:09that we didn't get from very many people in our lives.

1:46:09 > 1:46:14The last weeks of George's life, he was in Switzerland,

1:46:14 > 1:46:17and I went to see him, and he was very ill.

1:46:17 > 1:46:20And, you know, he could only lay down.

1:46:23 > 1:46:27And while he was being ill and I'd come to see him,

1:46:27 > 1:46:31I was going to Boston,

1:46:31 > 1:46:35cos my daughter had a brain tumour.

1:46:35 > 1:46:37And I said, "Well, you know, I've got to go,

1:46:37 > 1:46:40"I've got to go to Boston," and he goes...

1:46:43 > 1:46:46..it's the last words I heard him say, actually...

1:46:46 > 1:46:50And he said, "Do you want me to come with you?"

1:46:51 > 1:46:53Oh, God.

1:46:54 > 1:46:58So, you know, that's the incredible side of George.

1:47:00 > 1:47:05God, it's like Barbara fucking Walters here, isn't it?

1:47:05 > 1:47:07HE LAUGHS

1:47:48 > 1:47:55There was a profound experience that happened when he left his body.

1:47:56 > 1:47:58It was visible.

1:47:58 > 1:48:02Let's just say, you wouldn't need to light the room...

1:48:04 > 1:48:06..if you were trying to film it.

1:48:08 > 1:48:09You know, he, um...

1:48:12 > 1:48:13He just...

1:48:17 > 1:48:18He just lit the room.

1:48:32 > 1:48:36# Namah Parvati

1:48:36 > 1:48:42# Pataye Hare Hare Mahadev

1:48:44 > 1:48:50# Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare

1:48:53 > 1:48:59# Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare

1:49:03 > 1:49:09# Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

1:49:12 > 1:49:18# Hare Hare Hare Hare Mahadeva

1:49:22 > 1:49:29# Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

1:49:32 > 1:49:38# Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

1:49:43 > 1:49:49# Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

1:50:08 > 1:50:11MUSIC: "Long, Long, Long"

1:50:15 > 1:50:21# It's been a long, long, long time

1:50:26 > 1:50:33# How could I ever have lost you

1:50:38 > 1:50:42# When I loved you?

1:50:46 > 1:50:52# It took a long, long, long time

1:50:56 > 1:51:02# Now I'm so happy I found you

1:51:08 > 1:51:12# How I want you

1:51:14 > 1:51:20# How I love you

1:51:22 > 1:51:25# You know that I need you

1:51:27 > 1:51:30# Oh, I love you... #

1:51:30 > 1:51:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

1:51:32 > 1:51:34E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk