Rewind | Scenes From the Past: Louise Harrison

August 2023—Louise Harrison passed away at 91 in January of this year at a Sarasota nursing home. She lived in in our area for several years. Just knowing that the sister of rock royalty was living in our midst made Scene contributing writer Gus Mollasis want to know more.  Gus had the pleasure of interviewing Louise for our April 2014 issue and she shared some scenes from her life with her famous bro.

Not surprisingly, many people today think that her kid brother’s band was the biggest and best band ever in the history of pop music. Many yesterdays ago, she had a hunch that their sound truly was different. Long before most anyone else ever heard of the Beatles, she did what any good sister would do for a kid brother who had big talent and a bigger dream. She tried to get him a break. She called, visited and pleaded with American radio stations to give her brother George, and his mates, John, Paul and Ringo, some air play. Even while their singles were climbing the charts in England, their fame had not yet arrived in America. Soon that would change. Today, most everyone old enough to remember knows exactly where they were when the Beatles per­formed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Louise Harrison remembers it well recalling the night she played Florence Nightingale to her ailing little brother George as he gutted his way through some tunes before 73 million viewers and made music history. Her long and winding road hasn’t always been easy, but it has been filled with much joy and for that she is grateful. Even at 82, there’s something in her eyes that still reminds you of a young lass from Liverpool, and something in her spirit that soothes you when you talk with her. Today she’s as busy as ever with a new book coming out titled, My Kid Brother’s Band: AKA-The Beatles, while she manages the Legends of Liverpool, a Beatles tribute band, currently playing in Branson, Missouri. Recently, as I sat down with Louise Harrison, I heard George’s voice over what I thought was the sound of a faint guitar not gently weeping, but instead smiling and laughing with joy, as we took a look at some scenes from an interview of her life.

To read the full interview, visit scenesarasota.com/pastissues.