And here he tells you all about it in his own words
The things that happened to us in England were all so exciting and I’ll be telling you about them soon, but the thing that knocked me out more than anything was meeting the Beatles. Following our concerts in England, we had a huge party in this club called the “Speakeasy.”
The way it happened was—our office called the Beatles’ office and said “our boys are having a party and we’d like to know if your boys would like to come,” And their boys came. I walked in and Paul was already there and he knew me without being introduced and that was a thrill! I shook hands with Paul; and Jane Asher was with him and I met a fellow named Barry.
Indian chant Permalink
I never found out his last name, he just hangs around with the Beatles and sometimes he’s like a light-man and he does colors. He helps design shirts and he’s an artist in the same outfit that designed the Hollies’ album cover. They help design psychedelic stage shows.
A little after I met Paul, John and George came barreling in! They were wailing and screaming at the top of their lungs “Harekrishna.” Harekrishna is an Indian chant. It goes, “Harekrishna, harekrishna, krishna, krishna, hare, hare, hare roma, hare roma, roma, roma, roma, hare, hare… harekrishna roma.” George was playing a little banjo ukulele and it was painted really colorfully. They were all wearing their fab, neato, jet, gear… all very groovy.
Pounding tables Permalink
So we were at at the “Speakeasy” and there were records playing and a live group too. We didn’t talk much, we mostly pounded the tables in time with the music and had a ball!
Lots of interesting things happened at the party. Paul went to leave the room, but there was no other way out, so he started to walk across the table and John said that Paul had no respect jokingly and Paul nodded. It was really funny, I thought I’d relate that to all the Beatle fans.
While the rest of us were banging tables, Paul picked up two ash trays and was shuffling them together and it made a great sound! We weren’t singing at all, we were just keeping time to other people’s music. Then sometimes we would go off on our own tangent and people would change the record, but we were interested in the earlier record and we’d keep right on beating in time to the first one.
George’s house Permalink
George said, “After this, we should go to my house and carry on.” That didn’t come to pass, because we broke up and went in different directions. I called George up a day or two later at his office and they said they would have George call me. So George tried to call me at my hotel and would you believe the operator wouldn’t put him through!
Well, we finally got in touch and I went out to his house. The house itself is being painted by George’s friends in all kinds of colors and designs. His mini cooper is painted bright yellow with some little designs on it.
Ringo, Mo and Zak Permalink
We went out to visit Ringo at his house and I briefly met his wife and baby, only the baby isn’t such a baby anymore. We went upstairs and there was a fellow standing there painting Ringo’s mantel on the fireplace. All the Beatles are having great fun freaking out with the symbolism and the art and the designs on the walls. We listened to the radio for a while at Ringo’s, but we didn’t stay long, only about an hour.
After that, we went back to George’s and had a meal. I think he’s a vegetarian, because all we had for supper was vegetables. They were very good, though. Patti is beautiful and so sweet. Their house is very simple considering… it’s roomy with lots of windows. I saw George’s sitar and we talked a bit and then he played for a bit.
Similar philosophies Permalink
We spent a lot of time discussing getting it all done. Getting all what done? I’m not quite sure. I think it’s what’s happening—all you need is love and baby you’re a rich man. Those aren’t titles, those are phrases. Those are statements, and they’re true—baby, you’re a rich man, you keep all your money in a big brown bag inside a zoo, and you’re a rich man. Anybody can do it, maybe I’ll write a song to that effect. You can do it, it’s just a question of getting everybody to believe.
Our ideas about this life are very much alike—almost totally. George is very influenced by the Eastern Indian thing, mainly because the Eastern people have a larger grasp of what he’s interested in. I also have some of these interests and it was a fantastic experience sharing them with George.
