This 1970 George Harrison Track Was Inspired by a 19th-Century Resident of Harrison’s Home, Whom He Pretended Was Still Alive

It’s a tale as old as time (and the premise of nearly every haunted house movie ever made): new homeowners move into their dream house only to find it still occupied by spirits who lived there before them. Sometimes, especially in those aforementioned movies, the spirits pester and terrify the new residents until the new residents leave. For George Harrison, his dream house was an eccentric and whimsical mansion called Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames.

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But rather than finding the spirit who occupied this 33-acre estate, Sir Frank Crisp, to be terrifying or annoying, Harrison looked to Crisp as a sort of spiritual guide. Shortly after moving into the home, Harrison immortalized this former Friar Park resident in song.

A Helping Hand From a Previous Homeowner, Beyond the Grave

Sir Frank Crisp was a lawyer and microscopist who lived in London in the late 19th century. The notable public figure bought Friar Park in 1889. In the years that followed, he grew elaborate gardens, dug out lakes, and built cave systems. He even carved out a river, completely transforming the property into a self-contained, magical world. Crisp also left behind small homilies carved into stones around the property. Notable Crisp messages included, “Do not stay off the grass,” “Shadows we are and shadows we depart,” and “Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass.”

For Harrison, who was still raw from The Beatles’ breakup when he bought the house in January 1970, Crisp’s messages seemed like universal signs. “Sir Frank helped my awareness,” Harrison wrote in his memoir, I Me Mine. “Whatever it was I felt became stronger, or found more expression by moving into that house. Everything stepped up or was heightened.”

“The climb, because it was all bigger stakes, was difficult,” Harrison continued. “It just didn’t stop. There were disasters all around at that time. Some were great, some were awful. Some were not disasters after all. But the thing about Sir Frank with his advice, like ‘Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass…’ I mean, that helped me actively to ease up on whomsoever I thought I loved, gave me that consciousness not to hang on to the negative side of it, to be more forgiving.”

George Harrison Immortalized Sir Frank Crisp in His Iconic 1970 Album

Derek Taylor, the former Beatles press officer who narrated George Harrison’s memoir, added that Harrison often talked about the 19th-century microscopist as if he were still alive. And considering how much of Crisp’s spirit and ethos were (quite literally) carved into the property, it’s easy to see why Harrison felt so close to him. Shortly after moving into Friar Park, the former Beatle immortalized Sir Frank Crisp in song. “Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)” is in the middle of the album’s third side. This side also contains the album’s title track, “All Things Must Pass”. 

Although not released as a single, “Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)” is a beloved addition to Harrison’s iconic triple album, bridging the gap with The Beatles sonically while lyrically honoring the new life he was building elsewhere.

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