That was the headline leading into the review of George’s eponymous 1979 album, which I took as a personal offense at the ripe old age of 14. [For the life of me I can’t remember who the other bores referred to, but I’m thinking McGuinn, Clark and Hillman or some other 60s-era reincarnation.]
The review was in Stereo Review, a magazine that my older brother – as good an audiophile as I ever knew – subscribed to. [It was cheap, even for back then: $4.99 for the whole year if I remember correctly!] I never read the articles about the equipment, but I sure did enjoy the album reviews, which usually started off with judgments about the artist’s performance (poor/good/very good/excellent) and the overall recording (same ratings categories). There were also feature reviews (which didn’t get the ratings, for some reason or other), of which the GEORGE HARRISON album was one.
Now, GEORGE HARRISION was the first album of the quiet Beatle’s that I’d ever purchased; my older brother had ALL THINGS MUST PASS lp and CONCERT FOR BANGLA DESH on cassette, a cousin had LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, a neighbor of mine had DARK HORSE and my parents had bought EXTRA TEXTURE and 33 1/3 for me. You can’t imagine the car I took with it every time I took it out of the jacket, and then the sleeve (with lyrics and a cool “in action” shot of George walking at some auto race) every time I played it. And played it. And played it.
I loved that album. To see it lumped in with “other bores” was appalling to me. It was the ultimate dismissal of something I enjoyed immensely. [Don’t worry: I’m not going to go overboard and call it a classic. I knew it wasn’t a classic then and it certainly isn’t now; it was special to me, that’s all.]
Let’s go track by track. Side One starts with…
“Love Comes To Everyone” – a great album opener. Clapton plays on it. Barely. Has a nice bit of energy as well. [Throwing out a big boo to whomever opted to include an edited version on the BEST OF DARK HORSE collection. What was the point in that?!]
“Not Guilty” – a holdover from the White Album sessions and one George had a lot of difficulty with originally (awkward timing, terrible phrasing and a horrendous lead vocal). Here, however, it’s slowed down and superbly executed. John and Paul were right not to include it on the White Album; George was right to revisit the song and improve it some 8+ years later.
“Here Comes The Moon” – a sequel of sorts, and a somber one at that, although the chorus is a tad jubilant (huh?). I always liked the descending riff, though, and it was easy for me to figure out on the guitar!
“Soft-Hearted Hana” – a great song! And it’s funny too. So what if it’s a retread of “Deep Blue?” I didn’t have that b-side and it certainly wasn’t played on the radio. The slow fade always threw me though (the speed alterations in the recording led me to believe my lp was defective).
“Blow Away” – a really sweet song. Way too repetitive though. Has a glorious slide guitar break though.
Side Two –
“Faster” – Now this is a great friggin’ song! The revving of the cars, the guitar assault, the verses, the chorus (“Faster than a bullet from a gu-un, he is fa-ster than ever-y-wuh-huh-hun…” and even the ending. Ka-pow. A real GH killer.
“Dark Sweet Lady” – beautiful love song with some gorgeous acoustic guitar picking by George. Not like anything else on the album musically, that’s for sure.
“Your Love Is Forever” – a bit of a downer, but actually a lovely song with an extended guitar opening that’s well thought out and played.
“Soft Touch” – a nice, peppy number with another great descending guitar riff (this time courtesy of an acoustic 12-string).
“If You Believe” – great album closer courtesy of George and co-author Gary Wright (of “Dream Weaver” fame). Great riff too, and one of the few songs where George belts out the verses.
So how does GEORGE HARRISON stand up in the GH canon? Well, it’s not as strong as 33 1/3, but it’s certainly better than SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND and GONE TROPPO, its two immediate successors. Of the four mid-solo period George albums (his Dark Horse releases) it’s definitely a strong #2.
And it’s certainly not a bore.
Comments welcome.
Jeremy Boob
6 comments:
I always loved that album, particularly Faster and Your Love is Forever. The latter, which you refer to as somewhat of a downer, was exactly the type of song I used to love - never got any airplay, but he would usually include one very spiritual song on each album. Dear One, Life Itself, are other examples in that category. Inspiring messages without being too preachy, which was something critics slammed him for in his post albums. But I thought he pulled the message off with those songs.
Soft Touch is lovely too. He had just had Dhani - do you think it was about him?
Hi Beatcomber!!
I really don't remember the Beatles when they were together as a group but their songs were played all the time as I grew up in the 70s and I was hooked. I managed to buy Wings Greatest in the late 70s and sadly after John's death "The Lennon Collection" but most of my spare cash went on late period Beatles albums. I could not afford many albums in those days on pocket money and spent the 80s completing my Beatles collection so it is not until the 90s ,inspired by the Anthology that I began to explore the solo back catalogue.
There are some gems like 'Imagine' , 'All Things Must Pass','Ringo' 'Band on the Run' and some complete duds like 'Sometime in New York City', Wild Life' , 'Gone Troppo' and pretty much anything Ringo did after 1974 to the early 1990s !!s
However I once made a 4CD set back in the late 90s of the Beatles Solo 70s into a collection similar to the famous Red & Blue Albums.
I will post the each CD when I have had time to re-evaluate them. The 1st CD listing was
1. How Do You Sleep
2. Another Day
3. My Sweet Lord
4. It Don't Come Easy
5. Maybe I'm Amazed
6. Instant Karma
7. Give Ireland Back to the Irish
8. Power to the People
9. What is LIfe
10. Working Class Hero
11. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
12. Remember
13. Hold On
14. Too Many People
15. Back Off Boogaloo
16. Back Seat of My Car
17. Jealous Guy
18. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp
19. Gimme Some Truth
When I think about this now - "HoW Do You Sleep" would never be a Beatles track although it may have surfaced with different lyrics. And also the vinyl of the day was primed for about 50 mins of audio. So we would probably have seen a number of these songs dropped from an original early 70s album. But if we assume that a few would be A-side and B-sides of singles and not on the album then an album in 1971 would have been very listenable and a few singles with a very heavy political shout "Power to the People" being the strongest b/w "Give Ireland Back...." could have shook up the world but probably would have been banned.
That said the first 5 tracks are a very strong first side and ''Uncle Albert' is a Beatles song in all but artist name!! 'Remember 'may be an Abbey Road outtake but would still sit well on this album and 'Jealous Guy' (previously 'Child of Nature') is almost John singing like Paul to dispel the myth of Paul as the balladeer and John as the revolutionary. George features well but has so much more to give and Ringo has two big hits as well. I could see a number of solo albums surfacing even if the Beatles had not broken up. And I could also anticipate the likelihood of this then diluting the quality on Beatles records. In the 60s only the very best of the best surfaced on a single and only the best tracks on an album. With all the pressure and egos involved after 1970 the Beatles may well have ended up like the Rolling Stones and joining a never ending world tour. Or they may have pushed musical boundaries further but somehow I doubt it I think a natural end to their career as a supergroup would have been around 1979 when the new wave of punk and then synth rock surfaced in the UK.
I will post the 2nd CD in a week or so once I've re-evaluated it...................
I think I posted this on the wrong site !!!
I have the magazine rewiew for this and many other beatles (and beatles related) releases. They used to distroy them!
For me personally the self titled album from George Harriosn is THE best album ever recorded. Yes, I mean that. Your Love Is Forever and Dark Sweet Lady are my favorite two tracks ever, and what makes it even sweeter is that those two songs are back to back on the album. As far as the reviews from that time period: Who needs critics?!!!! I can come up with my own opinion, and mine definitely differs from theirs.
JB~ This is one of my fave FAB albums too! To be "Your Love Is Forever" is THE soul of George Harrison - the man. Author Simon Leng has a TERRIFIC-I-CAN'T-RECOMMEND-IT-ENOUGH book ("While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music Of George Harrison") about George's solo work and I have chatted with Simon himself about the song. We both agreed that the "private" George reveals himself openly on "Your Love..." Some have tabbed it as just a silly love song. Experience it, feel it and read into it! It's George the human and spirit.
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