Dinsdalep@aol.com (DinsdaleP) posted the following article on Rec.music.beatles on February 13, 2003. It is a George Harrison interview with Ritchie Yorke, September, 1969.  When I question him as to who had published the interview, DinsdaleP made the following statement back to me in an e-mail correspondence:  "I actually transcribed it from a recording that is circulating - I'm not sure if the full interview appeared anywhere, although Yorke sold part of it to "Rolling Stone".  Here then, is the complete George Harrison interview with Ritchie York...

-- John Whelan, Chief Researcher for the Ottawa Beatles Site

 

Ritchie Yorke: George, firstly, let's talk about the new album, "Abbey Road". I'd like to sort of run through the tracks and ask you, uh, how you feel about them. Anything at all that comes to mind.

George: Okay.

Ritchie Yorke: Let's start with the first one, "Come Together".

George: "Come Together" was one of the ones, um... one of the last ones to be recorded. One of John's songs. Y'know, John was in an accident, so he was off for a period of time, and then when we got back, we - which was only a week or so before we finished the album, we did this one. So I think he wrote it only a month or so ago.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: So it's very new. And, uh... it's sort of twelve-bar type of tune. And, uh, just - it's very - it's one of the nicest sounds we've got, actually. Nice drumming from Ringo. And it's sort of up-tempo, I s'pose you'd call it, a
rocker. Rocker-beat-a-boogie. Yeah, um... with -

Ritchie Yorke: How 'bout "Something"?

George: - very Lennon lyrics as well, "Come Together". "Something" is a song of mine I wrote towards the end of, um... that "The Beatles" album, you know, the White Album. I wrote it as we were still recording that album. But I never finished it off. I could never think of words for it. And, um, also because there was a James Taylor song called "Something In The Way She Moves", which is the first line of that. And so then I - I thought of trying to change the words, but they were the words that came when I first wrote it, so in the end I just left it as
that, and just called it "Something". And, um... actually, I think Joe Cocker's recorded this song.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: Because, um... when I wrote it, I imagined somebody like Ray Charles doing it. It's - y'know, that's how I - the feel I imagined, but because I'm not Ray Charles, then - y'know, I'm sort of much more limited in what I can do, then it came out like this. It's nice. It's probably the - the nicest, um, melody tune that I've written. And uh, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is, uh... is just something of Paul's which he's been - we've been trying to record it. We'd record - we spent a hell of a lot of time on it. And uh, it's one of those that... instant sort of whistle-along tunes, which - I dunno, some people'll hate, and some people'll really love it. Y'know, it's more like, um... sort of "Honey - Honey Pie".

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: Y'know, fun sort of song. But it's pretty sick as well, though, 'cause the guy gets - keeps killing everybody! But, um... that was good, because - you know I had that synthesizer.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: And it's, um... that's one of the tunes we use synthesizer on. Which is pretty effective on this. "Oh! Darling" to me is another of Paul's songs which is typical sort of 1950-60 period type of song, the chord structure and
everything. It's really nice. Uh, you know those groups, can't think of the names, uh...

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, like The Moonglows, and -

George: Yeah, y'know. There was a period, there was hundreds of -

Ritchie Yorke: - The Monotones.

George: Yeah. Well, it's typical sort of 1955-type song.

Ritchie Yorke: Uh, "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", there was a feel of that, too. In the -

George: Yeah, yeah, yeah. With the vocal group.

Ritchie Yorke: "Doo wah wah"s and so on.

George: Yeah, that's it. But this is more really just, um, Paul singing. We do a few "ooh"s in the background which are - you can - just very Ritchie Yorke:uietly, but it's mainly Paul shouting. "Octopus's Garden" is Ringo's song. Is the second song Ringo wrote.

Ritchie Yorke: Right.

George: And it's, um... it's lovely, y'know. It's again, like Ringo, he gets bored, y'know, playing the drums. And at home he plays a bit of piano, but he only knows about three chords. And he knows about the same on guitar. And so... uh, his main - the main music he likes is country and western, so it's really got a country-western feel, y'know. And, uh... it's - actually, it's - I think it's a really great song, because... um, on the surface, it just - it's like a daft kids' song. But the lyrics are great, really. For me, y'know, I find ve- very deep meaning in the
lyrics, which Ringo doesn't - probably doesn't see, but all the thing like "resting our head on the sea bed" and something, "We'll be warm beneath the storm". Which is really great, y'know, because it's like this level is a storm, and it's always - y'know, if you get sort of deep in your consciousness, it's very peaceful. So Ringo's writing his cosmic songs without noticing! Uh, "I Want You", the last one on this side, is... uh, "She - I Want You", brackets, "She's So Heavy". It is - it gets sort of ve- it is sort of very heavy. And, um, it's - John plays lead guitar and sings the same as he plays. And, uh...this is good because it has, um - it's really basically a bit like a blues. The riff that he sings and plays is really a very basic blues-type thing. But again, it's very original sort of John-type song. But you thought I'd written it!

Ritchie Yorke: Right.

George: Sorry!

Ritchie Yorke: I've got to admit that.

George: Uh, and the middle bit's great. John has a... an amazing thing with his timing. He always comes across with sort of different timing things, like - example, "All You Need Is Love". "Nothing you can do that can't be done... daw da dun... nothin diddle da da sung". Which just sort of skips beats out and changes from three bar - 3/4, 4/4. Y'know, all in and out of each other. But when you question him as to what it is, he doesn't know. He just does it naturally, and once you try and pin it down, he - y'know. And this has got - the bridge section of this is a bit like that, it's got a really very good, um... chord seRitchie Yorke:uence that he uses. Uh, side two, "Here Comes The Sun" is the other song that I wrote on the album. And, uh, it was written on a nice sunny day this, um... early summer. In Eric Clapton's garden.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh yeah?

George: Because - oh, we'd been through really hell with business, and, y'know, it was very heavy. And on that day I just felt as though I was sagging off, like from school, it was like that. I just didn't come in one day. And just the release of being in the sun and the - it was just really nice day. And that - I just - that song just came. It - it's a bit like "If I Needed Someone" and, y'know, like that basic sort of - the riff going through it is the same as, uh
- y'know, all those "Bells Of Rhymney" sort of Byrd-type thing.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: Well, that's how I see it anyway. But Ritchie Yorke:uite a simple tune. "Because" is one of the most beautiful tunes. And I think it's three-part harmony, John, Paul and George all sing it together. John wrote this tune. It's a bit like - the backing's a bit like Beethoven. And uh, three-part harmony right throughout.

Ritchie Yorke: It sounds very much like a Paul McCartney song, rather than John. As in the past, you know.

George: Yeah. Well... yeah, because of the sweetness of it. Paul usually writes the sweeter tunes, and John writes the sort of - more the rave-up things, or the freakier things. But this is the thing, y'know, John's getting to where he doesn't want to - y'know, he just wants to write twelve-bars. But you can't deny it, I think this is possibly my favourite one on the album, because it's - it's just so simple, the lyrics are so simple. The harmony was pretty difficult to sing it. We -y'know, had to really learn it. But, um... that's - I think that's one of the tunes that will impress most people. Y'know, like hip people'll dig it too, but straight through, all the straight people'll dig it,
and the music people'll dig it, y'know. It's really good. Then begins the sort of big medley of Paul and John's songs all shoved together. Uh, "You Never Give Me Your Money"... it's really hard - you have to hear this, because it's - it does like two verses of one tune. And then it goes - the sort of bridge of it is like a different song all together. Which goes out of that into, um... this is quite melodic and stuff. Then "Sun King" is a bit of sort of John's thing. Which has got a funny bit, it's like, uh... I think John called this one "Los Paranioas".

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah?

George: Uh, "Mean Mr. Mustard" John wrote, and "Polythene Pam", I think he wrote both of those in India about eighteen months ago. Uh, "Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is very good song of Paul's, with good lyrics. I do- it's really hard to explain what they're about.

Ritchie Yorke: Hmm.

George: Anyway. And "Golden Slumbers", which they all - all these link up. "Golden Slumbers" is another very melodic tune of Paul's. Which is very nice. "Carry That Weight" is, um... as if it's part of "Golden Slumbers". In fact, "Carry That Weight" keeps coming in and out of it. Different times. And "The End" is just the end, it's just a little sort of sequence which ends it all. And, uh...you really have to hear all that. But it's - so far, I can't - maybe it's when I get the album finished and in the sleeve, then I'll get some sort of impression of it, but so far - y'know, like with "Pepper" and even that "White Album", I got an overall image of my own of the album, whereas with this one, I'm at a loss. Y'know, people have said it's go - it's a bit more like "Revolver". Maybe it is, but I - it still feels very abstract to me, I can't, like, see it as a whole. Y'know, you get an image of an album.

Ritchie Yorke: It's all still parts.

George: Not really, it all gels, it fits together and that, but I can't - it's a bit like it's somebody else, y'know?

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: It doesn't feel as - as though it's us. Even though we - y'know, we spent hours doing it, I still don't see it like us. It's more like just somebody else. But it's - I think it's a very good album.

Ritchie Yorke: George, I think it might be possible now for you to sort of make some comment about the last album. There were sort of very mixed reaction, I s'pose you -

George: Which, the White Album?

Ritchie Yorke: The white one, yeah.

George: Yeah.

Ritchie Yorke: I guess you saw a lot of the reviews and so on. Some people call it the best thing since "Sgt. Pepper", other people panned it. There was such a wide sort of variety.

George: Yeah.

Ritchie Yorke: How do you feel about it now?

George: Well, I think in a way it was a mistake doing four sides. Because, um...first of all, it - it's too big for people to really get into it. For reviewers and also the public. Maybe now people have bought it, and if they've really listened to it for years, or since it was out, then they - y'know, they'll have their own favourites, and there's a couple of things that we could've done without on the album. And, uh, maybe if we'd have made it just compact, fourteen songs, say.

Ritchie Yorke: Which tracks are you thinking of in particular, the ones you...

George: The - well, things, uh - but then again, it's only my personal thing.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, sure.

George: Y'know, because in a way, "Revolution Number 9" was all right, but it wasn't particularly like Beatles thing.

Ritchie Yorke: A lot of people put the album down purely because of that track, didn't they?

George: Yeah. But then again, y'know, it has a good point, because "Revolution Number 9" worked very well in the context of all those different songs. I mean, that was the great thing about it. That if people spent enough time listening to it, then - there was all different types of music and types of songs. And there was nothing really shocking about it. I don't think there was anything particularly poor -

Ritchie Yorke: No.

George: - about it. But, um... it was a bit heavy. Y'know, I find it heavy to listen to myself. In fact, I don't listen to it meself. I listen to mainly side one, which I like very much, with, y'know... uh, "Glass Onion" and, um, what else?
"Glass Onion"...

Ritchie Yorke: "Back In The USSR"?

George: ..."Warm Gun", yeah. I like -

Ritchie Yorke: "Warm Gun". "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

George: Yeah.

Ritchie Yorke: Which I thought was a great track. How did that come about? How did you sort of write that one and so on?

George: Um... I wrote it at my mother's house in the north of England.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, yeah.

George: I just had me guitar and, uh, I think I - I just opened - that's right, I just wanted to write a song, and - I do this often, actually. If I haven't got particularly an idea for a song, then I believe in - a bit like I Ching, y'know, where it's - everything is - at that moment is relative to that situation. So with - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", I think, was typical of that. I just opened a book that, uh, that was around. I just opened it, and the first thing I looked at became the song, and it was something about "gently weeps". And then from that, it - my - the whole thought started going, and I just wrote the song then. Just closed the book again and I had the idea. Yeah, I like that. We did it... uh, I think - you know Eric Clapton played guitar on that.

Ritchie Yorke: Right.

George: I think lots of people - some people wrote letters to me saying, "You've got a really good blues feel, the way you play that guitar." And, uh, we didn't publicize it, but we didn't like keep it a secret.

Ritchie Yorke: No, no.

George: Eric's sort of good friend of mine, and I really dig him as a guitarist and as a guy.

Ritchie Yorke: 'Cause you got - you got Eric to go to Toronto with John, didn't you, on the weekend?

George: Yeah, yeah. Well, I suggested Eric, 'cause I know he's - he really likes being on the road. Self-torture.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: And he digs all that, and um, he's very good at being put in a situation and he'll come out of it, y'know. He'll - he's good at improvising and, um... just, y'know, adapting at very short notice to the situation.

Ritchie Yorke: How about - one keeps reading so many conflicting stories about The Beatles touring. And the Stones are now gonna do a North American tour, as you probably heard, next month. And so the question comes up again -

George: Well, I think they need the money.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah, Keith Richards admits it!

George: Yeah, so, y'know, I dunno how much they're doing it to, um, how much they're doing it to - for the idea of wanting to go on the road, and how much for - y'know, to make a bit of bread. But whichever way, whichever way, it's good, y'know. It's - y'know, I don't put 'em down for making - wanting to make bread. I think that's why I'd go on the - tour again, because... but I don't particularly want the bread. Y'know, I'd rather make it from other ways, but...


Ritchie Yorke: You're not really sort of anxious to get out there.

George: No. But then again, for the Stones, it's like a whole new scene again for them with their new guitarist, who's fantastic guitarist. And so it - that will put a lot of life back in the band.

Ritchie Yorke: But as Keith said, I was talking to Keith the other day, and he said that originally, he felt that the Stones were more a performing group than The Beatles, whereas The Beatles were a recording group, and the Stones never were.

George: Well, no.

Ritchie Yorke: That was his sort of opinion.

George: Well, we, um - we performed until that last tour we did, that was our whole thing. We performed from before we were famous, right from when we were at school, we just performed all the time. And, uh... probably in - well, in my opinion, our peak for being - for playing live was in Hamburg. 'Cause at that time we weren't famous, and so the people who came to see us were drawn in by the music or by whatever atmosphere we created, and also that time, with us being from Liverpool, it was a big scene, because they'd always say you've got to be from London to - y'know, and they always thought we were hick or something. But when we played in Hamburg, they kept wanting us back there because we were pulling lots of people and we got very good as a band there, because we had to play eight hours a night.

Ritchie Yorke: It's an incredible little place, the Star-Club. I went there last year.

George: Yeah.

Ritchie Yorke: It's really a sort of - a way-out sort of spot to play at.

George: But we played at about three other places. We first went to a place called the Indra. Which was shut down, and then we went to the Kaiserkeller, and then we went to the Top Ten, which is probably the best one on the Reeperbahn. And it was really - at the time, it was fantastic. Echo on the microphones, and -

Ritchie Yorke: Really?

George: - y'know, it was really a gas. And we got a big repertoire of some of our own songs, but mainly all the old rock son- in fact, everything. We used to play "Moonglow" and, um... y'know, all sorts of things in those days. Because we were on for so long.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: But we got very tight as a band, and because it was the period in England when it was all matching ties and handkerchiefs, and doing routines, like the Shadows. And we were out of it for that, so we just kept playing the rock 'n' roll things. And the stuff from records we used to get from Brian Epstein's shop before we met him. But they used to stock up with every record that was ever issued. So we'd go in there and spend afternoons rooting through. We used to do all those Barrett Strong, y'know, "Money" and all the sort of tunes that weren't popular particularly, but were quite heavy. And all the Chuck Berry, Little Richard, all the rock 'n' roll things.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: And we just kept doing that when that sort of period had died out. And so when we came back into England, we were regarded as sort of a new thing. But all we were was the past, now, y'know? And then, uh, that time was particularly good, but then we started to get famous, and do our own songs more, and, um... then go on the road, and we had to play our records to promote them and, y'know, to sing our hits and stuff. And that led right up to the last tour, y'know, where it was just a rut. We'd just play the same stuff to different people all over the place, and...

Ritchie Yorke: You'd rather have played what you wanted to play.

George: Well -

Ritchie Yorke: Rather than having to play "She Loves You" or sort of -

George: Well... it did get boring.

Ritchie Yorke: Y'know, wouldn't it have been nice to turn around and say, "Let's do", uh - y'know, just anything out of the blue, just for fun?

George: Yeah, but af- it was sort of a slow process. At first, y'know, it was really nice to be booked on some place and know that the people were coming to - because we'd had hit records. And we started to make a bit of money and they came, and - and we always had new songs to promote and stuff, but... when we really got big, it was... we were - got very bored with it, because we had to do, really - y'know, we had to do "She Loves You" and things. And it was not bad at first, but - but then we - y'know, we just got tired of it, and we were trapped ourselves, because we couldn't really play anything else. We didn't have time to do anything else other than our own songs. And it got all very boring for us. And then the concerts got bigger and bigger until - I dunno if you saw the Shea Stadium film.

Ritchie Yorke: No, I heard about it.

George: Well, the thing from - from that, when I look at the film, we were just doing our - y'know, we - we had a good time. We tried to have a good time, but the show we did was for ourselves. And, uh, those people were sort of miles away. And they were doi- on their own scene. Y'know, the audience were all buzzing away and leaping up and down doing all that. And we were just playing loud.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: But the sound was always bad, and we'd just be joking to each other, to keep ourselves amused, and it was very impersonal, and got - and not only that, with - there were so many police and kids and flying around. It was - it was really like - we got into a big political thing. Y'know, with all that Christ and Manila and things. And at that time, I just was so sick of it, I think we all were. It was like nervous wrecks gettin' flown around everywhere, and press conferences everywhere we went, y'know. It was - it was just too much.

Ritchie Yorke: Never relaxed, it was always sort of -

George: No.

Ritchie Yorke: - hustling -

George: And that's the thing where I can't see us going on the road again, because it'd be the same, exactly like - and possibly even wilder now. Because a lot of people say, "Oh, it wouldn't be the same, we'd all be quiet." And they've all got petitions saying, "Come back and tour and we promise we won't shout." But those - we'd have to play in those big baseball places again, or a little club. And then the only point of playing in a little club'd be for ourselves and the handful of people who'd fit in there.

Ritchie Yorke: Yeah.

George: So there's just no way, y'know. I can't see any way. I don't want to repeat that fiasco of, y'know, aero planes and...

Ritchie Yorke: But you're much - you're much happier now sort of doing this. Um, just recording when you sort of - when you all feel that you'd like to record, and sort of, I guess, following some other interests which you probably have
developed.

George: Yeah.

Ritchie Yorke: And having a lot of time to do it.

George: Well, also, we got involved with this business thing.

Ritchie Yorke: Oh, of course, yeah.

George: Which, um... we were always really involved in. Y'know, maybe people think, "It's a drag, The Beatles doing that business thing", but we were always involved in it, but we just didn't notice about it, because Brian Epstein did it. But when he died, we suddenly realized that there was a lot of people who all - they had contracts with, and involvements with, and - oh, y'know, it was just ridiculous, the - we had to try and solve that problem and sort it all out. And, uh...

Ritchie Yorke: Was that - was it really a great loss to the group? Brian dying, I mean...

George: Well...

Ritchie Yorke: Looking back on it now, you know. Do you think it would have changed the direction in which you went?

George: In a way, but I think it was part of it. Y'know, it's like - I think it was just as much part of our past as, say, playing on the first "Ed Sullivan Show".  Y'know, it was just a thing that happened. And uh, it had to happen. Because in a way if Brian - if he hadn't died, I can't imagine where we'd be if he hadn't died, because, uh... I just - y'know, it's impossible to imagine. But because he died, we suddenly had to find out and be responsible for ourselves. Which we were anyway. But we - we sort of... the business side of it was abstract then, because we always imagined, "Well, Brian does that, and everything's fine." Even when it wasn't fine. But with nobody being there, it was directly up to us, y'know, to work out what we had to do with ourselves. And, uh... so consequently we came to find out to our horror all this past thing that we'd involved with. Contracts and business and - oh, tax, and - y'know, all those things. And, uh...

Ritchie Yorke: Are you happy - happy the way Apple's going now? I mean, there've been some rather significant changes.

George: Well, quite happy, but it's not... it's like, um... the way to explain it's like a rumour, y'know, if - if you say to one person such-and-such a thing, and he says it to somebody else, and he says it. And by the time it comes back to you, it's nothing to do with what you originally said. And that's the main problem with Apple. Or I'm sure with any business. It's like what you basically think of, to get the end product still the same as what - as that, that's the difficult thing. 'Cause you say to somebody, "Okay, now there's the thing, now do that." And it comes back just slightly different, and takes a lot of time, and... really what Apple was trying to be is just a service for - for The Beatles. And as somebody, I think Derek, put it, it's just, um, for our whims. Derek? How did you describe Apple? It's what?

Derek Taylor: When?

George: To - something, y'know, for our whims.

Derek Taylor: It's a s- it's an organization which has developed, without anyone really planning it this way, as a ser- as a service which exists to implement the whims of The Beatles.

George: So, y'know, that's what -

Derek Taylor: Which, comma, fortunately, comma, do normally turn out to be commercial. However, if they didn't, we'd still have to do it. And that's okay. 'Cause that's what we - that's the gig. The gig is not Apple, the gig is working for
The Beatles.

Ritchie Yorke: Organizing their whole thing.

Derek Taylor: You see, the gig is that you come here, and you work for The Beatles. Now, the latest whim is to take the worst minority religious cult in England and get a top thirty record with it in ten days. Okay. So that's really what it is now. It's nothing else. And that was all it was ever going to be. And it's a bit - it's a bit smaller, that's all. But it'll get bigger again.

George: But it really is - no, it won't. The thing is -

Derek Taylor: Well, I mean, more records.

George: Oh, yeah. The thing is, it's to service us, and - and our whims, as Derek said. Which - y'know, and I - sometimes they're not totally our whims, sometimes like because of circumstances, you get involved. That's - the hard thing is not to be involved. Because - just like, for example -

Derek Taylor: One minute!

George: For example, like, um, say Jackie. Y'know, Jackie Lomax. Well, I became his record producer purely because I happened to walk in the room that day. And it happened to be me who walked in the room, and he was somebody - few people have been saying, "Oh, y'know, Jackie should record", and all that, he's - and I
thought, yeah, I remembered him from years ago, and he could do with recording and all that. And I put it off because I was going to India, and when I came back, I just happened to walk in the room and there he was, and so people had been sort of asking me to do something. So I just said, "Yeah, okay." And we did it. And then it comes out like I'm committed, as if I'm gonna be his record producer for life. But, y'know, he knows about that, we talked about that. And, y'know, in the end he should do his own thing, and he will, y'know, but -

Ritchie Yorke: How about the Indian scene? You're still very much committed to it.

George: Uh, do you mean musically or general?

Ritchie Yorke: Musically and intellectually and everything.

George: Uh... yeah. It's, um... I dunno, it's like it's karma, my karma. If, y'know, they know about karma these days, don't they? It's like saying, um... well, Brian Epstein did die, and we did go to America, and we did get Apple. And, y'know... it's like everywhere you go, y'know, you've got a number of choices. Y'know, you - say there's a cr- there's a road, crossroads, and you can go left or you can go right. But if you just follow yourself, y'know, your natural instinct, you don't have to decide, really, which one you wanna go down, you naturally have gone down one of them. And it's like that all the time, y'know, there's always choices and there's always different ways to go. And if you just keep following yourself, and what you feel, then you automatically go down it. And it happened like that with me, just through action/reaction, action/reaction, I got into Indian music. Which, um - it was like remarkable, because at the time I listened to it, the first time I listened to it, which was a Ravi Shankar album. Which it had to be, really, now looking back. And although it's sort of - the intellectual people have - they - y'know, it is technically the most amazing music ever. And um, spiritually and all this, but when I listened to the music, even though intellectually, I didn't understand it, I felt within myself as though I knew it! And just knew if back to front. And it seemed so obvious and so logical. And, uh, through that, I got into - involved with sitar and Ravi Shankar. And, um, Ravi Shankar is probably the person who has influenced my life the most, whether - maybe he's not that aware of it, but for me, y'know, he's - I really love Ravi Shankar. And he's - he's been like - like a father sort of figure, but like - and a spiritual guide as well. Later I realized that the Indian music was like the stepping stone to the spiritual thing, because I also had great desire to want to know about the sort of yogic thing. Y'know, I always had a feeling for that. That led me to that and got involved with it. And completing the cycle through - I got involved with Hinduism because Ravi Shankar was a Hindu, and because it just happened that those things came my way, and I went to India and I liked India a lot. And that most of the people I knew in India were Hindus. And that - it was just a natural sort of, um, involvement with it. But it was because of that, it led me right 'round the cycle and I got to understand the thing about Christ and Christianity. And what - actually what Christ was. Through Hinduism, I learned that Christ - about Christ. And so I - I have a great respect for Indian music and history and the - the philosophy. I mean, down throughout all the ages, there's always been the spiritual thing. Y'know, it's always been passed on and it always will be. And if anybody ever wants it in any age, it's always there. And it just happens that India is the place where it's been. Or where the sort of seat of it, and - because Himalayas and things, inaccessible to the people, so they can always have peace there, because they're the only - the yogis are the only people who can make it out there. So, I dunno, I - it was maybe something to do with my past lives, but I just felt a great connection with it. And also because this age, the West and East becoming nearer and closer, and they can all benefit so much from each other. We can help them with our material things, and they can help us with the spiritual thing. And you need the both, y'know, you need the outer aspect of life and the inner, because the outer is empty if you don't have any inner, uh, spiritual side to life. And vice-versa, y'know. The spiritual for the Western people, y'know. They need to go through this material - well, they've been through it, and they've got so much of the material thing. But it's got to evolve into the other, y'know, so you can give to each other. Sort of wandered off there a bit, but... anyway, it's all part of - as I see, part of the evolution of spreading and mixing the East and West and taking the best from both sides. So not only do you have like the yogi people coming over here, and the business people going over there, building and, y'know, architects, all that sort of thing. But you have people like in pop groups, who help to spread it. Y'know, that's what I think. Y'know, I feel that, y'know, in a way, all I'm doing is infiltrating as much about that as I can possibly infiltrate in my life. And the more of it I can infiltrate, the better. I feel sometimes like a spy. Y'know, that I'm not - I'm just pretending to be, y'know, a Beatle. Whereas there's a greater job to be done.

Derek Taylor: Wind up. Thank you, Ritchie.