Who were George Harrison’s ‘Apple Scruffs’?
The Beatles’ star power was never going to go away once they gave up the road. Even though they had left the idea of touring behind, fans were still willing to go on every sonic ride they had in store for the next few years, whether that was the acid-fuelled sessions of Revolver or hearing them get back to their roots on Let It Be. While it was clear that the band were tired of the ongoing saga of Beatlemania, there was no one more difficult to get a read on than George Harrison during the band’s prime.
After all, he was always the ‘Quiet One’ of the group, and watching him fade into the background half the time was enough for people to fall in love with his more mysterious demeanour. But when talking about the swirl of attention that came in the wake of Beatlemania, Harrison seemed to be more than a little bit desensitised to the fame, even commenting that every member of the band had to sacrifice their nervous systems to be rock and roll stars.
But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t have an earnest relationship with their fans. There was already a communal vibe when the band were playing on the roof during the Get Back documentary, and for the few people that could find their way into London, it was a must for any Fab fan to go outside Abbey Road Studios in the hopes that they could catch a glimpse of their favourite Beatle walking by.
While most of these people would be called hangers-on, the supposed ‘Apple Scruffs’ would be given that pet name because of how devoted they were to their favourite band. Paul McCartney may have had the occasional issue with them, like on ‘She Came In Through the Bathroom Window’, but despite his reputation as one of the more cynical Beatles, Harrison had a soft spot for every one of them.
So, how did George Harrison deal with Apple Scruffs?
It took a lot of devotion for anyone to follow the band around that much, and when All Things Must Pass first came out, Harrison included ‘Apple Scruffs’ as a tribute to their fans. The song is much more indebted to someone like Bob Dylan than The Beatles, with its acoustic foundation and harmonica solo, but Harrison’s understanding of the girls could not be understated.
Even for someone who was more famous than anyone else in the world at that point, session musician Bobby Keys had to marvel at how accommodating Harrison could be towards what would today be called ‘stans’, saying, “He always took time to have a word with them, and I seem to remember him going out with tea for them sometimes when it was cold. I was impressed with how caring he was about these girls. I’ve been around a lot of other folks who have quite a different way of dealing with people, let’s put it that way.”
But the important thing was that none of The Beatles meant any harm when confronting their fans. They had to protect themselves when things got out of order, but even the most cynical Beatle, John Lennon, was known to talk to them if they needed help, including having a full discussion with a war veteran who was convinced that he was hearing voices from him long after the band broke up.
Although Lennon’s murder was the sad result of a disgruntled fan taking things way too far, Harrison’s compassion for ‘Apple Scruffs’ is part of what made the band so irresistible to begin with. They were among the most famous people in the world, and yet they chose to see the good in humanity even on days when all they wanted to do was be left alone.
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