Why George Harrison Couldn’t Say He Liked Egg Sandwiches
George Harrison didn’t let fame change him. He might have sprung on impressive cars and sprawling homes, but he was still an ordinary guy who wanted privacy and normalcy. However, fans didn’t always let him have those things. He couldn’t even reveal his favorite food.
George Harrison spent money like any other celebrity
When The Beatles became famous, everything came to them faster. Mostly, they did what other famous people did, spend. Although he had some trepidation about his stardom, George spent money how he pleased.
In Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison, Joshua M. Greene writes that George bought expensive shoes, tailored shirts, and fancy cars.
“Ever since he was a kid, he had dreamed of going places fast, and one of his first purchases was a dark green Jaguar XK140 with a 190-horsepower engine and a top speed of 210 miles per hour,” Greene wrote. “In the months that followed, he added an Aston Martin DB5, an Aston Mini, and a black Mercedes with one-way windows and contoured seats.”
However, George denied having changed.
George remained the same but shouldn’t have revealed certain things about himself
Despite his fame and fortune, George told the Daily Mail in April 1964 that he was still an “egg and chips man.” However, he couldn’t say he liked that food.
“I’ve had caviar and I like it,” George said. “But I’d still rather have an egg sandwich. The only difference now is that when I say things like that, the Egg Marketing Board sends me a dozen for free.”
Whether that was good or bad, George realized it wasn’t exactly good that fans knew his and The Beatles’ food references.
The Beatles regretted telling fans they like jelly babies
Early in The Beatles’ careers, they admitted they loved the soft British sweet, Jelly Babies. Once Beatlemania got going, the band started receiving boxes and boxes of the candy.
However, some fans didn’t send them in the mail. They thought their beloved musicians would like a treat during their performances and pelted the Jelly Babies at them on stage. Worse, some fans who couldn’t get Jelly Babies threw the harder Jelly Beans and the odd boiled sweet at The Beatles while they played.
Eventually, George had enough. He wrote an irritated letter to a fan expressing his annoyance for being pelted with candy.
“Think how we feel standing on stage trying to dodge the stuff, before you throw some more at us,” George wrote to Lynn Smith (per the Guardian). “Couldn’t you eat them yourself, besides it is dangerous. I was hit in the eye once with a boiled sweet, and it’s not funny!”
So, for George, fame came with nice suits and cars, but it also came with often dangerous consequences. Some Beatlemaniacs couldn’t enjoy Jelly Babies, knowing it was George’s favorite. They had to throw the sweet at the band, thinking they’d like it—no wonder The Beatles stopped touring.
