The Beatles' first visit to America was George Harrison's second - he'd already been here, in September 1963, to see his sister, Louise, in Benton, Illinois.
It's a bit of trivia not widely known outside Beatlemaniac circles, but one that's made Louise a fixture at Beatles conventions, where she's attracted her own faithful following.
Louise speaks engagingly about that visit and about her early efforts to plug the Beatles on her area radio stations, before everyone had heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand." For years, her own fans have been after her to write a book.
The result, "My Kid Brother's Band a.k.a. the Beatles!," isn't a tell-all about George, the most private of all the Beatles. But Louise does provide some nice details of the Harrison family and Liverpool during the 1940 and 1950s, before she left for Canada and the the U.S.
Twelve years older than George, she remembers a lot from those days. We get a clear picture of what it was like growing up in the free-spirited Harrison home. Louise clearly adored her parents.
Her father Harry,was a city bus driver and union leader with a good head on his shoulders and wicked, dry sense of humor. Her mother, also named Louise, was full of fun with love to spare for Beatles fans, who she regularly corresponded with, and for John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who'd both lost their mothers while growing up. She enjoyed playing mum to both, and had an especially close friendship with John.
We hear so much about the tough upbringing of the Beatles and their troubled family lives. The Harrisons, though they struggled economically, seem to be the exception. By Louise's account, this was a very happy home.
Later, in America, she describes a calm-to-boring, middle-class life in Illinois as an expatriate young mother - until the Beatles came along. Excited by her brother's growing success in Britain, she became America's first Beatles booster, energetically reaching out to her area radio stations and newspapers to plug the band.
The book includes several letters to Louise from George Martin, Brian Epstein and Dick James thanking and encouraging her. During George's visit to Benton, she secured him a radio interview and encouraged him to sit in with local band, the Four Vests, who were impressed by his guitar-playing and surprised by his long hair.
Louise later had a chance to meet Ed Sullivan, during the Beatles' first appearance on his show, and took care of her brother, who'd come down with strep throat shortly before the band landed in America.
As the Beatles took off in America, so did Louise's career as a booster. For a time, she hosted a syndicated radio spot, addressing fans' questions about the band and dispelling rumors.
She does a little of that in this book, too. For one, she provides evidence that psychic Jeanne Dixon's prediction that the Beatles would die in a plane crash never occurred, although it's been mentioned in numerous Beatles books. In the book, Louise publishes a letter from Dixon, written in 1964, saying she'd never made such a prediction.
But a big chunk of this book is about Louise, not the Beatles. We learn about her experiences settling in America and a troubled first marriage and a better second one that didn't last. She shares stories about her work as an environmental crusader and she relays her left-leaning views on a number of topics. It's a little like listening to an older aunt, who's fun and full of opinions, though some readers, no doubt, would rather hear more about George.
Though she lived on George's Friar Park estate for a time in the 1970s and was in contact with her brother throughout his life, we hear little about the Beatles post 1965, which leaves you wanting a little more. There's only passing mention of George's second wife, Olivia, and their son, Dhani, though Louise speaks fondly of George's first wife, Pattie.
Along the way, she promises a follow-up volume including letters her mother sent her during the Beatles' years, detailing the day-to-day activities of the group and their rising profile in Britain. I hope she'll come through, as that would be a great addition, as is this book, to what we already know about the band and its history.
It's a bit of trivia not widely known outside Beatlemaniac circles, but one that's made Louise a fixture at Beatles conventions, where she's attracted her own faithful following.
Louise speaks engagingly about that visit and about her early efforts to plug the Beatles on her area radio stations, before everyone had heard "I Want to Hold Your Hand." For years, her own fans have been after her to write a book.
The result, "My Kid Brother's Band a.k.a. the Beatles!," isn't a tell-all about George, the most private of all the Beatles. But Louise does provide some nice details of the Harrison family and Liverpool during the 1940 and 1950s, before she left for Canada and the the U.S.
Twelve years older than George, she remembers a lot from those days. We get a clear picture of what it was like growing up in the free-spirited Harrison home. Louise clearly adored her parents.
Her father Harry,was a city bus driver and union leader with a good head on his shoulders and wicked, dry sense of humor. Her mother, also named Louise, was full of fun with love to spare for Beatles fans, who she regularly corresponded with, and for John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who'd both lost their mothers while growing up. She enjoyed playing mum to both, and had an especially close friendship with John.
We hear so much about the tough upbringing of the Beatles and their troubled family lives. The Harrisons, though they struggled economically, seem to be the exception. By Louise's account, this was a very happy home.
Later, in America, she describes a calm-to-boring, middle-class life in Illinois as an expatriate young mother - until the Beatles came along. Excited by her brother's growing success in Britain, she became America's first Beatles booster, energetically reaching out to her area radio stations and newspapers to plug the band.
The book includes several letters to Louise from George Martin, Brian Epstein and Dick James thanking and encouraging her. During George's visit to Benton, she secured him a radio interview and encouraged him to sit in with local band, the Four Vests, who were impressed by his guitar-playing and surprised by his long hair.
As the Beatles took off in America, so did Louise's career as a booster. For a time, she hosted a syndicated radio spot, addressing fans' questions about the band and dispelling rumors.
She does a little of that in this book, too. For one, she provides evidence that psychic Jeanne Dixon's prediction that the Beatles would die in a plane crash never occurred, although it's been mentioned in numerous Beatles books. In the book, Louise publishes a letter from Dixon, written in 1964, saying she'd never made such a prediction.
But a big chunk of this book is about Louise, not the Beatles. We learn about her experiences settling in America and a troubled first marriage and a better second one that didn't last. She shares stories about her work as an environmental crusader and she relays her left-leaning views on a number of topics. It's a little like listening to an older aunt, who's fun and full of opinions, though some readers, no doubt, would rather hear more about George.
Though she lived on George's Friar Park estate for a time in the 1970s and was in contact with her brother throughout his life, we hear little about the Beatles post 1965, which leaves you wanting a little more. There's only passing mention of George's second wife, Olivia, and their son, Dhani, though Louise speaks fondly of George's first wife, Pattie.
Along the way, she promises a follow-up volume including letters her mother sent her during the Beatles' years, detailing the day-to-day activities of the group and their rising profile in Britain. I hope she'll come through, as that would be a great addition, as is this book, to what we already know about the band and its history.
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