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'I don't want to hold George's hand': Sir Paul McCartney reflects on last meeting with Harrison

Sir Paul McCartney - Scotte Audette/AP
Sir Paul McCartney - Scotte Audette/AP

Sir Paul McCartney has recalled holding George Harrison's hand in New York as he tried to console the dying Beatle.

In an interview with the New York Times, Sir Paul described an emotional meeting shortly before Harrison died of cancer, aged 58, in November 2001.

"We were sitting there, and I was holding his hand, and it occurred to me — I’ve never told this — I don’t want to hold George’s hand. You don’t hold your mate’s hands," he said.

Harrison saw doctors across the world in the hope of finding a cure and eventually became disillusioned with all the travel.

"He’d gone to Geneva to see what they could do. Then he came to a special clinic in New York to see what they could do. Then the thought was to go to L.A. and see what they could do.

"He was sort of getting a bit, “Can’t we just stay in one place?” And I said: 'Yes, Speke Hall. Let’s go to Speke Hall.'"

George Harrison - David Redfern/Redferns
George Harrison - David Redfern/Redferns

Sir Paul's suggestion they visit the Tudor house in their home city of Liverpool was one of the last things he said to his friend and musical collaborator.

Harrison was the second of the Beatles to die. The first, John Lennon, was shot dead outside his apartment building in Manhattan's Upper West Side in December 1980.

Sir Paul recalled a conversation they had while recording Abbey Road in London over the problems of satisfying the taxman.

"This morning I thought, I remember why. John’s accountants had rung my accountants and said: 'Someone’s got to tell John he’s got to fill in his tax returns. He’s not doing it.' ”

Sir Paul continued: " So I was trying to say to him, 'Listen, man, you’ve got to do this.' I was trying to give him the sensible advice on not getting busted for not doing your taxes. That’s why I looked so earnest."

Nearly 40 years on from Lennon's murder, Sir Paul admitted finding it difficult to come to terms with his death.

John Lennon - Michael Putland/Hulton Archive
John Lennon - Michael Putland/Hulton Archive

"So much so that I can’t really think about it,"  he added' "It kind of implodes. What can you think about that besides anger, sorrow?

"Like any bereavement, the only way out is to remember how good it was with John.

"Because I can’t get over the senseless act. I can’t think about it. I’m sure it’s some form of denial. But denial is the only way that I can deal with it."

Sir Paul often walks by Frank Campbell’s funeral parlour, where Lennon's body was taken.

" I never pass it without saying: 'All right, John. Hi, John.'”

Describing himself as a "poor working-class kid from Liverpool", Sir Paul added: "I’ve had huge success, and people often try to do what I want, so you get a false feeling of omnipotence.

"All that together makes a complex person. We’re all complex. Well, maybe I’m more complex than other people because of coming from poverty.'