Michael Lynch
on
George Harrison,
Part III, December, 2001

Wonderwall Music (November 1968)

George's soundtrack to the trippy and seldom-seen Jack MacGowran / Jane Birkin movie (it appears that only Beatle fans ever made an effort to view it) was the first solo album by any Beatle, and the very first album ever released on Apple Records. George himself doesn't play on any of the music, but composed, produced and directed the musicians, both at the late 1967 London sessions, which yielded the more rock-based music (using his Liverpool friends The Remo Four for the bulk of the work), and the early 1968 India sessions, from which, naturally, the Eastern flavored portions of the score came. While the album itself may not be a masterpiece (though it comes a closer than the movie does), it does have several notable moments. From the London sessions, "Party Seacombe" is very similar to The Beatles' "Flying," and the psychedelic "Skiing," though based on one guitar riff played over and over, could have easily been worked into an A1 song. "Drilling A Hole" is an interesting creation, in which George apparently took a tape of an old 78 of ragtime music, chopped it up and pasted it back together to make a new chord progression (isolate the channel without the piano and listen closely to how every time it changes chords, it's a splice), onto which he had a new saloon style piano part dubbed. All in all, a decent enough effort for a first-time movie scorer, especially for such an archaic movie. (Footnote: Perhaps the best product of these sessions was eventually left out of the original film. George had the Remo Four record a fully fledged song of their own composition entitled "In The First Place," the only 'song' recorded for the movie. Though the light psychedelic gem (imagine "Party Seacombe" in a minor key) was left out of the 1968 print, recent rereleases of the movie reinsert it as the opening and closing song.)

Electronic Sound (1969)

In 1969, Apple Records introduced a subsidiary label, Zapple, meant to showcase more experimental recordings, as opposed to quality work. Only two Zapple albums made it to the racks, and the sales figures for both suggests they sat in said racks untouched. One was John and Yoko's Unfinished Music Number 2, Life With The Lions, consisting of such things as Yoko screaming over John's guitar feedback, the two of them singing newspaper articles, and radio dial twiddling. George's Electronic Sound was more musical, but only in the sense that it features no singing. It is a whole album of George trying out a Moog synthesizer. He achieves some interesting sounds, but as George never was a proficient keyboard player, he never makes real music out of them. Instead, it's the sound of someone wondering "What does this knob do?"

All Things Must Pass (1970)

George's first post-Beatles release has not only been generally regarded as his finest album, but is also often cited along with Paul's Band On The Run and John's Imagine as ranking among the very best solo Beatle albums ever. Years of having his song contribution on Beatle albums kept to a minimum resulted in an impressive backlog of quality originals to chose from for his 'true' debut album. With the assistance of producer Phil Spector and a roomful of notable musician friends like Ringo, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Dave Mason and others (Peter Frampton, Charlie Watts and Phil Collins are some of the musicians rumored to have participated but who are not listed as players on the inside cover), George's album became a powerhouse of sound. Rockers like "Wah Wah" and "Art Of Dying" sounded louder than thunder, while lighter moments like his co-write with Bob Dylan "I'd Have You Anytime" and the fabulous title track still had noticeable depth to them. Also from here, spread across two platters came the hit singles "My Sweet Lord" (which, like this album, went to Number One) and "What Is Life," his acclaimed cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You," (which Bob released his own version of that very same month on his *Nashville Skyline* album) and his grandiose "Hey Jude" and "Atlantis" sandwich, "Isn't It A Pity." George also included a third disc, entitled Apple Jam, consisting of some high energy jamming that took place during the making of the album. "Plug Me In" and "Thanks For The Pepperoni" are simply 12 bar jams (and actually sound like one recording cut in half), while "I Remember Jeep" (the title a reference to Eric Clapton's recently departed dog) is more jazzy, and the eleven minute "Out Of The Blue" stays mostly on a minor chord, evoking a dark and eerie feel. The joker in the pack is the short and goofy "It's Johnny's Birthday," a spoof on Cliff Richard's "Congratulations" with new lyrics honoring a dear friend of George's who hit the big three-oh that October.

The Concert For Bangladesh (December 1971)

George tried his luck with another three record set, this time capturing performances of his legendary August 1, 1971 shows at Madison Square Garden. George, Ringo, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and notable sidemen shined on live performances of songs from *All Things Must Pass,* Harrison-penned Beatle songs, and various numbers by the aforementioned musicians (except Eric Clapton, oddly enough,) while special unannounced guest star Bob Dylan did his own set, his first major American live performance in five years. The band sounds rather solid, if not overly tight, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm pulling them through. They especially have it together on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," which has George and Eric dueling it out on their six strings, and "Bangla Desh," the closer. Billy's "That's The Way God Planned It" is another showstopper, and Leon Russell's medley of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and "Youngblood" adds the right amount of blue eyed soul into the groove to succeed. "Here Comes The Sun," played by George and Badfinger's Pete Ham, comes across nicely, and Bob Dylan's set does not disappoint. Ringo's "It Don't Come Easy" is a delight, even if he does slur through some of the lines he can't read off his lyric sheet. Not everyone will be overjoyed by Ravi Shankar's Indian music on the first side. In truth, his set works a little better in the theatrical movie made of the event, which permits us to see Ravi and Allah Rakah energetically trading bits back and forth.

Worth mentioning here is George's mid 1971 single, "Bangladesh" b/w "Deep Blue." The topside is a studio recording of George's rocking plea for relief funds. It doesn't have all the steam of the live version but makes its points just as well. "Deep Blue," a rare flipside never released on any album or CD, is a sad acoustic-based number written by George in 1970 expressing the sorrow he felt while his mother was deathly ill. It's an overlooked Harrison gem.

Living In The Material World (May 1973)

Three years after his triumphant debut, George finally released a studio follow up. The result was a good but not great album. It repeated the success of All Things Must Pass in that it topped the charts and contained a Number One single, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)," but one noticeable difference between the two albums was the production. Because of personal differences, George chose not to work with Phil Spector anymore and took on the role himself, and this decision cost many of the songs the bite they truly needed that the infamous eccentric producer could have given them. Still, many stood up on their own regardless. The thumping title cut was the album's best selection, and the anti-drug "Try Some Buy Some" (a Phil Spector leftover from the year before when Ronnie Spector tried the song for a single. George's version simply replaces her vocal over the same backing track) could very well be one of George's more adventurous melodies and chord progressions. But the album was plagued by some other problems besides the absence of a quality producer. One was that many of the songs were written with melodies a bit too high for George's range. "Who Can See It" and "That Is All" are beautiful light songs marred by the sound of George straining for the upper notes. Another was that George, deeply into his religious fix like never before, tended to be overly preachy in several songs, like "Be Here Now" and "The Light That Has Lighted The World." All in all, it was musically a lighter album than All Things Must Pass, and suggested that the Quiet Beatle was indeed quieting down.

Notable from this period is the flip of the "Give Me Love" single. "Miss O'Dell," which to this day has never been released anywhere other than that 45, has George singing a Dylanesque ode to Apple Records employee Chris O'Dell...when he can stop laughing, that is. (the story goes that George played his sister Louise a straight version, and then, for amusement's sake, played her an outtake where he kept cracking up, and she suggested he release the latter instead.)

Dark Horse (November 1974)

It is fashionable for Harrison fans to criticize this album. It is also common for writers to brand this collection Dark Hoarse because of George's singing voice, shredded by constant rehearsals for his American tour of that year, the only solo tour of America he ever did, and only one of two solo tours of his career. But in fact, it is indeed a decent album. Yes, his voice takes some getting used to, but unlike several songs on his previous album, on this album all his melodies stay within a safe, comfortable range. George maintains his consistency of having the title track be one of the best on the album, this one an acoustic guitar based song adorned by flutes and with lyrics using just about every conceivable horse-racing metaphor imaginable (this song was a Top Twenty single in America). He also, like the previous album, has the scale titled toward the lighter side. The hard rocking George of 1970 was signaling into the middle of the road. The only real rocker on the album is the instrumental opener,
"Hari's On Tour Express," written as the theme song for his tour. But the lighter songs are some of his best. "So Sad" has a great melody and harmonies, and "Simply Shady" has a good structure. One of the album's finest is a song he wrote with then-Face Ron Wood, "Far East Man," another slower number with a very pleasant melody and sweet harmonies. The upbeat "Ding Dong Ding Dong" never became the holiday classic John Lennon's "Happy Xmas" did, but still gets a few plays every December. The strangest cut was a bizarre arrangement of The Everly Brother's "Bye Bye Love," with a whole new and unrecognizable melody, and lyrics about his lady running around with someone described here as "Clapper."

Another rare non-album flip surfaced from singles from this release. The "Dark Horse" single presented George strumming an acoustic through "I Don't Care Anymore." "Got a B-side to make," says George, unenthused.

Extra Texture (September 1975)

The first of two thoroughly disappointing albums of George's solo career (not including Electronic Sound, since that was never meant to be entertainment.) George gets even lighter, which itself is not a bad thing, except here, most of his songs don't really go anywhere melodically or structure-wise. About the only one with any energy is the Top Twenty single "You," which is in fact an All Things Must Pass leftover with refurbishing. Unfortunately, the overly basic lyrics drag it down. "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Cryin')" is meant to be a sequel to a certain Beatle era song of his, but without a backbone to keep it standing. "Grey Cloudy Lies" is so lifeless it's almost dead. Luckily, some life in breathed into the album at the very end for the upbeat "His Name Is Legs (Ladies And Gentlemen)," a song about, and featuring, Legs Larry Smith of The Bonzo Dog Band.

In 1976, The Best Of George Harrison was released. The tracklisting was almost an insult, as it contained only five solo tracks, with Beatle songs filling out the other side. Its only real value was its housing of the single version of "Bangladesh"

Thirty-Three And A Third (November 1976)

This was George's first album for his new Dark Horse label, and it was definitely an improvement over Extra Texture. Right from the start, energy was apparent with the funky "Woman Don't You Cry For Me" and the catchy "It's What You Value." George had success with the single "This Song,"a splendid pop song about the recent plagiarism suit filed against him that claimed "My Sweet Lord" borrowed too heavily from "He's So Fine." He did fairly well with a lighter but interesting ode to his mansion, "Crackerbox Palace." He puts a respectable pop spin on Cole Porter's "True Love," and does his best Herb Alpert vocal imitation on "Learning How To Love You." (Herb, of course, co-ran A&M Records, the label originally designated as Dark Horse's parent company before George moved to Warner Brothers). And the light "Dear One" was one of his best love songs in a long time.

George Harrison (February 1979)

George kept things in check with his 1979 self-titled album, another full of quality songs. He wisely chose "Blow Away" to be the first single, because of its memorable chorus, lovely melody and radio-friendly construction. Almost as good in all three of those departments was "Love Comes To Everyone." In typical Harrison style, he found time to set one of his new passions to music, that being auto racing. He tells the story of racecar driver Jackie Stewart in the enjoyable "Faster." George also presents some of his most delicate guitar playing on the lovely "Your Love Is Forever." The album has some misses, though: "Here Comes The Moon" gets nowhere, and "Soft Hearted Hana" is a bit too out there. But these last two albums worked together to give fans the impression that he would never slip into the dullness of Extra Texture again...

Somewhere In England (May 1981)

..or so we thought. George's first album of the 1980's had little to rescue it from being George's least impressive long player. Like Extra Texture, most of the songs were rather dull and forgettable. The smash single, "All Those Years Ago," his tribute to Brother John, and with Ringo (who drums throughout the album) and Paul McCartney (on some overdubs done separately) was, ironically, the brightest moment on the album, with the equally commercial "Teardrops" coming in a close second. The opener, "Blood From A Clone," featuring George's comments about the current state of the music industry, and "Unconscious Rules" have some good ideas stitched together badly, while "Save The World" is overlong and over-preachy. One Hoagy Carmichael tune would have been enough, but George sees fit to include two of them, neither a joy.

The bizarre piece of Somewhere In England's history is that Warner Brothers records originally rejected his initial lineup. He went back to the studio and recorded a few more songs for inclusion, deleting others to make room. However, two of the tracks George benched, "Flying Hour" and "Lay His Head," were considerably better than most of the tracks on the eventually approved collection. (The latter was eventually issued as the flipside of his 1987 single, "Got My Mind Set On You.")

Gone Troppo (October 1982)

This was George's least commercially successful album. It seems that George released this album quietly, doing little or no promotion for it. As a result, it never even broke the Top 100. Such was an unfortunate fate for what was actually George's best album in a while. Several of the selections were gems. The first single, "Wake Up My Love," could have and should have mixed in well with Top 40 radio of the day, and only one play of "Dream Away" (the closing song to the movie *Time Bandits* by George's friends, Monty Python) was enough to secure its melody and hookline a prominent space in the conscience for at least a thousand years. The softer "Mystical One," "Unknown Delight" and "Baby Don't Run Away" were very pleasant to the ear. Even his humorous cover of The Stereos early 1960's hit "I Really Love You" raised a smile. But, as stated before, George did not make much of an effort to promote this album, and all these fine new recordings went unlisted to. Radio simply ignored it.

Cloud Nine (November 1987)

The odds were in George's favor. Being as this was his first album in five years, George had a "comeback" tag available for milking through promotion. And certainly, the fact that his album was coming out in 1987, the year of a big Beatles resurgence thanks to the release of their albums on CDs didn't hurt either. But as it turned out, Cloud Nine was a strong enough to succeed by its own merit. The hit single, the last Number One single so far for any of the Beatles, "Got My Mind Set On You," (a cover of a Rudy Clark B-side from long ago) hardly told the story of what was inside. With help from producer Jeff Lynne, George found a way to meld the best elements of his own music with the sounds of the late 1980's without selling out. One fine example was "Is That What It Takes," a beautiful pensive number with a good deal of synthesizer but not in an obtrusive way. "This Is Love" also used modern synths without distracting from what was already a well-written song. "Devil's Radio" was one of George's best (an
d only) real rockers in too long, while the tearjerker "Someplace Else" (a remake of a song George recorded for Madonna's movie *Shanghai Surprise*) was one of his best ballads. "When We Was Fab" was a rather enjoyable throwback to the days of "I Am The Walrus" (as long as you weren't already tired of Jeff Lynne doing that). All in all, the commercial success and praise of Cloud Nine proved without a doubt that George was still vital in the 1980's.

We didn't know then that Cloud Nine would be George's final album of new studio material. Perhaps George himself knew it because in October 1989 an anthology of his highlights from Thirty-Three And A Third to the present hit the stores. More thorough and logical than his mid 1970's Best Of, it presented three songs not on any of his previous albums, including the marvelous "Cheer Down," written for the movie Lethal Weapon 2 and released as a single in August 1989.

Few knew it at the time, but George did release one new recording during the five years between Gone Troppo and Cloud Nine. In 1985 he contributed a very nice cover of an unreleased Bob Dylan song "I Don't Wanna Do It" to the soundtrack of the movie Porky's Revenge. Because of the movie's less than ecstatic reception, and the song's inconspicuous placement in the film (it plays for a few seconds over a car radio), the song went unnoticed. It was, however, issued on a hard-to-find 45, his rarest of all.

The Traveling Wilburys Volume One (October 1988)

George's success continued when, a year after Cloud Nine, he introduced to the world his new supergroup, consisting of him, Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. With George and Jeff Lynne overseeing production as they had on Cloud Nine, the songs on Volume One sounded similar in feel, as if to say to fans of that 1987 album, "There's plenty more where that came from." The album was another critical and commercial success, from which everyone benefitted. George's fans were pleased with his songs, one of which, "Handle With Care," proved the most popular on the album. Dylan fans cited their idol's songs as his best of the decade. Petty's already successful career was given fresh new life. Jeff Lynne's reputation as a producer grew in part due to this album. And Roy Orbison's "Not Alone Any More" was signaled out in many reviews as the best track on the album, and as a result, respect for Orbison increased, and it looked like a whole new world was opening up for him. Sadly, just over a month after
the album's release, Orbison died, and never got to see where those new roads would have taken him.

The Traveling Wilburys Volume Three (October 1990)

The 1988 album was meant as a one-shot deal. So strong was the response to it that a second album was a risky move. Sure enough, the second album was a rather erratic affair. Bob Dylan, reportedly the Wilbury who was most gung-ho about a second album, turned in some uninspiring songs, while "The Wilbury Twist" was an embarrassment. But there were fine moments in Tom Petty's ballad "You Took My Breath Away," his comedic "Cool Dry Place," the country-doused "New Blue Moon," the pure pop "Inside Out," and the hard rocking "She's My Baby." Commercial success wasn't as strong as it had been two years previously, and it was generally agreed that though this album wasn't bad, perhaps abandoning the concept after the first album would have been best.

Live In Japan (July 1992)

The last album of George's career was a recorded document of his late 1991 tour of Japan, for which he was joined by Eric Clapton. His tour garnered much more positive reviews than his 1974 tour, and the music on this thoroughly enjoyable double disc set shows why. George and band put forth enthusiastic renditions of songs from throughout George's entire career. Beatle songs like "I Want To Tell You," "Taxman," and "Old Brown Shoe" obviously worked better as live numbers than listening to the studio versions would suggest. The songs chosen from his solo career provide a logical representation of his highlights from those years (minus Wilburys). Sometimes the songs do not work ("Dark Horse," transposed down a step, isn't terribly exciting) but on "Devil's Radio," "All Those Years Ago," and especially "Cheer Down," the musicians truly smoke. The only real bone to pick about this album is its rather obvious use of padding: It sounds like George was keen to play as few songs as he could, and therefore extended the songs by either multiplying the numbers of solos on the studio version ("Something" begins here with a verse long guitar intro, and has two solos in the middle break) or adding them when they weren't previously there (as in "I Want To Tell You."). But the album demonstrates perfectly what fine shows the Japanese audiences were treated to, and makes us regret that, despite rumors at the time that he would, George never brought the tour to America.

Click here for George Harrison, The Man

Click here for George Harrison's Beatles Recordings

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