RememberingGeorge2003

The second week in November saw me thinking of a way I could pay tribute to George Harrison on the second anniversary of his passing. Last year I had been fortunate enough to spend the evening in the company of many like-minded people at the Royal Albert Hall in the huge celebration of George’s life. This year was going to be more difficult. I wanted to leave flowers for George somewhere but the obvious place had been removed. Living in Liverpool it would normally have been simple to leave flowers at George’s feet on the Beatles statue in The Cavern Walks shopping centre, but that statue had now been removed. I didn’t want to place flowers at the statue of John in Mathew Street because it wouldn’t be obvious that the flowers were for George.

It was with this thought in mind that I asked my friend Stephen who manages the Beatles Shop on Mathew Street if I could lay a bunch of flowers at the feet of a life-size cut-out of George that stands in the shop. Stephen was happy for me to do this and I thought that would be it. Later the same day, I was sharing lunch with Anne-Marie - another friend who works in the Mathew Street Gallery and is also a huge George fan. I mentioned to her what had been agreed and she suggested that we should tell other people about the plan and therefore give them the chance to leave their own tributes for George in The Beatles shop.

I got busy on the internet posting a message on several George Harrison lists including of course the message board at George’s official website http://www.georgeharrison.com. I explained what I would be doing and added that if anyone wanted to send messages to Liverpool via me I would gladly collate them into a book and place that near the cut-out on the 29th November.

The messages started flowing in and I printed them all off and pasted them into a lovely book which I had covered with Indian silk for the occasion. On Friday the 28th of November I visited Stephen in the Beatles shop fully prepared to help him tidy the area around the George cut-out. When I arrived the work had already been done and George had been moved to a more prominent position in an alcove facing the entrance of the shop. I was extremely grateful as I had been working nights and at this point I had not slept for over twenty-four hours.

Stephen and Anne-Marie packed me off home to get some sleep and told me they would open the shop at 9.00am the following morning – this is earlier than normal and I was really touched that they were making the extra effort for the tribute.

Nothing could have prepared me for the next morning. It was raining and blowing a gale and it took me much longer to walk to the Beatles shop than usual because of the freezing wind blowing me in the opposite direction. I arrived at the shop to find Anne-Marie waiting in there and we hugged each other sensing that we were both hurting. Anne-Marie then said, ‘Do you like what we’ve done to him?’ I looked over toward the alcove where George was standing and I couldn’t believe the transformation that had taken place.

Hanging on the back wall of the alcove was a framed cinema poster for the Concert For George; the poster is part of Stephen’s personal memorabilia collection and it had been framed especially for the occasion. At George’s feet were hundreds of petals cut from red and yellow tissue paper. I found out later that Anne-Marie had spent over an hour cutting them all out and she was most apologetic that she had been unable to get orange tissue paper to add to the effect. For those that haven’t seen the Concert for George; at the end of the concert red, yellow, and orange tissue-paper petals were released to flutter down on the audience from the ceiling of the Albert Hall.

There was a wonderful aroma in the Beatles shop. I recognised it as Agrabhati incense and it was explained to me that to make absolutely sure that it was George’s favourite incense that was burning Stephen had taken it from his limited-edition copy of Raga Mala. Despite being offered other incense by Anne-Marie which we know to be Agrabhatti, Stephen had insisted that the fragrance had to be perfect and this was the only way to ensure that. The CD player was playing George music and would continue to do so for the entire day.

Having taken in the sight and having realised that my two friends had worked so hard to make this a special and dignified tribute, I broke down and Anne-Marie soon became the recipient of a very soggy shoulder. I managed to compose myself enough to place the flowers I had brought with me at George’s feet along with the book left for visitors to sign and add their tributes to George.

I had also bought George some jelly babies, which were emptied into a pot and placed by the cut-out. The jelly babies were handed out to various visitors to the shop during the day and George was happy to share.

I continued to add tributes to the book which were received via e-mail during the day, and many casual visitors to the shop also took the opportunity of adding their own tributes to the book. More flowers arrived during the day and a candle was lit. It was a very small tea-light in a very high-sided glass to ensure that there was no fire risk.

I have to say that Stephen and Anne-Marie had done George proud and it was all done out of love. The tribute was delibratly not advertised in the local newspapers because those of us involved did not want to be seen to be exploiting George to get more customers into the shop. The visitors that day were either fans that normally headed there when they arrived in Liverpool, or locals looking to buy Christmas presents for Beatles fans that they know.

One comment in particular sticks in my mind. I was busily taking photographs to accompany this article when I was approached by two ladies in their mid to late fifties. They asked what the significance of the petals was and I explained about the Concert for George. They told me that they had both been regulars at the Cavern and that they thought the tribute was beautiful. Both ladies added that it was obvious that it had been done with love and that it was so much more special because it had been organised by the fans rather than a large organised City Council event. Their parting comment was, ‘You have all done him proud and we’re sure that he would love this and is smiling down on you all today.’

I’d like to think so, and I know that despite the awful weather all the love I felt for George helped to keep me warm. I’d like to thank all those who made it possible - Stephen, Anne-Marie, and everyone else who sent messages and flowers. Thank you all for helping me celebrate George’s life in such a loving and dignified way.

Article and photographs