How George Harrison's Sister, Louise Harrison, Helped Introduce The Beatles To The United States

In an interview with Classic Bands, Louise Harrison recounted her efforts to ensure that The Beatles gained notoriety in America. She divulged that she received negative feedback from radio stations. In fact, the Riverfront Times states that Marcia Schafer was likely the first D.J. to play The Beatles' music in the States. Louse also told Classic Bands she had to help The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, understand the American music industry. Louise stated, "All I was getting from the D.J.s and the program directors was, 'Oh, this stuff is garbage. Nobody's ever gonna want to listen to that.' I realized too; I started getting Cashbox and Billboard and various other magazines to start to learn about the music business in this country because it's so totally different."

She added (via Classic Bands), "So, it was just a big old struggle and I did my best to try and help Brian understand how different it was here. I was writing him sixteen page letters every week. At the bottom of the letter I would put, "P.S. Get them on The Ed Sullivan Show," because again, in England that was something they never heard of."

While Louise pushed her brother's music to American audiences, Smithsonian Magazine writes that George Harrison decided to visit her Benton, Illinois home in September 1963. He was on break from touring and recording with The Beatles. George stayed for two weeks and made quite an impression on the townspeople.