Uncomfortable Anthology Moment

[ElectricKeithery]

Did anyone notice how uncomfortable George looks when he, Paul and Ringo are doing Blue Moon of Kentucky on the Anthology special features? My roommate was barely paying attention, and she said 'wow, he looks like he really doesn't want to be there'.

[theDingle]

Welcome back EK, I've read a number of your old posts and was wondering where you got off to, lol.

Yes, I agree, George did look slightly uncomfortable in a couple of other moments as well, as if to be thinking "That Paul is still the same bossy SOB!"

I thought it was cool to see it though, these guys = human as the rest of us. There are also those moments of footage where where they're hugging as well. Tabloids never get it right. Both sides of the coin defined the whole picture of their relationship IMO.

[Cologne girl]

Yes, I agree, George did look slightly uncomfortable in a couple of other moments as well, as if to be thinking "That Paul is still the same bossy SOB!"

Yes, Doctor, that's EXACTLY what I thought. I had come to think nobody else had seen this - except perhaps for Steve; he was the only one who agreed when I brought up the thing about the old resentments creeping up. Sometimes you could see George wanted to say something but almost simultaneously thought better of it, sort of like "I won't get my point across anyhow, so I'll just let the other one keep on talking his crap; it's not worth the effort" - almost like during the "Let It Be" sessions. Mind you, it almost made ME feel uncomfortable at times.

[kylestyle]

I haven't seen it. What was Paul saying / doing that seemed so nasty / bossy?

[theDingle]

I haven't seen it. What was Paul saying / doing that seemed so nasty / bossy?

That's a good question, ks. Paul really wasn't saying or doing anything overtly nasty or bossy. It was kind of loose gig, and yet Paul did somewhat seemed to be running it.

Maybe George was having Paul-domination flashbacks, lol. Or maybe it was just too wierd doing a recorded impromptu jam after all these years without John and calling it Beatles. But as for me, "That's OK George, thanks for doing it, I still enjoyed it!"

[Steve-o]

After watcting this segment many times, I think that George feeling the old wounds creep up again was part of it, but I think the overwhelming reason was that George was not comfortable at all in front of the camera. Their individual personalities really come thru. Paul, the guy who wants to get it right, Ringo, who can be very quiet and very funny at the same time, and George, who would rather be in his garden. When you step back and look at the entire project, the love and affection that each one still felt for each other was clear and everlasting.

[Cologne girl]

But as for me, "That's OK George, thanks for doing it, I still enjoyed it!"

I agree, you put it in a nutshell. And I also agree to the points made by Steve

[ElectricKeithery]

And not to mention George seemed to be really smiling and happy when he started playing 'Thinking of Linking'.

The reason I asked was because I remember picking up some George Harrison biography (Dark Horse or something), and seeing it mention George not enjoying his time on the Anthology when it came to Paul.

[Cologne girl]

And not to mention George seemed to be really smiling and happy when he started playing 'Thinking of Linking'.

The reason I asked was because I remember picking up some George Harrison biography (Dark Horse or something), and seeing it mention George not enjoying his time on the Anthology when it came to Paul.

Yes, but on one of the songs they played together George said something like "but the short version, please", didn't he?

On the whole, George seemed to have a rather complex personality - on the one hand, he surely wanted to step out of the huge shadows cast by John and Paul and make it big(ger) himself, but on the other hand, he didn't want to be persecuted the way famous people are. He wanted fame (who would not?), but it didn't go well with his personality. It surely was a great relief for him to get into the Indian thing and to get to know Ravi Shankar.

And as complex as his personality in itself obviously was his relationship with Paul. I think when he "presented" Paul's performance of "Yesterday" we could see the first (?) signs. I often wondered why he was made to do it and not John, which would have been the normal thing. And what did he mean when he said (if I understood correctly), "opportunity knocks"?? Was there some resentment/jealousy, whatever, involved?

[ElectricKeithery]

Yes, but on one of the songs they played together George said something like "but the short version, please", didn't he?

<snip>

And as complex as his personality in itself obviously was his relationship with Paul. I think when he "presented" Paul's performance of "Yesterday" we could see the first (?) signs. I often wondered why he was made to do it and not John, which would have been the normal thing. And what did he mean when he said (if I understood correctly), "opportunity knocks"?? Was there some resentment/jealousy, whatever, involved?

Indeed it was on 'Blue Moon of Kentucky' when he asked for the short one. That was the uncomfortable moment that made me post.

As for the opportunity knocks comment, that had nothing to do with resentment (I don't think anyway). Opportunity Knocks was the Starsearch thing of the 60s, where amateurs would come on and perform to see who would win. IIRC (I probably don't), wasn't Mary Hopkin on Opportunity Knocks?