Why did George Harrison walk out during Let it Be?

This I remember exactly, and it was in my mind as I wrote my previous post.

 

I think (correct me if I'm wrong, experts) that John got into it with Bob Wooler, DJ at the Cavern over this. I can't recall if John actually hit Wooler.

 

I thought it was because Paul was telling him how to play a certain part of a song.

 

I have a buddy who was so fixated and obsessive about everything John & Yoko that I had to ration my eye contact when he spoke of them in order to escape. He suggested that John literally beat somebody up. But then he was an obsessive fan that may have strategically embraced sources that wrote what he wanted to believe. I imagine this is a common obstacle for all things Beatle.

 

strange seeing this topic up a day after i chose "Let it Be" as part of my signature...

 

John remarked, I think. in the Lennon Remembers interviews that he should have hit George for the way he talked about Yoko and treated her.
But he was a pacifist y'know.

 

I think the reality was that, as the youngest member of the group, Harrison was somewhat insecure from the very beginning, particularly in incidents like being deported from Hamburg due to his age, early on. But as the years went on, Harrison quickly became a world-class guitarist, and I think by January of 1969, George felt he had earned the right to be regarded as an equal in the group.

It's a matter of record that George felt a lot of McCartney's comments to him over the years during recording sessions were condescending and patronizing. The account on Wikipedia of Harrison's walk-out are pretty close to every published report I've read:

McCartney tried to organise and encourage his bandmates, but his attempts to hold the band together and rally spirits were seen by the others as controlling and patronising. Matters came to a head on 6 January, when Harrison had a heated argument with McCartney during a rehearsal of "Two of Us", which later became one of the most famous sequences in the Let It Be film. What is not shown in the film is another, allegedly much more severe argument Harrison had with Lennon on 10 January. Harrison had become fed up with Lennon's creative and communicative disengagement from the band and the two had a blazing row. According to journalist Michael Housego of The Daily Sketch, this descended into violence with Harrison and Lennon allegedly throwing punches at each other, though in a 16 January interview for the Daily Express, Harrison said, "There was no punch-up. We just fell out." After lunch, Harrison announced that he was "leaving the band now" and told the others "see you round the clubs". He promptly walked out, getting in his car and instead of returning home to his wife Pattie at his Esher home Kinfauns, he drove straight to his parents' home in Speke, Liverpool.

The famous line "I'll play whatever you want, or I won't play it at all, if it pleases you" (paraphrasing), gets the point across pretty well. I was just a kid when I first saw the film in the summer of 1970, but even I thought, "man, this guy is really p!ssed-off."

What I'm curious about is the exact time-table of when George walked out. Was it after that exchange with McCartney, or was it a few days later? I'm more inclined to say that it was a long-simmering animosity with McCartney over being told what to play and how to play it. And I think over the years, McCartney regrets it quite a bit -- and that's the reason why Let It Be still isn't out (legitimately) on DVD.

 

That was Bob Wooler, the DJ at the Cavern.

 

Per Sulpy, the "I'll play whatever you want" exchange took place on January 6; Harrison's walk-out was on the 10th.

 

No doubt, that Lennon's ego was hard to handle at times.

 

He said it in a press conference announcing his '74 solo tour. Full quote is here. This would be a few years after the Bangladesh incident. John & George also played together at least once after '71, when they recorded "I'm The Greatest" with Ringo.

 

I think the mentor thing with John & George had more to do with songwriting/life experiences than guitar playing.

 

He hit him repeatedly, Wooler sued, and it was settled out of court.
Wooler had been teasing John at Paul's birthday party about John's trip to Spain with Brian Epstein, fishing for details.

 

Dude, I love the way you word things. It's so perfect that it's funny.

 

A pacifist that liked to take leaks on nuns and knock his ex-wife around

 

I don't know if Wooler actually sued, I think Epstein paid him off (200 pounds) before it reached that stage
http://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/06/18/paul-mccartneys-21st-birthday-party/
http://www.beatlesbible.com/1963/06...ult-of-bob-wooler-reaches-the-national-press/

 

Yeah, sometimes I have no idea who I am. It's like the words take over. That's a good thing because I'm setting on a bench somewhere waiting to evaporate.

 

You really need to read the entire Doug Sulpy Book to get what they were finding in the Nagra reels, which is where they got most of their info. George was concerned about the quality of John contributions to his songs. It somehow makes sense, since none of George's songs were performed on the rooftop concert. They could have done I me mine, and maybe For You Blue, but they didn't.

 

Pacifism crudely overcompensates for a Napolean complex. I would have drawn blood repeatedly. Not that this would be an acceptable (rational) course of action. I simply remember my mindset as a young man.

 

I think something happened in India. Things were never the same after that. As bad as things were during the "Let It Be" sessions, what I've read about the "White Album" sessions is just as bad. That's when Ringo quit for a time. Even Geoff Emerick resigned as engineer for the sessions because he just couldn't take the tension. They came back from India hating each other. "Let It Be" was just a continuation of what was already a very ugly situation.

 

Strange review, as anyone who knows anything about Doug knows that not only is he fair in his assessments in regards to The Fabs, but also that in no way could he ever be mistaken for a member of the RAM army.

 

Uh...., he did what now?

 

Maybe they planned to do For You Blue (John's slide guitar can be seen set up on the rooftop from photos) but the police bumbled in and stopped the show before they could?

 

I've always thought that the Germany era of the Beatles would eclipse my interest in any of their money days.

 

When listening to the unreleased Nagra tapes George is actually quite positive about the project to begin with.
Paul sounds as if he's trying to get the best out of it and making things work.
John, however, hardly speaks and contributes only a little.
He also complains that he wants to write a rocker but is too tired.
In fact, after the White Album sessions he was dried out and his drug abuse made it impossible for him to write ANYTHING during the Get back sessions (Both 'Don't Let Me Down' and 'Dig A Pony' are from late 1968).
Again, when listening to the tapes one can hear that George comes up with a new song of high quality almost every day but is more or less ignored by the others.
When he comes up with 'I Me Mine' John is heard denigrating him and ridicules his song.
To boil it down, John sounds like a complete a##hole to George.
It is therefore no wonder if George finally had enough on 10 january and over lunch had an argument with John - being fed up with all his crap, his drug abuse, his lack of contribution, and his girlfriend with an overdimensioned ego.
They may have had a few drinks too which probably would not have made things less complicated.
In any case, it is obvious that after George has left Paul, John and Ringo have a pretty drunken session with Yoko on vocals so if they weren't drunk before George left they surely are after.