Annie Harrison breaks the silence on her life, love and music
By Stephen Lewis
Rock Line
January 21, 2002
It's always difficult meeting with your idols. You never know
until the moment you actually interact whether they'll live up to your
expectations or wind up being complete assholes. Granted, celebrities are just
people like the rest of us, with good days and bad, but there are those we
elevate to god-like levels and the last thing you want to do is learn that She
or He is just a mere mortal like the rest of us. When I was given the assignment
to interview Dame Annie Kent Harrison, it was a moment of exhilaration and
dread. I'd fallen in love with her at the age of 8. It was the fall of 1976 and
the Honeybears were performing on Saturday Night Live. I thought their music was
great but there was something about that little blonde woman pounding the life
out of her drums that just blew me away. I was hooked - and a lifelong obsession
with all things Honeybear began.
While I've had the honor of interviewing several of her
bandmates in the past, I'd never been able to meet with the elusive object of my
adolescent affection until today. I'm happy to report that not only did Ms.
Harrison live up to expectations but she exceeded them beyond my wildest dreams.
Before I arrived, her personal assistant had faxed me an extensive list of
things that were considered verboten, including questions regarding the attack
on her and her husband, George Harrison, two years ago. There had been so many
reports of her being difficult in interviews or reluctant to answer many
questions that I was quite frightened that this entire meeting would be a wash.
Much to my surprise and delight, I found her to be very open and willing to
discuss everything and anything in depth without concern. Maybe she just wanted
to set the record straight. Maybe the stars were in a favorable alignment. Maybe
she just liked my face. In any case, it was one of the most exciting afternoons
of my life.
We met on a sunny January afternoon at her stately home, the
120 room Gothic mansion known as Friar Park, in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
The small strawberry blonde woman who greeted me was hardly the mod
"It" girl of the 1960s or the emaciated glam waif of the 1970s whose
pictures had plastered the walls of my bedroom but she was still undeniably
beautiful, looking better at 55 than many women half her age. When asked, she
attributed her health to yoga, meditation, a vegetarian diet and "fairly
sedate lifestyle".
We retired to a backroom which can only be described as a
solarium - sunny, bright and filled with exotic plants Kent said were cultivated
by her husband. She admitted to being an amateur horticulturist although
"hardly in the same league as Gardener George". The Gardener, she
pointed out, was busy playing around in his studio with their 23 year old son,
Dhani, so we'd be uninterrupted for a few hours. After plying me with tea and
homemade scones, she agreed to start the interview.
There seems to be a lot happening in the Honeybears camp these days after
a quiet period. How did all that come about?
It just took a while for us all to get our schedules aligned. We're five
people with five separate lives and unfortunately for our fans, they don't
always match up. When we met up in New York in October for the Concert for New
York and Woman's Touch shows, we realized we'd let things go for too long. I
freely admit a lot of it was my fault. The last two years have been more than a
little stressful and I wasn't in a space where I felt I could do deal with
anything but family matters. Now that my son's graduated from university and
other things are out of the way, I can think about the future again.
How does it feel to be the mother of a college graduate?
Fulfilling. While I'd hate to be the kind of mother that lives vicariously
through her kids, I have to say I'm very proud of him. Going to Brown was his
own idea - he applied, got in on his own merits and saw the entire thing through
till the end. We never pushed him to do it. I think initially, we'd have
preferred if he'd stayed in England but in the end, it turned out to be just
fine. I'd gone to the Royal College of Music but dropped out in order to stick
with the band. While it was the right choice for me, I've always regretted not
getting a proper degree. So to have a son who not only went to university but
such a prestigious one as Brown was very gratifying.
Yet you received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee School of Music in
1999.
Yes. It was lovely of them to give it to me. So I suppose my actual title is
now Doctor Dame Annalynn Louisa Kent Harrison Bus Stop Ftang Ftang Olé Biscuit
Barrel. (laughs)
How did it feel to receive the Damehood last year on the Queen's birthday
honours list?
It was lovely. The five of us were just thrilled to bits to be honored like
that. It was a bit of a surprise too. But a lovely one. You know, I've just been
the wife of an MBE for all these years so to be a Dame now in my own right is a
bit daunting. It was easier for Jamie since she's been Lady McCartney for a few
years. Of course, George and Dhan went ahead and recorded a version of
"There Ain't Nothing Like A Dame" for us on their ukuleles.
So there were no hard feelings that he'd been passed over for knighthood
again?
Not a bit. It's not something to lose sleep over to be honest. If anything, I
was the one who was somewhat uncomfortable about outranking him! Of course,
that's going to be moot in a few months anyway now that he's finally getting
one. It'll be nice to be back on equal footing - although there is something to
be said for having vassals. (laughs)
Your daughter, Katherine, is at the Sundance Film Festival this week
presenting her film Durga's Tears which you scored. How did you get
involved in the project?
Nepotism. (laughs) Actually, Kate thought it would be a good project for us
to work on together. I really liked the subject matter and thought I could do a
good job with it. Whether or not I have has yet to be determined. I would have
done it no matter who the writer or director was. The fact that it was Kate just
made it easier for me.
The story is about a young girl, Sangeeta, who is trying to find her own
identity while being caught between her Indian family and her life in England.
The film's gotten very good reviews as has the score but some detractors have
complained that it should have had an Indian director or an Indian composer
working on it. How do you respond to that?
I think it's just ridiculous. Granted neither Kate nor I are Indian women but
we have been affected by that culture for a very long time. We've known women
like that, experienced life around them, understand their beliefs, their
customs. The point is that Sangeeta is caught between two worlds - the
traditional one of her ancestors and that of her adopted country. It's East
meets West. Just because we're on the other side of that mirror doesn't mean we
can't empathize. The whole point is an amalgamation of cultures - British and
Indian. So the music reflects that. At least, I hope it does.
Did you do any particular research for the film?
I listened to more things than you could imagine. Classical Indian music,
Bollywood film scores. Some of the new Asian dub and rap stuff that's come out.
I think it helps a lot that Western pop music has embraced Indian music so fully
over the years and vice versa. Not just the Beatles or Donovan or whoever back
in the 60s but newer bands like Cornershop or Kula Shaker. They affected us, we
affected them, they affected us… It's sort of a feedback loop, isn't it? It
was a different experience than some of the other composition jobs I've had over
the years. Those were fully Western in flavor and so I was able to rely more on
my classical background. This was very refreshing because I finally got to put
some of my Eastern music interests front and center.
But you'd done that in your own pop music already, hadn't you?
Well, certainly in the 60s. You can hear it a bit on tracks like "Dream
Child" (on Fields of Fortune) or "The Light That Shines"
(on Daughters of the Minstrel) but I was always very shy about
experimenting in that way. I think it was more of George's outlet and I was so
paranoid about people assuming he'd influenced me that I tended to avoid doing
things that would lead to comparisons. Now if someone says, "Oh, she's only
doing it to please her old man", I'd tell them to piss off. (laughs)
Do you think there were a lot of comparisons?
Constantly. I think most pop groups were being unfairly compared at the time.
You know the Beatles would do something and then the Stones would do something
and then someone would say "Oh, they're just copying them." It didn't
help that of course you had John (Lennon) saying as much to the press as well.
In our case, it was even worse because no one knew what to make of us. Half the
world seemed to think we were just the Beatles' puppets for the first two years.
Because of our associations with them, people tended to assume that whatever
we'd released, they'd written it or produced it or influenced it. It didn't seem
to matter that we were all experiencing similar things and that we had ideas of
our own. So if I'd written something as blatantly Indian sounding as
"Within you, Without you", let's say, everyone would have said
"Oh, she didn't really write that, George did."
Do you think that would've been the reaction?
Unfortunately, yes. I held back on experimenting as much as I'd have liked
just to save us both the embarrassment of having to explain the truth. I should
add that George never felt that way about anything we did. If anything, he was
unbelievably supportive to me, to all of the band. All four of them were. But in
my case, if he could have, he'd have been president of my fan club. (smiles)
Even after thirty-seven years. It was more people from the outside - the press
mainly - who would come up with those crazy theories.
So you got support from other musicians as well?
Eventually, yes. You have to realize that most pop musicians were horribly
sexist. (laughs) Well, they still are to some extent but not nearly as badly. It
was very difficult for us because half the time we were seen as some sort of
freak show or a trained animal act. Girls were not supposed to do what we were
doing. We just didn't listen.
Do you see yourselves as feminist icons?
I don't. I daresay Rory and Meg do. I don't like that word anyway. It just
makes me think of very angry women.
You don't consider yourself a feminist?
Hardly. I'm not knocking the cause. I just don't like labels. Plus I've
gotten a lot of flak from feminist circles over the years for being too soft,
too nice and too domestic. I think they see me as having betrayed them a bit
because I gave up stardom for a while to save my marriage and raise my kids.
It's not that I actually gave up making music. I just gave up performing for a
while. The thing is they forget George did it too. We made a pact to spend our
time together with our family for a few years, that's all. The first time around
was such a nightmare - tours, press conference, constant recording, people
always after us for one thing or another. It's no wonder that we fell apart
because there was too much pressure from the outside. When we got back together
in '76, that was one of the promises we made to each other - if it was going to
work, we both had to give up everything else. Maybe it was a bit extreme but for
us, it was the only way. Once we'd gotten ourselves sussed out, everything else
fell into place.
People were surprised when you made that announcement.
Of course they were. I'd spent the past 4 years in the public eye, going out
of my way to get attention. Christ, I was screaming for it, wasn't I? It's a sad
state of affairs when you've got your seven-year-old daughter keeping track of
your life for you. Sandy and I were like Patsy and Edina from AbFab. I can't
even imagine being like that now. It's like a whole other life. You know, that's
one of the problems with fame. It's like any other sort of addiction. You get a
little and you constantly crave more. So you do bigger and better things to get
it. In order to get the same buzz. It's when you wake up and ask yourself why
you're doing it that you know you've gotten past it. In the end, the only person
whose attention you need is your own.
And yet you didn't retire completely.
Well, I never really gave up doing music. I just wasn't doing it in public.
I've been playing instruments for the past half century. It's in my blood.
(laughs) I just needed time to be a wife and mother. You know, I was playing at
Monterrey (Pop Festival) less than 6 weeks after Kate was born and then back in
the studio right away for Daughters of the Minstrel. I didn't want to do that
with Dhan too. We - the Honeybears - had been on the road or working in some
capacity for years and I just needed a break. It was just my turn to do that.
Eventually the Girls lured me back. It was never a question of leaving them for
good.
So, how did A Woman's Touch come about?
Again, nepotism. (laughs) Well, that was mostly Rory and Sandy. I just showed
up, really. Rory was doing the Concert for New York with Robin [her nephew Brion
Jones] and she begged me to come join her. We hadn't worked together in a bit
and so it felt right. Actually, Paul had contacted George and wanted him to do
something but he just wasn't up for it. It wasn't that he didn't believe in the
cause - I think he just didn't want a so-called Beatles reunion to overshadow
the real reason for the show. It was easier for me, really. I didn't mind
working with the Bombastics since I wasn't actually doing much more than shaking
a tambourine and singing backing vocals. When in doubt, stick me in the back.
But George was there anyway, wasn't he?
Well, yes, in the Green Room. We rarely travel without each other these days.
He was asked to come out and play guitar on "Let It Be" but he's very
stubborn. So he just hung out in the Green Room and watched.
Some people didn't realize it but he was onstage for the big finale.
(laughs) He certainly was! That was Eric's (Clapton) doing. He couldn't deal
with George playing passive observer so he said something to him like "If
you don't come out at the end, everyone's going to say something about me and
your wife!" That got George out there! He came out and joined Rory and me
and Robin. Just to be silly. We had a laugh. I think Paul was very disappointed
that he didn't make a big deal about being there.
Do you really think that the Clapton thing would have been an issue?
I hate to admit that but yeah. I remember all the horrible gossip that went
on when George toured Japan in 1991. I mean I was on the tour with him, with our
son, and there were all these nasty little comments in articles hinting about
ménage a trois. I mean it was just awful. If I hadn't gone, then it would have
been "Oh, George doesn't trust Annie to be around his old friend Eric
Clapton after all this time" which is just utter rubbish. But it did hurt.
Eric's a lovely man. He just became a dad again, just got married again. We were
at the wedding. I'm so happy things are finally looking up for him. You know, we
all make mistakes, we're all human and no one but the three of us really knows
what happened. If we're willing to forgive each other for stupidity that took
place 30 years ago, why can't the rest of the world let it go?
Is that why A Woman's Touch was deemed girls only?
(laughs) Could be. Actually Rory and Sandy have both said elsewhere why they
decided to go that route and I think it was a great idea. We certainly got a lot
of talented people involved. I would have done it even if it hadn't been my
bandmates behind it. I just liked the concept. As the victim of a violent crime
myself, I do understand what those women are going through. Not that men don't
go through it too but you know, a lot of wives and mothers lost their husbands,
kids lost their dads. Their whole lives have been changed forever. It nearly
happened to me. It did happen to Patti (Collins Lennon). It's just the most
horrible thing in the world. I mean, what I suffered was a lot different in some
ways, but the feeling of being violated, of feeling unsafe lingers. To just be
going on with your life and having some bastard just come along and try to kill
you… how can you ever make sense of such a thing? To be honest, in all cases,
the crimes were perpetrated by mad men. That's something I don't understand -
how you can hate someone so much that you'd want to take their life, especially
in the name of God. But I s'pose that's why I'm still considered sane.
I know I'm not supposed to ask you about that but since you've brought it
up…
No, that's okay. I want to talk about it a bit. You know, we're still both
healing. Physically, the scars have gone away but emotionally, psychologically….
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is what it's called. You think you're okay and
then suddenly, you're in the middle of something else and you're suddenly
reliving it again. I don't think it's violating any state secrets to admit we've
had therapy for it. One of the reasons I'm doing the tour this year… is to
deal with real life again. Not hide from the enemy, real or imagined.
And yet at the time, you were very brave.
At the time it was happening, it was so surreal that neither of us had the
time to think about how stupid we were. In those sort of situations, you don't
think…you just, you just do what you have to. It's just afterwards that you
realize if we'd just stayed upstairs and locked the door, we'd have been fine.
But George went to protect me and then I went to protect him. It's sounds
ridiculous now, doesn't it? I've told him "Next time you want to prove how
much you love me, please just send flowers." (laughs) I honestly don't know
where I found the strength to fight that bastard off but I s'pose it's like all
those stories you hear about where mothers pull cars off their kids and all
that. Just pure adrenaline. And I know if it happened again, I'd just do the
same thing. He's my Soul Mate, plain and simple. I can't imagine my life without
him and so he's not going anywhere without me. (laughs)
So you honestly believe you two were fated to be together?
Oh, definitely. I loved him from the first time I ever saw him - I was all of
seventeen and saw the Beatles on television. I hadn't heard them before, wasn't
even interested in them really. But then I caught a glimpse of him and somehow,
I knew we were meant to be together. Okay, so did every other teenager in
Britain at the time but I was right. (laughs) George says he knew the first
night he saw me. That's got to mean something, hasn't it?. We've tried to live
apart and we just couldn't. We kept winding up back together so at this point,
you have to stop fighting Fate. (laughs)
You know, there's a Greek myth about an old couple called Philemon and Baucis.
They lived their lives devoted to one another and to the Gods. One day, Zeus and
Hermes came calling on them disguised as ordinary travelers. The couple took
them in and gave them good food and wine and let them sleep in their beds. The
Gods were impressed by their hospitality and kindness so in return for their
generosity, Zeus revealed himself and said he'd grant them one wish. Philemon
said, "Let us be your priests and serve you for the rest of our lives. But
when it comes time for one of us to die, please let us die together because we
cannot bear to be parted" and Zeus agreed, turning their home into a
beautiful temple.
They served a long time and when it was their time to die, Baucis was
transformed into a linden tree and Philemon into an oak. They grew side by side,
with their branches entwined, and they were never parted from each other in life
or in death. That's George and me. At least that's how we want it to be.
Hopefully God will be as good to us but not for a very long time!
That sounds very positive.
Oh, it is. George credits me with saving his life three times and each time,
something positive came out of it. Once on an acid trip in L.A. when I wasn't
even with him. So then he proposed to me. Once when he had hepatitis and I
forced him to see a doctor. So then we got back together. This thing was the
third time. I'm not sure what the point of this was but I believe we were meant
to go through all that together for some reasons. I'm just hoping we've now paid
off whatever karmic debt we owed and it's smooth sailing from here on. I think
we've had enough of death and destruction for quite some time, thank you.
You said that part of the reason for touring this year is to get past what
you've been through. What about your husband?
(laughs) I don't think he'll be touring in the near future. He's a lazy sod,
you know. Typical Pisces. He might come along with us for a while but don't
expect to see him on stage any time soon. We just like to be together and if I
leave him at home, who knows what kind of mischief he'll get into? (laughs)
While we - I mean the Honeybears - haven't made any definitive touring plans
yet, I think it'll be in short bursts. Maybe a week or so at a time. I can't
imagine doing what some other bands like U2 or whoever do -you know, go out on
the road for 18 months, covering the whole world. I can't imagine being away
from home for that long with or without my husband. It'll probably be a week in
the UK and then maybe a week on the East Coast of the U.S. then some downtime,
then maybe a week or so on the West Coast. Then some more downtime, then maybe a
week in the South. I don't know yet. Michael knows I'm going to have to do this
in baby steps. Hopefully our fans will understand.
Yet, you've traveled around the world in the past two years.
Yes, but that was privately. When we could manage it, it was incognito. It's
different when you're on tour and you're with an entourage of 20, 30 other
people and your fans know when and where you're going to be day and night. When
you're facing a crowd of 70,000 or whatever people at once. It just makes you
feel more vulnerable. Luckily, I'm in the back so they've got to go through the
other four to get to me. (laughs)
I should add that no matter what else we're doing, I will be in the UK this
June to see my husband finally get his knighthood.
Are you working on a new album?
Yes, definitely. We've already started talking about things, pulling out
songs we've been working on, trying to figure out a direction. It's in the
planning stages. Nothing definitive yet and I'm not even sure when we'll start
recording. Or where. We've talked about doing it here at FPSHOT but it depends
on George's schedule too. That's where we recorded the last single
("Helping Hands") and everyone seemed comfortable with the
arrangements so we might stick with that. Again, baby steps.
Is there anything else you'd like to do this year that you haven't as
yet?
Well, not this year but I would like to be a grandmother at some point. I'm a
great aunt several times over so, eventually, it would be nice to have a
grandchild of my own. But I'm not in any great rush. And luckily, neither are my
kids.
You know, I look at them now and they just seem so young. When I was Dhan's
age, I was already married with a baby. When I was Kate's age, I was the mother
of two, just starting to get my life together after so many ups and downs. I'm
sometimes amazed that we all made it through all of that in one piece without
going completely mad. You know, we were all just kids doing what we were doing…it's
incredible that most of us made it out alive, you know? I don't think any of us
made it out unscathed and we lost some of the best and brightest along the way.
But you know, with very few exceptions, I wouldn't change it for the world.
