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CNN Saturday Morning News
Fans Honor George Harrison at Strawberry Fields
Aired December 01, 2001 - 08:41 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Music lovers are remembering the quiet Beatle. George Harrison's fans still gathering in Strawberry Fields in New York's Central Park to pay tribute this morning.
CNN's Jodi Ross is there -- Jodi.
JODI ROSS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martin.
Normally this spot here in Central Park called Strawberry Fields is a tribute, a place of deduction to John Lennon. But, of course, today it serves as a memorial to the quiet Beatle, the shy Beatle, George Harrison.
You can take a look over here. Candles have been burning all night, flowers placed all over, pictures, memories, any thoughts of George Harrison. People have, some people have camped out here overnight, I'd say about 30, and, of course, people have been here all morning remembering the man in so many different ways.
Actually, I'm going to have a Beatle fan join me right now, because there's so many here. It's hard to choose, but this is Michael James Fry.
MICHAEL JAMES FRY, FAN: Hi.
ROSS: Michael, thank you very much for joining us.
FRY: Thank you.
ROSS: George Harrison was your favorite Beatle, you tell me.
FRY: Yes.
ROSS: Is that true?
FRY: Yes.
ROSS: How come? Why is that?
FRY: The spirituality behind him, what he taught me about god and higher consciousness that I'm still striving for and will be after I die, to get as close to god as possible.
ROSS: So it wasn't just his music, it was also his spirituality that reached you?
FRY: Oh, yes. I heard him on the radio about 20 years ago and he mentioned an ancient Sanskrit phrase called "nada brahma," which means "the sound is God." And that blew me away. That sums everything up for me and I think for him and what his goal was for the world.
ROSS: Now, what about a day like today? It's sad here, but there's a celebration of his life, as well. Would you say that, or is it more sadness for you or are you trying to remember him in the best way that you can?
FRY: I will always remember him in the best way. There was never, ever anything negative about George and I think it's a time for mourning and passing and then life will go on. In my apartment I have a painting which reads "all things must pass." My girlfriend Elizabeth was looking at that two days ago and said, you know, that makes me feel good. That's something that's helping me through this hard time.
And on that day George died, which was the most ironic thing I ever heard in my life, proof positive that all things do pass and will pass and America will make it through this hard time.
ROSS: Especially, right, in times like these.
FRY: Yes.
ROSS: Is it comforting to be here with other fans? Have you spoken with other people here? Are you mourning together?
FRY: Yes. Yes. People who don't know each other are throwing their arms around, hugging, staying all night long, singing, chanting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hare Krishna.
FRY: Yes, that's right. Hare Krishna and everything. It -- look at this, it's absolutely beautiful.
ROSS: It is beautiful. And what song will you, will stand out for you, one of George Harrison's songs? What's...
FRY: "My Sweet Lord."
ROSS: That's the one?
FRY: Yes.
ROSS: OK. Excellent.
FRY: The very best.
ROSS: Will you be here now for how long? You'll stay all day today?
FRY: As long as I can. I've got to go downtown, but I'll try to come back as often as I can.
ROSS: OK.
FRY: I was here for many hours yesterday.
ROSS: OK, Michael, thank you so much.
FRY: Thank you.
ROSS: Appreciate it.
FRY: Bye-bye.
ROSS: Like I said, so many fans here today. Everybody just feels more comforted being here in Central Park as opposed to maybe mourning at home alone.
George Harrison's music continues to play, candles continue to burn. I believe it will be an all day, possibly all weekend vigil to remember the man, not just for his music, but for his spirituality, for just being the man that he was, George Harrison.
Martin, back to you.
SAVIDGE: All right, Jodi Ross joining us live from Strawberry Fields in New York, where they pause to remember George Harrison.
Thanks very much -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, many Beatles fans claim to know a lot about the rock phenomenon of the 1960s, but there's one man who knows more than most people. That's Martin Lewis, a Beatles historian, who joins us this morning from New York to talk more about the life of George Harrison.
Good to see you, Martin.
MARTIN LEWIS, BEATLES HISTORIAN: Good morning. It's sad to be here, but I'm happy to be here to honor somebody who has made such an impact in the world.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know, and he's made an impact on you. Why don't you tell me maybe some of the personal feelings and the personal stories of the few times that you had the chance to spend with George Harrison?
LEWIS: Well, in my work I had the good fortune when I started my career to be working for a chap called Derrick Taylor, who was the Beatles' publicist. And he -- and this was just after the Beatles broke up -- and he was perhaps the closest friend with George Harrison.
So from him I learned to have enormous respect for George. I already had that as a fan. But I learned from Derrick Taylor about George in so many ways. And when I met George, I remember in particular a few years ago we had a mutual friend, Harry Nielsen, the great singer, who passed on. And we met up at the funeral for Harry Nielsen. And George Harrison comforted Harry Nielsen's widow by expressing to him his belief, his fervent belief that life does continue, that physical life may end but there is a spiritual presence.
I remember how Harry Nielsen's widow was genuinely comforted by this serious and passionate belief that George had.
George Harrison also had a very dark, sardonic sense of humor, very droll, very funny, self-deprecating. He would make himself the butt of a joke, but very, very -- he took his music seriously. He took all his work seriously but he did not take himself seriously. And that was a very special quality.
PHILLIPS: And we've been talking a lot about the influence that he had on a lot of people. Let's talk about what influenced him. What, the Eastern world had a big influence on him, right, music wise and people wise?
LEWIS: It certainly did, but that wasn't the first influence. It was just, it showed what an adventurous spirit he had. His first musical influences were like those of the other Beatles, rock and roll. He loved Chuck Berry, the guitar player. He loved the music of Little Richard and Elvis Presley.
He then also had a side that appreciated Carl Perkins. He liked country and rockabilly styles of music and he brought those to his work with the Beatles. But then when he discovered the sitar and other Indian instruments, he brought that as a new texture to the Beatles. He was never content to play the same sound over and over as so many musicians are. He was constantly searching for a new texture to add to the Beatles. And, of course, that combined with the composition skills of John and Paul and the very innovative style of drumming of Ringo, the four of them blended together to make the chemistry that was the Beatles.
But it was very important that George was always searching for something fresh and different.
PHILLIPS: Personally, besides music, what gave him joy?
LEWIS: Well, he had a lot of passions. He was a great fan of motor racing. He motor raced himself, as well. But he enjoyed that. He loved gardening, a very British tradition, and had beautiful gardens at his home. He also had a great love of comedy. He was reared, like the Beatles, on the Goons. They were a 1950s radio precursor of Monty Python. It included Peter Sellers. And he had such affection for that comedy. That came out in the Beatles' movies. It came out in his personal quips and the press conferences.
But it also showed in the late '70s and early '80s. He formed his own film company at a time when the British film industry was really languishing. And he put his own money into films such as Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and the film "Time Bandits."
PHILLIPS: And "Ruddles (ph)." Remember the parody he did of the Beatles?
LEWIS: I remember that very well, indeed. That was put together by Eric Idle and Monty Python and Neil Innis, a musician friend of George's. It was an affectionate parody of the Ruffles (ph) -- of the Beatles, and George liked it so much that he made, became part of it, actually had a little cameo role in the film and actually would frequently refer to the Beatles as though they were the Ruffles, their parallel universe group.
And, in fact, in 1996, I had the honor of producing a reunion album of the Ruffles and Neil Innis, the musical genius behind the Ruffles, went to George and said do you mind if we do the Ruffles again? And George said why not? It's all part of the soup. The soup being the mixture of the Beatles and the Pythons and that general British eccentricity. He loved that sort of thing.
PHILLIPS: Martin Lewis, Beatles' historian, it's always great to have you on and hear all those little tidbits and special stories. We appreciate you being with us again.
LEWIS: Thanks very much.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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