ALS signed “George Harrison, xxx,” two pages, 5 x 8, Palace Court Hotel, Bournemouth letterhead, no date [August 1963]. Handwritten letter to a fan named “Boote,” in full: “Thanks for your letter. I’m glad you like ‘She Loves You,’ now,…(we hope you buy it!) Actually I, or any of the others for that matter, don’t like Jelly Babies, and the press must have made it up themselves! I think we are in London more than Liverpool these days, because of Radio and Recording etc…We don’t mind girls screaming in the noisy numbers, but I think we would prefer them to be a little quieter in the slow songs. I don’t think you are too old to write fan letters. As far as I know, we are not on the State Kilburn, but we are on the Albert Hall. I am sorry I have got to write this letter like ‘question time,’ but I haven’t enough time to answer properly, so I hope you don’t mind. Cheerio for now.” In fine condition, with general handling wear. Accompanied by full letters of authenticity from Tracks and noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo.
George Harrison and the Beatles stayed at the Palace Court Hotel when the band played a series of shows at the Gaumont Theatre in the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, England, between August 19th and 24th, 1963. It was during their stay at the hotel that Harrison wrote his first song to appear on a Beatles album, ‘Don't Bother Me.’ The offered letter is filled with interesting references, with his opening line mentioning the chart-topping ‘She Loves You,’ a song released on August 23rd, one day before they left Bournemouth. An instant hit, the song became the band’s best-selling single ever in the U.K.
Harrison’s dislike of “Jelly Babies” was ultimately never made public, and the candy, both home and abroad, was often hurled about by fans attending Beatles concerts. In America, the situation intensified due to the thrown candies being jelly beans, which, similar in appearance to Jelly Bellies, were both larger and harder. Harrison was later quoted: ‘Imagine waves of rock-hard little bullets raining down on you from the sky.’ He then touches on frenzied female fans and playing at the Royal Albert Hall, a venue they famously played twice that year: on April 18, 1963, for the BBC show Swinging Sound '63, and on September 15, 1963, as part of The Great Pop Prom.
It was also during the band’s Bournemouth stay that famed photographer Robert Freeman captured the legendary image that would be featured on the front cover of the band's second album, With the Beatles, which was released a few months later. The same image would famously adorn the front cover of the band’s U.S. debut album, Meet the Beatles, which was released in January of the following year.
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