by Larry Kane
NO ONE TOOK ANY NOTICE. LIVERPOOL, IT SEEMED, WAS ISOLATED. IT DIDN’T HAVE ANY MEDIA THAT COULD REACH OUT NATIONALLY.
HISTORICALLY, LIVERPOOL HAD LOST A GREAT DEAL OF POWER AND PRESTIGE WHEN THE MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL WAS BUILT, ALLOWING A LOT OF TRADE TO BYPASS LIVERPOOL AND GO STRAIGHT TO MANCHESTER. MANCHESTER BECAME THE CAPITAL OF THE NORTH AND WAS HOME TO BOTH GRANADA TELEVISION AND THE BBC TV STUDIOS, IN ADDITION TO RADIO STATIONS AND THE NORTHERN EDITIONS OF THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS. MOST NORTH-WEST NEWS ON TV, RADIO, AND IN THE PRESS HAD A MANCHESTER BIAS. IN COMPARISON, LIVERPOOL SEEMED TO BE ALMOST A BACKWATER. AS A RESULT, WHAT WAS HAPPENING THERE DEVELOPED WITHOUT ANYONE REALIZING IT AND WITHOUT ANY UNDUE OUTSIDE INTERFERENCE.
HAVING RECEIVED NO REACTION TO MY APPEALS TO THE PRESS TO COVER WHAT WAS HAPPENING, I DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT MYSELF. INSTEAD OF A JAZZ MAGAZINE, I’D WRITE ABOUT THE LOCAL ROCK ’N’ ROLL SCENE.
ALTHOUGH I’D RECEIVED MY NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN DESIGN, I WAS STILL AT THE ART COLLEGE, HAVING BECOME THE FIRST STUDENT OF THE NEW GRAPHIC DESIGN COURSE AND LATER WINNER OF THE SENIOR CITY ART SCHOLARSHIP. JOHN LENNON HAD HOPED TO ENTER THE GRAPHIC ART DEPARTMENT WITH ME, BUT THE LECTURER, ROY SHARPE, WOULDN’T ACCEPT HIM.
MONEY WAS STILL A PROBLEM, BUT DICK MATTHEWS, A FRIEND FROM THE JACARANDA, INTRODUCED ME TO A CIVIL SERVANT JIM ANDERSON, WHO OFFERED TO LEND VIRGINIA AND ME THE FIFTY POUNDS WE NEEDED TO LAUNCH THE PROJECT. BY THIS TIME, I’D DECIDED ON A FORTNIGHTLY NEWSPAPER, COMPLETELY DEVOTED TO THE MUSIC OF MERSEYSIDE, WHICH WOULD ALSO BE A “WHAT’S ON” OF EVERY MUSICAL EVENT DURING THE FORTNIGHT.
VIRGINIA’S SUPPORT IS WHAT REALLY KEPT ME GOING AND ENSURED THAT THE VISIONS IN MY HEAD BECAME A REALITY. SHE GAVE UP HER JOB TO WORK FULL TIME ON THE PROJECT, AND JIM FOUND US AN OFFICE ABOVE A WINE MERCHANT’S SHOP IN RENSHAW STREET. JIM, DICK, VIRGINIA, AND I ENTERED THE TINY ATTIC OFFICE ROOM CARRYING A TYPEWRITER, A DESK, AND A COUPLE OF CHAIRS, WHICH JIM HAD PROVIDED US WITH. DICK ALSO TOOK OUT HIS CAMERA AND PROMISED TO COVER THE LOCAL MUSIC SCENE FOR THE NEW PAPER.
SITTING IN THE JACARANDA WITH JOHN AND STU, I’D TELL THEM OF OUR PROGRESS. BY THAT TIME THEY’D LEFT THE COLLEGE AND WERE ABOUT TO GO TO GERMANY. I ASKED JOHN IF HE COULD WRITE A BIOGRAPHY OF THE BEATLES FOR THE NEW PAPER, WHICH I COULD RUN IN THE FIRST ISSUE. WHEN THE BEATLES RETURNED FROM GERMANY, JOHN GAVE ME THE BIOGRAPHY, WRITTEN IN HIS OWN INIMITABLE STYLE, WHICH I ENTITLED “BEING A SHORT DIVERSION ON THE DUBIOUS ORIGINS OF BEATLES (TRANSLATED FROM THE JOHN LENNON).”
BY THIS TIME, OF COURSE, I WAS FRIENDLY WITH ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP. AS WELL AS KNOWING PAUL AND GEORGE FROM COLLEGE DAYS AND ATTENDING THEIR EARLY GIGS, I ALSO GOT TO KNOW PETE BEST, WHO JOINED THEM AT THE JACARANDA. THEY WERE THE GROUP I WAS CLOSEST TO AND WERE THE ONES I WAS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO PROMOTE THE MOST.
SITTING ALONE IN THE OFFICE AT ABOUT TWO IN THE MORNING, I WAS ATTEMPTING TO THINK OF A NAME FOR THE NEW PAPER. HAVING DECIDED THAT I’D COVER THE ENTIRE MERSEYSIDE REGION—LIVERPOOL, THE WIRRAL, SOUTHPORT, CROSBY, ST. HELENS, WIDNES, WARRINGTON, RUNCORN, AND SO ON—I SUDDENLY VISUALIZED IT AS A POLICEMAN’S BEAT. THE IMAGE OF A COPPER WALKING AROUND A MAP OF THE SURROUNDING AREA CAME INTO MY HEAD, ALONG WITH THE NAME, “MERSEY BEAT.”
THE REACTION TO MERSEY BEAT WAS LITERALLY PHENOMENAL LOCALLY, AND ALL FIVE THOUSAND COPIES OF THE FIRST ISSUE SOLD OUT. THE THREE MAIN WHOLESALERS, W. H. SMITH, BLACKBURN’S, AND CONLAN’S, TOOK COPIES; I DELIVERED COPIES PERSONALLY TO ANOTHER TWO DOZEN NEWSAGENTS, IN ADDITION TO THE MAIN LOCAL VENUES AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND RECORD STORES.
AT NORTH END MUSIC STORES (NEMS), WHEN I ASKED TO SEE THE MANAGER, BRIAN EPSTEIN CAME DOWN FROM HIS OFFICE. I SHOWED HIM THE PUBLICATION AND HE AGREED TO TAKE A DOZEN COPIES. HE PHONED ME SOON AFTER TO TELL ME HOW SURPRISED HE WAS THAT THEY SOLD OUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY. HE ORDERED MORE, AND MORE, AND MORE. FOR THE SECOND ISSUE, HE PLACED AN ADVANCE ORDER FOR TWELVE DOZEN COPIES, AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF COPIES FOR A SINGLE PUBLICATION IN ONE OUTLET.
THAT ISSUE, PUBLISHED ON 20 JULY 1961, DEVOTED THE ENTIRE FRONT COVER TO THE BEATLES’ RECENT RECORDINGS IN HAMBURG UNDER THE HEADLINE “BEATLES SIGN RECORDING CONTRACT!” THERE WAS ALSO A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE BEATLES BY ASTRID KIRCHHERR, WHICH PAUL MCCARTNEY HAD BROUGHT BACK FROM GERMANY FOR ME, TOGETHER WITH ASTRID’S PERMISSION FOR ME TO USE ANY OF THE BEATLES PICTURES SHE’D TAKEN AS PUBLICITY FOR THE GROUP.
BRIAN EPSTEIN INVITED ME TO HIS OFFICE FOR A SHERRY, AND WANTED TO DISCUSS THE GROUPS HE’D READ ABOUT IN MERSEY BEAT. HE WAS INCREDULOUS THAT SUCH A THRIVING MUSIC SCENE EXISTED ALL AROUND HIM, WHICH HE’D BEEN UNAWARE OF. HE WAS ALSO AMAZED AT THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO HIS STORE JUST TO BUY COPIES OF THE PAPER.
BRIAN ASKED ME TO DESCRIBE THE LOCAL SCENE, AND WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THE BEATLES’ COVER STORY AND THE FACT THAT A LOCAL GROUP HAD MADE A RECORD. HE IMMEDIATELY BOOKED ADVERTISING SPACE AND ASKED IF HE COULD REVIEW RECORDS. I APPOINTED HIM RECORD REVIEWER, BEGINNING WITH ISSUE NO. 3, AND HIS COLUMN WAS HEADED “STOP THE WORLD—AND LISTEN TO EVERYTHING IN IT. BRIAN EPSTEIN OF NEMS.”
HIS ADVERTISEMENTS AND REVIEWS SHARED THE SAME PAGES AS THE ARTICLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS ABOUT THE BEATLES, AND HE WAS PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED BY BOB WOOLER’S ARTICLE ABOUT THE GROUP IN THE 31 AUGUST ISSUE. OVER THE MONTHS, HE LIKED TO DISCUSS THE STORIES IN MERSEY BEAT WITH ME AND THEN ASKED IF I COULD ARRANGE FOR HIM TO VISIT THE CAVERN TO SEE THE BEATLES. I DID THIS AND HE VISITED THE CLUB, LESS THAN A HUNDRED YARDS FROM HIS STORE, DURING A LUNCHTIME SESSION ON THURSDAY, 9 NOVEMBER.
WHEN HE PUBLISHED HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, A CELLARFUL OF NOISE, IN 1965, HE CLAIMED THAT HE FIRST HEARD OF THE BEATLES WHEN A YOUNG MAN CALLED RAYMOND JONES CAME INTO HIS STORE ON 28 OCTOBER 1961 AND ORDERED A COPY OF THE BEATLES’ SINGLE (THE ONE WHICH WAS THE SUBJECT OF THE FRONT COVER IN JULY). THE STORY IS SO NEAT THAT WRITERS WHO HAVEN’T REALLY EXAMINED THE FACTS CHRONOLOGICALLY LOVE TO CITE IT. IT’S THE OLD STORY OF HAVING TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TRUTH AND THE LEGEND, AND OPTING TO GO FOR THE LEGEND. I’M WELL AWARE THAT MERSEY BEAT READERS WENT TO NEMS TO ASK FOR COPIES OF THE BEATLES’ SINGLE, BUT THIS WAS ONLY AFTER MERSEY BEAT PRINTED THE COVER STORY IN JULY.
THE FACT THAT RAYMOND JONES AND OTHERS WENT INTO NEMS TO ASK FOR THE RECORD OR NOT IS BESIDE THE POINT. I HAD BEEN DISCUSSING THE GROUP WITH EPSTEIN FOR MONTHS AND HE HAD READ ALL ABOUT THEM IN MERSEY BEAT AS THEY WERE THE GROUP I PLUGGED MOST IN THE PAPER.
AT LEAST PAUL MCCARTNEY RECOGNIZES THE TRUTH, AND IN HIS OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY, MANY YEARS FROM NOW, HE WROTE, “BRIAN KNEW PERFECTLY WELL WHO THE BEATLES WERE—THEY WERE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE SECOND ISSUE OF MERSEY BEAT, THE LOCAL MUSIC PAPER. BRIAN SOLD TWELVE DOZEN COPIES OF THIS ISSUE, SO MANY THAT HE INVITED THE EDITOR, BILL HARRY, INTO HIS OFFICE FOR A DRINK TO DISCUSS WHY IT WAS SELLING SO WELL AND TO ASK IF HE COULD WRITE A RECORD REVIEW COLUMN FOR IT.” HE IS UNLIKELY TO HAVE MISSED THE “BEATLES SIGN RECORDING CONTRACT” BANNER HEADLINE, REPORTING THEIR SESSION WITH TONY SHERIDAN FOR BERT KAEMPFERT.
ON THE GROUP’S RETURN FROM GERMANY, PAUL GAVE ME A COPY OF THE SINGLE IN QUESTION. THE ONLY OTHER SPARE COPY HE GAVE TO BOB WOOLER, WHO BEGAN PLAYING IT AT THE LOCAL VENUES. I STILL HAVE THE RECORD, PERSONALLY SIGNED BY THEM ALL (PROBABLY THE FIRST RECORD THE BEATLES SIGNED PERSONALLY), BUT THERE IS NO INDICATION THAT THEY ARE ON IT.
THERE IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF TONY SHERIDAN ON THE COVER AND THE ONLY WORDS ARE: “TONY SHERIDAN. MY BONNIE. THE SAINTS (WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN).”
THERE IS NO MENTION WHATSOEVER ABOUT THE BEATLES, AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE FOR EPSTEIN TO TRACE THE RECORD, AS HE SAID HE DID, ON THIS INFORMATION ALONE. EVEN IF HE HAD THE CATALOGUE NUMBER, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN TOLD THIS RELATED TO A SINGLE BY SHERIDAN ONLY.
MERSEY BEAT BECAME A CATALYST FOR THE SCENE, AND GROUPS, MANAGERS, AND ANYONE CONNECTED WITH THE MUSIC TOOK TO VISITING THE OFFICE. INITIALLY THE BEATLES WERE THE MOST FREQUENT VISITORS, HELPING VIRGINIA OUT ON THE TYPEWRITER OR PHONE; EVEN RINGO USED TO DROP IN WHEN HE WAS VISITING THE NEARBY DOLE OFFICE IN RENSHAW STREET.
SOON, GROUPS BEGAN CALLING THEMSELVES BEAT GROUPS INSTEAD OF ROCK ’N’
ROLL BANDS, AND VENUES WHICH HAD BEEN ADVERTISING “TWIST SESSIONS” AND “JIVE SESSIONS” BEGAN CALLING THEM “BEAT SESSIONS,” WHILE THE “JIVE HIVES” WERE NOW BEING CALLED BEAT CLUBS. ONCE THE BEATLES HAD ACHIEVED THEIR INITIAL SUCCESS ON RECORD, AND THE PAPERS WERE LOOKING FOR A TAG TO IDENTIFY THE MOVEMENT, THEY FIRST BEGAN TO CALL IT THE “MERSEY SOUND” AND “THE LIVERPOOL SOUND.” SOME YEARS LATER THEY ADOPTED THE NAME OF THE PAPER AND “MERSEY BEAT” BECAME PART OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
AS THE WORLD’S FIRST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC PAPER, THE FIRST “WHAT’S ON,” MERSEY BEAT INTRODUCED MANY INNOVATIONS WHICH WERE LATER ADOPTED BY THE NATIONAL MUSIC PRESS. IT ALSO CREATED A WONDERFUL RANGE OF EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BEATLES FOR POSTERITY. NO OTHER GROUP ACHIEVING THEIR INITIAL SUCCESS WOULD HAVE HAD SUCH A LARGE PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF THEIR EARLY CAREER.
INITIALLY, DICK MATTHEWS TOOK ALL THOSE WONDERFUL SHOTS OF THE BEATLES AT THE CAVERN FOR ME. I MADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS AND PAID THEM WITH ADVERTISEMENTS, PUBLICITY, AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN EXCHANGE FOR EXCLUSIVE PHOTOGRAPHS FOR MERSEY BEAT. I DID THOSE DEALS WITH THE PROFESSIONAL STUDIOS OF PETER KAYE, HARRY WATMOUGH, AND GRAHAM SPENCER.
AS THE POLICY OF MERSEY BEAT WAS TO INTRODUCE INNOVATION, THE PHOTOGRAPHERS WERE ENCOURAGED TO DO WHAT THE LONDON SHOWBIZ PHOTOGRAPHERS DIDN’T DO—LEAVE THE STUDIO AND TAKE SHOTS ON LOCATION OR DURING PERFORMANCES ON STAGE.
THE BEATLES HAD ORIGINALLY BEEN PORTRAYED BRILLIANTLY IN GERMANY BY ASTRID AND JURGEN VOLLMER, AND MERSEY BEAT CREATED A WHOLE RANGE OF UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEM PERFORMING IN LIVERPOOL.
THERE WAS AN UNDOUBTED EDITORIAL BIAS IN THEIR FAVOR, AND THIS CAUSED BOB WOOLER TO COME TO THE OFFICE ONE DAY TO COMPLAIN ON BEHALF OF THE OTHER GROUPS. HE SAID THAT MERSEY BEAT WAS PLUGGING THE BEATLES TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT WE SHOULD RENAME THE PAPER MERSEY BEATLE, AND IN FACT I LATER INTRODUCED A SPECIAL SECTION CALLED JUST THAT.
WHEN WE DECIDED TO RUN A POLL TO ESTABLISH THE NO. 1 GROUP IN LIVERPOOL, WE RECEIVED A HUGE RESPONSE. VIRGINIA AND I SPENT MANY HOURS SORTING OUT THE VOTES. WHEN WE’D FINISHED, RORY STORM & THE HURRICANES HAD MORE VOTES THAN ANYONE ELSE. HOWEVER, WE NOTICED THAT A LARGE BUNDLE OF THEIR VOTES HAD BEEN WRITTEN IN THE SAME HANDWRITING IN GREEN INK AND POSTED FROM THE SAME AREA AT THE SAME TIME, SO WE DISQUALIFIED THE GREEN-INK BATCH, WHICH MADE THE BEATLES NO. 1 AND RORY STORM & THE HURRICANES NO. 4.
OUR FAMOUS COVER OF ISSUE NO. 13 WITH THE HEADLINE “BEATLES TOP POLL” ESTABLISHED THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL AS THE TOP GROUP IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND—A FACT THAT BRIAN EPSTEIN WAS QUICK TO CAPITALIZE ON.
THE PAPER’S CIRCULATION KEPT INCREASING ISSUE BY ISSUE AND BEGAN TO STRETCH THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, COVERING GROUPS IN MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM, SHEFFIELD, AND NEWCASTLE. WE WERE ALSO TO CHAMPION THE ROLLING STONES.
WHAT GAVE MERSEY BEAT THE EDGE WAS THE “BULGE,” WHICH AMERICANS REFER TO AS THE “BABY BOOM.” THERE WERE MORE BABIES BORN IN THE FEW YEARS TOWARDS THE END AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SECOND WORLD WAR THAN AT ANY TIME IN HISTORY. THOSE BABIES BECAME TEENAGERS IN THE 1950S.
IN PREVIOUS DECADES, THERE WAS NO REAL AWARENESS OF “TEENAGERS” (A TERM WHICH ONLY EMERGED IN THE 1950S). IN LIVERPOOL, FOR INSTANCE, YOUNGSTERS WERE MINI REPLICAS OF THEIR PARENTS. FATHERS WOULD LOOK ON WITH PLEASURE WHEN THEIR SONS REACHED A CERTAIN AGE AND STARTED TO ACCOMPANY THEM TO THE LOCAL PUBS FOR THEIR FIRST PINT. SONS WOULD ALSO FOLLOW FATHERS INTO THE BUSINESS OR UNION THEY BELONGED TO, AND YOUNGSTERS WOULD DRESS EXACTLY LIKE THEIR PARENTS.
SUDDENLY, THERE WAS AN AWARENESS OF BEING YOUNG, AND YOUNG PEOPLE WANTED THEIR OWN STYLES AND THEIR OWN MUSIC, JUST AT THE TIME THEY WERE BEGINNING TO EARN MONEY, WHICH GAVE THEM SPENDING POWER. ON MERSEYSIDE, MERSEY BEAT WAS THEIR VOICE. IT WAS A PAPER FOR THEM, CRAMMED WITH PHOTOS AND INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR OWN GROUPS, WHICH IS WHY IT ALSO BEGAN TO APPEAL TO YOUNGSTERS THROUGHOUT BRITAIN AS ITS COVERAGE EXTENDED TO OTHER AREAS.
THE NEWSPAPERS, TELEVISION, THEATRES, AND RADIO WERE ALL RUN BY PEOPLE OF A DIFFERENT GENERATION WHO HAD NO IDEA WHAT YOUNGSTERS WANTED. FOR DECADES THEY HAD MANIPULATED AND CONTROLLED THEM [SEE THE SCENE WITH GEORGE HARRISON AND KENNETH HAIG IN A HARD DAY’S NIGHT], BUT NOW THE YOUNGSTERS WANTED TO CREATE THEIR OWN FASHIONS.
Bill Harry remains the most credible reporter of that early period. The story of Mersey Beat as a major force in pushing the Beatles to early success is more than just legend. At the level of the Beatles’ talent and ability in those early years, Bill and Virginia Harry helped catapult them to prominence. But as the story unfolds to you, it becomes clear that the band, with all the competition and hurdles ahead, may have never moved forward without the power of the printed words in Mersey Beat, required reading for the music-hungry kids of Liverpool.
The period of 1958 to 1964 was exciting, energetic, and unique, a magical time when an entire city danced to the music of youth.
And Bill and Virginia Harry were the chroniclers, not just for the Beatles, especially in those lonely early days when the tight path between success and failure lived for a while in the basement of the Jacaranda.
CHAPTER SIX
HE WAS JUST SEVENTEEN
“He was a bit younger than the rest of us. But he was a great guy—would just do anything for you.”
—Colin Hanton
“George was so sweet. My family, especially my mother, loved him.”
—Pauline Sutcliffe, sister of Stuart Sutcliffe
“You have no idea what George would give to just be able to walk down
the road to a pub and have a drink.”
—Louise Harrison, sister of George Harrison
George Harrison: A Boy with Dreams and Soft Laughter
George was on a journey in 1960. And it ended in failure. Did he know when he joined the rickety band that he would literally be ejected from a country? Did he realize that before the age of eighteen he would be treated like a criminal, become dejected beyond despair, and consider quitting the band?
Like his future bandmate Richie Starkey, George Harrison was not a great student. Also like Richie, George came from a loving family, and despite the warm radiance of father Harry and mother Louise, George seized on a bit of deception to make his way through school—at one point asking the parent of a friend to sign a grim report card so his affectionate parents would not discover his educational deficiencies. Despite this problem, the future guitarist and songwriter scored well on standardized tests and made it into the prestigious Liverpool Institute, adjacent to the Art Institute famously attended by John Lennon and his pack, including John’s closest man friend, Stuart Sutcliffe. At the Liverpool Institute, and on many bus rides, his relationship with a fellow student and future bandmate flourished.
Getting into the Liverpool Institute brought him in continuous contact with James Paul McCartney. In the long run, this would be a good thing, for it was Paul who pushed hard in 1957 to get George into John’s band.
At first, John seemed to resist taking such a “young guy” into his band, but Lennon “got over it,” as he said to me in 1964, seven years after first meeting George.
“He had a real kind of wild style on the guitar. It’s as though . . . you know, that he and the guitar were joined together. He also looked like a Teddy Boy, but as you know, Larry, he was hardly that.”
Hardly. Sensitivity to others was George’s great talent as a human being. On the aircraft and in the hotel suites, it was George who was always asking, “Everything all right, Larry?”
I remember George’s “Scouse” accent. When I first interviewed him, his accent was much thicker, and stronger. George was supposed to be the quiet Beatle, but that’s not quite accurate. He just didn’t talk unless he had something to say, as I remember. Some suspect that he was difficult to communicate with. But was this true?
Colin Hanton says, “Oh, I had no problems. He was a bit younger than the rest of us. But he was a great guy—would just do anything for you. They [the Beatles] all were, and I didn’t have problems with any of them.”
Julia Baird, John’s sister, loved George’s presence
and his attitude.
“Larry, you had to love George. He was such a lovely person, so family-oriented. When we first met him, he seemed to be a boy reaching out to find what life was all about. My mother admired him. I think Mimi did, too, although I can’t say for sure. I know John really loved him and his uncomplicated way.”
George was warmly welcomed by Millie Sutcliffe, Stuart’s mother. Pauline Sutcliffe, Stuart’s sister, recalls, “He had a quiet kinship with Stu, and our mother felt he was the most courteous of the boys. Of course, Stuart was always protecting his sisters from the ‘menace’ of John and Paul. George in many ways was more centered than all of them. Much like Stu, he had an inner spirituality.”
During a BBC interview, Astrid Kirchherr recalled how sweet he was to her after her boyfriend Stuart’s death, and described a special moment in her studio:
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I TOOK ONE PICTURE AFTER STUART’S DEATH OF GEORGE AND JOHN IN THE ATTIC [WHERE] STUART USED TO PAINT. AND . . . IF YOU COULD SEE THE PICTURE, JOHN LOOKED SO VERY LOST AND LONELY AND SAD. AND GEORGE IS STANDING BEHIND HIM. HE WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD, AND HE LOOKED SO WISE. AND, TO ME, HE HAD AN EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE JUST SAYING, “I WILL LOOK AFTER YOU, JOHN.” YOU KNOW, SO THAT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PICTURES OF THE TWO OF THEM. AND I TOOK SOME MORE PORTRAITS OF JOHN AND GEORGE THEN, AND THEY LOOKED SO GROWN UP ALL OF A SUDDEN, ESPECIALLY JOHN, YOU KNOW. BUT YOU COULD SEE HIS SADNESS, BECAUSE HE HAD GONE THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN AND LOSSES IN HIS LITTLE LIFE, THEN.
Several early cues suggest George’s leadership qualities but have gone unnoticed by most writers. After Stuart’s sad death in Hamburg, it was George who worried most about the impact on John’s emotional well-being. When John and George made that visit to the apartment that Stuart shared with Astrid, the young photographer remembers, George displayed a sense of almost brotherly love.
“He had so much respect for John. And he always treated me with so much sweetness. I think he understood real love, deep love, more than the others. Professionally, I always remember how serious he was . . . how determined he was to make sure that I received the creative credit I deserved. George was a sweet man, who, despite reflections on him by others, was really the least complicated of the Beatles . . . at least to me.”