This article is from page 18 of the 2013-11-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
CLARE resident Gerry Harrison last night spilled the beans on his time with the greatest band that ever lived. Gerry, who founded Banner Books in Ennistymon, was the assistant director of the legendary Beatles’ 1967 film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’.
During filming, Gerry struck up a friendship with both John Lennon and Paul McCartney and would go on to work with both men even after the break up of the Beatles.
In addition to working on ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, Gerry also worked on ‘London Town’, ‘Venus and Mars’ and ‘Mull of Kintyre’ with Paul McCartney and he spent a week working on the film of ‘Imagine’ with John Lennon.
“It was a great time. I am very much part of that sex and drugs and rock and roll generation. We lived in Notting Hill, which was the height of hip London at that time,” he said.
“Down the road was Island Records, in the next street there was Van Morrison and the band that played in the local church was called Pink Floyd.”
Gerry first worked with the Beatles on the filming of the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’, the first project completed by the Fab Four after the death of the manager Brian Epstein.
“There was no script so I was worried from the beginning. My job involved planning ahead, on extras and locations. I had to ask Paul McCarthy for a script on the first day and they found something for me.
“But what was interesting was the concept, which was illustrated as a circle by Paul McCarthy. At that time Paul was basically in charge because Brian Epstein had just died. It was a sort-of a Buddhist wheel of life and Paul put in different scenes at different places around the wheel.
“Every day of filming was mystery, but it wasn’t very magical. It was hard work in many cases. This [the film] derived from the whole concept of taking a ‘trip’ and the whole LSD thing was very important.
“I think the film was largely a reinaction [or actual experience that the Beatles had]. I remember the rehearsed lines. There was a scene between Paul and [Welsh actor] Victor Spinetti, that was the most structured part of the whole movie. The rest really was a mystery.”
A full feature interview about Gerry and his time with the Beatles will appear in next week’s Clare People . Gerry spoke about his time with the Beatles at Trinity College last night.