Carol Bedford Book, Excerpts One and Two

[larainefan]

A few people had mentioned Carol Bedford's book, I'm going to type some excerpts relating to her friendship with George, anyone is welcome to comment. Bear with me, I'm working on a borrowed, substandard computer

Comments

[jonesingjay]

George feeling like he somehow failed his beliefs because he couldn't follow a strict religious set of rules is something I've always found a bit sad. He tried so hard, but he couldn't live in that way. It just wasn't the way his life was situated. I do find his kindness to one of his fans to be kind of him. I know he wasn't always this way with them, but going out of his way to give her that book was something special and more than just signing your name and posing for a picture.

It seems like George was going through a hard time when Carol was around. I wonder why he reached out to her though. I take everything in this book with a grain of salt, but I do want to believe in the vulnerability George displayed and this very human side of himself.

[larainefan]

It is sad, and he never gave himself enough credit for how hard he tried for what his circumstances were. I mean, at least he was trying to attain a highly-developed conscience. He tried harder than any other rock star, most wouldn't even bother. It's like he had a vision of whom he wanted to be, and was not sure how to achieve that. He couldn't see he was a truly good person to begin with. All you have to do is read of George during his childhood to see what kind of a person he was (minus the time he head-butted Paul's friend, lol). But the majority of the childhood accounts mention his kindness to animals, the way he always wanted to give money to the homeless, etc. But he had a very private side too, such as not wanting the neighbours to know anything about him. He was that very protective of himself even as a toddler, so it's astonishing to think he became one of the most famous men on the planet, and just what a shocking and uncomfortable position he must have been in.

[cozyjo]

Wow. Rather interesting. Who is this person? An Apple Scruff? What year did this take place?..and who's Lucy?

Very sweet and "accessible" George is here. I agree with the craziness of the "mania" years..but this comment left me very perplexed:

"You should have been there in the old days, the Beatle days. It was crazy. I mean the tours, especially in America. The hotels were like a scene from one of Fellini's films. Hundreds of girls queuing up to be with us. You know, have sex. It was awful," he said, shaking his head.

I would be rather shocked if George really considered a bunch of girls lining up to have sex with him "awful"..least that's what I'm surmising here. He was just as willing a participant as the others. Maybe he felt peer pressure to do so..but, let's be honest..lol..I highly doubt he had a "problem" with it as he seems to suggest here. ;)

Anyway..interesting stuff..and very sweet of him to be so attentive to this person and here depressive episodes.

[larainefan]

I don't know, even guys have their limits, and seeing that people expect the impossible of them, that they think you're superhuman enough to get through hundreds of hundreds of fans all lined up, I imagine that could take on a nightmarish quality, nothing but that night after night. We're not talking a small select set of groupies, we're talking about thousands of people wanting something from all the Beatles at all times. I imagine even the Beatles just wanted to rest during a difficult tour sometimes. Or maybe George meant it was awful for the girls to put themselves out like that. I do think it's quite telling of the other side of George, he was a complex person.

Yes, Carol was the Apple Scruff from America. Lucy was another Scruff who liked George, but she wouldn't speak openly and naturally to him, she'd always freeze up with shyness in his presence (about like I would,!!!)

[cozyjo]

No..I understand that aspect of it completely..people constantly demanding stuff of you and from you. That can get very "old" and tiring. What I questioned is the idea that he had a disdain about having "liasons" with women. From what I understand in Larry Kane's book, "select" women were brought in and they chose from among them..not throngs. It was never a fan that they "picked" from..at least that's what I've read and seen elsewhere. Maybe he is speaking in general about how fans would try to thrust themselves upon them in droves to where they/he felt helpless and not in control of the situation. That's quite different then if women are "set up" to "meet" them.

Cool that Carol had such an experience. I'd be like Lucy, too.

[jonesingjay]

I agree everyone has their limits. I think that after a certain point having all of those woman wanting you and expecting sex from you can be a bit of a 'drag'. Feeling that you have to perform because they expect that sex with a Beatle will be some grand life changing event in their lives. After a certain point sometimes you're just mentally and physically tired and don't want to be bothered by it. I'm reminded of something John stated about Hamburg, even before they were famous they were still propositioned quite a bit. He recalled that sometimes it was a like a performance. I can only imagine what it must've felt like for someone like George.

[selenak]

Sorry, I'm working through these entries backwards and have thus just arrived at the first you posted. George is very kind to Carol here, and this is about the most sympathetic of their interactions in the excerpts you posted. Again, I'm torn re: the veracity. Because this paragraph:
"You should have been there in the old days, the Beatle days. It was crazy. I mean the tours, especially in America. The hotels were like a scene from one of Fellini's films. Hundreds of girls queuing up to be with us. You know, have sex. It was awful," he said, shaking his head

[larainefan]

First off, thanks for responding Selena, I appreciate it. The Fellini bit I recognized coming straight from John too, but George often echoed direct words and phrases straight from John. I can imagine he heard John say it was like Fellini, and then George borrowed that for his own use. Derek Taylor writes of the pressures already getting to George in Paris 1964, when he told a visiting dignitary off, calling him a "Bald old crip" or something like that (paraphrazing from memeory). Underneath Derek's texts are George's responses in italics, and he as much as admits that "bald old crip" is something he would have gotten from John.

I also found it interesting he mentions he loves the people he lives with, he just can't live with them. That sounds like something he told Delaney, that he loved Pattie but love just didn't seem to be enough.