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Who Was The Nicest Beatle!
16 November 2012
8.12pm
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Zig
The Toppermost of the Poppermost
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fabfouremily said
Here´s a question – how do you define ”nice”? Generally kind all of the time (which nobody is), a pushover, somebody who doesn´t speak up for themselves, someone who throws money at people?? I don´t think this question has an answer. They all had different aspects to their personality, just like anybody, and they could all be nice at times, and not.

 

Bravo! I have stumbled across this thread so many times but could not make up my mind as to which was the nicest. My natural inclination was to pick George as he is my favorite. Whether or not he would be considered the nicest is up for debate, but there is no doubt in my mind he was the most sincere.

To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.

19 November 2012
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vonbontee
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Well, George organized the Concert for Bangla-Desh, which I only recently learned was really one of the first big rock-charity things, so that’s a big vote in his favour. But he diid a few curmudgeonly things that make him seem like a bit of a jerk, too. He was probably the least fan-friendly Beatle, as far as that goes.

Really, I wouldn’t be surprised if the nicest Beatle turned out to be Stu Sutcliffe or Pete Best, strictly by default.

GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty. 

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https://rateyourmusic.com/~Myo.....Von_Bontee

18 December 2012
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bewareofchairs
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I kinda feel the need to stick up for George here. I by no means think of him as an angel and am sure he could be very moody, but he seems to have a reputation of being a grump and not very nice to fans which isn’t really true. I think there’s a difference between being mean and not taking shit from anybody. In almost all the stories I’ve read on http://meetthebeatlesforreal.b…..ogspot.com, he comes across as incredibly sweet, warm and humble. Here’s one example from 1977, when a fan met him at Fiar Park (I took some parts out as it was very long): 

“You’ve got many guitars, don’t you George?”

“Yes.”

“How much?  Fifty?”

“Nooooo! (he was thinking for a few seconds) about twenty.”

“Oh that’s nice.  You gave one to Mary Hopkin.  When I read it I was not too pleased.”

“Yeah, because she wanted to play a guitar and didn’t have enough money, so I bought a guitar for her.”
Next I had black and white photos which I gave to him to see. During that time Olivia had gone (only Harold was still standing near – unfortunately!), but now she appeared again and said something to George, very quiet, point at the door. So I got up quickly and said “Oh, George, you’ve got to go….”
“No, that’s all right,” said George, stretching out his hand for another photo. It was so nice of him. “How many concerts did you do?” I asked.
“About 45.”  I mentioned about his pirate flag, and George looked at it, trying to restrain a smile and said “I don’t know who put it on, looks so stupid…”  During that time Olivia came again and said to George that this man, a manager or somebody important (in show biz) is still waiting – don’t know what she said exactly, so I got up and said, “You’ve got to go, George…” But he only showed by gesture of his hand that I should squat again, and said, “No, that’s all right. You came a long way, waited for so long.” 
 
“Oh, George, thank you very much for all the books about Krishna. Once, you took my letter to Los Angeles and went to Temple and asked to send books for me. Thank you!”
“Oh, that’s all right. Were they sent to you?” he asked.
“Yes! Thank you very much!” 
Then I asked him, “Is it hard to meditate?”
“Yes, it’s quite hard. Some people say it takes years before they could meditate.”
“Does it help for sadness or something like that?”
“Oh yes.  And your energy is going inside, not outside. You know, everybody shows energy outside and it’s inside.” He said accenting some words.
I said, “I would like to be able to meditate.”
“You should while you are in England. Look at the yellow part of the telephone book,” he said pointing a finger at me.
“Yes, I will.”  And then George became serious and started to explain something to me, he was translating something.  He was very involved in what he was saying, looking straight into my eyes and was expressing everything by hands, used them a lot, and was talking and talking and talking.  But what was he talking about?  With a big shame, I have to say I don’t really know because during that time I was looking at him and forget about the whole world. I only remember that I was nodding my head and smiling stupidly, but I wasn’t listening! George had to notice this, as he sometimes tried not to smile. Anyway, I’m sure he was telling me about meditation, yoga and religion, about God and Krishna. And then, suddenly, somebody called on George from the door. It was Olivia and she wanted to remind George that this man was still waiting. So George looked at me with a sweet smile and “I’m sorry” expression in his eyes and on his face, and said that he was very sorry but now he really had to go. It was almost 45 minutes that we were talking anyway! So I said, “Oh, George, I’ve got my school for 6 days, all the weekend will be free, so could it be possible to see you just for a few minutes?”
“Yeah all right,” he said.
“As I wouldn’t like to take your time, to disturb you.”
“Yeah Yeah.”
“So maybe I should write and ask if I could meet you, or you could telephone me?  Oh I don’t know where you could telephone, I’ll not be staying at that woman’s, maybe I could just telephone you?”
And you know what he said?!?!
“Yeah, ok!”
“So could you write me your number?”
“Yeah, of course,” he said. And George took my ball-pen and my memoir book which he signed and wrote his telephone number.”
 
There was also this letter he sent to the Apple Scruffs after completing All Things Must Pass :
 
“Dear Carol, Cathy and Lucy. Now it’s finished – and off to the factory. I thought I’d tell you that I haven’t a clue whether it’s good or bad as I’ve heard it too much now! During the making of this epic album (the most expensive album EMI ever had to pay for) I have felt positive and negative – pleased and displeased, and all the other opposites expected to be found in this material world. However, the one thing that didn’t waver, seems to me, to be ‘you three’ and Mal, always there as my sole supporters, and even during my worst moments I always felt the encouragement from you was sufficient to make me finish the thing. Thanks a lot, I am really overwhelmed by your apparent undying love, and I don’t understand it at all! Love from George (P.S. Please don’t hold this evidence against me.) P.P.S. Phil Spector loves you too!”
18 December 2012
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bewareofchairs
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Ultimately, I think they were all pretty nice guys considering (even John at times), but given the circumstances and scummy people they had to deal with, I imagine they became very cynical and weary and yes did some bastard things themselves. 

One more George story I’m going to post because I just think it’s so lovely. Again I had to take some bits out, but you get the idea (and again it’s from 1977, while George was in his car outside Friar Park):

“I um..I have some gifts for you. Some Christmas presents. Will you accept them?” (I don’t know why I did it, but I had a bunch of daisies for him and I practically shoved them in his lap.  He was acting very hesitant, like he didn’t know what to do.)
“Well, I don’t know.  I mean, do you want me to?”
“Of course I do!”
“Well, OK, but you didn’t really have to do it.  You didn’t have to get me anything.”
“Oh yes I did.”
“But I don’t really deserve anything.”
“I think you do.  Will you accept them please?”
“Well, yeah, OK.”
“Oh good! OK, here’s the first one.”  I handed the gift to him and he set it down on the bucket seat next to him. 
 
He picked the first gift off and seat and started to rip the wrapping paper off as I said, “This one was made by a friend of mine for you.” George unfolded it and layed it on the steering wheel so he could see it better.  It was a rug with the OM design in red on bright yellow. “Oh! That is very nice. And she made it herself?”
“No, HE did. He wanted to make you something nice for Christmas, and I promised him that if I saw you I’d give it to you, so there it is.”
“Oh, that’s nice! Tell him thank you for me.”
“I will. OK. Now here’s the 2nd one.” I handed it to him. He pulled the ribbon off and ripped it open.  
“Oh!  Saturday Night Live! (the book).  I haven’t seen this one yet.” He flipped through the pages.
“I saw it in a bookstore and thought you might enjoy it.”  He set the book down on the seat next to him.  “OK.  Now here is the last one.” I said handing it to him.  Again, he just pulled the ribbon off and ripped it open.  It was a small teakwood box inlaid in with ivory.  
 “Can you see what it is?” I asked.
“Yeah, a mother-of-Pearl OM.”  (He was not impressed)
“I sent one to you in a letter about a year and a half ago, but I never knew if you got it. I wanted you to have one.”
“Yeah.  Well, you know, since I’ve been putting them (OM’s) on the albums I just get hundreds of them and I don’t know what to do with them all.  I can’t wear them all.”
“Yeah, I can understand that.”
“But if people want to do that sort of thing and send them, that’s great.  As long as they understand what it means, you know?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
“You’re a really nice person.  Thank you for the nice presents.  I’m sorry you had to wait out here so long.”
“Oh, that’s OK.  I don’t mind.”
“You shouldn’t wait out here in the cold for so long.  I’m not worth all that.”
“I think you are.  Look, all I’m trying to do is thank you.”  I tried to explain.  “I just want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me and..” I lost my words, so I quickly added, “this isn’t cold.”  (It was 38 degrees F).  Besides, I waited outside for 36 hours in Detroit to get tickets for your show, so this doesn’t bother me at all.  I’m used to it.”
After a bit of silence, George looked right into me and said, “You really are a very beautiful person.”  He smiled.
9 January 2013
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zarniw00
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I have never responded to a post before so I hope I am doing it right. I think George was the nicest Beatle but I also really like Paul. Why? I think George grew most during his life and he was altruistic and sincere. I like that he lived out what he believed. He was a wonderfully compassionate and thought about others as well as himself. The Concert for Bangladesh was evidence of this.  There is a novel in which his personality is highlighted. It is well researched. It is called ‘Compline’ and is by Gladys Pagendam.  You can find it on Amazon.com and Amazon.com Kindle books. The author lived around the corner from him during her teens – in Liverpool of course, though she says she never met him. She says she probably travelled into Liverpool City many times on the same bus as him because there was only one bus that went that way. Her novel is written from that premise. She also danced at the cavern when they were rising to fame and there are some nice little snippets in her novel about the Beatles and the things they did – like smoking tea leaves. Hilarious! I love her portrayal of him.It’s humourous, deep, and imaginative. I really don’t like comparing them because they were all so different. They were all fab and the two that have survived to date are still fab, or gear as we used to say in Liverpool. They’re the gear, aren’t they?

Inner Light said 

I was wondering who was the nicest Beatle. From all that I have read, it seems that George has always been considered the nicest with the fans and during his interviews which he did not do very often. 

Has anyone meet any of the fab four and if so, what was your experience lik

9 January 2013
12.29pm
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Joe
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Ken Scott, in his book, is most complimentary about George. He (Scott) is quite bitter at the lack of gold/silver records that the engineers received – ie none (apparently the Apple HQ has *loads*), but George unexpectedly sent him one for his work on ATMP .

Scott says John could be delightful, demonic and funny, all within the space of 10 minutes. Ringo was pleasant but IIRC he never got too close to him. Paul basically blanked him after The Beatles’ split, even though they worked in the same building on several occasions (I suspect he did this with a lot of former Beatles associates). The one time McCartney took the time to speak to Scott was in the studio the week when Ziggy Stardust (which Scott produced) was number one, and suddenly he had a reason to be pleasant – the previous times Scott said Hello he was either ignored or brushed aside.

That’s a summary of what he says – he’s generally not a bitter man, so it’s not really a ranting book, but a few things sneak out here and there.

 There is a novel in which his personality is highlighted. It is well researched. It is called ‘Compline’ and is by Gladys Pagendam.  You can find it on Amazon.com and Amazon.com Kindle books. The author lived around the corner from him during her teens – in Liverpool of course, though she says she never met him. She says she probably travelled into Liverpool City many times on the same bus as him because there was only one bus that went that way. Her novel is written from that premise. She also danced at the cavern when they were rising to fame and there are some nice little snippets in her novel about the Beatles and the things they did – like smoking tea leaves. Hilarious! I love her portrayal of him.It’s humourous, deep, and imaginative. I really don’t like comparing them because they were all so different. They were all fab and the two that have survived to date are still fab, or gear as we used to say in Liverpool. They’re the gear, aren’t they?

“She says”? Why not write in the first person, Gladys?

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