George Harrison’s Vacation in Small-Town America
May 8, 2020 7:34 PM Subscribe
Great article!
I remember once reading a story -- absolutely no idea the source, this was years ago -- about George influencing the sound of the Beatles by bringing the classic record Green Onions back to the UK from the US and sharing it with his bandmates. Reading that, I remember wondering how was that possible. I thought their first trip to the US was the famous mob scenes, Ed Sullivan, etc. I couldn't figure out how a barely 20-yr old, in that day and age, would have had time to peel off from his band and do some crate-digging on the far side of the Atlantic -- I think I just figured the story was apocryphal and didn't even nose around Wikipedia or wherever to check.
Not only does this article shine a light on that mystery, there's the tantalizing mention of Skaggs Electric Supply Company, which doubles as a record store. Wonder if that's where George picked up the record? A significant cultural diffusion for popular music is routed through an electric supply store in out-of-the-way Illinois? Butterfly effect in full force.
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 8:59 PM on May 8, 2020 [18 favorites]
I remember once reading a story -- absolutely no idea the source, this was years ago -- about George influencing the sound of the Beatles by bringing the classic record Green Onions back to the UK from the US and sharing it with his bandmates. Reading that, I remember wondering how was that possible. I thought their first trip to the US was the famous mob scenes, Ed Sullivan, etc. I couldn't figure out how a barely 20-yr old, in that day and age, would have had time to peel off from his band and do some crate-digging on the far side of the Atlantic -- I think I just figured the story was apocryphal and didn't even nose around Wikipedia or wherever to check.
Not only does this article shine a light on that mystery, there's the tantalizing mention of Skaggs Electric Supply Company, which doubles as a record store. Wonder if that's where George picked up the record? A significant cultural diffusion for popular music is routed through an electric supply store in out-of-the-way Illinois? Butterfly effect in full force.
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 8:59 PM on May 8, 2020 [18 favorites]
That would have happened not long after I was conceived, presumably a bit more toward the center of Illinois.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:54 PM on May 8, 2020
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:54 PM on May 8, 2020
I love this! I had no idea that his sister lived in Illinois.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:58 PM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by SisterHavana at 11:58 PM on May 8, 2020 [1 favorite]
I love this story! As Theophrastus Johnson points out, it is full of the possibilities that any experience George had on his visit, could have ended up influencing a song or a fashion that would shortly sweep the world. Interesting to remember that Harrison was just 20 at the time - but already with years of performance experience and cultural influences from living in the ports of Liverpool and Hamburg.
posted by rongorongo at 12:20 AM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 12:20 AM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
That time in 1963 was when I got A Hard Day's Night, my first LP record ever, became a hard core Beatles fan, and at ten, started transforming my life to what I am today
posted by growabrain at 1:51 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by growabrain at 1:51 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
Here's the story of George Harrison buying records at a random Illinois record shop.
posted by waitingtoderail at 4:25 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by waitingtoderail at 4:25 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
The lady across the street had a grandson vacationing in our small town one summer and my mum tried a few times to cajole me into hanging out with him. I was unfortunately deep in some teen angst and the information that he was some kind of amazing jock (junior hockey) put me right off ever meeting Wayne Gretzky.
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:48 AM on May 9, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:48 AM on May 9, 2020 [8 favorites]
Bonobo:
I used to work with a guy named Matt who had emigrated to Canada from the UK. When he first visited in the eighties, it was because his girlfriend was Canadian so he got a working holiday visa and spent a year with her in Toronto.
He arrived knowing essentially zero about Canada except that his girlfriend lived there and when he got his first job (in a reasonably high-end hotel) his workmates used to jest with him about his massive cultural blind spot.
Once he was tasked to help a guest checking in with his bags. As they stood in the elevator on the way up, Matt asked, “Can I ask what brings you to Toronto, sir?” The guest mentioned being was there for the hockey game. “Oh, are you a big hockey fan, sir?” The guest allowed as he was, and even mentioned that he worked for the NHL. Matt was fascinated by this and said that he’d never even seen a game.
When Matt dropped off the guest’s luggage, he returned to the lobby and told his co-workers, “You’ll never believe what happened — that nice Mr. Gretzky gave me two tickets to the hockey match!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:11 AM on May 9, 2020 [11 favorites]
I used to work with a guy named Matt who had emigrated to Canada from the UK. When he first visited in the eighties, it was because his girlfriend was Canadian so he got a working holiday visa and spent a year with her in Toronto.
He arrived knowing essentially zero about Canada except that his girlfriend lived there and when he got his first job (in a reasonably high-end hotel) his workmates used to jest with him about his massive cultural blind spot.
Once he was tasked to help a guest checking in with his bags. As they stood in the elevator on the way up, Matt asked, “Can I ask what brings you to Toronto, sir?” The guest mentioned being was there for the hockey game. “Oh, are you a big hockey fan, sir?” The guest allowed as he was, and even mentioned that he worked for the NHL. Matt was fascinated by this and said that he’d never even seen a game.
When Matt dropped off the guest’s luggage, he returned to the lobby and told his co-workers, “You’ll never believe what happened — that nice Mr. Gretzky gave me two tickets to the hockey match!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:11 AM on May 9, 2020 [11 favorites]
What a great story about the greatest Beatle.
The writer, Alan Pell Crawford, used to recommend music to me. I remember he loaned me some Gil Scott-Heron. It's been almost 20 years since I worked with him at a now-defunct publishing company, but I've always remembered (though still haven't used) the advice he gave me: keep a blazer in your trunk, so if you're ever late getting into the office in the morning, you can put the blazer on and offer the excuse that you were at an interview.
posted by emelenjr at 7:12 AM on May 9, 2020 [5 favorites]
The writer, Alan Pell Crawford, used to recommend music to me. I remember he loaned me some Gil Scott-Heron. It's been almost 20 years since I worked with him at a now-defunct publishing company, but I've always remembered (though still haven't used) the advice he gave me: keep a blazer in your trunk, so if you're ever late getting into the office in the morning, you can put the blazer on and offer the excuse that you were at an interview.
posted by emelenjr at 7:12 AM on May 9, 2020 [5 favorites]
Huh. I lived in nearby St. Louis at the time, and heard this story on the radio. I could swear that The Beatles were already starting their road to fame at the time. But, then, I was ten, so that makes me...old enough to mistrust my memory.
posted by kozad at 8:56 AM on May 9, 2020
posted by kozad at 8:56 AM on May 9, 2020
keep a blazer in your trunk
Our high school math teacher advised us to always have a corkscrew in the glove compartment of our cars
posted by thelonius at 9:00 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
Our high school math teacher advised us to always have a corkscrew in the glove compartment of our cars
posted by thelonius at 9:00 AM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
The Four Vests
posted by Miko at 11:40 AM on May 9, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Miko at 11:40 AM on May 9, 2020 [4 favorites]
Thanks for this, I never knew George (the youngest) had a leg up on the other three - I though it was all their first trip to the US, a few months later.
posted by Rash at 12:55 PM on May 9, 2020
posted by Rash at 12:55 PM on May 9, 2020
“Mr. Harrison is from Liverpool, England,” Marilyn reported. "He likes smallish blondes, driving, television, sleeping, Chet Atkins, eggs and chips, Eartha Kitt and Alfred Hitchcock movies." (my emphasis)
Ha, lovely
posted by Monochrome at 12:57 PM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
Ha, lovely
posted by Monochrome at 12:57 PM on May 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
I saw Liverpool Legends (a Beatles tribute band that George's sister managed) in Branson MO, and Louise Harrison came out to answer questions at one point. People kept asking typical Beatle-related things like, "What did the Beatles do to psych themselves up before a show?" and so on and she kept answering, "I don't know." "I can't remember." "I couldn't tell you." I thought it was interesting that she probably got the same questions every night and hadn't even bothered to google the answers. Finally, a guy, who I now realize was probably a plant, stood up and asked in a heavy Hispanic accent, "In California we like to smoke the weed. But here in Missouri it is illegal. What do you think about that?" She then launched into a passionate speech about how Marijuana has grown in nature since time immemorial, has always been smoked by people, and how ridiculous it is that something so natural should be criminalized. The audience was several busloads of high-schoolers from St. Louis, rather than the usual barely-responsive octogenarians who usually attend Branson shows, so it was a lively and enjoyable night.
posted by jabah at 4:13 PM on May 9, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by jabah at 4:13 PM on May 9, 2020 [7 favorites]
This was a fun story, thanks ShooBoo.
I met Louise briefly at a Howard Dean rally in Iowa in 2004 (it was a surreal event. There was a fantastic local band playing that was a lot like early B-52s but with fezzes and I had no idea Beatle sibling endorsements were a thing). She seemed a sweet lady, very present and charming. Georgish.
posted by quarterframer at 6:41 PM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
I met Louise briefly at a Howard Dean rally in Iowa in 2004 (it was a surreal event. There was a fantastic local band playing that was a lot like early B-52s but with fezzes and I had no idea Beatle sibling endorsements were a thing). She seemed a sweet lady, very present and charming. Georgish.
posted by quarterframer at 6:41 PM on May 9, 2020 [3 favorites]
I've driven past this sign so many times and was very glad to read the story behind it.
posted by Miss T.Horn at 4:42 PM on May 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Miss T.Horn at 4:42 PM on May 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
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Of course, it was Uncle George, which caught her visitor off-guard.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:46 PM on May 8, 2020 [7 favorites]