Electronic Sound - George Harrison

Electronic Sound

George Harrison

Zapple ST-3358

1969

I don't think it is unfair to suggest that if George Harrison hadn't been a Beatle who happened to own his own record company, this recording would never have found its way onto vinyl.  It consists of two side long recordings of experimental music performed on a Moog synthesizer.  Side one is listed on my version of the album as "Under the Mersey Wall" but it is actually "No Time or Space" which was recorded in Los Angeles in 1968.  Reportedly it is actually an edit of a demonstration of the Moog for Harrison by electronic music pioneer and Moog sales rep Bernard Krause who was upset that Harrison appropriated it without permission for his record.   It begins with percussive bursts that sound like gunfire before some sci-fi style noodling emerges.  They are punctuated by short blasts of white noise that sound like escaping air.  Krause expands his palette of sounds in a variety of ways but the structure of short figures of melody interspersed with percussive sounds continues.  It actually does sound like someone attempting to demonstrate all the capabilities of the instrument.  It goes on for 25 minutes and I usually find it tedious to listen to but if I am feeling mellow I can make my way all the way through it and even appreciate some of it, particularly the sci-fi passages which have some psychedelic charm.  There is an energetic section about two-thirds of the way into the recording which I find stimulating if I am in the right mood, it sounds like someone destroying a ship's horn while tap dancing on a synthesizer keyboard.  If nothing else it does display Krause's impressive skill with the instrument.  Krause was so miffed with Harrison that he chose not to share this skill with him which left Harrison at a disadvantage when he later recorded side two in England which he entitled "Under the Mersey Wall."  This one is mercifully shorter clocking in at a mere 18 minutes.  Harrison sounds like a guy who is learning a new instrument, he is far less dynamic and bold than Krause but he also has more of a pop sensibility so his noodling is more melodic.  He is drawn to drones which is appealing to me and he is less inclined than Krause to deliver blasts of noise.  He uses the Moog more like a conventional synthesizer.  I would appreciate it if the recording was more structured and less tentative, but I do find it mostly pleasant and if I am in the right frame of mind, even engaging.  On the rare occasions that I pull this off the shelf, I generally just listen to "Under the Mersey Wall."  I can't say that I'm sorry that Harrison didn't pursue electronic music beyond this album, but I think he could have become pretty good at it.  I generally would rather listen to "Under the Mersey Wall" than most of "Living in the Material World."  Many Beatles fans dislike this record, but I respect it and admire Harrison's adventurous spirit in creating it.  One could argue that it was a display of arrogant self-indulgence that Harrison believed his experiments were worthy of a public audience, but he did get a chump like me to fork over 15 bucks for a used copy of this album so I don't think he was wrong.  I have no regrets about buying it and I listen to it more than John and Yoko's experimental records (although I think they are more interesting.)  Recommended to people who think Eno is too pop-oriented.

Early Takes Volume 1 - George Harrison

Early Takes Volume 1
George Harrison
Universal Music Enterprises  B0016735-01
2012

I have to admit that I bought this mostly out of duty rather than any expectation it would be good.  The Beatles are my favorite group and have been since I was a child, but I've always been lukewarm (at best) towards Harrison's solo career.  I enjoyed the documentary film that inspired this record so I bought this and what a pleasant surprise.  It is a collection of Harrison's demo recordings mostly from "All Things Must Pass."  I figured the raw recordings would expose Harrison's feeble vocals which Phil Spector dressed up with tons of reverb on "All Things Must Pass."  It is just the opposite however.  Freed from Spector's meddling and production tricks, the songs come to life.  Harrison's singing is not great, but the intimacy and warmth of the recordings make them more engaging and moving.  This is evident right from the opening track, "My Sweet Lord."  I've never liked the song much and hearing it so often on the radio through the years, I've basically stopped paying attention to it.  The naked demo version just has a rudimentary rhythm track and some acoustic guitar placing all the focus on Harrison who sounds inspired and impassioned.  The song is shorter than the finished track and doesn't feature all that Hare Krishna stuff at the end, which I consider an improvement.  "Run of the Mill" is even more stripped down, just Harrison and an acoustic guitar.  His vocal is a little ragged but I like it.  The early take of "I'd Have You Any Time" sounds similar to the finished version minus all the fussiness.  Its immediacy and feeling are enhanced as a result.  Next up is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mama You've Been On My Mind" which never made it to vinyl.  The song suits Harrison's voice very well and the intimacy and breathiness of his vocal track make the song one of my favorites on the record.  The side ends with a cover of the Everly Brothers' classic "Let It Be Me."  I would have figured it would be terrible, but it is quite lovely.  Harrison double tracks his vocal to create a harmony vocal similar to the Everlys' recording.  Again his vocal is gentle and breathy bringing out all the tenderness in the song.  I'm completely charmed by it.  Side two opens with "Woman Don't You Cry For Me" which appeared on "Thirty-Three & 1/3."  The song has a country-blues sound on the early take that I greatly prefer to the slickness of the released version.  "Awaiting On You All" has a thunderous sound on "All Things Must Pass" which I think overwhelms it and distracts from its message.  I don't really care much for that message but this early take delivers it a whole lot clearer while still retaining some rock power.   The demo version of "Behind That Locked Door" features some wonderful pedal steel guitar work from Pete Drake and a heartfelt vocal by Harrison that really impresses me.  The demo version of "All Things Must Pass" is for me the most revelatory track on the album.  The release version is over-produced and Harrison's vocal sounds inadequate and feeble for the majesty of the song.  The simplicity of the demo allows his vocal to shine and I find the song very moving.  The album concludes with a demo of "The Light That Has Lighted the World" from "Living in the Material World" an album that I have never liked.  I wish I could say the demo salvages the song, but I don't think even a great singer like Aretha Franklin could make me care about this song.  The demo is an improvement but I still don't like it much.  There you have it, nine fine tracks and one not so fine, easily my favorite Harrison solo album.  It is probably unfair to judge an artist by work that was never intended for public hearing, but for me this album changes the way I view Harrison.  I've always felt he was a limited artist and a weak singer, but now I think he was more of an artist who was poorly served by his vision.  I could blame Phil Spector, but Harrison is the guy who brought him in.  Harrison sought that grandiosity and epic scope, but I think he should have reined in his ambitions and trusted in the beauty of his music.  The intimacy and gentleness of this album are the ideal setting for his talents.  Instead of imitating John Lennon, he should have emulated Nick Drake.  If I have any complaint about this album, it is that it is too short.  It is barely 30 minutes long.  Given that is labeled "Volume 1" I assume there are plenty of other tracks in the vault.  Instead of hoarding them for future volumes they could have stuck 4 or 5 more on this album and brought it up to proper album length.  Recommended to fans of the Beatles' "Anthology" albums.

Is This What You Want? - Jackie Lomax

Is This What You Want?
Jackie Lomax
Apple Records ST-3354
1969

Last September I was surprised to see Jackie Lomax's obituary in "The New York Times."  I was not surprised by his death but rather that he got a substantial obituary in that august publication.  Of course the reason "The Times" took notice of him was his connection to the Beatles which was also the sole reason that I bought this record.  It was released by the Beatles' record label (which I collect) and was produced by George Harrison.  Harrison also played on it joining an all-star backing band that included Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voormann, Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborne, Paul Beaver and Bernie Krause.  Despite all that talent, it isn't a particularly good record.  Lomax's songwriting is mediocre and he was not a strong enough singer to overcome the weak songs.  My favorite tracks are the album's two singles, "New Day" and "Sour Milk Sea" both of which flopped on the charts.  "New Day" was recorded after the original album sessions and was produced by Lomax and longtime Beatles assistant and roadie, Mal Evans.  It was not on the original British issue of the album but was added to the American issue which was released a couple of months later than its British counterpart.  It is a forceful tune bolstered by brass.  "Sour Milk Sea" was written by George Harrison who must have been feeling particularly generous towards his fellow Liverpudlian in parting with a song that is better than several of his Beatles songs of the time.  It is a hard rocking song that has a catchy chorus and some hot playing from the three Beatles, Clapton and Hopkins.  It features Lomax's best vocal on the record.  The lyrics reflect Harrison's obsession with his new religion, essentially a paean to transcendental meditation.  The other tunes are less appealing.  My favorite is "Is This What You Want?" which bears some resemblance to the Beatles' "I Am The Walrus."  "The Eagle Laughs at You" is a noisy rocker that provides some much needed energy for the album.  "Speak To Me," "Little Yellow Pills" and "You've Got Me Thinking" have good riffs and a nice soulful flavor but are undermined by Lomax's strained vocals which remind me of John Mayall (not a compliment.)  I like the strings and piano on "Sunset" which has moody lyrics that are more distinguished than the pedestrian lyrics on most of the rest of the record.  "Fall Inside Your Love" is a romantic ballad that suits Lomax's voice quite well.  "Take My Word" is only notable for its synthesizer solo which I presume comes courtesy of Beaver and Krause.  "Baby You're a Lover" and "I Just Don't Know" bore me.  It is well-known that the artists on Apple Records (who were not the Beatles) were often victimized by the label's disorganization, poor marketing and lack of direction.  That might have been the case with Lomax who seems to have had some talent, but I doubt any label or any amount of marketing would have been able to make this record a success.  I find it listenable and sporadically entertaining but when it is over not much of it sticks with me aside from "Sour Milk Sea."  That song and the green apple on the label are the only reason I keep this album.  Recommended to George Harrison completists.

Wonderwall Music - George Harrison

Wonderwall Music
George Harrison
Apple ST 3350
1968

This is generally considered to be the first Beatles solo album, released just a few weeks prior to John and Yoko's "Two Virgins" (unless you think Paul McCartney's work on "The Family Way" soundtrack counts.)  It is the soundtrack to a film called "Wonderwall" which I've never seen so I can't really say how effective it is as movie music, but as a pop record I find it disappointing.  The album consists almost entirely of instrumental music which means Harrison doesn't sing on it (thank God.)  Much of the music is Indian in nature, the rest is an assortment of Western style music.  My initial interest in the album stemmed from the tracks recorded in Bombay.  Unlike many Beatlemaniacs, I'm very fond of the three Indian style tracks Harrison recorded for the Beatles, "Love You To," "Within You Without You" and "The Inner Light," in fact I'd rather listen to them than "My Sweet Lord" and "Give Me Love."  I expected the Indian tracks on here to be more of the same, a sort of a pop/Indian hybrid, but they definitely aren't pop.  I don't know enough about Indian music to judge this stuff, but it is much less dynamic than the other Indian music that I've heard.  I don't blame the musicians, the sarod player Aashish Khan is a world-renown virtuoso.  I'm sure the fault lies with the simple little riffs and ditties that Harrison has composed for them.  The Western music is not much better.  I realize that soundtrack music is generally intended to be unobtrusive (which is why I tend to avoid it on record) but Harrison's tunes are undistinguished even by those standards.  The album begins with the Indian musicians doing "Microbes" which is a slow droning number.  It is back to London for the keyboard driven "Red Lady Too" which sounds like chamber pop.  "Tabla and Pakavaj" is, as you might guess from its title, largely percussive in nature.  "In The Park" consists of a sitar and a sarod playing some slow and repetitive runs that never really go anywhere.  "Drilling a Home" is a goofy ragtime type number featuring a piano and horns.  It reminds me of the soundtrack to a "Benny Hill Show" skit.  "Guru Vandana" sounds like the same kind of silly tune played on Indian instruments.  "Greasy Legs" starts as a drone and then moves into some aimless keyboard noodling. "Ski-ing and Gat Kirwani" starts out as a rock jam constructed around a heavy riff with some guitar shredding that I assume is courtesy of Eric Clapton (credited as Eddie Clayton) before shifting halfway through the cut into a sprightly Indian segment with some fast paced sarod runs from Khan - easily the best cut on the album.  "Dream Scene" features some uncredited vocalists singing in an Indian language over a tranquil droning background which then shifts into a more frenetic instrumental section which then gives way to Western music with some jazzy horn stuff and finally a cacophony of horns and sound effects that is mildly psychedelic.  It is a truly weird tune, must be quite a dream sequence. "Party Seacombe" is a rock number reminiscent of the Beatles' "Flying" from "Magical Mystery Tour" only not as good, I find it monotonous.  I assume the title is an homage to the comedian Harry Secombe.  It is back to Bombay for "Love Scene" which is the track that sounds the most like the Indian style songs Harrison did with the Beatles.  There isn't much of a tune, and the runs that Harrison composed for the musicians aren't very interesting, but the music has some propulsion and would probably sound pretty nice in the background at an Indian restaurant.  "Crying" sounds like Indian instruments weeping, very irritating.  "Cowboy Museum" bares a suspicious resemblance to the "Soon Be Home" section of the Who's "A Quick One While He's Away" with a little "Happy Trails" thrown in.  "Fantasy Sequins" is dreary Indian droning.  "Glass Box" is a nice mix of Indian droning and Western style riffing and percussion.  I wish more of the record sounded like this.  "On The Bed" features the Indian musicians going to work on a simple theme with some fast paced playing that is over way too soon for my liking.  It figures that one of the best tunes on the album only lasts a minute.  "Wonderwall to Be Here" is sappy Western style piano music that could be the soundtrack to a television soap opera.  "Singing Om" is exactly that from some uncredited vocalists over a lugubrious organ drone.  The problem with a lot of soundtrack albums is that they were assembled to satisfy the needs of a movie with all its corresponding shifts in mood and texture.  It doesn't serve the flow of a well-programmed record album.  The problem is exacerbated on this record by alternating between Indian music and Western music.  It does not make for comfortable listening.  Even with more sympathetic programming, this would not be a good record, but it has its moments and the synthesis of Western and Indian style that Harrison occasionally achieves is genuinely stimulating.  I suppose he might even deserve some credit as the precursor to Bhangra style music.  Recommended to Beatles fans who sort of dig Indian music but have short attention spans.

Thirty-Three & 1/3 - George Harrison

Thirty-Three & 1/3
George Harrison
Dark Horse  DH 3005
1976

If you have read any of my previous entries you probably have figured out that I'm kind of a Beatles fan.  I'm not a big George fan though.  There are those who believe that the Beatles held Harrison back, but I think they were in fact the ideal venue for his limited talents.  He's really only good for two or three decent songs an album anyway and sandwiching his dour ditties among John and Paul songs makes them sound better than they would sound surrounded by more dour ditties, like on the solo albums.  Same with his work in the Traveling Wilburys.  The man is a natural supporting player.  I basically wrote Harrison off after I wasted my allowance money on "Living In the Material World" which I hated.  A couple of years later, I saw Harrison on "Saturday Night Live" and saw the Monty Pythonesque videos for "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace" which I found very amusing and engaging.  I decided to give him one more chance and I bought this album.  It didn't convince me that I was wrong about Harrison but I had no regrets about having it either.  True to form there are only two memorable songs on the record, the aforementioned "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace."  As a master of whiny self-pity, Harrison's "This Song" is characteristic of his oeuvre as he sarcastically responds to his plagiarism problems, but at least it is humorous like "Taxman."  Harrison once made his living as a lead guitarist but the song is driven by keyboards and the sax solo blows his own pedestrian solo away.  As a teen I thought "Crackerbox Palace" was some kind of religious allegory, but I later found out that the Lord in this case was actually Lord Buckley.  I liked it better after that.  Harrison's lyrics as a solo artist have always been a problem for me.  In "Woman Don't Cry for Me" he deserts his woman to follow his god which sums up his career pretty nicely.  Judging from "Beautiful Girl" his paramour is probably better off without him since part of his ode to beauty features him praising the girl as "not the kind you go handing around" - yikes, that's almost worthy of Mick Jagger.  There is lots of religion on this record which does not sit so well with me, but it is not as preachy as some of his earlier records.  At least this time around he is thanking his god for Smokey Robinson (something I can actually agree with) rather than for making him smarter and more clear-minded than the rest of us (there is still some of that on the record though.)  My other problem with Harrison is his lack of singing ability.  You need only hear his woeful cover of Cole Porter's "True Love" to realize that he should stick to guitar playing.  I find his weak whiny voice tolerable in small doses but over an entire album it is pretty wearying.  On the plus side Harrison comes up with more sprightly tunes than is typical with him and some of his best guitar playing since "All Things Must Pass."  If I don't pay attention to the words, I enjoy much of this record.  Recommended for pop-minded Hare Krishnas and undiscriminating Beatles fans.