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2.54pm
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15 February 2015
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George later admitted that when he first got into that whole scene, he was a bit over-zealous and was keen to turn everyone on. Later he toned it down and kept it more to himself, unless you asked.
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3.07pm
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1 May 2011
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I’m not that sure George would have been that put out if the others came along or not, tho i’m sure he would have been pleased to have the company. He told them all about it and bigged it up and the others were seeking and interested so they all went to Bangor. However the of the three were able to say “ok George, on you go to see India, i’ll stay here” and George wouldnt have said “you can’t come”.
Paul was happy to go to Wales and learn about and found it interesting, and would have been happy to go to India, but I also think there were other bigger reasons for why he went and that pissed off George who was fully committed.
Basically it seems like there was a clash between George and Paul from the outset; when wasn’t there?
Looking at the ‘Anthology’ book its interesting that Neil went out to talk business
Neil Aspinall: I visited them out in Rishikesh, but only to stop them making a movie, really. There was a suggestion they would make a movie with the Maharishi. I’m not quite sure what it was supposed to consist of, but they did have a three-picture deal with United Artists and they’d only made Help ! and A Hard Day’s Night.
I went in with Denis O’Dell. I stayed for a week, then I came home with Paul and Jane Asher, leaving John and George and their wives in Rishikesh. They came back later.
I wonder what kind of movie they would have made; presumably something to promote Transcendental Meditation as I cant see the Maharishi being a very good actor.
And there is also this from John (comments made in 1971, anyone know the source? – never mind its ‘Skywriting By Word of Mouth‘)
Cut to Maharishi’s health farm on the tip of the Himalayas. Eye-ing, eye-ing, eye-ing. He picked the right mantra for me. OK, he’s a lot balder now than when I knew him. How come God picks on these holi-men? Ulcers, etc. ‘He’s taking on someone else’s karma.’ I bet that’s what all the little sheep are bleating. He’s got a nice smile, though. This is turning into The Autobiography of a Yogurt, but isn’t everything? I ask myself. He made us live in separate huts from our wives… Can’t say it was too much of a strain.
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3.22pm
27 April 2015
Offline Regarding the post that J-girl made about George trying to turn others on towards the meditation thing, can we not a draw a parallel with the others trying to get Paul involved in the drug scene, especially acid? Paul even talks about that on the Anthology about peer pressure. It’s not right, but it wasn’t unusual. It was happening since the Hamburg days.
I also disagree that George was the most serious one. John was very serious, too (he got off the drugs!), but he was let down because he attached too much importance to the man and not the message, while George did the opposite.
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5.24pm
8 January 2015
Offline I’d say there’s a bit of a melting-pot of influences going into Rishikesh, but I’m also of the mind that the interactions there were just as important. After all, they were away from everywhere, they had friends with them and I suspect there were quite a few conversations, the kind where you think out loud about things and someone else’s feedback drives you to conclusions. What interests me too is the musical output from the experience, not just explained by John “waking up” or off the drugs, even George the purist was writing, but also Paul’s output, all radically changed. Given the music was the expression of who they were, it tells you a lot about Rishikesh. However limited the time there, it gave them perspectives they might not have had staying in England, and just having that opportunity would have changed them.
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4.11pm
27 April 2015
Offline Not sure where else does this go, but it’s some amazing footage:
I haven’t seen it before.
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9.20pm
28 February 2016
Offline Was LSD used there?
Merely conjecture but I would suspect some type of awakening and self-realization where they came to terms with themselves as individuals rather than the group dynamic they had been immersed into for the better part of a decade
10.58pm
15 May 2015
Offline My favorite story from their India sojourn was when a rumor went around that the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi was sleeping around with all the Western women who were there — including the lovely young Mia Farrow — so John and some others marched straight to the Grand Poobah’s tent to confront him about this, and reportedly John left in disgust when he didn’t get a proper response.
Supposedly, John had the dirty old Hindu in mind when he wrote “Sexy Sadie ” about him…
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3.19pm
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline Pineapple Records said
My favorite story from their India sojourn was when a rumor went around that the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi was sleeping around with all the Western women who were there — including the lovely young Mia Farrow — so John and some others marched straight to the Grand Poobah’s tent to confront him about this, and reportedly John left in disgust when he didn’t get a proper response.Supposedly, John had the dirty old Hindu in mind when he wrote “Sexy Sadie ” about him…
You are correct, sir. It was George who told him to change ‘Maharishi’ to ‘Sexy Sadie ‘.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.
5.11pm
15 May 2015
Offline Ah really, thanks Zig! I wonder if it wouldn’t have been neat to keep it with John’s title (perhaps George didn’t want John to disrespect the Yogi…)
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11.19pm
5 February 2014
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So far (and apologies if I glanced over it) what’s missing is the impetus for the fall-out between Lennon and the Maharishi. I recall some accusations that ‘Magic Alex’ attempted to sabotage the retreat, for whatever reasons, but if it was him that put the bug in Lennon’s ear about the Maharishi being a bit of a perv, was his accusation true? There are suggestions that he concocted it all.
The Wiki Article breaks it down, including the Maharishi’s evident business acumen and his desire to a substantial ‘deposit’ from the band, as well as statements that drug use never actually ceased and that Harrison may have stayed in India, but not at the retreat.
And then there’s Magic Alex’s take on the whole matter.
During the next evening, John Lennon , George Harrison and I were curious and went to the window of the Maharishi’s villa at the time that the nurse was supposed to be there. We looked inside and saw that the Maharishi was trying to hug the teacher. Both of them were fully clothed.
All of us were very upset about what had seen. We had complete confidence and trust in the Maharishi and this confidence had now been severely dented.
On the next morning, John Lennon and I went to see the Maharishi about what had happened. John was our spokesman. He asked the Maharishi to explain himself, I remember the exact words that the Maharishi used when answering, namely: “I am only human”. John said that he was disgusted with what had happened.
But being a Peeping Tom is okay.
6.24am
12 May 2015
Offline Don.W said
Was LSD used there?
Merely conjecture but I would suspect some type of awakening and self-realization where they came to terms with themselves as individuals rather than the group dynamic they had been immersed into for the better part of a decade
No it wasn’t – but apparently they took enough weed with them for daily spliffage.
India was terrific for the group,look at the huge amount of songs they composed there (especially john who away from hard drugs began writing prolifically again) No one can understand the pressures they were under and rishikesh was a real release from that. Sadly the maharishi was a shyster though.
If john hadn’t lost the place afterwards who knows what might have been achieved.
1.10pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline castironshore said
Don.W said
Was LSD used there?
Merely conjecture but I would suspect some type of awakening and self-realization where they came to terms with themselves as individuals rather than the group dynamic they had been immersed into for the better part of a decade
No it wasn’t – but apparently they took enough weed with them for daily spliffage.
Dudn’t Mal take it in a suitcase; either that or Neil Apinall bring it when he turned up?
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6.33am
24 March 2014
Offline So here it is a bit of info about their Indian adventure: http://www.thewhitealbumprojec…..com/india/
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6.41am
27 April 2015
Offline ^^^ Thanks Womlbs! It was very informative indeed!
I guess there was some fallout between George & John after their walkout considering John stopped playing on most of the George’s songs from then on. It started with the White Album , right?
For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the Sun
8.29am
24 March 2014
Offline But after the indian trip they recorded demos at George’s house… I think the lack of collaboration might have been due to george not getting along very well with yoko ( and maybe viceversa) .
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9.25am
24 March 2014
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10.58pm
7 November 2022
Offline O Boogie said
…John on Anthology says that cracks were already there, they were there when Ringo & Paul left while John & George stayed in India.
…
1) I thought “Anthology” was Paul, George and Ringo in the 90s.
2) I thought the story was that all 4 Beatles left India in a huff after they confronted the Maharishi about his alleged sexcapades.
Now today I find, you have changed your mind
11.49pm
7 November 2022
Offline Beatlebug said
Didn’t John say it all started when Brian Epstein died, shortly before they went to India?I also seem to remember reading somewhere (i don’t remember where) about John saying that at that time, he was waking up out of his Strawberry Fields dream of the previous couple of years, and sort of re-asserting himself– but in the intervening period, Paul had become the dominant one…
This seems to be contradicted by John’s memory himself (bold emphasis mine) as quoted by Joe:
So we went to see Maharishi, the whole gang of us the next day charged down to his hut, his very rich-looking bungalow in the mountains. And I was the spokesman – as usual, when the dirty work came, I actually had to be leader, whatever the scene was, when it came to the nitty gritty I had to do the speaking. And I said, ‘We’re leaving.’
Now today I find, you have changed your mind
11.57pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline @Sea Belt
1) While Anthology was a ’90s project, and did include new interviews with Paul, George and Ringo, John’s voice was far from absent in both the series and book, with interviews from before his death used to present his view of events. It’s an aspect I was unhappy about as his “quotes” were often edited and — especially in the book — “new quotes” were created by taking lines from different interviews which were often done years apart.
2) John and George arrived at Rishikesh on 16 February 1968, with Paul and Ringo arriving on the 20th. Ringo left on 1 March because he’d run out of tins of beans, while Paul left on 26 March, feeling he’d got all from the experience he was going to. John and George left on 12 April following the accusations Maharishi had been inappropriate with one of his younger female followers.
EDIT: While John may have still stepped up to the plate at times, musically the group had seen Paul take over the role of band leader and main instigator of projects. As with all of them, John often contradicted things he’d said elsewhere, or even in the same interview, where John says that Paul took over running the group after Brian’s death:
“Paul took over and supposedly led us,” John would tell Rolling Stone in 1970, when talking about the aftermath of Brian’s death. “But what is leading us, when we went round in circles?”
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