"There's a fog upon LA...."

If those words sound familiar, then you've heard "Blue Jay Way," the Beatles' song about being stuck on a tiny cul-de-sac in the Hollywood Hills.

On August 1, 1967, George Harrison was staying at a rented house on the street. He penned the song while awaiting the arrival of former Beatles publicity man Derek Taylor, who had gotten lost. Shortly thereafter, the piece was recorded by the Beatles for the Magical Mystery Tour film and soundtrack record.

It all began when the Beatles' U.S. attorney Robert Fitzpatrick received a phone call from manager Brian Epstein, who asked him to lease a house for George to stay in during a forthcoming visit to Los Angeles. Mr. Fitzpatrick pursuaded an associate of his, another entertainment attorney named Ludwig Gerber, to make his L.A. residence available while he vacationed in Hawaii. (At least one book lists Mr. Fitzpatrick as the owner, but that is incorrect.)

According to realtor Saundra Renard, who has handled the property in recent years for Desert Connection Realtors, Mr. Gerber, who died a few years ago, had an amazing life: U.S. Army colonel during World War II, singer Peggy Lee's manager for many years, movie producer, graduated from the N.Y. Bar at 19. In short, "A brilliant, well-read, man."

The house was on a small hard-to-find street in the Hollywood Hills, just above the Sunset Strip, where nightclubs like the Whisky A Go Go were in their heyday. As if the winding streets weren't confusing enough, George pointed out in the opening line of "Blue Jay Way" that there was also fog.

As luck would have it, there was an organ in the house. George Harrison was not known as an organist - he played lead guitar with the Beatles - but within the simple harmonic structure of the Indian music he was interested in at the time, an entire song could be built around a single chord. He probably just held his fingers down on a few notes while improvising some lyrics.

As the years went by, Ludwig Gerber reportedly "outlived his money" and ultimately decided to sell the house. Saundra Renard said, "He took great pride and always wanted me to tell people how George Harrison wrote the song there and that it was a famous house, etc." Unfortunately, she said, "I sold his house during the real estate downturn," and that it later sold again for a much higher price. "He always said it was worth over $2 million, and he was right. Timing was very off."