Fans mourn Liverpool legend

LIVERPOOL, England -- Fans have flocked to key sites in the history of the Beatles to pay their respects to former guitarist George Harrison.

Flags flew at half mast in Liverpool -- birthplace of The Beatles -- as the city mourned Harrison, who died of cancer on Friday, aged 58.

Lord Mayor Gerry Scott said Harrison would be much missed by the people of the city, and a memorial service was planned to mark his "exceptional and gifted life."

"George Harrison was one of the great Liverpudlians. He was a warm, peace-loving man who much more than just a talented musician," Scott told Reuters.

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A book of condolence had been opened at the city council offices, with people queuing up to sign it as soon as the news broke, a spokeswoman said.

Harrison, the youngest member of the Beatles, was awarded the freedom of the city in 1984.

Raymond McFall, owner of the Cavern Club where The Beatles first played, said the band had always enjoyed a strong following in the city, long before they won outside fame.

He booked them in for a lunchtime concert on the advice of his stage manager.

"The ironic thing is that if they had not been so sensational -- I was smitten by them -- I would have booted them out of the club because of the way they were dressed, in jeans and scruffy jumpers. That was definitely bad," he told Sky News.

Jean Catharell, president of the international Liverpool Beatlescene fan club, described Harrison as "a 20th century icon, a member of the most famous band in history but he was also a very kind, gentle and spiritual person. Guitars everywhere are weeping, but especially in Liverpool."

In London, fans from around the world wept outside the Abbey Road Studios where the Fab Four recorded most of their hits in the early 1960s.

"Without George, there is no Beatles. He'll be on my mind today. I'll light a candle, say a little prayer," said Jade Funk, a tearful 26-year-old American.

"We came here to be with him. It's the right place to be today. It helps to share the feeling," said Yossi Tzarsaty, an Israeli visitor.

Grieving music lovers wrote remembrances and personal messages on a wall outside the studio. "There goes the sun -- Bye George," read one.

The wall -- repainted every month to allow for new messages -- and a nearby pedestrian zebra crossing that featured on the cover of The Beatles' 1969 Abbey road album are among London's top tourist attractions.

"The Beatles were a constant in everyone's life. The music industry is so fickle, but they were part of British history," said Hayley Gelling, a 19-year-old from the group's home city of Liverpool, northern England.

A Russian couple, who bought The Beatles music on the black market during communism, gazed at the wall in tears. "It's not just music, it's a philosophy and a way of life. George was the soul of the group," said Vladimir Anufriev, 46.

Abbey Road Studios, originally the EMI Studios, were renamed in the wake of the fame they won with the 1969 album.

Fans also gathered outside Harrison's Oxfordshire home on Friday to pay their respects, many leaving bouquets of flowers at the gates of his £10 million ($15 million) estate, Friar Park, Henley-on-Thames.

One family friend told the Press Association: "I just wanted to pay my respects. We've got lots of nasty people in the world who seem to live forever.

"It seems to be the good ones who pass away before their time. George said in one of his songs 'all things must pass' -- he understood the cycle of things."