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CNN Live Today

Former Beatle George Harrison Dies of Cancer

Aired November 30, 2001 - 10:33   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The music of the Beatles certainly has touched generations, and the death of a man so much a part of that phenomenon is being felt among the young and the old.

Sherri Sylvester live this morning from the Beatles star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame there in Hollywood.

Sherri, good morning.

SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

We're on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea Avenue here in Hollywood, and I want to show our viewers something, because we learned that George Harrison loved gardening. The Beatles star in is on this island, this beautiful island, with lots of lush, tropical flowers all around it, and it's separated from the other stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and if we can pan down here, we can see The Beatles star, and some of fans have been by this morning, delivering candles, and flowers and some mementos.

Now this particular -- doesn't look like much, but actress Jill Hennessey (ph) just came by and dropped off note, which I won't open, because it's her private not of thanks, but she didn't have her makeup on or anything. She just ran over when she got the news, and she wants to leave her own little message in honor of George Harrison.

And we also have with us today, another fan who happens to be visiting, Miss Joan Flint from Manchester, correct?

Now tell me a little bit about when you heard the news of George Harrison's death, and how you found the star this morning.

JOAN FLINT, BEATLES FAN: Well, we were just watching CNN this morning and when it came on, I just couldn't believe it. You know, I knew he had been ill, but didn't realize he was that ill. I saw him a long time ago, in 1963, in Olden, which is a town where I come from outside, and I'm just a -- not that you could hear what they were singing, because of the noise, the screams of the girls. Around 1963, yes.

SYLVESTER: Tell me a little bit about that, about that concert, what your memories where.

FLINT: Absolutely fabulous. We cued for hours outside, you know, couldn't move like, and it was just fantastic. Inside, I think they were good, as we said, we couldn't from ourselves screaming. It was just madness, it was just wonderful.

SYLVESTER: What kind of impact did the Beatles have, particularly in England?

FLINT: You wouldn't believe. I mean, it's just back from the very first recording, everybody went mad for them. I don't think anyone under the age of 21 didn't go mad for the Beatles. It was brilliant.

SYLVESTER: If you don't mind me asking, how old were you, Joan, when you saw them?

FLINT: About 15, 16.

SYLVESTER: So tell me what you brought today. You brought a flower, just all I could get at 6:00 this morning. I've been wondering down the walk, looking for The Beatles tribute, and this is all I could get, I'm afraid at that time in the morning. We came out, couldn't find it, and went back to the hotel, came out again half a later to find...

SYLVESTER: Can you tell what you liked about George Harrison in particular?

FLINT: He was, I don't know, he was a good songwriter. I don't think there was one record that he did that I didn't like. I must admit, I didn't follow him as much in the last few years, but he was good, he was the quiet one, and that's really all I remember about him.

SYLVESTER: Thank you very much, Joan, for joining us.

We want to say that one of the items here on the Walk of Fame says "Here Comes the Sun." Of course, George Harrison was a very prolific songwriter, as well as guitarist. He's being remembered today for his music, and also for his spirituality and for his sense of humor. He died here at Los Angeles yesterday at 1:30 in the afternoon at the home of his very close friend. George Harrison was a very private man. His wife and his son were by his side.

We don't know if there will be a public funeral for George Harrison, but we know that many fans including Joan Flint are celebrating his life today.

Sherri Sylvester reporting from Los Angeles.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right Sherri, thanks much there, on the West Coast. George Harrison arguably one of the most influential musicians of all time.

Let's talk with Anthony DeCurtis of "Rolling Stone" magazine with a look at Harrison and The Beatles and thereafter. Anthony, good morning. Nice to have you with us.

ANTHONY DECURTIS, "ROLLING STONE": Good morning. Thank you very much.

HEMMER: George Harrison, the name comes to mind, and you think of what?

DECURTIS: Well, certainly, you start thinking about, he one of the architects of The Beatles sound, he was one of the people that -- there's a reason why the songs lived as long as they have. They each have a very distinct sound. Harrison is a guitar player, always played in service to the song, even when he wasn't writing them. He was underestimated by fans often, but never by musicians, a very influential guitar player.

And then you had somebody who made an impact introducing Eastern culture, and Eastern music and spirituality to the West, and somebody who did the concert from Bangladesh, which set the template for benefit shows, which continues to this day, so he made a lot of impacts in, unfortunately, his short life.

HEMMER: Couple of things on his personal life. He was described as the quietest Beatle. He was clearly the youngest Beatle by a couple of years, and they say he came from the most stable family background. Have you been able to gauge how that influenced him in his life?

DECURTIS: Well, George really was somebody who -- he was the youngest Beatle. In fact, Lennon initially didn't want to let him in the band because too young. He thought that his age -- he wasn't 15 yet, and you know Paul was 15, John was 16, and they felt they wouldn't be able to get girls because George was too innocent looking.

HEMMER: They were in the band to get girls originally anyway.

DECURTIS: Absolutely.

HEMMER: Sir Paul called him his baby brother, too.

DECURTIS: Paul introduced to John, and Harrison got in on the strength of playing. John heard him play and said, all right, I guess we will carry him along. That attitude, you know, carried over, and it eventually came to be a little bit frustrating for Harrison.

HEMMER: Michael Okwu did a great piece in the life of George Harrison this morning. And there was a quote in there that said, George Harrison saying he never had a career strategy, never plotted out his life as a professional musician. He just wrote songs when he wanted to.

DECURTIS: Yes, I mean, at the -- Harrison really felt that The Beatles were a very chaotic and unsettling situation, and once he got free of it, he decided he would live life exactly as he wanted to. So he would make records, and be public, and go out and do interviews, and then he would disappear for a long periods, and you know, he never got on the treadmill again. He just refused to do that.

HEMMER: You know, we have now lost 50 percent of the fab four. Do you remember 1980 and the death of John Lennon, and how did Harrison react then?

DECURTIS: Harrison was upset by John's death. In many ways, even though they a little bit of contentious relationship at times, George idolized John, and even when there were moments of anger between them, he always respected him. So John's death both upset from that standpoint. And back in the '60s, George was afraid of violence being executed against the Beatles. He afraid of The Beatles being assassinated literally back in 1966, so when it happened to Lennon, it was just shocking for George on all those levels.

HEMMER: Anthony, kind of difficult question to get inside the heart of mind of someone else, but how do you believe that spirituality that he led in his life and believed in his life contributed to others, how do you think it helped in the final days of his struggled with cancer?

DECURTIS: I think it was essential to his survival, as essential as it was throughout his life. You know, he believed in reincarnation. He believed that all things must pass. He wrote a song called "The Art of Dying." The idea that every soul is on a journey to perfection was something that was simply a fact for him. So, you know, he could joke toward the end of life that he was approaching death. Had a song on a guy name Jewels Holland (ph) a friend of his. It's a song that George actually cowrote with son Donny, and actually performed on. And for the publishing credit he listed "RIP Limited." You know, he was not one to be squeamish about that, because he felt that everybody was traveling down the road that he was traveling down. So it was essential to his perspective.

HEMMER: Thanks for sharing, Anthony.

DECURTIS: Thank you so much for having me.

HEMMER: Anthony DeCurtis, "Rolling Stone" magazine, his thoughts looking back on the life of George Harrison and the impact on The Beatles and the rest of society. Have a good weekend, Anthony. Many thanks.

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