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American Morning

Reactions To Death and Reflections On Life of George Harrison

Aired November 30, 2001 - 07:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this morning with the death of former Beatle George Harrison. The lead guitarist of the legendary rock band died Thursday at a friend's home in Los Angeles after a long battle with cancer. His wife and son were at his side.

Harrison, known as the quiet Beatle, had a resounding influence on music and rock and roll. Friends say he preferred being a musician to being a star and the frenzy that was known as Beatlemania.

Harrison was treated for throat cancer in 1998 and for lung cancer earlier this year. In a statement, his family says this morning -- quotes -- "He left this world as he lived in it, conscious of God, fearless of death and at peace." George Harrison was 58.

Friends and fans around the world are mourning the death of George Harrison. His years with the Beatles and his solo career are sure to be major chapters in music history. CNN's Sherri Sylvester joins me now from Los Angeles, outside Capital Records, which of course, was the Beatle's original label -- good morning, Sherri.

SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. And as you said, reaction is pouring in in response to George Harrison's death. He is being remembered this morning for his musicianship, for his humanitarianism, for his spirituality and for his sense of humor.

This reaction today from former Beatle, Paul McCartney: Paul says -- quote: "I am devastated and very, very sad. We knew he had been ill for a long time. He was a lovely guy and a very brave man. And he has a wonderful sense of humor. He is really just my baby brother."

Again, many say that while George Harrison did value his privacy, and he did die with just a very few close friends by his side, he did have a great charming wit and a very good talent. He did originate the concert for Bangladesh and did give a lot to charity. So he was a very complex man to those who knew him, and he was a very talkative man to those who knew him. We are keeping our eye on reaction as they come in today.

We also got this reaction from John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. She says that "George has given so much to us in his lifetime and continues to do so even after his passing, his music, his wit and his wisdom."

I am Sherri Sylvester reporting from Los Angeles -- Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Sherry.

The death of George Harrison has reminded many people of why the Beatles were such a big part of their lives. So Paul McCartney talked with Larry King just last summer about the early days of Beatlemania and the eventual breakup of the group. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST: There are many stories about why they broke up. Why did...

PAUL MCCARTNEY, MUSICIAN: The Beatles broke up?

KING: Yes. Why did you break up? The essence.

MCCARTNEY: Essence -- I think it was time. I always remember the old song "Wedding Bells are Breaking up That Old Gang of Mine," you know. The Army buddies, the band, and you're going to grow up. You're going to get married. You're going to get girlfriends and have babies and things, and you don't do that in a band.

So I kind of think we -- if you look at it, we really came full circle and...

KING: Was it angry?

MCCARTNEY: Yes, it got a bit bitter towards the end. We had a sort of strange manager guy who came in from New York and that got bitter. It got a bit of a feud thing going. So we started bitching at each other.

KING: Did you...

MCCARTNEY: And it was time.

KING: Did you record after you knew it was going to end? In other words, was there anything...

MCCARTNEY: Yes.

KING: ... done after you knew this is it?

MCCARTNEY: Yes. There was a little bit of stuff. Yes, which wasn't bad stuff.

KING: No?

MCCARTNEY: Still good stuff, because we were still good musically, you know, we just may be a little tense as friends now.

KING: That had to be hard, though, then -- go on stage together or no?

MCCARTNEY: Not on stage -- recording. We weren't on stage by that time.

KING: When you got enormous, what was that like? I mean, to come to New York...

MCCARTNEY: It was fantastic.

KING: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

MCCARTNEY: It was fantastic. Yes, it was really cool.

KING: What did you make of it though?

MCCARTNEY: Well, I mean we were kids who had looked at America as, you know, they're a great country, like a lot of the world does, you know, and you're British kids. Elvis Presley, you know, was from here, or Motown, all the black artists that we loved were from here.

So -- and we don't have R&B radio stations like in England. You know, it's sort of "Good morning, and this is Elvis Presley singing his new, new song." But here, it's like "Yeah, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)," you know? So we just loved the radio stations, and it was just fantastic.

We arrived. We were in America. We were huge. I think we made a really cool move that -- I think George Harrison doesn't remember that we did it, but I remember some time saying to Brian Epstein, our manager, we mustn't go to America until we've got a No. 1 record.

A lot of British acts came here, and we're like second on the bill to people like Fabian. And in England, they were like No. 1, and people were going, that's not too cool, you know. Second on the bill to Elvis maybe, but not Fabian or...

KING: So what was the song that brought to you here?

MCCARTNEY: "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

KING: It was No. 1 and you came.

MCCARTNEY: No. 1, so we came. So the press said, "Hey, Beatles, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?" We said we're No. 1 man, and there's no answering that, you know.

KING: You mentioned Presley. What was that meeting like?

MCCARTNEY: It was great. I loved it. The thing is...

KING: You met the guy.

MCCARTNEY: ... it was so long ago -- yes, we met with him in Los Angeles.

KING: I hear not much was said initially.

MCCARTNEY: Well...

KING: True? MCCARTNEY: My memory was that it was really quite straightforward, that we loved him. We were a little in awe of him.

KING: Really?

MCCARTNEY: Yes. Well, he was -- he was the man, you know. We'd grown up with him. We were just kids. We were just a little bit younger, and we were in awe. But the funny thing is when we got together -- me, George and Ringo -- for the Beatles anthology, got together to discuss it all, we all had completely different memories.

I said...

KING: Of that meeting?

MCCARTNEY: Of the meeting, yes, which is terrible. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) time...

KING: I heard someone say that you -- he was hesitant and then they talked about guitars.

MCCARTNEY: Yes, bass -- he was trying to learn bass guitar, and me being the bass player, I thought this is cool. Let me show you a couple of licks (ph), Elvis.

KING: Hey, Elvis.

MCCARTNEY: No, I said he came and met us at the door, and Ringo sort of said, no, he never stood up all evening. So it was -- you know, who's telling the truth. I am. But...

(LAUGHTER)

But I remember him having the first remote control for a TV we'd ever seen. You know...

KING: Really?

MCCARTNEY: Yes.

KING: That's a great story.

MCCARTNEY: And he's just kind of click. We thought, oh, it's changing. It seems like ancient history now, but it was very modern then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Of course, Paul McCartney's reflections on the early days of the Beatles, and that interview was taped earlier this year.

Joining us on the telephone right now is Dr. Gil Lederman, a doctor from Staten Island University Hospital, who was involved in the treatment of George Harrison, when he had to confront two different kinds of cancer.

Dr. Lederman...

GIL LEDERMAN, HARRISON'S ONCOLOGIST: Good morning.

ZAHN: ... can you describe to us -- good morning. I know you don't want to violate Mr. Harrison's family's privacy in any way, but describe to us this morning the nature of your relationship.

LEDERMAN: I met George and his family about a month-and-a-half ago. I came to their home in Switzerland and brought him back to the United States.

ZAHN: And at that point, did Mr. Harrison have hope that he could win this battle?

LEDERMAN: Mr. Harrison -- George Harrison was a very spiritual man. He spent years in India and adopted much of the philosophy that he saw as of Indian (ph). He believed that death was part of life, and that illness is part of health, and the cause of death is birth. And therefore, he didn't fear death. He was, again, very spiritual and would accept what nature had brought him.

ZAHN: And why did he seek your help? Was there a particular kind of treatment you had to offer that helped him?

LEDERMAN: Well, we don't about patients, but in general, we're very famous for a particular kind of radiation, where we can send little beams of radiation in to hit cancer cells, and hit the cancer cells and not harm healthy, normal tissues. So it means much more successful treatment, or the success rate in the area we treat is about 90 percent. And sometimes we don't anticipate curing the patient, but we anticipate relieving pain and suffering, and that certainly is important for many patients.

ZAHN: His family, this morning, described him as dying in peace. In the end, physically, was he in pain?

LEDERMAN: I don't believe he was in pain.

ZAHN: And prior to meeting George Harrison, obviously I would imagine you are familiar with his music. Were you a fan?

LEDERMAN: Yes, I believe every one of our generation was a fan of one sort or another, and my children are fans and old people are fans. I don't think it was limited, in fact, to one generation. The big surprise was is how he was adored by so many people, people that were 70 or 80 years old, and people that were 7 or 8 years old. So his music affected many, many people, and I believe that his music will live on. He is a man that was adored by the multitudes, and yet the paradox was that he only wanted quiet solitude. He...

ZAHN: That's -- yes, that's something I'd love for you to talk more about, because we focused this morning in on some people who also had the privilege of knowing him, and they said that the most surprising thing, you know, was that paradox. That he was comfortable with who he was, what he was, and he didn't have this great need for being the center of attention -- that in the end, what he enjoyed the most was spreading fertilizer in his garden.

LEDERMAN: He had hundreds of trees on his estate in the U.K., and he loved to plant trees. He spent decades planting trees and gardening. He had a home in Hawaii and was clearing fields to plant trees there. So he loved nature. He probably would be happy in a one-room apartment, thinking about music and writing music and playing. He was a very simple man. He had very few expectations, even though he had certainly great resources.

ZAHN: Doctor, did he ever talk to you about confronting his cancer at a time when he was still healing (ph) from that terrible attack at his estate in England.

Dr. Lederman, are you still with us?

I think we have lost our connection with Dr. Gil Lederman, but providing us, I think, a really beautiful look at George Harrison, a friendship that, of course, grew up through their relationship as Mr. Harrison sought his help for radiology as he fought not only throat cancer but lung cancer.

We will continue to talk about the life of George Harrison and his music, and what his legacy will be to the world throughout the morning. Coming up in our next hour, we will be sitting down with his official biographer.

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