Beatles: George Harrison's mum 'disgusted' by screaming fans

Louise Harrison was a keen music fan and bought her son's first guitar

A letter from Beatle George Harrison's mother saying she was "disgusted" at how fans screamed through one of the band's gigs is up for sale.

In the letter Louise Harrison shared her reactions after watching the band perform in Manchester in 1963.

"Nobody with any sense would pay and queue for a ticket just to stand on a seat and scream and not hear one sound from the stage," she wrote.

Her response is one of 25 letters to Beatles fan Janet Gray being auctioned.

Mrs Harrison, who bought George's first guitar and lessons, answered thousands of letters from Beatles fans around the world.

She had a regular correspondence with Ms Gray when she was a teenager between 1963 and 1966, as the band rose to worldwide stardom.

In one being sold at the Liverpool Beatles Memorabilia Auction on 26 August, Mrs Harrison said she was ""disgusted at the way the so-called fans just screamed" at the Manchester gig.

She added: "I was really ashamed I was a female."

That letter is expected to fetch £100-£150.

She even offered counsel to the teenager, writing: "I hope you will try and remember that your mum is your best friend, even if you don't see eye-to-eye on some issues.

"Thank God I get on fine with all my four children and they with each other."

In other letters, she shared news about her famous son, including when he survived uninjured in a crash in 1964 and the occasional motherly concern about his health after seeing him in Surrey later that year.

"George was there five days before I came home. He is very thin but OK."

The Beatles were also surrounded by screaming fans when landing at New York in 1964

At times, she revealed to Ms Gray how responding to fans' letters could become overwhelming.

"Glad to hear you have a boyfriend. Hope you pass the GCE OK," she added.

"I'm so busy I could scream. 3,000 letters to answer at least. So I'll say cheerio for now."

After a European holiday in 1966, Mrs Harrison wrote: "I am hoping the boys will have a successful tour of America despite all the rumours we have heard."

The band did indeed have a memorable tour and her son later carved out a successful musical career after the group split in 1969.

His song Deep Blue is reported to have been inspired by his mother's fatal illness a year later and was released as a B-side to his 1971 single in support of Bangladesh's war for independence.

He died of cancer at the age of 58 in 2001.