New Louise Article

I wasn't going to post this at first because Louise seems to be a rather polarizing topic, but there are some quotes and some assertions in here that I'd never heard before, so I thought you might be interested. That's all I've got...

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/se...y.asp?id=23463

All you need is love and peace
Illinoisan Louise Harrison, sister of the late George Harrison, manages Beatles tribute band

By Jamie Greco
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Thursday, March 24, 2005

In 1963, while the alarm clock was still ticking on the arrival of Beatlemania in the U.S.A., George Harrison, lead guitarist for the band, arrived in downstate Benton, Ill., for a visit with his sister, Louise.

The family celebrated a child’s birthday, went camping in the Shawnee Forest and enjoyed each other’s company in the relaxed atmosphere of a small town.

The next time he would arrive in the United States, it would be at the newly christened John F Kennedy Airport in New York City in the company of three young men with the eyes of the world upon them.

On Feb. 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared on TV’s “The Ed Sullivan Show” with Louise Harrison in attendance.

Manager Brian Epstein had orchestrated the band’s triumphant entry into American pop culture, but behind the scenes in small-town Illinois, Louise Harrison was doing more than her share for her little brother.

“In 1963, my mum had sent me some of the first singles and then their first album,” Harrison recalls. “Being a loving big sister, I went out to all of the radio stations in the area within a 100-mile radius.”

She was met with less than an enthusiastic response.

“They were looking at me as that poor, silly woman that trying to get her kid brother’s band somewhere, and they’re really no good and never going to get anywhere. My feeling was, ‘this poor lot, they’re going to miss the boat if they’re not careful.’”

Undeterred, Harrison began to research the music business. Every week she purchased show business-industry magazines — Cashbox and Variety — a costly venture in those days.

“I was writing long letters to Brian (Epstein). In every letter I said to him, ‘You’ve got to get them on “The Ed Sullivan Show,”’” Harrison said.

When it finally happened, her brother’s fame wasn’t a large adjustment to Harrison.

“It felt very natural. It always seemed like that’s the way it should be,” Harrison remembered.

Rumors followed fame and Harrison found herself cast in new roles: as liaison between the Beatles and their fans — and in that capacity, radio personality.

It began with a trip to the British ambassador’s home in Washington, D.C., where the Beatles were invited to a party with Louise in attendance.

“While they were there, some teenager came up behind Ringo and cut his hair,” Harrison recalled.

The story became muddled in the telling, and soon it was reported that the British ambassador’s wife had wrestled Ringo to the ground to snip off a lock of his hair.

Harrison was appalled at the story.

“I was incensed at the dishonor it was doing to the ambassador’s wife. So I called the big radio station in St. Louis and said, ‘This is not what happened.’”

As a result, the story was corrected and Harrison was offered a job at the station doing a Beatles report.

“It turned out I had quite a flair for writing, and also for (broadcasting.)”

She ended up being broadcast on 19 stations, each becoming the No. 1 station in its market.

More importantly, her interaction with the fans became a part of her life that she treasures to this day.

“It’s a very, very great responsibility and it’s also a very, very great privilege, to have been born into the position I’m in. Because of the love and because of all those wrong stories that were getting out,” she said.

“Stories which were discrediting the Beatles and making them look like a bunch of jerks — I had to put that right.”

“I was trying to protect the young teenagers from the way the media was twisting the story.”

Harrison’s parents began answering letters from fans and signing those letters, “Love from Mum and Dad Harrison.”

“To me, they started a global family of ‘Beatle People,’” Harrison said. “I never use the word ‘fan.’ The Beatle family felt that they belonged to a family, and through the Beatles they were connected to each other.”

Years later, soon after her brother had passed away, Harrison was at a nostalgia-based gathering in Chicago. Another phase in her life was about to begin.

She was standing in the back of the hall, next to a man videotaping American English, a popular Beatles tribute band. The camera transmitted Marty Scott in his role as George Harrison to where she stood.

“Quite unbidden, the tears just rolled down my face. I’m not a wimpy kind of a person. I hadn’t really cried about my brother being gone, because my feeling is he wanted to be with his sweet Lord.

“But seeing Marty, it reminded me so much of how George sounded and how he stood and how he looked on stage, it just brought those tears to my eyes.”

Harrison was so moved, she began a brother-sister relationship with Scott. She admired his musical talent, but there was something more.

“He had within him many of the kind, loving and funny traits that my brother had. It was as though my brother kind of pointed him out to me.”

Harrison said she and Scott became as close as she had felt to her “original brother.”

“We can talk to each other just the same way George and I did, on every subject,” she said.

And so, when Scott’s band disintegrated, Harrison was one of the first people he called. Harrison offered her assistance in any form it might take.

It came into her mind that she might be able to use her contacts in the world of Beatle People to manage a new band with Scott and long-time friend Kevin Mantegna, who portrays John Lennon.

“I thought I might be able to help, even though I know nothing about it, other than the advice I had given to Brian (Epstein) all those years ago.”

She began by incorporating and calling on a former associate, Michelle Dwoskin, to join her in her new path as band manager for Passed Masters, Scott and Mantegna’s acoustic Beatles tribute.

Liverpool Legends was then formed, and includes Davey Justice as Paul; Joe Bologna as Ringo; and Bob Dobro filling out the keyboards and percussion in a full-blown Beatles experience.

The band will perform Friday night at the Clearwater Theater in West Dundee.

“I’m not going to do anything half-hearted,” she said. “If I’m going to attempt to be a manager I will do it properly, professionally and with all the bells and whistles.”

She had important criteria for the band.

“Let’s form a band that George would have loved to be part of.”

“We’d like this band to be quite unique from the other 500 Beatles bands out there. We’re going to make our repertoire very, very extensive.

“That’s something George used to complain about. He’d say, ‘On these tours we’d only get to play our number one hits. It gets to be so boring.’”

So, Harrison carries on in her new role as band manager, once again helping to keep the Beatles’ message of love and peace at the forefront of the public’s imagination.

“We’re making sure that George’s attitude gets satisfied by playing scads of different things. It will be the kind of thing that George will enjoy.”

“The whole thing from my point of view,” she said. “… is to please George.”

It is such a treasure that George got to spend that 'quiet time' with his sister before the Beatlemania started...that must have been a nice trip.

Originally Posted by Rellevart

“Let’s form a band that George would have loved to be part of.”

I'm glad to hear her say that

So am I.

Thank you for the link and the article, Rell. I love George stories and articles like this because they provide people with a glimpse into the times and George's trip that we might not otherwise have. Stories like this (as do the majority of George stories) underscore the point of just how well loved the youngest Beatle really was.

Regardless of what people think of Lou, several months ago Hari's Chick said it beautifully. She said that the same maternal eyes that gazed lovingly at George were turned to Lou and their other brothers as well; she described the beautiful sacred bond she felt to Lou. I found that lovely and moving.

Although I don't know Lou personally, I will say that I have no doubt that Lou loves her youngest brother and is now, in more recent years finding ways to share George with the world at large who love him still.

In thinking more about this, George from all accounts was a man who shared alot. While yeah, the man did cherish his privacy and understandably so, he also shared his beliefs and interests with the world at large. He has been instrumental (no pun intended) in helping countless people recognize the spiritual component in their own lives and helped people find the road that takes them there.

I love the article!

Thanks, Rell! So that's what Lou is up to these days!

Originally Posted by Hari's Chick

Thanks, Rell! So that's what Lou is up to these days!

Oh, I could tell you stories...but I think I'm in enough trouble right now.

Ain't no trouble with us. I wish you would tell stories -- I find Lou interesting. I have no issue with whether or not people like her - I just enjoy learning more about the youngest Beatle's only sister.

Well, if you want to hear the latest, here's a post by her on that band's guestbook (bottom of the page): http://pub25.bravenet.com/guestbook/2070984992/

So she now had extensive conversations with George during his lifetime about concerts and touring? Hunh. Who knew?

Thanks, Rell!

Yeah, thanks!

I think we can guess who Lou's favorite Beatle is.

thanks Rell, interesting read.

You're welcome. There's quite the glut of Louise info around here these days what with her pushing this band so hard. Everything that's going on with all that is rather incomprehensible to me, but I gave up trying to figure people out a long time ago.

Wow, I knew she was behind the Liverpool Legends group, but I didnt know she helped form it! That's cool to know. I'm gonna miss Davey not being with the group he was in before, but I'd defintely be interested to see these guys in person! I've been hearing a lot in tribute band circles...

From the Blast From the Past thread:

[ QUOTE ]
Hari's Chick Posted:
Also, Lou shared George's Mom and Dad. The same maternal eyes fixed on young Louise with adoration that later looked down upon our George.

[/ QUOTE ]

by beatlebangs1964:
That is a beautiful way of looking at this, Hari's Chick. I think Louise the Younger adored her brother and I love the story about how she saw George when he was hours old. Seriously, the book she co-authored Before He Was Fab is one of my favorite books and it really makes me feel good.

bu beatlebangs1964:
In thinking more about this, George also had an expansive heart. One reason (and I know I've said this before) that I love George stories so much is because George was well loved from the outset. To say that makes me feel intensely good would be a vast understatement.

While I cannot speak for Lou or her motives, I do respect the fact that she deeply loved her brother and is a tireless advocate for environmental causes. George also had a deep reverence for life (as demonstrated in his fondness for gardening) and this, too was reflected in his music and the beliefs he shared.

Good points all and I like the way this has prompted some good thoughts and equally good discourse.

Somehow this seemed apropos.

And another Louise article....all I have to say to the writer is "Honey, please, if you fancy yourself an intellectual and a writer, please learn what the word "IRONY" means before you use it. Sheesh...

http://www.tribstar.com/articles/200.../bennett01.txt

Very interesting. There's more to this than meets the eye.

Liverpool Legends proof of Beatles' lasting impact

Mark Bennett
Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Indiana

May 05, 2005

http://www.tribstar.com/articles/200...ories/top04.tx
t

Minutes after hanging up the phone with Louise Harrison on Tuesday
morning, I walked into a coffee shop and heard The Beatles' "Two of
Us" jangling over a stereo in the background.

Back when I was on the Indiana State University basketball beat and
I would mention such a confluence of unintended events in a postgame
press conference, Sycamore Coach Royce Waltman enjoyed spotting my
efforts to make sense of the obvious by saying, "That, Mark, is
called irony."

But that moment Tuesday may have been more than ironic. Yes, Louise
is the big sister of late Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison.
And we did spend much of our half-hour talking about the music and
lasting influence of that quartet she fondly calls "my kid brother's
band." As she put it, the world still has "a deep connection to
them." And then moments later, I swung that coffee shop door open
only to hear Lennon and McCartney singing, "You and I have memories
longer than the road that stretches out ahead."

In most situations, you'd have to call that irony. But with The
Beatles, it's just validation that they remain inescapable.

Millions of fans share memories stretching four decades long. That
bond will bring Louise to the Wabash Valley for a three-day stay
next week. She'll speak about a variety of topics in a gathering at
7 p.m. Thursday, May 12 in the Zwermann Performing Arts Center on
the Lincoln Trail College campus at Robinson, Ill. Two nights later,
Louise will be in the audience in the Robinson Bowling Center,
watching the band she now manages - the Liverpool Legends, a Beatles
tribute act - play an 8 o'clock show on Saturday, May 14.

At age 73, she happily wears the title of "Mum to the Family of
Beatle People." And she's been their American ambassador ever since
she moved from Liverpool to Benton, Ill., shortly before John, Paul,
George and Ringo invaded the United States in 1964. (Actually,
George visited her there in 1963, before the rest of the band hit
U.S. soil, and her old house where he once slept is now a historic
landmark and a bed-and-breakfast.) It was Louise who wrote letters
to their manager, Brian Epstein, trying to explain to him that
getting on "The Ed Sullivan Show" was a big deal. Once Beatlemania
exploded, she did Beatles updates on radio stations around the
country in advance of their tour stops. And she answered a flood of
fan mail for George, just as her parents did back in England.

The Beatles disbanded in 1970. Lennon was shot to death in 1980. And
George died of cancer at age 58 in 2001. But the passing of time
hasn't erased the fascination. For example, Louisville, Ky., will
host a Beatles festival "Abbey Road on the River" on May 27-29.

Louise made a spur-of-the-moment appearance in Sullivan, Ill., on
Feb. 25 - George's birthday - and nearly 60 young kids showed
up. "That was very gratifying," she says.

Their unforgettable music and especially their message of peace,
love and kindness plays well in all generations everywhere, Louise
thinks.

"That's the thing that's surprising, even the young people at the
schools - those that were lucky enough to have Beatle people for
parents - are very attuned and keen to that," she says.



In a way, the success of her Liverpool Legends is evidence.

She spotted two of the group's members while they were performing
with another Beatles tribute band in the historic Pickwick Theatre
at Park Ridge, Ill., a few months after her brother died. And a song
by Marty Scott (the George character) moved her to tears.
Eventually, Scott and rhythm guitarist Kevin Mantegna (John) formed
Liverpool Legends with Davey Justice (Paul) on lefty bass and Joe
Bologna (Ringo) on drums, and with Louise as their manager.

"I'd already become the big sister to the George in this band,
Marty, after my brother died, because he has a lot of his
characteristics - very kind and compassionate," she says. "And we
have a great time."

She even took Marty to meet the real McCartney. And, apparently, Sir
Paul learned something from their conversation.

"Paul was saying, 'We've written so much music, it isn't easy to
remember all the words,'" Louise recalls. "And our George
said, 'When we forget, we just lip-read the people in the front
row.' And Paul said, 'That's a good idea.'"



As for their playing and their look, Louise says the Liverpool
Legends - one of nearly 500 Beatles tribute acts worldwide - "are so
very, very good." In fact, samples of their performances on the
band's Web site www.liverpoollegends.com had engineers joking the
playing was so similar "it sounds as though we've taken snippets off
the original Beatles," Louise says.

Regenerating those tunes, lyrics and inspirations is worthwhile, she
says, adding, "They had more of an impact than lads just playing
guitar."

Louise still gets letters from people around the globe who say they
learned to speak English by listening to Beatles records. Such tales
offset bizarre memories of fans mobbing her own son and daughter,
and dropping in at the family's house in Benton at the height of
Beatlemania.

These guys made "happy music," as she calls it, but also became
spokesmen for peace and understanding.

"That still has an appeal now," Louise says. "That's the basic human
kindness we all have when we're born, but it's sort of beaten out of
us as we grow older. And what The Beatles were saying was, 'Let's
bottle some of this.'"

George embraced that concept in a religious way, and his big sister
embraced a similar, spiritualism of self-realization, too.

"It says the life force that is within you is a drop of God and that
we're all connected," Louise explains. "And if more people
understood that, we wouldn't be bashing each other over the head and
blowing each other up. We'd be treating people with kindness."

What a nice article, Paulrus. It just proves yet again how well loved George was. Kinda warms the

Originally Posted by beatlebangs1964

There's more to this than meets the eye.

That's putting it mildly.