On the first frigid night of a New York City winter, director Martin Scorsese and his one-time girlfriend and collaborator Olivia Harrison warmed up the Sunday night crowd at 92 Y Street in New York City. Together, they shared stories and memories of George Harrison, days before the 21st anniversary of the Beatle’s death, in celebration of Genesis Publications’ release of her biographical writings on her late husband, “Came the Lightning: Twenty the George.”
Scorsese — who turned 80 earlier this week — is known to be rock and roll’s greatest fanatic, from serving as one of the many editors of ’70s Woodstock documentaries to directing documents about the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and New York’s David Johansen of the Dolls (who attended 92nd Street Y concert). The appearance of some of George Harrison’s best songs in Scorsese’s work — “Here Comes the Sun” in “Vinyl” and “What Is Life” in a throbbing scene in “Goodfellas” — unite the quiet Beatle and the auteur for posterity.
For Sunday’s Purpose, Scorsese’s most relevant documentary was 2011’s “George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” a film he co-produced with Olivia Harrison, a one-time A&M Records executive (and later, frontman of George’s Dark Horse Records). That the Beatles married in 1978. “Living in the Material World” set the stage for Scorsese and Olivia Harrison’s conversation at Y.
Discussing her initial reluctance to work on a film about her late husband’s life, Harrison described handing George’s private letters and the Chutchiks to the director as a form of catharsis, “a process of letting go” of a transition to another spiritual realm. Both joked about how the documentary took over five years to put together, as the workaholic Scorsese was busy with dozens of projects in that time, as well as taking an interest in trying to portray an honest portrait of George Harrison, an artist with many projects. Devils also had saints.
“You can’t idolize a man,” Olivia Harrison remarked. To break the cinematic ice, she also told the audience how Scorsese sent her a set of silent films before their collaboration on “Living in the Material World” began.
Vladimir Kolesnikov / Michael Kahn Photography
As for how Olivia Harrison got started on The Lightning Came: Twenty Poems for George – Scorsese’s volume titled “A Poetry Autobiography” – she recalled an incident she had several years ago, where she ended up with “a 10-hour amnesia, not quite an unpleasant place to be”, where only reading poetry was the real therapy. Reading and remembering things anew was a slate-cleaner and an eye-opener for Harrison, one that allowed her to celebrate her late husband in a new way beyond mere memoirs. Joking aside, Scorsese commented that the act of remembering absolutely everything can be “nasty,” this from a guy who was momentarily remembering all-night movie scenes from Luis Buñuel to “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.”
From there, Scorsese and Harrison bantered back and forth about her writing in “Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George,” like how a piece like “Spring Spring” touched on the desire for more time to finish one’s goals in life. Scorsese laughed here as his main pursuit – at the age of 80 – seemed to be creating every movie he had in his head.
Alongside poems dealing with Friar Park, the Harrisons’ home in Henley-on-Thames, where the cover of the 1970 Beatle classic single, “All Things Must Pass,” was shot, Olivia mentioned how George sowed frantically at the end of his work life, thirsting To see new life flourish before his time on Earth ends. “I’m from downtown New York, so I’m allergic to everything green, but I know that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Scorsese quipped, about creating a life that will transcend our limits.
Olivia Harrison then brought up meeting John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Eric Clapton (who told her that life with George would be an adventure, saying “You’re in for a ride, so pull up your socks”), and how her husband and Clapton “exchanged licks as they did with women” in the line “Summed Up The whole ’60s in just two tracks.” Olivia talked about George comparing the shape and tone of women to guitars, which allowed Scorsese to recall how B.B. King named his guitar “Lucille”.
A rock fan, Scorsese seemed happy to soak up all of Harrison’s stories, told in poetic verse.
There was shock and sadness in Olivia Harrison’s recounting of the attempt on their life in their home in 1999 – How she thwarted the attacker, and how her husband knew that moment was not his time to die – with George anguished deeply that John Lennon was not allowed to choose his own death. (“We pulled the blankets over our heads” she recalls, in poetic verse, George’s reaction to Lennon’s murder in 1980.)
Olivia also had kinder, funnier memories of her husband—how he once punched Ringo Starr, how his goofy sense of humor inspired her, how poignant Harrison’s “Run of the Mill” was, and how his lyrics to songs like “Be Here Now” influenced her and her. posterity on the theme of vigilance, before it was a popular cultural target for 21Street century.
“Martin Scorsese wrote the introduction to Olivia’s new book and summed up the collection perfectly, calling it “a work of poetic autobiography,” Nick Roelance, publisher of Genesis Publishing with his sister Katherine, noted ahead of the event. “It’s great that Scorsese can now talk to Olivia on stage.” theater and explore the story and emotion behind writing the book with her.”
Kathryn Roelance, whose Genesis imprint was George Harrison’s publisher for more than 20 years for such magazines as “Concert for George,” “The Traveling Wilburys” and “I, Me, Mine – The Extended Edition,” noted that “Martin Scorsese’s presence And Olivia Harrison together at the event is a testament to their deep friendship. They share many common interests, not the least of which is their deep love and respect for George’s spiritual philosophy and their music.”
The limited edition Lightning Came: Twenty Poems by George will be available December 6 on Olivia Harrison’s website. over here.
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