George Harrison: Search & Destroy

That's exactly my problem with most of his solo albums: he can't sing worth a damn, which makes his homilies a chore to sit through, and he's not resourceful enough a producer to arrange his songs in a way that mitigates the preaching.

Remove Living in the Material World and Somewhere in England from his discography . .

The former has two of my favorite George songs, "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" and "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long."

he can't sing worth a damn

Given his multitracked backing vocals all over "All Things Must Pass," some of which are pretty dense and complex, this is madness.

You just made my point though: the vocals were multitracked and produced by Phil Spector. George needs help.

There's a gulf of difference between "can't sing worth a damn" and "requires a producer's guidance."

When I hear him mangle the line "you made me such a big star" on the Bangladesh "Wah Wah", I'm inclined to say "can't sing worth a damn".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDCP4UeXgw8

Phil, I only mentioned those two albums because I think they might have the heaviest concentration of the type of lyrics that were being criticized. No one's ever going to say they can't take Gone Troppo because it's too heavy-handed.

And Alfred, as ever, I disagree with your producer stance. Phil Spector is one thing, but I really like the sound of the Dark Horse-era albums. And there are collaborators on those records - all the people who play on them.

What's the name of that Harrisong playing at the very end of the Time Bandits movie?

"Dream Away" - one of his greatest!

yeeesss!

Well, it's like "All things must pass", I quite like the first third, but the second gets very "more of the same" but more heavydraggy.

(The "jam" album I don't mind, actually!)

Well, I do mind the jam album. A lot. Then again I got a whole lotta love for most of what comes before it. On ATMP.

Wonderwall is one very decent soundtrack too.

Yeah, I'd call it the very definition of "overlooked"

Alfred's constant dismissals of George reminiscent of famous talent scout putdown of Fred Astaire

He had moments of Cranky Old Dad that mitigated Ringo and Paul's sentimentality -- gestures and remarks you imagine John would have made -- but I always remember this moment when the three are jamming on stools and Paul, obviously having a ball, says, "Another one?" and George aims the briefest of evil scowls at him, as if he's thinking, "It's not 1969, motherfucker."

It seems like George took the opportunity of the Anthology to assert himself and stand up to Paul's condescension. He insisted on Jeff Lynne to produce, shut things down when a third Threetles song wasn't working out, and vetoed "Carnival Of Light" on Anthology 2 (that last one rankles, though).

According to Peter Doggett's indispensable You Never Give Me Your Money, George only did the Anthology because he was nearly bankrupt from his film company and a shady business manager or two.

George is my favorite Beatle

Bangladesh album is a mess though, I'm not gonna defend that. Dylan's version of Maggie's Farm from that is pretty fun tho

tho

Jim Keltner and Ringo doubling their drum parts during the Bangladesh Concert is one of the alternately most pointless/entertaining things about ti

When I hear him mangle the line "you made me such a big star" on the Bangladesh "Wah Wah", I'm inclined to say "can't sing worth a damn".

I've honestly never seen Bangladesh straight through, just snippets here and there (must rectify) but damn if that youtube didn't give me chills. I didn't hear that line (or any of his singing on that song) as mangled; I think he sounds ragged but right.

yeah it's not like he Amy Winehouse'd it or anything

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2wrte1ijlY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng511CKPt3w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D9JuiJNizw

George stuff I like from the seventies:

"Blow Away" (who needs Macca when you've got this chorus?)
"This Song" (not very funny, but he sounds like he's enjoying himself over this 'ere beat)
"Don't Let Me Wait Too Long" (a God song about being real horny; one of the few times he understood Al Green)

I've honestly never seen Bangladesh straight through, just snippets here and there (must rectify) but damn if that youtube didn't give me chills. I didn't hear that line (or any of his singing on that song) as mangled; I think he sounds ragged but right.

Also, he seems pretty at-ease and comfortable for a guy who hadn't been on a concert stage in five years.

George is maybe the best thing about this tune (apart from the lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQwWp98IuGE

His dual slide guitar solo on "Day After Day" is great, too.

I've always had a soft spot for this drunken hootenanny of a b-side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lum7Pow-vTA

If I haven't already mentioned it upthread, Simply Shady from Dark Horse is one of those snake charmer melodies he did so beautifully, though never better than Beware of Darkness

Martin Scorsese documentary airing on HBO in October:

http://www.georgeharrison.com/#/news/archive/201107/george-harrison-documentary-and-book-announced

Trailer for the movie.

The Worst of George Harrison.

Pete Prown? I thought that was a 'fakey' name, but it seems not

Wonderwall is one very decent soundtrack too.
― t**t, Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:33 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I'd call it the very definition of "overlooked"
― Mark G, Wednesday, June 29, 2011 10:38 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

OTM. So good.

some of the wonderwall stuff really invent the "wes anderson" vibe, particularly mark devo's stuff on the rushmore soundtrack

I don't know what's being particularly identified as "slick and overproduced" about the 1979 self-titled album or why a song like "Love Comes to Everyone" is singled out as an "overt stab at polished LA pop." That album sounds a lot like the production on the other albums from that period to me. Not exactly the same, but nothing radically different.

I also think it's too easy to make assumptions based on his personality that lead to claims about how "alienated by the current pop scene" he was. "Blood from a Clone" strikes me as far less serious than the writer makes it out to be (he says it's "supposedly his savage commentary on the state of popular music") and actually remarkable for how of its time it sounds, at least in Harrison's own way. It's an easy rival of "Coming Up" for eccentric older guy new wave with some cool funky bass.

"Wake Up My Love" from Gone Troppo is another one. The synthesizers on that are like something you'd hear in an Italo tune.

I like "Love Comes to Everyone" and disagree with how he tosses "dated" to signify something he doesn't like. He could've criticized him in other ways.

Just listening to the iTunes clips of the '06 Living in the Material World and it is awfully good sounding.

Living in the Material World remaster, I meant to say.

Harrison was the third-best songwriter in the Beatles, sort of like Uruguay ranks third in a list of who has the most nuclear devices after the USA and Russia. Proof that McCartney wasn't a control freak is that mewling, turgid pomposity like "While My Guitar Noisily and Repititiously Whines" and "Something"(genius lyric - "I don't kno-o- ow, I-I-I don't know") was allowed on their albums.

― dave q, Thursday, August 30, 2001 8:00 PM (11 years ago)

even after these all years i feel compelled to say Fuck you dave q, fuck yoooooouuuu

:)

the self-titled is a gorgeous album. such a strong run of simple, beautiful songs on there. it stands up bloody well.

I just learned "Think For Yourself" on guitar. It's crazy! It's not a song from 1965, it's like something off Nevermind. There some proto-Devo in this as well.

The good things that we can have if we close our eyes it's a beautiful world

Wonder what it would sound like if he saved it for ATMP.

He should have rerecorded all his Beatles songs instead of the "Apple Jam."

I could listen to the first four seconds of Think For Yourself over and over.

Everything on Spotify, including Electronic Sound and Wonderwall. Albums with bonus tracks.

Nice!

Wonderwall really is a treat. Electronic Sounds is.... less entertaining.

His catalogue is now on Apple Music as well.