George Harrison in Brazil: The Formula 1 Qualifying Order
Item #910
This unique item is the Qualifying Order for the Grande Premio Do Brasil, written out by George Harrison from memory on February 3rd, 1979. On the front, it includes the starting lineup, and on the back is a personal note to George. Below is the story about how George, Chris and Gary ended up in Brazil for the event.
STARTING LINEUP FFOR 1979 GRAND PRIX OF BRAZIL
26 Jacques Laffite
2 Carlos Reutemann
12 Gilles Villeneuve
15 Jean-Pierre Jabouille
14 Emerson Fittipaldi
16 René Arnoux
27 Alan Jones
4 Jean-Pierre Jarier
28 Clay Ragazzoni
30 Jochen Mass
17 Jan Lammers
22 Derek Daly
25 Patrick Depailler
1 Mario Andretti
11 Jody Scheckter
3 Didier Pironi
20 James Hunt
5 Niki Lauda
7 John Watson
29 Riccardo Patrese
8 Patrick Tambay
18 Elio de Angelis
6 Nelson Piquet
9 Hans Stuck
George Harrison, the first Beatle to set foot in Brazil
by Rose Saconi for: Jornal de Tarde (Evening Newspaper)
Formula 1 fan, ex-Beatle was at Interlagos in 1979 at the invitation of ÉmersonFittipaldi.
Oswaldo Luiz Palermo / Estadão
The 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix, held at the Interlagos circuit, had an illustrious and special spectator: former Beatle George Harrison. At the invitation of his friend Émerson Fittipaldi, the musician came especially to São Paulo to watch the race. It was the first visit by a member of the Beatles to Brazil. Paul McCartney would only play his first shows in the country in 1990.
Prior to Harrison’s arrival, it was speculated that he would participate in a photo shoot at the São Paulo circuit for the cover of a new album. It was also commented that the guitarist would have plans to do a show here. Once the rumors were dispelled, it was found that the ex-Beatle had merely automobile interests.
“I came to Brazil to watch the Grand Prix, that’s all”, he told reporters who insisted on interviewing him. To the photographers surrounding him at the racetrack, Harrison tried to argue that the stars were the drivers and not him. To the fans and journalists who harassed him, he said “come, Sunday to the race”. The former Beatle refused to have any kind of conversation with the press.
Excerpts from Gary Wright’s book with accounts by Chris Agajanian
It was spring lime in Lon Angeles in 1979, and I was growing impatient with the dreary weather. There was also an urge growing in me to travel somewhere I’d never been before. I’d always loved the rhythms that came out of South America especially Brazil. After spending several days mulling this over, I picked up the phone and once again called my friend and travel companion, Chris Agajanian.
“Hey Chris, we had such a great time in India last year. I was thinking of South America this time with its rain forests and primitive tribes in the Amazon basin, and Machu Picchu in Peru. George told me he’d be at the Grand Prix in Sao Paulo sometime in February and we could all meet up there. I Could even do some promotion on my “Headin’ Home” album while there. What do you think?” He loved the idea and we both started planning the trip. We would first fly to Manaus, the old rubber capital of Brazil right in the middle of the rain forest on the Rio Negro.
After Manaus, we’d fly to Salvador in Bahia, followed by Rio de Janeiro for Carnival, São Paulo, for the Formula One race, then on to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and finally end the trip in Peru with a visit to Lima, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu. A few weeks later, we were on a plane heading for Manaus.
I had brought my acoustic guitar and with some of the locals we’d all start jamming together. From these impromptu jam sessions, several songs were written or started that wound up on future albums, with the help of Chris in the recording process. We checked into the Tropical. Chris, while relaxing by the pool, went over to a fella who caught his attention. They struck up conversation and Chris soon realized that he had by chance been talking with Mick Jones, founder of the group Foreigner and previously lead guitar player in my group Wonderwheel.
The next thing I knew was, Mick Jones, my dear friend, was walking into my hotel room in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. What an uncanny coincidence. We spent the next couple days having dinner together and hiking through the Rain Forest.
Next on the agenda was the Grand Prix in São Paulo, where we were to meet George and watch the race the next day. Shortly after landing, we were fortunate enough to have made arrangements with Warner Records of Brasil for a driver to take us to the Interlagos track to meet George at Emerson Fittipaldi’s motorhome in the middle of the racetrack where George had arranged for Chris and I to be credentialed for the weekend. Emerson was a good friend of George’s and one of the Formula One drivers in the race the next day.
We reached the motorcoach in early evening and George warmly greeted us and immediately introduced us to Emerson, the conversation turned to the upcoming race. Chris, who knew a lot about Formula One racing, asked George who qualified fastest that day. George said, Jacques Laffite, and then he said wait a second and he reached into his case and pulled out a piece of paper and started writing out the complete qualifying order and how they would line up on the starting grid, including each driver’s names, their race car numbers and their starting positions and handed it over to Chris. Chris was thoroughly impressed. He couldn’t believe that George was able to do that all from memory. We soon left for our hotel, where we met another race driver and friend of Chris and George, three-time World Champion, Sir Jackie Stewart.
After settling into our rooms, we decided to go out for dinner. On our way to the elevator, George told Chris, not that elevator, down the hall further is the service elevator. So, we took the employees’ service elevator down to the parking garage and got in Jackie’s car.
[Chris: George Harrison handed me this guitar pick and told me that when he would check into a hotel to maintain his privacy and to allow business or friends to contact him, he would go by the nickname, “Jack Lumber”.]
George and Chris sat in the back seat I sat in the passenger seat and Jackie drove us to dinner while being chased by the paparazzi and Beatles fans. Cars chased us down and flash bulbs were going off in our faces through the window, but George, not surprisingly, was unaffected by it all.
Of course, dinner wasn’t without incident. It started off very quiet and peaceful but ended up in a group of fans staring at us and speaking Portuguese, which none of us understood. It took management to get everyone back seated so we could finish dinner.
Race Day / February 4th, 1979
The next morning, Jackie Stewart, George Harrison, Chris Agajanian, and I were picked up by a helicopter and flown to the track, where we met up with Emerson Fittipaldi and viewed the race from his garage pit area. At that time, Emerson Fittipaldi was the highest paid athlete in the world.
The actor Gene Hackman was also hanging out there; Chris had known him from the times Gene attended races at Ascot Park Raceway.
“After the race,” Chris recalls, “it became a battle to get back to Emerson Fittipaldi’s motorcoach. Gary, Emerson, and George took off running towards the motorcoach and my new Brazilian friend, Chaba Soos and I, drafted them until we reached the vehicle. And in an effort to stop the pack of fans that were in chase, we turned around suddenly, assumed a football stance, interlocked arms and collided with the ensuing crowd just in time for the celebs to jump inside. Once the crowd dispersed Chaba and I went in and had a laugh of relief.”
Rio de Janeiro, here we come!!!
We had a quick flight from Sao Paulo to Rio. And as we landed, preparations for Carnival were everywhere and the anticipation was building to an emotional fever-pitch.
When the next day arrived, the streets were jammed with people dressed in everything from simple to outrageous costumes. All ages were consumed with the spirit of Carnival.
We wandered the streets and took in the ambiance. Everyone was having over-the-top fun. We got ready for the night life with a nap. Our car picked us up at 11:30PM and we headed out for our midnight dinner reservations to meet up with a few of the Warner Records execs at a picturesque restaurant.
It wasn’t until 1:30AM when we left for a couple of parties and finally ended up at the exclusive “Red and Black Ball”, which has developed a particular reputation as a no-holds-barred affair. Everyone but us, were wearing red and black costumes. We had met some wonderful people that evening or should I say morning. By 3:00AM, Chris and I were lastly on our way to the Carnival Parade.
We were able to score tickets to a street level suite from the Warner rep. And then it began: music, dancing, singing, floats all moving along in an endless procession. There was block after block of tambourine players, several blocks of snare drums, then bass drums, then shakers, maracas, cuicas, you name it–it was all there. A cacophony of intermingled sound that was both electrifying and impossible to verbalize. It was the most amazing display of color and Samba rhythms that you could imagine. It’s a raucous Carnaval festival that is considered the world’s largest. I think we finally called it quits around 6:00AM and took a taxi back to our hotel, we were beat!
Rio de Janeiro is a huge seaside city and probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is well-known for its Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and for Sugarloaf Mountain, a granite peak with cable cars to its summit. We attended a party on top of that immense rock, which was like nothing we had ever seen before. It was an amazing view of the bay as the night turned into day.
Rio is also known for its sprawling favelas (shanty towns). Population density within shanty towns is amongst the highest in the world. It’s a settlement, usually illegal, of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials.
Perched on the summit of Mount Corcovado, Christ the Redeemer statue stands at a whopping 98 feet tall, and its outstretched arms reach to 92 feet horizontally. It has stood over the city since the middle of the 20th century. We took a drive up to this incredible statue and felt the presence of Christ.
It was a great trip. We continued on to Buenos Aires and ended the trip in Peru with a visit to Lima, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu. We then departed for Los Angeles after being away for more than six weeks.