George Harrison reading what looks like a magazine at Gaumont Cinema, Southampton, England. (Nov. 19
George Harrison reading what looks like a magazine at Gaumont Cinema, Southampton, England. (Nov. 1964)“I think one of the greatest joys I experienced as a result of working for Apple and the Beatles may appear to be the most insignificant. It is somewhat of a personalized version of a steadfast trait I found so attractive about them as a group. It was their loyalty to old friends, being true to their background, and having a sense of who they really were and not what they had become in the world’s eyes. I, too, have some old friends, and when I see them, they help me keep on track by reminding me who I really am through our memories.During George [Harrison]’s extended visit to LA, he found himself in Hollywood with an hour or so to kill before he was scheduled to go into the studio. He didn’t really have time to go back to where he was staying and he had just come from a luncheon, so he didn’t really feel like going to get something to eat to kill time. Instead he just decided to drop by the Capitol Tower and hide out in my office. It was safe there because of the downstairs entrance security and the protective attitude of the secretaries stationed outside our doors. My office was large, so I could continue on with my calls and work schedule while he just hung out in an easy chair in the corner at the other end of the room, reading Billboard magazine and making phone calls.After about thirty minutes, I totally forgot about him being in the office. He had become quietly and totally absorbed in his reading, and as usual I was doing eighty things at once while playing my favorite sport – ‘catch up ball.’ The quiet and ‘game’ were interrupted when my secretary buzzed me from outside. She said a Mr. Bing Drastrup was in the lobby, and the receptionist wanted to know if it was OK to let him come to the eighth floor executive offices. I said, ‘Yes of course, send him right up.’[…] Bing Drastrup was a member of the Town Criers and a good friend and someone I hadn’t seen or heard from in a long time. I was so excited that he was in the lobby that without thinking I told them to send him up. A few minutes later my secretary brought him into the office, and it was great to see each other. Our mini-reunion consisted of the usual – hugs, ‘How are yous?’ ‘Gee, you looks greats,’ ‘How’s such and such?’ and other pleasantries. All of a sudden Bing stopped in the middle of our exchange and froze. His eyes got big, his mouth was hanging open, and he was staring over my shoulder. I turned and remembered George sitting in the corner reading his magazine. He smiled, nodded ‘Hi’ to Bing, and went back to reading. I honestly think that neither George nor I thought anything about it at first or realized how stunned my old friend must have been to walk into a room where a Beatle was casually relaxing in an easy chair in the corner. I introduced them, explained to George the relationship, and then typically, the stance George took during the remainder of our brief three-way chat was that if Bing was my friend, then he was George’s friend, too. After about fifteen minutes we all had somewhere to go and walked out together.I wish Bing could have seen the look on his face when he recognized the face he had just seen.”- Ken Mansfield (former US manager of Apple Records), “Hollywood, California (Nov. 1968)”, The White Book -- source link
#john lennon#paul mccartney#george harrison#ringo starr#the beatles#ken mansfield