George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Billy Preston, Bar One, 9 October 1990; photo by The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images.
“Nancy and I met George in 1990, at an L.A. dinner party. […] George was perfectly friendly throughout the dinner — in fact, he brought along a tape of the still-unreleased second Traveling Wilburys album, which he eagerly played for all of us on the Donners’ stereo like a proud teen showing off his garage band. I found that sweet. But Nan and I maintained a cordial distance from him, fearful that the word ‘Beatle’ would come out of our mouths in an involuntary, Tourette’s-like outburst. After dinner, we all retired to the Donners’ screening room, where Dick had arranged for us to view an advance reel of The Hunt for Red October. I ended up sitting right next to George on the couch, with Nancy on my other side. Dick Donner, an outgoing, no-B.S. guy with a thick thatch of white hair, announced, ‘Does anyone mind if I smoke a doobie?’ […] I gently nudged George, who was engrossed in the movie, and offered him the spliff. He looked at it, smiled, and in his best documentary-narrator’s voice said, ‘Ah, the sixties!’ He happily accepted the funny cigarette and took several drags on it […] [and] became totally amped, very gregarious and chatty, talking right over the movie.[…] ‘Guys,’ [Lauren Shuler Donner] whispered, ‘shhhhh!’ George and I both went quiet like reprimanded kids in the fourth grade. After a moment, I turned to him and whispered, ‘Way to go, asshole!’ The two of us burst out laughing, eliciting, now from the entire group, a new round of shushing. […] Just a few months after his death, I was in Bungalow 8, a New York club that Paul Shaffer had dragged me to, when I noticed a skinny fellow who was the spitting image of George, only young George, coming right toward me. Before I could say anything, this young man embraced me in a tender hug. And then pulled back to explain himself. ‘I’m Dhani Harrison,’ he said. ‘One of the last things my father told me was that if I ever come across people who were important to him, I should give them a hug.’” - Martin Short, I Must Say: My Life As A Humble Comedy Legend(x)
On December 13, 1974, keyboardist Billy Preston, sitarist Ravi Shankar, saxophonist Tommy Scott, manager Denis O’ Brien, publicity agent Michael Sterling, and George Harrison’s father, Harry, all accompanied the former Beatle to the Ford White House. Harrison and company were in the midst of their 1974 North American tour and were performing in nearby Landover, Maryland, on December 13.
Jack Ford said he invited George and friends to the White House because he had been invited backstage at the Salt Lake City show. "They were so hospitable to me I wanted to return the favor,“ he said.
A lunch of vegetables and beef was served in the solarium while George’s Dark Horse album was played in the background. It was reported George stuck to the vegetables.
Jack and his sister Susan acted as tour guides as the entourage viewed the White House rooms. In the East Room, Harrison and Preston sampled a few bars on the 1938 Steinway piano situated in the historic room. President Ford met briefly with them for about 15 minutes in the Oval Office. Politics was apparently avoided that day. After the meeting, Harrison stated, “I didn’t ask him [Ford] about Bangladesh or anything else political … I didn’t want to bug him.” Tom Scott recalled they were brought to a conference room outside the Oval Office to wait until the President became available. "We walked into the presidents’ conference room with the oval table and the chair and signs saying, ‘Secretary of Defense,’ 'Secretary of this and that’ and we sat down in the chairs, clowning around.” Scott went on to say that George and Billy did some jamming on a piano in the room, but then it was time to meet the President.
As Harrison’s entourage was leaving the office, Jack told his father, “I promised George a WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button.” When one could not be immediately found, the president sent appointments secretary Terry O’ Donnell to find one. In return for the WIN button, Harrison gave the president an “Om” mantra pin representative of Harrison’s interest in Eastern spirituality.
Harrison would remember Ford as quite amiable both in the immediate aftermath of the visit as well as in his 1980 autobiographical work, I Me, Mine. Harrison confessed that he felt “good vibes about the White House.” On whether the president was a follower of Harrison’s musical output, Harrison admitted shortly after the meeting, “I don’t think he’s too familiar with my music.” Later that evening at the Capital Centre, Harrison was seen onstage wearing the pin given to him by President Ford.
John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band with the Elephant’s Memory Some Time in New York City 1972 Apple ————————————————— Tracks Disc One: 01. Woman Is the Nigger of the World 02. Sisters, O Sisters 03. Attica State 04. Born in a Prison 05. New York City 06. Sunday Bloody Sunday 07. The Luck of the Irish 08. John Sinclair 09. Angela 10. We’re All Water
Tracks Disc Two: Live Jam 01.Cold Turkey 02. Don’t Worry Kyoko 03. Jamrag 04. Scumbag 05. Aü —————————————————
