George Harrison & Mexico

It was in 1974 when George Harrison met Olivia Trinidad Arias in Los Angeles, California. Later, in 1978 they got married, same year in which their only son, Dhani, was born. The catch here is that Olivia was born in Mexico City.

It is said that if The Beatles, as a brand, was to be used in any kind of endeavor after the breakup, authorization was needed from the four parties. After George and John departed, their votes passed on to their widows (Olivia and Yoko respectively.) For instance, to develop recent projects such as the “Love” show and “The Beatles Rock Band”; Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia had to approve them. This will be the case for any new projects, and it actually means that there’s a Mexican who somehow decides the fate of The Beatles nowadays.

Putting all business aside, there is a more important link between George Harrison and Mexico: Dhani Harrison. According to law, a Mexican is considered:

1. Anyone born in Mexico (no matter the origin of their parents)
2. Anyone who is born outside of the borders, but at least one of their parents is Mexican.
3. Anyone who legally adopts nationality.

Having in mind point #2 and knowing that Olivia was born in Mexico, this means that according to Mexican legislation, Dhani Harrison is considered Mexican. So there actually is one person in the world who has Beatle and Mexican blood in his body!

"Olivia said that with Dhani up on stage, it looks like George stayed young and we all got old" – Paul McCartney (Concert for George, 2002)

“My son looks more like George Harrison than I do” – George Harrison.

The Beatles & Mexico

This space was born due to the interest of a Mexican Beatle fan to tell the world about the Beatles in general, and specifically, if possible, about their relationship with Mexico. Taking this into consideration, a logical point to start is with the most obvious relationship between The Beatles and Mexico.

There are many tributes, some stores, a lot of merchandise and several radio programs devoted to the Fab Four throughout the country; but what about The Beatles themselves? What is their personal relationship with this country of more than a 100 million inhabitants? Let’s check it out.

The Beatles

Beatlemania first hit Mexico, as it did in the US, in 1964. It was a year later, specifically in August 1965; when John, Paul, George & Ringo were due to play at the Auditorio Nacional or the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium in Mexico City. This was obviously news that thrilled youngsters; but Ernesto Uruchurtu, who was major of Mexico City at the time, considered that The Beatles were a bad example for young Mexicans and that our society was not ready to host these kind of events. If this judgement was correct, we’ll never know, but what we do know is that Mexico had the chance to host The Beatle during their summer of ’65 US Tour.

 Anyway, the first real influence from Mexico to The Beatles was the song “Bésame Mucho” by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez (although they played the song as Coasters arranged it). The Boys used to play this song in their early stage act, and even got to record it during their initial session at the Abbey Road studios. This version is available in The Beatles Anthology 1:

 

Later on, the legendary Mexican comedian Tin Tan did a humorous rendition of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (which can be listened at here.) Since the Boys loved this kind of funny tributes, they later asked Tin Tan to approve use of his image for the cover of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He rejected because he though of himself as unworthy of representing Mexico, so he rather chose to send a Tree of Life, a piece of typical Mexican handcraft.