Back after a long absence, in between other writing and musical activities.
Back after a long absence, in between other writing and musical activities.
Member since:13.07.2000
Reviews:253
Members who trust:44
It’s always interesting to re-evaluate albums released more than 20 or 30 years ago, albums that were either neglected or written off at the time for one reason or another. Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’ is a classic example. ‘Extra Texture’, though definitely no ground-breaker, is another.
George Harrison’s last recording for the Beatles’ ill-fated Apple label, released in the autumn of 1975 (and the last album on Apple, apart from compilations that winter by John Lennon and Ringo Starr), was grudgingly hailed at the time as not bad – but only by default as its predecessor, ‘Dark Horse’, had been such a disappointment. I didn’t care for it much at the time, but having bought it recently on CD and listened to it properly for the first time for years, it sounds better. (Maybe I’ve matured; maybe it’s partly because I’m looking at his work more sympathetically after his death – who knows?)
‘You’ is track No. 1. A middling hit both sides of the Atlantic (# 38 UK, # 20 US), it was originally written for and recorded with Phil Spector’s ex-wife Ronnie, but not released at the time until George reworked the backing track and added his vocals. (Listen carefully and you can hear Ronnie’s voice just
before the fadeout). This is the only really poppy number on the album, an upbeat song recreating that 60s wall of sound with piano, synthesizer and sax to the fore, and amazingly simple – until the bridge, there are only words – ‘I-love-you-and’. One little audio comment – I compared the rather cold, clinical sound on this number on CD with that on my vinyl ‘Best of George’, and the latter sounds much warmer, much richer.
From then on, the album becomes more sombre. ‘The Answer’s At The End’ is one of those mellow love songs with a rich mix of strings and a tantalisingly brief burst of the man’s distinctive guitar. I love the lyric as well – “Don’t be so hard on the ones that you love – It’s the ones that you love we think so little of.”
‘This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)’, as he admitted, was son of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. It follows a similar structure, and it’s a clever idea, though I don’t think this one stands up as well. Yet at least it gives him a chance to shine forth on the instrument again; general observation – his lead guitar is surprisingly little in evidence throughout much of the remaining record.
‘Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)’ was written as a kind of homage to, and dedicated to, Smokey Robinson. For me it’s the dullest track here; the ballad once again is deceptively simple, but it’s rather short on melody, and the thin arrangement does nothing to balance it.
‘World Of Stone’ picks up the pace a little. After starting slowly, there are some mid-tempo chopping piano chords (think ‘A Day In The Life’ from ‘Sergeant Pepper’), and it threatens to break into a kind of jazz-rock workout. The lyric is gently introspective without being too gloomy.
After a 45-second instrumental reprise of the opening track, titled ‘A Little Bit Of You’, comes ‘Can’t Stop Thinking About You’. Self-explanatory, George at his romantic, but despite the nice melody, it suffers from being too repetitive.
‘Tired Of Midnight Blue’ is an interesting tune. Full of minor chords, and based mainly around Leon Russell’s piano, it’s rather like mellow jazz but not quite jazz (clumsily put, but there you are). It’s one of those uncommercial songs that somehow breaks the rules and gets away with it.
‘Grey Cloudy Lies’ is one of the ones I dismissed as dull on first listen – now, after ‘You’, it’s probably my favourite. As soon as you hear the opening chords, you’ll think ‘Let It Be’ – and then there’s that little ascending run of notes from ‘Hey Jude’. A really sombre lyric – “Now I only want to live – with no teardrops in my eyes – But at times it feels like no chance – no clear blue skies – just grey cloudy lies” – could easily be maudlin self-pity, but sometimes you feel the need for that kind of song. In my view it’s one of the strongest melodies here.
Finally, there’s the out-of-character ‘His Name Is Legs (Ladies And Gentlemen)’. Self-indulgent mucking around after coming back from the pub? Maybe, maybe not. Legs was Larry Smith, drummer with the Bonzo Dog Band, and George wrote this song on the piano about him, full of nonsense lyrics. (George’s ‘I Am The Walrus’, perhaps?) Mr Smith contributes guest vocals, and musically it’s more or less a jazz-rock jam, not far removed from the feel of the 1971 ‘Bangla Desh’ single. Maybe it’s self-indulgent, but after the predominantly downbeat mood of the rest of the album, its a timely burst of light relief.
I mentioned the clinical sound of the first track on this CD. It was issued in 1991, but after the forthcoming release of George’s final album (due November 2002) through EMI, it’s possible that the rest of his back catalogue will be remastered and reissued on CD in due course, in which case that will probably be rectified.
One final note. George couldn’t resist a couple of jokes on this original album packaging. The inlay card includes a photograph of him grinning above the caption OHNOTHIMAGEN. Sadly, it omits the original logo. The last non-compilation on the Apple label, the vinyl pressing featured – an apple core (Apple Corps – geddit?)
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