1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis, and the stories 2 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,639 Speaker 1: about George Harrison are insane. He was set up and 3 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: busted by London's notorious drug squad. He attacked the paparazzo 4 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: who leaped from the bushes with his camera flashing. He 5 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: diffused a potentially bloody visit from the Hell's Angels, and 6 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: on the last day of the twentieth century, after rebounding 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: from multiple cancer diagnoses, George Harrison was terrorized and violently attacked, 8 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: an attack that left him hanging on for life with 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: a collapsed lung. But before that, George Harrison made great music, 10 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:50,960 Speaker 1: some of the most enduring and soul searching music of 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: all time. Unlike that music I played for you at 12 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: the top of the show. That wasn't great music. That 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: was a preset loop from my melotron called Gortex Vortex 14 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: MK two. I played you that loop because I can't 15 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: afford the rights to Smooth by Santana and Rob Thomas. 16 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: Spanish Harlem mona Lisa Cheese. Could I afford it? Because 18 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: that was the number one song in America On December 19 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: thirty one, nineteen ninety nine, and that was the day 20 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: that a crazed fan broke into the historic thirty five 21 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: acre Friar Park estate and tried to kill George Harrison. 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: On this episode, paparazzi, drug squads, crazed fans, a home 23 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: invasion in George Harrison. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is disgraceland. 24 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: This was his great chant for deliverance, his sacred chant, 25 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: his mystical sound, vibration, whatever you choose to call it. 26 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: A mantra, has incredible power. It's hypnotic. The more you 27 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: repeat your mantra, the more powerful it becomes. Repetition carves 28 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: a path deeper to awareness, and with the power of awareness, 29 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: one could be prepared. 30 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,959 Speaker 2: For anything, even death. 31 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: At this particular moment, however, on the last day of 32 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, George Harrison was not seeking enlightenment or awareness. 33 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: George wasn't repeating Harry Rish Harry Krishna over and over 34 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: again in order to communicate directly with God, as many 35 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: have done for close to five thousand years. He was 36 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: doing it to disorient the other man in the room 37 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: because George Harrison was under attack. Hiri Krishna Hari Krishna. 38 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: George Harrison was yelling at the man with the blonde 39 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: hair running up the stairs towards him. He just wanted 40 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: the man to stop. He hoped the mantra would cause 41 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,919 Speaker 1: the man to become confused and afraid, just like George 42 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: had been confused and afraid when he was awoken by 43 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: the sound of breaking glass and knew that someone was 44 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: inside his home. But George's mantra didn't have the intended effect. 45 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: If anything, it made the man charge faster, angrier. The 46 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: man wasn't there to rob anybody. He was bounding up 47 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: the steps two at a time because the man was 48 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: there to murder George Harrison. The man's eyes were wild, 49 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: scraggly blonde hair squirming like Medusa. George stood his ground 50 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: up in the gallery that overlooked the first floor. It 51 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: was late, not quite three thirty in the morning. 52 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 2: Beware of darkness. 53 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: George saw that the man had a stone sword in 54 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: one hand that would be from the statue of Saint 55 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: George and the Dragon, the one that George's wife had 56 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: created and was displayed in the gardens outside. In his 57 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: other hand, the man held a knife. George thought of 58 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: his wife back in their bedroom, and of his mother 59 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: in law, who was sleeping upstairs in one of the 60 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: guest rooms Hairi Krishna Harri Krishna. George cried again just 61 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: as the man made it to the landing at the 62 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,160 Speaker 1: gallery level. That shit wasn't working, so George leaped at 63 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: his attacker, But just like the mantra, this plan also backfired. 64 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: George and the attacker fell to the ground and the 65 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: man was on top of George, straddling him. George squirmed 66 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: on the ground and held his hands up in self preservation. 67 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: He couldn't let the man get away. He couldn't risk 68 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: his wife or mother in law getting injured, so he 69 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: fought back. And then the man thrust the knife down 70 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: and George fended off the first blow, but subsequent blows 71 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: came too fast. The man was too powerful, too determined. 72 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: He plunged the knife down into George's chest. George felt 73 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: the blade pierce his skin and go deep inside his body. 74 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: The man pulled the bloody blade out and stabbed George 75 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: a second time, then a third. George was yelling again. 76 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: This time it wasn't a mantra, just shrieks of pain, 77 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: pain caused, not just by a sharp knife in the chest, 78 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: but by the realization that the end of the line 79 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: was here and he had not planned for it to 80 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: happen like this. George Harrison felt it coming on another headache. 81 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: It was right in between his eyes. Sinea Cross Firm 82 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: at Twickenham Studios in London, right in front of his eyes, 83 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: was the cause of the pain. The other Beatles well, okay, 84 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: if George was being completely honest, the problem was Paul 85 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: only Paul. Sure John made it a habit to dismiss 86 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: George's songs, but right now he was tuning the fuck 87 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:10,559 Speaker 1: out and nodding the fuck off and Ringo, well, Ringo 88 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: was ringo. Georgia didn't have beef with Ringo. George's headache 89 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: was all because of Paul. He was a dictator. I'm 90 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: kind of a dick holier than now, as if George 91 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: wasn't a fucking beatle too. By nineteen sixty nine, it 92 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: was clear that George wasn't just a sideman for the 93 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: esteemed songwriting duo of Lennon and McCartney. He was the 94 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,400 Speaker 1: beadle who enriched the band culturally with Indian ragas, with 95 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: sitars and tablers and exotic sounds that went within and 96 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: without you. He was the most generous member of the band, 97 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: the lead guitarist to let Paul play the guitar solo 98 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: on his song Taxman. He even tossed the solo on 99 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: one of his greatest songs, while my Guitar gently weeps 100 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: to Eric Clapton, and Eric wasn't even in the band. 101 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: But also by nineteen sixty nine, George wandered a larger role. 102 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:03,920 Speaker 1: He wanted to write more, more than the obligatory one 103 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: or two songs per record. He wanted to be as 104 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: respected as John and Paul when he came to writing songs. 105 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: George had long played the role of the quiet you know, 106 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: largely because Paul and John kept him quiet. And right 107 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: now at Twickenham, if being stonewalled on the songwriting front 108 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: wasn't enough to bear, George, the Beatles lead guitarist, was 109 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: being told how to play guitar by the fucking bass player. 110 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: I'll play whatever you want me to play, George told 111 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: Paul or I won't play at all. Whatever it is 112 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: it'll please you, I'll do it. But George didn't really 113 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 1: mean it. George just wanted a bail fuck playing whatever 114 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: Paul wanted him to play. It wasn't fun anymore. The 115 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: Beatles weren't fun anymore. 116 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 2: What a pity. 117 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: The Beatles gave George a headache, so he walked out 118 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: of Twickenham, went home to his bungalow and esher and 119 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: wrote Wah Wah, which is not song about a guitar pedal. 120 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: It's a song about making the decision to leave the Beatles. 121 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: George hung in there for most of nineteen sixty nine 122 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: until it became unbearable, and once the Beatles did throw 123 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: in the towel, George wasted no time. In fact, he 124 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: made up for lost time his nineteen seventy one triple 125 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: album All Things Must Pass, technically, his third solo album 126 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: following two experimental releases, was a fully realized artistic statement 127 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: about the temporality of life. Songs like My Sweet Lord 128 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: and What Is Life were pop mantras all about change 129 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: and transcendence. George Harrison had shed the Beatles and revealed 130 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: the real George Harrison, a songwriter who could go toe 131 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: to toe with his contemporaries and was just as prolific. 132 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: Even better, George finally eclipsed his former bandmates. He stole their. 133 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 2: Spotlight for a change. 134 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: All Things Must Pass spent eight weeks at the top 135 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: of the UK charts in seven. 136 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 2: Weeks at number one in the United States. 137 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: This all despite the fact that the record talked about 138 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: God more than rock music was usually comfortable with, and 139 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: did so across an expensive three LP set. But it 140 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: sold man It sold better than Ram Paul's solo album 141 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: from that same year, or sold better than John's Plastic 142 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: Ono Band and Imagine, both of which happened to be 143 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: produced by Phil Spector, the gonzo record producer who also 144 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: brought his Wall of sound aesthetic to All Things Must Pass. 145 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,840 Speaker 1: The cherry on top that was having one of the 146 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: album's songs at number one on the Singles chart at 147 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: the same time the album was. 148 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:41,319 Speaker 2: At number one. 149 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: No Beetle had held the top spot of both charts simultaneously, 150 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: and no other Beadle would for two more years. Where 151 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: once he felt underappreciated and underprepared, George was now feeling ready. 152 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,719 Speaker 1: He was becoming the artist he always wanted to be. 153 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: He was on the right path to artistic freedom, to enlightenment. 154 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:04,599 Speaker 1: But when the time came, he would be ready to 155 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: leave his own legacy behind one that identified George as George, 156 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,439 Speaker 1: not as the guy gave up and did what someone 157 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: else told him to do. The brass poker made a 158 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: dull thud as it hit the back of the head 159 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: of the man with the scraggly blonde hair. The man 160 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: fell to the floor next to where George was gasping 161 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: for air. George tasted blood in his mouth, and every 162 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: time he took a breath, his chest hurt like hell. 163 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: Blood on his pajamas, blood on the floor. He pressed 164 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: his hands to his chest and felt the holes where. 165 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 2: The knife had gone through. 166 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: He looked up and saw his wife, Olivia standing above him, 167 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: holding a brass poker from the fireplace. The end of 168 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: the poker was bloody. Her stance was heroic, but the 169 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: look on her face was absolute terror. George felt he 170 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: was dying at fifty six years old. He began to 171 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: repeat the Harry krish Namantra silently in his head, the 172 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,800 Speaker 1: very same one he'd first heard from his divine grace, 173 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 1: Swami Prahubada thirty years ago. The mantra gave him purpose, clarity, power. 174 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: He repeated the words in his head and thought of 175 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: the Yogic paths to enlighten it, but his strength was weak. 176 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,559 Speaker 1: Couldn't say the mantra out loud in order to feel 177 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,040 Speaker 1: its positive vibration, and thus it couldn't reach his heart 178 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: and soul. All it sounded like to him was a 179 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: broken record in his head, a needle skipping on a 180 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: worn out groove. This wasn't the way he wanted to 181 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: leave his body behind, and that thought terrified him. He 182 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: had knots left to unravel, a mind to clear, karma 183 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: to burn, And as he watched the man with the 184 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: bloodied blonde hair slowly climb back to his feet and 185 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: chase Olivia into the next room, George had his mind 186 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: set on one thing he had to do before anything else. 187 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: He had to save his wife before she was killed 188 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: by a madman. The place was a fixer rubber That 189 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,240 Speaker 1: was the understatement of the decade. In nineteen seventy, the 190 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: sprawling Friar Park had fallen into disrepair. The half Victorian Gothic, 191 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 1: half French chateau estate had been neglected for years. With 192 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: its grottoes, tunnels, caves, sandstone replica of matterhorn, an assortment 193 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: of impish garden gnomes. The place had once been one 194 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: of the most extraordinary in all of England, but all 195 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: things must pass. Its thirty five acres of gardens were 196 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:59,560 Speaker 1: fading away, Its extensive system of small lakes and waterways 197 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: were drying up. Henley on Thames, the small town in 198 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: Oxfordshire where Friar Park had stood since its construction in 199 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty nine, slated the property for demolition. However, Friar 200 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: Park presented the right challenge to the right person. A 201 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:20,760 Speaker 1: person with money and time on his hands. George Harrison, 202 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: newly liberated from the biggest band on the planet, had 203 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: both of those things. He bought the place in nineteen seventy, 204 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: settled in Derek Taylor, the Beadles press officer called it 205 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,680 Speaker 1: a dream on a hill. George invested millions over the 206 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: years to make the dream a reality. He planted trees, 207 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: brought the gardens and waterways back to life. He even 208 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: installed the state of the art recording studio inside the 209 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,079 Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty room mansion, which officially served as 210 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: the headquarters of his new record label, Dark Horse. The 211 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: decision to retreat further into the country had been sealed 212 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: the year before. In March nineteen sixty nine, Sergeant Norman 213 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: Pilcher and his notorious London drug squad paid a visit 214 00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: to George's home in Esher. George was arrested for some 215 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: hash hidden inside one of his shoes on the day 216 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: of Paul's wedding. No less, George fumed the cops were dirty. 217 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: They'd been setting up rock stars left and right with 218 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: similar trumped up charges. Did George take drugs obviously? Did 219 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: he keep drugs in his shoes? George famously said at 220 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: the time, I'm a tidy person. I keep my socks 221 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: in my sock drawer, in my stash in the stash box. 222 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: It's not mine. Didn't matter. The drug squad hauled George outside, 223 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: where a photographer for a local newspaper sprung from the bushes, 224 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: camera flashing. George took a swing and told the paparazzo 225 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: to beat it or he'd get a beat down. The 226 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,920 Speaker 1: dude dropped his camera in fear and ran. 227 00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:54,359 Speaker 2: George managed to smash. 228 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: It to pieces with his beetle boot before he was 229 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: hauled off to jail. He pled guilty to unlawful possession, 230 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: paid his two hundred and. 231 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 2: Fifty pounds fine. 232 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: At Friar Park. George didn't fear being under the microscope 233 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: of the London drug squad, but that didn't mean that 234 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 1: he was no longer afraid. Since the height of Beatlemania, 235 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: George had regularly feared for his life, the hordes of 236 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: screaming fans, the crush of an infatuated crowd. It was 237 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: like he was constantly being chased by people in a 238 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: violent trance. What would the fans have done if they 239 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: had actually caught up to them? Years before the Beatles 240 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: called it quits, George was already asking himself, what is life? 241 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: Is this? It? Does this make me feel happy? Will 242 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: this get me to where I want to go? 243 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,479 Speaker 2: Am I safe? 244 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: The fear hit a fever pitch in December nineteen eighty 245 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: when John Lennon was gunned down outside his apartment at 246 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,200 Speaker 1: the Dakota in New York City. That was enough to 247 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: make every Beetle paranoid. George dumped another million pounds into 248 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: Friar Park, but this time it wasn't to make the 249 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: garden's green. This time it was to install razor wire cameras, 250 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: alarms guard dogs. Historically, the tolkienesque grounds of Friar Park 251 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: were open to the public. 252 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 2: No more. 253 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: The gates were locked. George Harrison was no longer expecting 254 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: anyone uninvited to visit cracker Box Palace. But just because 255 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: he wasn't expecting anyone didn't mean that they wouldn't seek 256 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: him out. Over the years, George and his wife Olivia 257 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: received numerous death threats in the mail. Crazed fans attempted 258 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: to scale the estate walls and break in, and the 259 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: FBI even managed to foil the plants of an American 260 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: who intended to burn Friar Park to the ground. While George, Olivia, 261 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: and their son were at home, and as the sentry 262 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: wound down, George's existential fear ramped up. He'd found a 263 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: lump in his neck cancer. The doctors found more in 264 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: his law. A few operations and radiation treatments later, and 265 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: George was feeling better. The cancer was in remission. George 266 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: had found solace in meditation. He focused on his mantra. 267 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: Mantras made you feel good. Repeating the words out loud, 268 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: over and over again was a bomb. So the more 269 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: George used repetition, the better he felt. He became focused, aware, strong, unafraid. 270 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: He went to sleep before midnight on the evening of 271 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: December thirtieth, nineteen ninety nine. Tomorrow will be a new day, 272 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: and soon he would chant in the name of the 273 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: Lord to welcome a brand new century. Just hours later, 274 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: shortly before the sun rose on the morning of New 275 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:42,679 Speaker 1: Year's Eve, Michael Abram climbed through the shattered window of 276 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: George Harrison's Friar Park mansion. He'd broken it with the 277 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: stone sword that he'd been able to rip off of 278 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: the statue. 279 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 2: Outside. 280 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: The statue was a depiction of Saint George slaying the dragon. 281 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 1: Abram thought it fitting, seeing as he was on a 282 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: mission to do a little slaying of his own. He 283 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: also thought it humorous because the George on the inside 284 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: of this house he was no saint, despite what the 285 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: world said to the contrary. Abram brushed his scraggly blonde 286 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: hair away from his eyes with the blade of the 287 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: knife he held in his other hand. A lit cigarette 288 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: burned between his lips. He scanned the room. It was dark, 289 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,399 Speaker 1: but he could tell he was in the kitchen. He 290 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: listened for voices, but the voices inside his own head 291 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,440 Speaker 1: were making it difficult. They wouldn't shut up. Sometimes he 292 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: would drown the voices out with his Walkman, the volume 293 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: cranked up all the way to ten. Oasis cassettes were 294 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: the best. They were mastered for maximum sonic impact, and 295 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: Oasis was the best period That song Wonderwall. Abram believed 296 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: that the Gallagher brothers had written that song about the 297 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: walls of his flat. People complained that Oasis just ripped 298 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: off the Beatles, but Abram knew better. Oasis were better 299 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: than the Beatles. Abram used to listen to the Beatles, 300 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,440 Speaker 1: and that was before the voices escalated in his head 301 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 1: and showed him the light and inner light. Perhaps the Beatles, well, 302 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: they were just pure evil. All you need is love, 303 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: patently untrue. That was just a manufactured sentiment to shroud 304 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: one of their spells. Because the Beatles were actually witches. 305 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: They traveled on brooms. They had spoken in mantras ever 306 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: since their return from Rishikesh, and Abram knew that mantras 307 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:26,320 Speaker 1: like Hari Krishno were really the Devil's tom. Of course, 308 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: none of this was actually true, but Abram believed it was. 309 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: His belief was unwavering. He was in the middle of 310 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: a full blown psychotic episode from which there was no escape. 311 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: He didn't know why he believed the things he did. 312 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,360 Speaker 1: The voice is told in these things, and he took 313 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: them as gospel things like George Harrison was the most 314 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: evil beetle of all, that he was the cause of 315 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: the voices in Abram's head, that Georgia cast a spell, 316 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: taken possession of Abram's mind and tortured him from three 317 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,200 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers away from Oxfordshire to Liverpool, where Abram called home. 318 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: Abram believed it wasn't a coincidence that he lived in 319 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: the city where the Beatles had famously got their start, 320 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,400 Speaker 1: and the voices further told him that the only way 321 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: that he could break that spell and thus to be 322 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,160 Speaker 1: free of the voices in his head, was to find 323 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 1: George Harrison and kill him. Now enveloped within the darkness 324 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,959 Speaker 1: of Friar Park, Abram was surprised that an alarm had 325 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: yet to sound, or that he had been able to 326 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,680 Speaker 1: make it over the exterior fence of the estate unseen. 327 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: All that money spent on security wasted, and where were 328 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 1: the guard dogs that had supposedly started their watch nineteen 329 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: years ago. Old senile probably buried on the grounds among 330 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: the garden gnomes. George Harrison, on the other hand, despite 331 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: all the threats and the fears, and the recent treatments 332 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: for cancer. He was very much alive, and he was 333 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: somewhere inside this enormous house, maybe behind that locked door. 334 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:55,439 Speaker 1: Abram slowly made his way through the kitchen into the 335 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: main hallway, the stone sword in one hand and his 336 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: knife in the other. He heard noises coming from upstairs, footsteps. 337 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: They were getting closer and louder. Abram approached a set 338 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 1: of stairs. 339 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:08,400 Speaker 2: It led up to the. 340 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: Gallery overlooking the main floor. He braced himself for a 341 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: beatle to come shooting out into the open, riding a 342 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: wooden broom with a long flowing cape, transfiguring spells at 343 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: the ready, and then from out of the shadows, he 344 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:24,160 Speaker 1: appeared at the top of the stairs, George Harrison. 345 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 2: He had no broom, no cape. 346 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: He was unarmed, He appeared unafraid, and he was reciting 347 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: unspeakable incantations of evil. And the louder George spoke, the 348 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: more it's steadied, Abrams resolve. It was sorcery, all of it. 349 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,719 Speaker 1: There was no turning back. This was the moment, here 350 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 1: in the darkness. It wouldn't last all day. George Harrison 351 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: had better be prepared to die. We'll be right back 352 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: after this word word word. The Hell's Angels had taken 353 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: over three Savo Row and they were loud, rude, drunk, 354 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 1: They smelled like shit, and they were everywhere. They had 355 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: muscled their way past Jimmy the doorman. Now they're making 356 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: a racket inside the offices of Apple Core. Their black 357 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 1: leather MC jackets and unruly, windswept hair were a sharp 358 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 1: contrast to the clean green carpets and white walls. It 359 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: was nineteen sixty eight Christmas party at the swinging headquarters 360 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: of the Beatles' burgeoning media company. But the dozen or 361 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 1: so angels who had crashed the party were fucking up 362 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: the peace and love vibe. They exuded, not goodwill towards 363 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 1: their fellow man, but menace, intimidation, terror. Two angels from 364 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: the San Francisco chapter, Tumbleweed and Frisco Pete, were wasted 365 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 1: on Scotch and cokes, and now they wanted food, and 366 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 1: they could smell the turkey in the kitchen, all forty 367 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:03,359 Speaker 1: three pounds of it. They were Apple's guests and they 368 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: wanted to eat now. John and Yoko, festively dressed as 369 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: Sanna and Missus Klaus, tried to calm the bikers down, 370 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: but even a woody bloke like John was no match. 371 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: Chrisco Pete looked John dead in the eye and said, 372 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: without a hint of humor. 373 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 2: What the fuck is going on in this place? We 374 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 2: want to eat. 375 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: Neil Astminhall and Peter Brown tried to subdue them. They 376 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,440 Speaker 1: managed people for a living, after all, and they've gotten 377 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,959 Speaker 1: the Beatles out of many a dicey scrap in the past. 378 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: And the Angels could give two fucks. They weren't listening. 379 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: There was only one person they'd listened to, and that 380 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: was George. George Harrison was the one who had extended 381 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: and opened invitation to the Hell's Angels in the first place. 382 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: The hippies and the hate seen beyond burnout to George 383 00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: when he paid a visit to San Francisco back in 384 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: the summer, but the Angels were all right in his eyes. 385 00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: He even sent a memo to Apple staffers ahead of 386 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: the MC's visit, which Warren quote, there will be twelve 387 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: in number, complete with black leather jackets and motorcycles. They 388 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: may look as if they're going to do you in, 389 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: but are very straight and do good things, so don't 390 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: fear them or uptight them. Try to assist them without 391 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:17,120 Speaker 1: neglecting your apple business and without letting them take control 392 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: of Savile Row. It was easier said than done. 393 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 2: The situation was officially out of control. 394 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 1: George Harrison was a Pisces, the zodiac sign with the fish. 395 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: You know, one fish goes one way or the other 396 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: fish goes the other way, And George is saying, so 397 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: what do you offered me? It was duality right. It 398 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: would explain George's dual fascinations with quiet ukuleles and loud 399 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: Formula one race cars, or why in one moment he'd 400 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 1: be practicing transcendental meditation and the next he'd indulge in 401 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: a Savoy truffle sized line of cocaine. And it would 402 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: also explain why he saw only the best in people, 403 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: even a group as polarizing as the Hell's Angels, because 404 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: on some days George himself acted like a Hell's Angel, 405 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: on other days he was the guy who uninvited the 406 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: Hell's Angels from the party. George arrived at Savile Row 407 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,919 Speaker 1: as the bikers were tearing the Christmas turkey apart and 408 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: continuing to harass anyone. 409 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 2: Who dared get in their way. 410 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,280 Speaker 1: George was quiet, as was his reputation, and although he 411 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: spoke softly, the bikers listened up, yin and yang. George said, 412 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: heads and tails, yes, and no one moment you hear 413 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: the next moment you're not. Tumbleweed and Frisco Pete weren't following. 414 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: George cut to the chase. You know, bug her off. 415 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:41,440 Speaker 1: The angels got on their bikes and left. Michael Abram 416 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,439 Speaker 1: was no angel. He wasn't going anywhere, and no amount 417 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: of screaming from George or Olivia Harrison was going to 418 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,919 Speaker 1: change his mind. After Olivia had gone full Sammy Sosa 419 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: on his head with the brass poker, Abram rebounded and 420 00:25:55,080 --> 00:26:00,959 Speaker 1: chased her into a meditation room nearby. Olivia stumbled, grabbed 421 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: her by the neck, both hands grasped tight. He squeezed 422 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: her throat tight. He hadn't intended to kill anyone else, 423 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: but so helping the fucking god. If the she devil 424 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: was going to stand in his way, he would do 425 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: what he believed he had to do. The voices in 426 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: his head were getting louder, now elongated bowels, hard consonants. 427 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,000 Speaker 1: They weren't speaking the King's English. They wouldn't stop, so 428 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 1: he kept going. He kept his grip tighter. Olivia struggled 429 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: to breathe. She dug her hands at Abram's face, and 430 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: George managed to get off the ground and was also 431 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: struggling to breathe. Every time he exhaled, he felt more 432 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,480 Speaker 1: blood empty into his mouth. He stumbled into the meditation area, 433 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: the wounds and his chest bleeding, his legs nearly. 434 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 2: Giving out on him. 435 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: He reached out and grabbed Abram and struggled to pull 436 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,679 Speaker 1: him off Olivia. The three of them fell to the floor. 437 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 1: George and Abram wrestled on the ground. George felt the 438 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: energy draining from his body. Even in his weak state. 439 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,399 Speaker 1: The fact that the attack was happening on that particular 440 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: day was not lost on him. It was all too mutch. 441 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: Just one week prior, a zealous fan had broken into 442 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: George's house, not this house at Friar Park, but another 443 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: house George owned and Maui along the Hannah Highway on 444 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: a bluff overlooking the Pacific. Local police found an intruder 445 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: in the kitchen after they've been ticked off by neighbors. 446 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: She was eating a frozen pizza and drinking root beer. 447 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: Turns out she'd been stalking George for months. Georgie had 448 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,520 Speaker 1: been so thankful that they were not in Maui when 449 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: had happened, and he knew he dodged a bullet, maybe 450 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 1: even an actual bullet. 451 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 2: Hear me, Lord, thank you Lord. Now. 452 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: One week later, at Friar Park, George felt like he 453 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: had no voice to ask for help or give banks. 454 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: He did wonder if being a pisce he's had something 455 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 1: to do with it. One week he was safe, the 456 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: next week he was in mortal danger. He used every 457 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,720 Speaker 1: last bit of strength to keep abrahmat where the two 458 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: of them were tossing around on the floor. Olivia stood 459 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 1: up and grabbed a table lamp that was nearby. She 460 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:07,440 Speaker 1: swung it at Abram's head. 461 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 2: It missed. 462 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: She swung it again another miss. Abram reached out and 463 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: grabbed the lamp's cord. He pulled hard. The force yanked 464 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,200 Speaker 1: Olivia towards him. She pulled back, but it did little 465 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: to move Abram. Abram pulled again, like he was reeling 466 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: in a big fish from a little pond. Olivia felt 467 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: she was losing ground. Suddenly, there was more commotion downstairs. 468 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,400 Speaker 1: The sound of the front door being ripped open. More 469 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:34,080 Speaker 1: voices beams of light shot out into the darkness. Police 470 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,600 Speaker 1: Olivia remembered she had phoned both the police and some 471 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: of the Friar Park's staff when George had initially gone 472 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,959 Speaker 1: downstairs to investigate the sound of breaking glass that had 473 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: woken them up. She threw the lamp at Abram's head 474 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,400 Speaker 1: and ran out to the stairs to get their attention. 475 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: The cops beelined to the meditation room, pounced, subdued Abram, 476 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: and stopped the attack. George had lost a lot of 477 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,479 Speaker 1: blood by the time the authorities brought the melee to 478 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: an end. Michael Abe was put in handcuffs and led 479 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: away as the first rays of the sun struggled to 480 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: peek out over the horizon. The medics took George's vitals. 481 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: They tended to the numerous knife wounds on his chest. 482 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: They placed him on a stretcher. One of his lungs 483 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: had collapsed, Abram's knife had narrowly missed his heart. He 484 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: needed to get to a hospital immediately. 485 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 2: George knew that. 486 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: The next few minutes and hours were incredibly important. Anything 487 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: could happen. All things do pass, it's just a matter 488 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 1: of when they pass. He needed to focus his mind 489 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: and prepare for the day that he did leave the 490 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: physical realm, whether that day was tomorrow or ten years 491 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 1: down the road. That's the art of dying, to consciously 492 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: leave one's body at death. No reincarnation meant that there 493 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: was no loose ends to take care of, no knots 494 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: to unravel. The liberation of the soul. The first thing 495 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: George had to do was not lose his wits or 496 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: his sense of humor. As he was carried out to 497 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: the ambulance, George passed a new staff member who had 498 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: only been at the estate for a few days. So 499 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 1: George asked, without missing a beat, how are you liking 500 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: the new job so far? Some things you just couldn't 501 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: plan for. Some things just happened. Maybe you willed them 502 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: into existence, but planning was out of the question. You 503 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,040 Speaker 1: just went with the flow. George Harrison was at a 504 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: dinner in Los Angeles with Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynn 505 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: when the unplanned happened. It was nineteen eighty eight. Jeff 506 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: Lynn was cool. Sure. His band Elo were obviously indebted 507 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: to the Beatles, and he had even produced George's latest 508 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: solo album, Cloud Nine, but Roy Orbison was cool on 509 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: another level. The voice, the big Oh. He was a legend. 510 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: He was what the Beatles aspired to be when they 511 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: were banging around clubs in Hamburg almost thirty years earlier. 512 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: George realized that a massive opportunity was sitting across the 513 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: table from him. He asked Roy and Jeff if they 514 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: wanted to head into the studio the next day to 515 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: sing on a song George was working on accelerate through 516 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: the curve, just like the best F one drivers, or 517 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: rather through life's curves. George figured in that moment, when's 518 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 1: the next time he was going to be having dinner 519 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: with Roy Orbison. Roy smiled behind his trademark dark sunglasses. 520 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:40,720 Speaker 2: Sure he would. 521 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: So George rang up Bob Dylan because Bob was in 522 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,880 Speaker 1: town and he'd come and clutch when it came to 523 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 1: sniffing out a studio to record him. George and Bob 524 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: went way back back to even before Bob agreed to 525 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: appear in the concert for Bangladesh that George organized in 526 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one, the first of its kind, a star 527 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: studded bee fit to raise money. 528 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 2: To help refugees. 529 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,640 Speaker 1: Speaking of refugees, Georgia left his guitar at Tom Petty's house, 530 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: so he had to stop and pick it up on 531 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,440 Speaker 1: the way to the studio. It wouldn't be polite to 532 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 1: not invite Tom along, seeing as he was tight with Bob, 533 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: having backed him up on that True Confessions tour just 534 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: a few years prior, and just like George and Bob 535 00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: and Jeff, Tom would do anything to record with the 536 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: Great Roy Orgison. Within a matter of hours, the least 537 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: expected supergroup of the nineteen eighties had been formed. And 538 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: after a few weeks of collectively strumming acoustic guitars and 539 00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,760 Speaker 1: writing new songs during the day, and then singing those 540 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: songs around the same microphone together each evening, the Traveling 541 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 1: Wilbury's had an album. The Traveling Wilbury's Volume One was 542 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: released in October of nineteen eighty eight. It unexpectedly put 543 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: classic rock icons on the pop charts. It even made 544 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,960 Speaker 1: Roy Orbison seem cool to gen xers. Roy got to 545 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,320 Speaker 1: see the album go platinum before he died not even 546 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: two months later, at the age of fifty two. George 547 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 1: hadn't planned for that to happen either, for Roy to 548 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: be gone so soon after they had become so close. 549 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: Was Roy ready to die? Had he properly prepared to 550 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: leave his body behind? George could only hope only Roy 551 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: knew the answer. After Roy's death, the rest of the 552 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,120 Speaker 1: Wilbury shot the music video for the single End of 553 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,120 Speaker 1: the Line. In it, the band sits in a train 554 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: car in trades versus. When it comes time for Roy's verse, 555 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: the spotlight is on a solitary guitar rocking in a 556 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,440 Speaker 1: rocking chair. The band thought it was the perfect tribute. 557 00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: Roy's body was gone, but his voice carried on well. 558 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: George thought it is all right. He'd meet Roy at 559 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 1: the end of the line. But George wasn't quite ready 560 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: for the journey to end just yet. Even more than 561 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: a decade after Roy's death in the year two thousand, 562 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,840 Speaker 1: George didn't want the ride to be over. He had 563 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,320 Speaker 1: gardens to tend to, tunnels and caves left un cover, 564 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: and the great expanse of his thirty five acre estate. 565 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: Restoring the grounds at Friar Park was a major undertaking 566 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,120 Speaker 1: that required both time and patience. He was the estate 567 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,160 Speaker 1: steward now and he had to get it ready for 568 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:16,760 Speaker 1: the next century. Like its original owner, Sir Francis Crisp 569 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,759 Speaker 1: had done one hundred years ago, and just like Sir 570 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: Francis Crisp or Sir Frankie Crisp, as George immortalized him 571 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: in song on All Things Must Pass, George would never 572 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:30,760 Speaker 1: see the fruits of his many labors. The saplings he planted, 573 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,360 Speaker 1: He would never see them mature into full grown trees. 574 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,960 Speaker 1: He really wanted to see them, but take so long. 575 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: And George also knew that he had no control over 576 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,480 Speaker 1: when or how he would reach the end of the line. 577 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: The attack that he had suffered at the hands of 578 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: Michael Abram made that crystal clear, so he cleared his mind. 579 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 1: He focused on what he'd been able to accomplish in 580 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,319 Speaker 1: the gardens at Friar Park, not the parts he'd yet 581 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:55,799 Speaker 1: to get to. 582 00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:57,600 Speaker 2: He didn't look back. 583 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: In anger at the final days of the Beatles and 584 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,880 Speaker 1: the frustration he felt towards Paul in particular, he forgave 585 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 1: Michael Abram for that night of absolute terror. Abram had 586 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: been found not guilty by reason of insanity. It was 587 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: being sent to his psychiatric hospital for further treatment. George 588 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:19,720 Speaker 1: hoped to get the help he so desperately needed. George 589 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 1: didn't want to get to the end of the line. 590 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:22,520 Speaker 2: No one did. 591 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,399 Speaker 1: But when he did, if he was hit by a car, 592 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,280 Speaker 1: or fell down the stairs, or god forbid, that cancer 593 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 1: came back, then he would be ready. From that moment on, 594 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,320 Speaker 1: there were no more surprises, not even when he died 595 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:39,839 Speaker 1: from lung cancer in November of two thousand and one 596 00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: and a Beverly Hills home owned by Paul McCartney, with 597 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: family and Harry Krishna devotees by his bedside, chanting a 598 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,720 Speaker 1: beautifully orchestrated exit from this. 599 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,560 Speaker 2: World with grace. 600 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:33,600 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in this this Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created 601 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 1: by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 602 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:39,359 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 603 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 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