Is there any detail why George went to the US then and why Benton, Illinois in particular?
He visited his sister Louise, who lived there at that time.
"I'd been to America before, being the experienced Beatle that I was. I went to New York and St Louis in 1963, to look around, and to the countryside in Illinois, where my sister was living at the time. I went to record stores. I bought Booker T and the MGs' first album, Green Onions, and I bought some Bobby Bland, all kind of things." George Harrison in Anthology