George Harrison, accompanied by his wife Pattie, plus Ringo Starr, Maureen Starkey and Mal Evans, had travelled to California on 7 June 1968. The purpose of the visit was the filming of scenes for Ravi Shankar's feature film Raga.
Harrison's scenes were filmed on this and the following day, at a country retreat overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur. The first day involved Harrison being filmed learning a new raga from Shankar, and sitting on grass with a view of the ocean.
The scene was not rehearsed, and no dialogue was prepared. Harrison and Shankar spoke and played while cameras shot around 30 minutes of footage.
The party returned to England on 18 June.
Also on this day...
- 2014: Ringo Starr live at Palace Theatre, Albany, New York
- 2014: Paul McCartney postpones seven US tour dates
- 2013: Paul McCartney live at Barclays Center, New York
- 2011: Paul McCartney live at MGM Grand Garden, Las Vegas
- 2007: Yoko Ono appears on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs
- 1968: Recording: Revolution 9
- 1966: UK single release: Paperback Writer
- 1964: Interview in Hong Kong
- 1964: Mixing: I’ll Be Back
- 1963: Live: Pavilion, Bath
- 1961: Live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Big Sur is not in San Francisco; rather, it’s on a spectacular strip of California coast-line about 150 miles south of SF. (No need to post this, but thought you might want to make the correction.)