George Harrison’s mother tells of ‘disgust’ at screaming Beatles fans in letter to Liverpool teenager
The mother of the Beatles’ George Harrison said she was “really ashamed to be female” after she watched screaming fans at one of the band’s concerts.
Louise Harrison told teenager Janet Gray about her disgust at ‘Beatlemania’ scenes at a gig in Manchester in November 1963.
Ms Gray sent a series of fan letters to the Harrison family home in Woolton, Liverpool, on a weekly basis from 1963-1966.
In a series of 25 letters, recently put up for sale, Mrs Harrison regularly responded to Ms Gray, taking a keen interest in her personal life, as well as sharing the exploits of her son as his fame skyrocketed.
The teenager was one out of thousands of fans around the world, who Mrs Harrison wrote and replied to.
Manchester fans
“Last Wednesday I went to Manchester and I was really disgusted at the way the so-called fans just screamed right through the whole of the Beatles act,” Mrs Harrison wrote in 1963.
“Nobody with any sense would pay and queue for a ticket just to stand on a seat and scream and not hear one sound from the stage. I was really ashamed I was a female.”
Addressing the teenager’s quarrels with her mother, Mrs Harrison wrote: “I do hope my writing to you is not the cause of any trouble at home. For if so, I will definitely not write any more.
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“Now Janet I hope you will try and remember that your mum is your best friend, even if you don’t see eye to eye on some issues. Thank God I get on fine with all my 4 children and they with each other.
“Anyhow I shall pray that everything will be just fine for you in the very near future. Lots of love, Louise Harrison.
“PS I have about 90 letters not opened yet and hundreds opened awaiting replys (sic).”
In another letter, dated July 1964, Mrs Harrison appears to mention a minor road accident that the Beatle was involved in after crashing his E-Type Jaguar in Fulham, London.
“George was home for two days, or rather nights – out all day rehearsing at Blackpool. George was not hurt, thank God, in a crash,” she wrote.
(L-R) Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Pic:AP
A few months later in September, Mrs Harrison said she had “3,000 letters to answer at least,” describing her son as “very thin but okay”.
Nearly two years later, in August 1966, Mrs Harrison wrote: “Dear Janet, I have just been away on holiday touring around France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and now I am back to about 500 letters and so I am afraid this will have to be rather short.
“I am hoping the boys will have a successful tour of America despite all the rumours we have heard.”
The pair’s letters will be among items listed at the Liverpool Beatles Memorabilia Auction which is taking place on Saturday 26 August.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
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“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
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In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
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