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Harrison’s sister spices George Harrison loved Hawaii for its natural beauty, spiritual essence and the privacy it afforded the legendary Beatle.
up ‘Beatlemania’
She'll reminisce a bit before the
re-creation of a Fab Four concertBy Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com"His Maui house (near Hana) was the place he escaped to for solace, to garden, to get back in touch with what life is truly about," says Louise Harrison, 70, George's sister.
George Harrison died last year of cancer at age 58. Now Louise, who lives alone on 18 rural acres in southern Illinois, will visit Hawaii for the first time to talk story about her brother and the other Beatles, and introduce "Beatlemania Live" at World Cafe tomorrow night.
"I'm a virgin to Hawaii and don't know what to expect except the warmth and aloha spirit George talked about," she said.
"Beatlemania Live" is a multimedia production, including Broadway-style lights and sound, projected images, full orchestration and billowing fog. Presented in two hours will be 35 songs from four Beatles eras: "Ed Sullivan," "New York's Shea Stadium," "Sgt. Pepper" and "Abbey Road," accompanied by costume changes for each segment.
The musicians representing George, John, Paul and Ringo use the original model of guitars and drums the group used to re-create the excitement of a Beatles concert.
Prior to the concert, Harrison will talk about the Fab Four and answer questions about the pop princes.
Harrison was 30 years old, married and already living in Illinois when the Beatles began making a mark in England.
Featuring Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison Beatlemania Live!
Where: World Cafe,1130 N. Nimitz Highway
When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow; doors open 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $27.50 advance purchase, $30 at the door
Call: 585-2877
"I started running around to radio stations to try to get them to play their songs, but these deejays would say the music wasn't commercial enough," she said. "'They've got absolutely no appeal; they'll go nowhere,' is the message I got."
One deejay did get the message. A West Frankfort, Ill., deejay played "From Me to You" and "Love Me Do," the first Beatle songs played in the United States.
The group's popularity overseas kept climbing, so George -- shaggy 'do and all -- and his brother took a secret respite from the business for a few weeks to visit their big sister in Benton, Ill.
"George was the first Beatle to set foot on American soil (September 1963)," Harrison said.
The home, under a different owner, would be saved from becoming a parking lot and transformed into the Hard Day's Nite B&B. A small museum of Beatle artifacts is housed there in the room where the Beatles once stayed.
Louise accompanied the foursome to several concerts, although the first time she met the other three members was just before their momentous "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance.
For the next 18 months, Harrison did daily 60-second "Beatle Bulletins" for 20 of the most prominent radio stations in the United States: "Today, the Beatles went water skiing"; "Tonight the Beatles ate pizza," she said, laughing.
Harrison makes the "Beatlemania Live" appearances -- this is her third -- because she considers herself "the unofficial mum of the Beatles' global family."
"I let the audience know I'm the mum and we should spread love around the world," she said, adding that George spent his life questioning why he and the group were chosen by "some higher order" to be the messengers they became.
"He was always searching, looking for answers of why we're here, always digging beneath the surface because he knew the solution wasn't easy to discover," she said.
Harrison was uncomfortable with the lack of privacy fame created, especially in his later years, but never regretted his calling, Louise said.
The musician's "natural trusting nature" led people to take advantage of him.
"He met a lot of charlatans who took him for a ride, so, sadly, he became suspicious of people later in life," Louise said.
Sis and brother didn't talk much in the last few years, until two weeks before his death when she visited him in New York City.
"We ... shared a few old family jokes and looked into each other's eyes with love," she said. "I think he knew he was going to die from the disease, but not that fast."
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