Friar Park's New Owners?

[studiotwosession]

I just read on the web that George's wife sold the old homestead in 2002. That seems kinda quick considering he died not long before that. Is there any truth to her selling or is it just someone intending to give her more privacy? Truth be told, a place like that would get pretty lonely for one person.

[qmoder]

Was'nt Cracker Box Palace written about it?

[12stringbassist]

I imagine that even with George's income from The Fabs, it would be very expensive to keep the whole estate up to scratch. Add to that the privacy issue and perhaps not wanting to live there without George and it makes sense.

Would be interesting to know who bought it.

Yes, 'Crackerbox Palace' was written about the house.

[stuart]

I think the story was that Olivia had considered selling it around this time, but eventually decided against it, saying she could never leave Friar Park.

Katie Courac interviewed Olivia in the gardens of Friar Park at least one year after George passed away, so I'm inclined to believe they're still there.

[oreca]

Not sure about who lives there but there's also The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) off All Things Must Pass that is written about it.

I'd love to take a tour of that property.

[dbailey62]

I recall reading that George wanted out of Friar Park since the knife attack due to bad karma or some such thing so perhaps things were in the works prior to his passing.

db

[tonewerks]

I hear the pluming was bad

[12stringbassist]

I have to correct myself. I posted up above that Crackerbox Palace was written about Friar Park. It wasn't. Ooops.

George Harrison said otherwise ('The Beatles : The Dream is over' - by Keith Badman - on page 205 of hardback edition). I came across it this evening, in the track by track review of the album it appeared on...

George was talking to a guy called Mr Grief at a MIDEM show and he managed a comedian that Harrison admired called Lord Buckley. Grief told Harrison that LB lived in a little shack which was called Crackerbox Palace.

George wrote that down on a fag packet for later use. Quote: 'It could be the place where you live but I turned it more into the world, the physical world.'

[randyz]

I've heard the same story about Mr. Grief. Isn't he mentioned in the lyrics? I think that some of the confusion about 'Crackerbox Palace' and Friar Park comes from the fact that a video for the song was filmed there. It's a very interesting place that seems to suit the whimsical mood of the song. I believe it was the Harrison biography 'Dark Horse' that described the history and features of this eccentric bit of real estate. Besides the vast gardens, it also boasts an underground creek and grotto. As a guy obsessed with storybook-style architecture and The Beatles, I would give anything to tour the place.

[studiotwosession]

It was said by locals in Henley that George came close to having to sell FP in the early 90s when he discovered millions were gone and he sued his business partner at Handmade Films. It could be that work on the Antholgy was speeded up to help bail him out. I have often wondered how someone who was so badly burned by the financial situation at Apple at a young age ever could have been involved in running a business again without personally checking the books or hiring a third party to do so. (Paul sure wised up in business at that time.) I read on the web that there is a tribute to Sir Frank and his gardens, which George is said to have slaved to restore, right here in the USA at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens in NY. Frank was quite famous even beyond his time for his gardening prowess. I would imagine the only way to live at Friar Park alone would be to have guests often. Their certainly is room for them.

[jojo99]

I was just reading the updated "Shout" by Phillip Norman. He sez that the Anthology project was conceived out of George's finanical problems...he lost nearly everything in the HandMade fiasco, and a close friend speculates it's really the root cause of his later health problems... in fact, he sold one of his ukes to an old Liverpool pal for $2,000..put the check in his pocket, patted it, and told him he needed "every penny", since he just lost $45 million.
He really trusted the friend/guy who was handling his finances..which is why he probably was so pained about the betrayal of trust moreso than the money. Perhaps the lack of obvious Klein-like sleazeball-ism in his accountant made him too trusting. I get the impression Friar Park was pretty much the only asset he had at the time of his death.

[studiotwosession]

That sounds interesting. I should give it a read. However, I think the Anthology (at least under the working title the Long and Winding Road) was rumored to be under way since at least the mid 80s. I remember thinking "are they ever gonna finish that?" Though I certainly can see it having been speeded up given George's situation. Perhaps, also, that's why he played those Japan shows. The interesting thing with Klein is, at least in the short term, he was a marked improvement over what was going on at Apple pre his arrival, anything would have been. Still, it's amazing that someone who had had that experience once (not to mention having an associate like Macca) would ever not keep an eye on the books, or have an auditor in his corner (maybe Macca realized it was better not to help John and George with finances as one day, if they f'd up so badly again, they'd need Paul's help and it would be on Paul's terms.) Anyway, we all know that "completely trusting" a friend or a business partner and then getting hosed is such a show business cliche. One doesn't let it be repeated. Plus, there seems to be ample evidence that Handmade's "vision statement" if you will, veered far off course with George if not at the wheel, at least being in the passenger's seat. Originally he talked about how it was going to be a company that made films with little known actors, or Python cast members, but then they did that Sean Penn Madonna Hollywood fiasco. That there was the writing was on the wall. They must have lost 20 million there, at least. I'm sorry to say but I think George would have been better off letting others do more of the gardening and less of the bookkeeping. As far as his health goes, I think it was smokes. Maybe he did smoke more when the financial worries returned. But I think he was a heavy smoker most of the time (hasn't stopped Keith Richards though.)

[dbailey62]

I have always felt, with no medical support I must add, that cancer and the like are oft caused by stress, heartbreak and other forms of emotional pain.

It just sort of makes sense to me.

[jojo99]

...or at the very least, accelerates a cancer that's already there.
As far as "Shout" goes, I'd urge anyone interested in it to borrow it from a library and not purchase it. There's some SHAMEFUL speculative gossip added, ala Albert Goldman. I guess Norman feels once a subject has passed on, it's okay to trot out embarassing drivel about them. I get the feeling he respected his subjects mostly to be able to get access to them while they were alive..he's still treating Yoko with kid gloves, since she granted him access.

[britye]

yea, I think stress, heart break and other forms of emotional pain along with diet and lifestyle environmental issues contribute along with perhaps genes. I believe there are ways to minimize the risk of getting cancer. IMHO there are effective remedies available outside the" accepted conventional treatments" After all treating cancer is a very big business and not wanting to sound like a kook to you all it seems a "cure" would put a big money crunch on the powers the be in that big business, Hence many alternative treatments a scoffed at and worse the FDA threatens those that offer alternative treatments, some of which work. My former brother-in-law who had been diagnosed with an inoperable malignant brain tumor over 2 years ago, tried one of the conventional treatments and he just kept getting sicker He also noticed the same in his fellow patients. To make a long story shorter, he found an effective alternative treatment and he is still with us today and in fact he's back to playing drums in a band in N carolina. By the way the insurance said if he did quit the conventional treatment and go to the alternative treatment his coverage was over if he wanted to get back on the conventional treatment. Pretty sick IMO, So it is about the money