Beatlebugsandbowieknives - Lvl 5 Beatles Flare Up

in this house we love and appreciate George in a white graphic t-shirt

George Harrison, his father Harold, Olivia, Billy Preston, Ravi Shankar, and the whole Dark Horse Tour band visiting the White House, 13 December 1974. Photos: screenshot © Harrison Family; David Hume Kennerly; Bettmann/Corbis.

They’d been invited when George met Jack Ford backstage in Salt Lake City on 16 November 1974.

Olivia Harrison: “This is in the Oval Office with Billy Preston. President Ford’s son Jack had come to some shows and said: Why don’t you meet my dad? I was in the room, and George was telling Gerry Ford how Muhammad Ali had lifted up ‪the Beatles‬; I think he got two of them under each arm! Somehow they’d got straight into that conversation, then Ford asked him what all the badges he was wearing were and George explained that they were Krishna, Babagi [sic], and the Om sign. Then Ford went to his desk and pulled out a badge that said WIN, which meant Whip Inflation Now. So funny! I remember George wore red handmade Tibetan boots, probably the first hint of any protest about Tibet. A sly political statement.” - Olivia Harrison, Observer Monthly Magazine, June 2009

“We were taken up to into the private apartments, had lunch up there, came down and went into the Oval Office. […] There’s a photo of ‪Billy Preston‬ playing the piano in the White House. He was playing ‘God Bless America’ on the 200th or 2000th Steinway.” - George Harrison, Raga Mala

“According to the briefing paper for this visit, it was the first Presidential meeting with a member of ‪the Beatles‬. President Ford recognized not only ‪George Harrison‬’s musical ability but also his efforts to raise funds for UNICEF and various hospitals throughout the United States. (A2426-17 / National Archives Identifier ‪7839929‬)” (x)

Here it is, Beatle People! The official 'Insane Things Paul Has Said About John' list, as created by the people of tumblr. I hope this is a useful supplement to the original McLennon iceberg

Update: The John insane quote iceberg is now available here

Sources under the cut:

“He was a very cool boy” (@javelinbk)

"Whenever other people do that it always reminds me of John" (@javelinbk)

"We put our names next to each other in our school exercise books" (@beatlepaul4ever)

When was Lennon at his best? "When he was asleep." (@didwemeetsomewherebefore)

"A delicious broth of a boy" (@zilabee)

"A lovely little baby, John was" (@mallowedheart)

"Daddy's room" (@pauls1967moustache)

"We’re songwriting together even if we’re not together" (@midchelle)

"John seemed like some sort of emperor in control of it all" (@blondecasino)

"I'm trying to get my son to have a son and call him Lennon, and then he'll be Lennon McCartney" (@peaceloveandstarrs)

“John and I had millions of fabulous little experiences in Paris” (@divine-sphinx)

"We used to have wanking sessions" (@merseydreams)

"You can be heterosexual and be having a homosexual dream and wake up, and think, 'Shit, am I gay?'" (@skylikeaflame)

"It was a place called Menlove Avenue. [Pauses] Someone's going to read significance into that: Paul and John on Menlove Avenue. Come onnnnnnn" (@s-l-martin)

"I slept with him a million times" (@s-l-martin)

"A wild and woolly genius who it was my pleasure to work with, walk with, talk with, and occasionally sleep with." (@didwemeetsomewherebefore)

"In bed" (@i-am-the-oyster)

"Well, I’m sure Brian was in love with John, I’m sure that’s absolutely right. I mean, everyone was in love with John; John was lovable, John was a very lovable guy." (@whenyourbirdisbroken)

"Dear friend, throw the wine, I’m in love with a friend of mine." (@heartsinthebasement)

"We got very drunk and cried about how we loved each other" (@nikidontsurf)

“Then also we were like married, so you got the bitterness. It’s not a woman scorned this time, it’s two men scorned — probably even worse. And I had to make way for Yoko. My relationship with John could not have remained as it was and Yoko feel secure.” (@thefortunateisle)

"If I was a girl, maybe I could go out and…" (@alienoriana, @majinmelmo)

"You just don’t hang around with your ex-wife" (@javelinbk)

"No, I have a lot of dreams about John, and they're always good" (@notgrungybitchin, @skylikeaflame)

"This (painting) is John’s Room. It just looked to me like John, when he had his long hair and then his cloak or whatever this is. Then I just scratched in that, looked like one of those drawings John used to do. You know his funny little men. So then I called that John’s room … If I’m gonna see a face in a painting it’s highly likely to be his." (@foryouwereinmysong)

"I wish I had sat and just hugged John all the time when we were together.’ (…) I’d just sit around and hug him forever. That’s the depth of my feeling for him" (@theoldmixer)

“Here Today - a love song to John” (@javelinbk, @bluewater9)

"So if you've got someone, you want to tell them you love them, just get it said, don't wait" (@lennon-gal)

And honourable mention for the following stories:

Stalking John all over Liverpool until Ivan officially got them introduced (@only-a-northern-soul)

‘He’s been telling himself and the whole world that nobody cared about writing songs and his music before he met John. He knew George Harrison.’ (@greatsaladavenue)

Quitting his job to commit to the band aka explicitly picking John over his father (@adriansfrombrooklyn)

Writing "Here, There, and Everywhere" by John's pool while waiting for him to wake up and write with him alone in his attic (@aint-that-kind-of-blog-bruv)

Taking the one photo of him and john from that night with the cursed pictures with jane and then blowing it up and hanging it in his office at apple (@pauls1967moustache)

Taking LSD so he could join John in his potentially bad trip (@scurator)

The time he vaulted over a table because another man was touching John and Paul had to physically intervene (@scurator)

John and George visiting Stuart Sutcliffes room. Photographed by Astrid Kirchherr.

“After Stuart’s death, John and George really cared about me. They used to come and see me in my home. It was actually John’s suggestion. John said, ‘Can I see where he used to paint?’ So I said, ‘Of course, you can.’

“In that moment, I had to take a picture of them. I just grabbed this old chair and put it there. And John was so full of emotion, being in the same room where his friend was just painting, that he nearly burst out in tears. And George was all a bit worried. So I just said to George, ‘Well, stand behind him.’ You could see how quickly George understood what it was all about, death and being alive.

Yoko Ono and John Lennon photographed by David Bailey, 1971.

December 16, 1974. An extract from John Lennon’s interview with Jim Hartz on the Today Show, NBC Television Network, NYC. Sounding generally positive towards the possibility of working again with his former bandmates, John tries to answer a question about his “celebrated” feud with Paul McCartney. (source)

“If I get… married, divorced [pause] it’s celebrated. So The Beatles had a divorce and Paul and I were always, sort of, the out front ones… and so our “celebrated” feud. You know, Lennon/McCartney was… that was… we wrote the songs… and it was bigger. And I think we were…  I put it down now to probably –  we all – actually we were all probably very nervous about suddenly being on our own, although we all really wanted to get away from each other for a bit after living in a room together for ten years.”

(I added subtitles, though I may have missed a couple of words. Enjoy.) 

Billy Preston and George Harrison, Dark Horse Tour, 1974; photo by and © Ron Pownall.

“We became like brothers, very close. […] [George] was a very, very loving person, a great guy. […] He had such a heart. […] He was very unaffected by the fame. He just loved God and his family and his friends.” - Billy Preston, WBUR, November 30, 2001 “[When The Beatles first met Billy Preston in Hamburg] Billy was so young George said you could hardly see his head over the Hammond organ. They had a connection — like brothers. His mother used to call George her paler son.” - Olivia Harrison, Concert for George ltd. ed. book “[Billy] used to play with George a lot in his studio at home in England and he had Billy’s [Hammond] B3. We just called it ‘Billy’s B3.’ Billy would sit and dance on that seat and on the pedals of that organ. He really did. His seat would just dance across there, he was just amazing. Such a sweet man. So gentle and what a talent. He had absolute fluidity on that organ and on any keyboard really.” - Olivia Harrison, Billboard, April 3, 2017 “[George is] a very emotional guy; he’s very spiritual and sensitive. He’s a very kind-hearted person. […] We feel like we’re together all the time, just through spirit.” - Billy Preston, Ticket To Ride: A Celebration Of The Beatles (1989) “[Billy Preston]’s a tremendous inspiration to work with.” - George Harrison, Disc & Music Echo, July 5, 1969 “Billy Preston, man — Billy Preston, I just love him. I never wanna play in another band without Billy. I mean, I hope I don’t ever have to.” - George Harrison, KLOL, November 1974

November 17, 1974 - May Pang and John Lennon, with Ronnie Spector, Alice Cooper and Cindy Lang, and Bianca Jagger, attend the "Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road" post opening party, at the Beacon Theater, NYC.

Photo 24 by Bob Gruen.

That's a lot of yokos