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4.24am
8 November 2012
Offline
Paul’s Simon’s performance and interview (with transcript if you can’t view the video) are up at Conan’s official site.
I’ll edit with YouTube links later, as the above links probably aren’t viewable outside the US.
[x-posted]
parlance
10.05am
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline For folk who havent seen them, George and Paul Simon on SNL in 1976 performing ‘Here Comes The Sun ‘ and ‘Homeward Bound’.
Rehearsals have also surfaced
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
3.29pm
8 November 2012
Offline YouTube video of Paul Simon on Conan O’Brien last night (they haven’t posted the interview there yet):
[x-posted]
parlance
4.15pm
Members
18 March 2013
Offline parlance said
[x-posted at the Best Covers thread]I just got back from the Conan taping with Paul Simon as the musical guest. His performance was, in Conan’s words, “stunning.” I’ll add a link to the YouTube video tomorrow. But if you can catch it tonight, you should. He performs and then sits down with Conan and shares a few stories.
Putting what he performed behind a spoiler tag:
“Here Comes The Sun .” I don’t know if you’ll hear it on TV, but when the audience recognized the song, there was a soft “awwww.” It was so gorgeous. And you could have heard a pin drop during the interview, the audience was so in thrall.
There were a few people wearing Beatle shirts in the crowd, so I talked to a few. Amazingly, one of the guys was wearing a Let It Be shirt didn’t know it was George Harrison Week, so that was an extra bonus for him.
I’m glad I was able to see it in person, because I’m sure some of the warmth of the performance will be lost when I see it on TV. I was almost in tears.
Also, a little tidbit – and I may have been the only Beatle fan to catch this – Dhani was in the audience, presumably with his band. They slipped away right after the interview.
I was waitlisted for tomorrow’s show with Dhani, but as luck would have it, a ticket became available, so I’m going again. This sort of makes up for getting shut out of George Fest.
parlance
I envy your life 
Enjoy Conan!
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parlance
INTROVERTS UNITE! Separately....in your own homes!
***
Make Love, Not Wardrobes!
***
"Stop throwing jelly beans at me"- George Harrison
4.42pm
8 November 2012
Offline3.06am
8 November 2012
Offline Just got back from my second (and last) taping of Conan. I arrived earlier and one of the audience coordinators beamed at me and said, “You came back!” I told her how I’d been waitlisted for today’s show, and the ticket became available while I was in yesterday’s taping. As we waited, I made fast friends with a nice lady wearing a sparkly Beatles t-shirt.
My earlier arrival was rewarded this time with a front row seat. Which sounds awesome, and was extremely exciting right up through the monologue (during the band warm-up, La Bamba came over and sang right at me). It was terrible for everything else because all the cameras were in my line of sight. But I manged to move around in seat/fake-crouch enough to see between the arms and legs of crew members.
There are only two guests for tonight: Luke Wilson, then Dhani “and friends” (a billing Dhani found highly amusing). So needless to say, there’s both an interview with Dhani and the performance. And the performance itself is amazing – he performed one of my favorite George songs.
[Edit: Removed spoiler tag] They did “Let It Down!” OMG, I had to contain myself from screaming, remembering I was at a taping and not a concert. Conan’s bandleader later confirmed that George never performed it live.
Going by the Facebook post, it was Dhani, Jonathan Bates from Big Black Delta, Mark Stoermer from The Killers, Stephen Perkins from Jane’s Addiction, Aaron Embry, Jimmy Vivino “and more!” The “and more!” turned out to be Conan’s Basic Cable Band filling in the horns. I couldn’t stop bouncing in my seat. It was pitch perfect. Dhani’s voice, his guitar playing, the way the ended it with a jam session. It was a dream come true hearing the song, and so thrilling to watch Dhani take his place front and center singing and playing guitar unlike the Concert for George. The online post doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the power of hearing it live. I also notice that Dhani sounds nervous, which makes my heart go d’awww….
Afterward, Dhani and Conan mostly talked about the journey of creating the box set, and how it’s been a long time coming, seeing as we’re nearing the 13th anniversary of George’s death. He spoke warmly of everyone who has helped out with the upcoming concert and this week of performances. And Conan spoke of how generous Dhani has been to him, inviting him to Friar Park and letting him see and touch his dad’s guitars. Warm fuzzies all round.
Someone later asked me of any other impressions I have of Dhani, so let’s see… I feel like he looks less like his father and more like his mother over time. The resemblance is still striking, but not as spooky as before. He’s so tiny compared to Conan. He’s all business. He was just a spry little jackrabbit tuning his guitar and getting ready, super-focused. Afterward, during the interview, he seemed much more relaxed (it’s really funny when he pokes gentle fun at the “and friends” part – you might even hear me laugh during that part). I don’t necessarily see his father’s mannerisms in him, but I do see his father’s humor. I think the Conan connection makes sense, given his father’s connection to the Monty Pythons. Despite his understandable nervousness today, overall, he comes across to me as self-assured.
Conan said a bonus performance will be posted online. That must have been recorded before we were allowed into the studio.
Afterward, I caught up with my new friend, who had been given a call sheet as a souvenir, and she let me take photos of it.
It was over too soon. I wish I could go to the concert, but I’m grateful to have had a little taste this week.
[x-posted to the George Week on Conan thread]
parlance
3.20am
8 November 2012
Offline Interview with Olivia for Huffington Post:
George Harrison ‘Had This Way Of Looking At You,’ Remembers His Wife Olivia, On Release Of ‘The Apple Years’ Music
by Caroline Frost
It’s pretty bizarre. Every time I come across someone who worked at Abbey Road in the 1960s or in the film industry in the 1980s, or journalists who’ve trod this beat longer than I, I often ask for the name of the person who’s impressed them the most. These are people from all walks of life, but one person always gets mentioned. It’s uncanny. It’s George Harrison .
Olivia Harrison, George’s widow who has been working with their son Dhani to release the former Beatle’s first six solo albums, all lovingly remastered and presented as ‘The Apple Years’ boxset, chuckles when I tell her this, and tries to shed some light on the phenomenon.
“He had this way of looking at you that made you feel you were without limitations,” she tries to explain. “It just went straight to your heart.
“Once you’d been with him, he had this way of making you want to bring out a truer version of yourself, unlocking something.
“It was profound and electrifying, and it can still bring prickles to the back of my neck.”
By the time Olivia met George in 1974, the Beatles had long split, but he was busier than ever, having almost finished completing a mammoth six albums in seven years.
“He was working non-stop,” remembers Olivia. “His life was changing.”
This tireless one-man production machine seems at odds with the famously laid-back, spiritual side of George that he increasingly embraced. According to Olivia, it was a dichotomy he acknowledged himself.
“He used to tell me, ‘I’m a Pisces,’” she reveals. “He really did struggle. The Beatles used to work all night long, and I don’t think that great work ethic ever deserted any of them.
“But he tried to incorporate the inner life, too, into whatever he did. He conducted himself with a great consciousness…” she laughs,”even when he was behaving badly, he would do it with a great awareness.” She smiles broadly. “You’ve got to love him.”
(I’m reminded of that wonderful moment in Martin Scorsese’s documentary about George Harrison ‘Living in a Material World’ when a very warm Olivia explains how you stay married to such a will o’ the wisp spirit. She says, “You don’t get divorced.”)
It’s clear that Olivia’s love for her husband is undimmed, and I wonder what it’s been like for her and Dhani, going back over the old tracks, listening to them in the studios at their Henley home, Friar Park, where George himself made so much music in the grounds he happily tended?
“This summer’s been beautiful,” she replies. “Dhani’s been in the studio, scoring a film there, and it’s been just like the old days, people coming and going, music drifting outside. It’s been lovely.”
For Dhani, who resembles George strongly, it must be a complicated legacy of stepping in similar professional footsteps to those of his feted father, but Olivia’s convinced Dhani’s managed to find his own way.
“I can’t think of any rebellion he had,” she ponders now. “George never held anything back, even when Dhani was really young, so they were very close, and Dhani had a clear understanding. Some of the things George told him, it was almost like he knew he might not be around later on, so he had to tell him then.
“So yes, it’s difficult to make your own way, but that’s what it was, and Dhani loved that guy, they were very close.”
Olivia could equally be talking about herself, and she remains generous in sharing her husband with the legions of fans who remain inspired by him, his work and his way of looking at the world. Where does she go when she wants a bit of him to herself?
“I probably head to a tree in the garden, or something like that, that we made together,” she says. “But there’s nothing mysterious about George.
“No matter how much I shared, there would still be a whole universe not expressed. He made so much time for people, so if they can be a little bit inspired by him, or with this music again, who am I to stop that?”
‘George Harrison : The Apple Years 1968-75′ are available individually and in a box set with exclusive DVD and book. They are George’s first six albums remastered from analogue for CD and digital release. The albums are ‘Wonderwall Music ‘, ‘Electronic Sound ‘, ‘All Things Must Pass ‘, ‘Living in the Material World’, ‘Dark Horse ‘ and ‘Extra Texture (Read All About It)’.
parlance
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AppleScruffJunior8.15pm
8 November 2012
Offline Blog with photos of Dhani backstage with the Fab Faux, by Kim Mancuso.
Also, video of the performance:
If anyone’s wondering about the connection, Jimmy Vivino of the Fab Faux is the musical director for Conan.
parlance
12.47am
18 December 2012
Offline Thank you for the reviews parlance! I’m so jealous, and I agree about Dhani looking more like Olivia these days. It’s funny – he’s different to George in many ways, but there are a lot of little things, like his gentle, warm, down-to-earth demeanor and like you said, sense of humour, which are very George-like and give an idea of the effect George/the Harrisons had/have on people. Conan seemed truly touched by his kindness and sincerity.
Dhani’s performance was fantastic too. I could feel the love from him.
On another note, maybe this is just me, but did anyone else get the impression that Conan was way more excited about this than his guests? They were a little awkward when he was talking to them about it, like they didn’t really care. Maybe that’s just how Luke Wilson is though.
2.11am
8 November 2012
Offline You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed the write-ups.
It’s not just you. I’d forgotten that I did notice Luke Wilson looking a bit bored.
Kirsten Dunst was beside herself with excitement over Paul Simon, though.
parlance
6.51am
8 November 2012
Offline Norah Jones’ performance of “Behind That Locked Door ” on Conan is online. Here’s the YouTube:
[x-posted]
parlance
9.21am
8 November 2012
Offline I ended up getting into the George Fest after all! I decided to show up and see if I could get a last minute ticket, and lo and behold, the guy in line just behind me had an extra ticket he needed to get rid of.
I’m exhausted, as it’s been a long day that originally wasn’t meant to include the concert. So for now, suffice to say it was well worth the many efforts to get into the show. I posted quite a few photos of the epic night: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. I’ll look for a setlist and post about the experience later.
parlance
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Ahhh Girl, meanmistermustard8.59pm
8 November 2012
Offline Still catching up on sleep, so for now here’s the Rolling Stone article on the George Fest.
[x-posted to the news]
parlance
9.19pm
8 November 2012
Offline Also, enjoy videos (not mine) of some of my favorite performances:
Conan O’Brien
Weird Al
Dhani
Ann Wilson
Brian Wilson
Handle with Care:
parlance
9.36pm
20 December 2010
Offline Thanks for the post. Let us know when Dhani Harrison’s Conan performace of ‘Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp’ gets posted.
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parlanceThe further one travels, the less one knows
9.37pm
20 December 2010
Offline Inner Light said
Thanks for the post. Let us know when Dhani Harrison’s Conan performace of ‘Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp’ gets posted.
On YouTube I mean.
Thanks
The further one travels, the less one knows
9.42pm
8 November 2012
Offline You’re welcome. I thought I’d edited this thread with that video. The Conan version is not on YouTube, unfortunately, but it’s at his official site. I guess they won’t be posting it there since it’s a web exclusive.
Dhani and friends also performed it last night. I’ll edit this post with a video as soon as someone gets it up on YouTube.
parlance
9.45pm
15 June 2014
Offline Thats great @parlance ! Didn’t know you were attending the taping.
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parlance9.48pm
8 November 2012
Offline StrawberryFieldsForever said
Thats great parlance ! Didn’t know you were attending the taping.
I didn’t either until 7:45ish last night. 
parlance
9.54pm
20 December 2010
Offline parlance said
You’re welcome. I thought I’d edited this thread with that video. The Conan version is not on YouTube, unfortunately, but it’s at his official site. I guess they won’t be posting it there since it’s a web exclusive.Dhani and friends also performed it last night. I’ll edit this post with a video as soon as someone gets it up on YouTube.
parlance
Thanks again. If it gets uploaded to YouTube, I can converted and save on my PC which is what I did for the other performances on Conan last week.
The further one travels, the less one knows
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