John Lennon’s Aunt Was so Appalled by George Harrison That She ‘Threw Him out’ the Moment She Saw Him
John Lennon spent a long time talking up George Harrison to his Aunt Mimi Smith before she agreed to meet him. Smith was particular about the types of friends Lennon kept — she already disapproved of Paul McCartney — but her nephew made Harrison seem nice and respectable. When she met him, though, she found that she disliked Harrison even more than McCartney. Smith was so appalled by his appearance that she threw him out of her home.
George Harrison met John Lennon through Paul McCartney
Lennon and McCartney met at a church fest after Lennon and his band performed. McCartney demonstrated his own musical abilities and, impressed, Lennon eventually invited him to join the group. Before this, though, McCartney and Harrison had befriended each other. McCartney campaigned for him to join the band as well.
At first, Lennon did not like Harrison, who was several years younger, and looked it.
“George was just too young,” Lennon said, per the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “I didn’t want to know him at first. He was doing a delivery round and just seemed a kid. He came round once and asked me to go to the pictures with him but I pretended I was busy. I didn’t dig him on first sight, till I got to know him.”
Unperturbed, Harrison continued to spend time with Lennon whenever he could. He found the older boy fascinating.
“I was very impressed by John,” Harrison said. “Probably more than Paul, or I showed it more. I loved John’s blue jeans and lilac shirt and sidies. But I suppose I was impressed by all the Art College crowd. John was very sarcastic, always trying to bring you down, but I either took no notice or gave him the same back, and it worked.”
John Lennon’s aunt immediately disliked George Harrison
Eventually, Harrison won Lennon over, and he spoke highly of him to his aunt. She wasn’t easily impressed, though; McCartney worked hard to charm her, but she still wouldn’t let him in the house.
“John used to go on and on about George, what a nice boy he was and how I’d like him,” she said. “He went to great lengths to impress me with George.”
Smith agreed to meet Harrison, but the meeting didn’t go to plan. He barely even made it through the front door.
“I eventually said he could come in one day,” Smith said. “He arrived with a crew cut and a pink shirt. I threw him out. Well, it wasn’t done. I might have been a bit old-fashioned, but schoolboys dressing like that! Up till John was sixteen I always made sure he wore his regulation school blazer and shirt.”
His parents weren’t happy with his fashion choices either
While Lennon didn’t have a problem with Harrison’s tight pants and colorful shirts, Harrison’s parents did. They weren’t as hard on him about it as Smith had been, though. They were furious to see him in a pair of tight jeans, but they found it hard to stay angry with him.
“Harold [Harrison] went spare,” said his mother, Louise Harrison. “When he saw them, he went over the moon. George said John had just given them to him. Then he jumped up and pranced round the room. ‘How can I do my ballet without tight jeans?’ he said, dancing all over the place. We had to laugh at him in the end. George never gave any cheek, but he always got round us.”
