Lost George Harrison Interview Resurfaces in Evansville

Lost George Harrison Interview Has an Unexpected Evansville Connection

More than 60 years later, a piece of Beatles history tied to an Evansville radio station has resurfaced and as someone who has walked through some of the places that made Beatles history, this one immediately caught my attention.

I have always loved music history. There is something about standing in the exact place where a song was recorded, an album cover was photographed or a legendary band got its start that makes the music feel completely different.

A few years ago, I got to experience that firsthand when I traveled to England and visited some of the places connected to one of the biggest bands of all time: The Beatles.

So when I saw that a long-lost interview with George Harrison had resurfaced AND it had an Evansville connection, I immediately wanted to know more.

Yes, I had to recreate the Abbey Road walk while I was there. You don't go all the way to London and NOT do it.

A Piece of Beatles History Was Broadcast Right Here in Evansville

According to reporting from 14 News, a George Harrison interview that originally aired on Evansville radio station WJPS has resurfaced more than six decades later.

And the timing of the interview makes it even cooler.

It happened on February 17, 1964 the day after The Beatles made their second appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." Harrison was only 20 years old and spoke to the Evansville station by phone from Florida.

Think about that for a second.

This wasn't someone looking back on Beatlemania decades later. This was George Harrison right in the middle of it, when The Beatles were becoming a phenomenon in America.

*Walking around Abbey Road and seeing how much Beatles history is still celebrated there today.*

The Interview Was Almost Lost to Time

Here's where the story gets even more interesting.

14 News reports the recording was discovered among memorabilia that belonged to Harrison's sister, Louise Harrison, who lived much closer to us than you might expect in Benton, Illinois.

Her friend Warren Batts restored the audio quality of the recording, and the roughly six-minute interview was eventually played somewhere incredibly fitting: inside George Harrison's childhood home in Liverpool.

That home has its own place in Beatles history. The group sometimes rehearsed there, and today visitors can tour it.

You can listen to the rediscovered interview and learn more about how it resurfaced in [14 News' original report on the George Harrison interview]

I Got to See Some of This Beatles History for Myself

This story especially caught my attention because when I visited England, I made sure Beatles history was part of the trip.

Of course, that included Abbey Road.

I walked across that famous crosswalk which, as you can probably imagine, is a lot harder to photograph than The Beatles made it look.

It is an actual working road, so you're attempting to have your Beatles moment while also trying not to annoy everyone driving through the neighborhood.

I also stopped by Abbey Road Studios and got to see some of the history surrounding the building.

One of my favorite parts was seeing the wall outside the studios covered in names, messages, song lyrics and little notes left behind by Beatles and music fans from around the world.

Naturally, I had to add mine.

There is something surreal about being there. You have heard these songs your entire life, you've seen the album cover countless times, and then suddenly you're standing in the neighborhood where so much music history happened.

Then There Was Liverpool

If Abbey Road was cool, getting to experience Liverpool took it to another level.

Liverpool is where The Beatles' story began, and the city still embraces that history decades later.

Obviously, when I found the Beatles statues, I had to get a picture. Apparently I also decided Paul McCartney needed a hug.

Being there gave me a completely different appreciation for just how enormous The Beatles' impact has been. Their music has traveled across generations, countries and cultures and apparently, one little piece of that history made its way all the way to an Evansville radio station in 1964.

From Liverpool to Evansville, 62 Years Later

That's probably my favorite part of this whole story.

Radio is very different today than it was in 1964. We don't listen to music the same way, and we definitely don't conduct interviews the same way. But somewhere along the way, a young George Harrison picked up a telephone in Florida and talked to a radio station here in Evansville.

For decades, that recording could have easily disappeared forever.

Instead, 62 years later, people in the Tri-State can hear it again.

As someone who works in radio and has had the chance to stand in some of the places where Beatles history was made, that's pretty cool to think about.

Sometimes music history isn't quite as far away from Evansville as we think.