George Harrison Intimidated 3 Hells Angels Who ‘Must Have Outweighed Him by 200 Lbs’
George Harrison invited members of the Hells Angels to stop in and see him if they ever visited England. Despite his welcoming offer, he didn’t hesitate to throw them out. Harrison eventually had to rescind his invitation after some unruly behavior at a Christmas party. Even before this, though, Harrison had no qualms about pushing them out the door. During a meeting, Harrison kicked out three Hells Angels who vastly outsized him.
George Harrison once invited Hells Angels to visit him
According to Rolling Stone, in 1968, Harrison sent an eye-raising memo to the Beatles’ Apple Records headquarters.
Hells Angels will be in London within the next week, on the way to straighten out Czechoslovakia [a reference to the current political upheaval]. There will be 12 in number complete with black leather jackets and motorcycles. They will undoubtedly arrive at Apple and I have heard they may try to make full use of Apple’s facilities. They may look as though they are going to do you in but are very straight and do good things, so don’t fear them or up-tight them. Try to assist them without neglecting your Apple business and without letting them take control of Savile Row. – George Harrison.
Harrison had run into the group in San Francisco and gave them an open invitation to look him up if they were ever in England.
George Harrison once kicked several Hells Angels out of a meeting
Though Harrison welcomed the Hells Angels to the Apple offices, he didn’t want them involved in every part of his day-to-day life. He once tossed them out of a meeting.
“I saw him back-out three Hell’s Angels,” musician Jackie Lomax said, per the book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door by Graeme Thomson. “We were in an office together with Alistair [Taylor], and these three Angels just flung open the door and walked straight in.”
According to Lomax, Harrison had no problem with confronting the three men.
“I was looking for the closet, but George walked straight up to the biggest guy in the middle and said, ‘What are you doing here? We don’t want you here, we’re having a meeting,'” Lomax explained. “The guy must have outweighed him by 200lbs, but he just walked back and kept saying, ‘I know you, I know you …’ He walked out the door and George shut it in his face. Pretty impressive, man! Force of will! Right out the door.”
He eventually asked them to leave after a Christmas party
Harrison eventually rescinded his invitation after a Christmas party. Mayhem broke out when the turkey was served.
“A huge turkey came in on a big tray with four people carrying it,” Apple Records president Neil Aspinall said. “It was about 10 yards from the door to the table where they were going to put the turkey down, but it never made it. The Hells Angels just went ‘Woof!’ and everything disappeared: arms, legs, breast, everything. By the time it got to the table there was nothing there. They ripped the turkey to pieces, trampling young children underfoot to get to it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
In the end, Harrison was the one who invited him, so he had to ask him to leave. As he’d demonstrated before, he didn’t have much of a problem with that.
