George Harrison - George Harrison
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Free Music Notes for George Harrison
Free Music Review: Love comes to everyone
Hit: 5 Stars
The re-releasing of the 70's-80's albums of George Harrison's solo carrer does come as a tremendous gifts, not only to his hardcore loyal fans, but also to casual music listeners. This album is a great example of that.
Without receiving the tremendous airplay that All Things Must Pass had gotten in 1970-71 (and deservedly so!), nor getting the bad reviews that albums like Dark Horse or Extra Texture had gotten in the previous years, and having quite good sales, even climbing onto the Billboard Top 20 in the United States, George Harrison was an album that didn't have that many resonance in those days. Its soft-rock, laid-back approach was perhaps not as attractive to late 70's music fans as some other new movements in music.
But the songs have aged so well, mostly because most of them are really good. "Love Comes To Everyone", the opener, is quite modest musically, featuring guitar work by Eric Clapton and some simplistic lyrics about the availability and universality of love, a theme which Harrison would explore further in upcoming releases, but it sets the tone to the album very properly. Its soft nature and relaxing mood fits perfectly the upcoming tracks: the Beatles' leftover "Not Guilty", which had been recorded by the band in a rocker approach, with no less than 100 takes before being dumped and not released in 1968's White Album, receives here an 'unplugged' treatment, with acoustic guitars and synthesisers replacing the distorted electric guitars and harpischord in the original. The change also affects the tone of the lyrics, which in this time do not sound that offended, but rather, more clever. In the same way, "Soft-Hearted Hana", with its psychedelic references about hallucinogen mushrooms and oniric trips comes in handy when taking the spot for the typical Harrison humour, with a very ironic arrangement which ends up in a Beatles-reminiscent manner, too. The top-20 single "Blow Away" might be one of Harrison's best contributions to the charts since "Give Me Love", with its uplifting and optimsitic lyrics, combining with adequate dosis of acoustic guitars, slide guitars (already a trademark of his albums) and synthesisers, with great results in a precious nature imagery. The other single, "Faster", does not reach the same results, perhaps suffering from a little bit of overproduction, being a great song nonetheless, talking about the racing sport and exploring candid metaphores about competitions in life.
Nothing could really be considered "rock" here, it's more a pop album with some rock elements, like the Oberheim synthesiser placed in the uplifting "If You Believe", a great optimistic closer to the album ("everything you thought is possible / if you believe"). But overall, the mood is dominated by the softness of the more delicate compositions. Harrison's newly found spiritual life is joined by two precious acoustic ballads tributes to his wife ("Dark Sweet Lady") and son ("Soft Touch"), which sort of remind of the climate of Hawaii, the place where they were actually composed; and the omnipresent search is found on the beautiful sequel to The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun", "Here Comes The Moon", which is a little more obscure than the predecessor, but still a nice song.
Another paragraph must be taken to speak about the one that is probably George's greatest ballad (and one has to remember that it's Harrison the one who wrote things like "Something" or "Beautiful Girl"), and probably his most underrated tune ever, "Your Love Is Forever", which comprises moving arpegios of electric/acoustic guitars, with an overdubbing that makes them more emotional, and delicate touches of synth, bass, snare drums and piano, with a carefully arrangement of the lead and backing vocals and dreamy, glorious lyrics ("I feel it and my heart knows you're the One / The guiding light in all your love shines on / The only lover worth it all / Your love is forever"); which, as always, present the duality between spiritual and human love, which shouldn't be excluding necessarily.
This edition includes a new cover (small change: the title of the album being replaced by a hand-written George signature), a remastered form which rescues the softest tracks (particularly "Dark Sweet Lady") from oblivion and low volumes of mix, and a demo version of "Here Comes The Moon" which is a nice bonus treat since George was a fantastic acoustic guitar player and here we get the pleasure to hear him strumming the chords to provide the basis of a gentle melody.
Overall, I think George Harrison reached peace of mind while composing and recording this album, and this pleasure of living comes through the listeners' ears while hearing it, giving him comfort and a relaxing experience, adorned with beautiful lyrics and arrangements. A delicate and underrated gem.
Free Music Review: A joyous experience
Hit: 5 Stars
Getting acquainted with this album was such a happy joyous experience for me (particularly because the last of George's solo albums I'd heard prior to this one was the awful 'Extra Texture'), and it turned into one of those albums which I find myself loving more and more with each and every listen. Everything about this album just seems so great and perfect, even right down to the eponymous title. Normally I'm not really keen on self-titled albums, esp. if they're not debut albums, but in this instance it just seems so right, like any other title would be a mistake. Like the songs on it, it was the statement of a man very much at peace in his life, going through some really happy and fulfilling experiences, like getting married for the second time and finally becoming a daddy. And knowing how happy and peaceful he felt during the album's creation in turn makes me feel happy and peaceful when listening to the album. Happiness never decreases when we share it with others. In addition to reflecting a mood of happiness, contentment, peace, and joy, many of the songs also have a very optimistic thread to them, with the message that if you keep your chin up, don't lose hope, and keep smiling, eventually such good things will come to you too, even if you feel as though life and love are passing you by and happen to everyone but you. And for being put out in 1979 (the year of my birth), it doesn't really have a really obvious stamp of the era on it. Most people associate the late Seventies with arena rock, disco, and early New Wave, whereas these songs have more of a timeless feel to them.
The album starts off with the very catchy, joyous, and optimistic "Love Comes to Everyone," which really sets the mood for the entire album. There couldn't have been a more perfect opening track chosen. "Not Guilty," though a leftover from over 10 years ago, is quite good and fits in very well with the other songs. It's hard to believe it was rejected as a White Album track considering some of the tracks that were left on, such as "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." "Here Comes the Moon" is obviously a sequel to "Here Comes the Sun," and while not quite as perfect as that, still conveys a really mystical dreamlike playful mood. It's one song sequel that actually works. "Soft-Hearted Hana" is really fun and laidback, and finding out it was inspired by an experience in Maui with psychedelic mushrooms really helps to explain the rather strange lyrics. It's followed by the album's big hit "Blow Away," with its downright catchy, cheerful, and optimistic lyrics.
"Faster," inspired by and dedicated to the Formula One racing circus, is another fun catchy number, full of great hooks and musical energy. "Dark Sweet Lady," inspired by George's new wife Olivia, might not be at the same masterful level as a love song like "Something," but it's very genuine, heartfelt, and sweet. It kind of reminds me of his earlier song "If Not for You." "Your Love Is Forever," one of my favorite songs on the album, is also very heartfelt and beautiful, the perfect musical picture of just how happy and fulfilled he was with his new family. "Soft Touch," about his new son Dhani, is yet another sweet heartfelt song about the joys he had in his domestic life. What new father wouldn't feel his heart melting when looking at his new baby, particularly when he'd had to wait till the age of 35 to have kids? After waiting that long, you tend to love and appreciate that new special bond between parent and child even more than if you'd had kids at a younger age. "If You Believe" is the perfect album closer, really summing up the mood of joyful optimism and good things coming to good people if they just keep up hope and wait long enough.
Obviously nothing could ever compare to ATMP, but I'd say that apart from that unique album in a class all by itself, this is definitely one of George's strongest and best solo albums.
Free Music Review: George Harrison
Hit: 5 Stars
The songs in "George Harrison" are poems of transformation. They tell of changes from day to night, summer to winter, storm to calm. Describing what is impermanent, they make visible the timeless love that surrounds us.
Harrison recorded this album during the summer and fall of 1978 in his home studio at Friar Park, England. He had composed several of the songs in Hawaii, and one ("Soft Touch") in the Virgin Islands. His art, like that of the painter Gauguin before him, blossomed in the tropics, nurtured by the lush, bright atmosphere he found there.
Meditations on nature form the core of the work. There is "Here Comes the Moon," expressing awe as a full moon appears on a Hawaiian shore while the sun is setting; "Blow Away," where redemptive sunlight follows an English rainstorm; and "Your Love is Forever," which begins:
Sublime is the summertime warm and lazy...
These are perfect days like Heaven's about here,
But unlike summer came and went-
Your love is forever.
Other songs depict extremes of consciousness. In "Soft-Hearted Hana," Harrison eats "magic mushrooms" on the island of Maui, and grows as tall as the Haleakala volcano. He falls in love with Hana, who "lives beneath the crater in the meadow," meeting her "among the fruit and grain...after heavy rain has fallen." "Faster" was inspired by Harrison's friends in Formula One racing. It is a tribute to all those who have "moved into the space/ That the special people share/ Right on the edge of do or die/ Where there is nothing left to spare."
"Brown-Eyed Lady" is a love song for Harrison's wife, Olivia. In the album notes (taken from his autobiography "I Me Mine"), he said the song "sounds to me a bit Hawaiian/Spanish." To my ears, it also resembles Brazilian bossa nova. The lilting verse of "Soft Touch" may be for Harrison's new son, Dhani: "You're a soft touch baby/ Like a snow flake falling/ My whole heart is melting/ As a warm sun rises."
Dating from 1968, "Not Guilty" alludes to the discord within The Beatles at that time. The bitter edge of its lyrics contrasts with the album's prevailing, upbeat mood. It ends with melancholy, wordless singing.
The beginning song, "Love Comes to Everyone," and finale, "If You Believe," are morale builders meant to encourage us in our present situations, whatever they are. "Love Comes to Everyone" states the imperative of life:
Go do it,
Got to go through the door,
There's no easy way out at all...
Still it only takes time
'Til love comes to everyone.
The music of "George Harrison" is gorgeous. Its lovely and complex harmonies unfold in an instrumental mix that is both clear and rich. Harrison said that the open tuning on his slide guitar forced him to make up new chords, rather than use conventional ones. On "Blow Away" and "Your Love is Forever," he plays this guitar with the expressiveness of a human voice.
I especially enjoy the music of "Here Comes the Moon." Its sprinkles of harp tones sound like stars twinkling. Sustained vocal and keyboard chords, supported by Willie Weeks' bass, convey the majesty and peace of the cosmos. As Harrison sings "here comes the moon, the moon, the moon, the moon, the moon," a sudden shift to quick guitar triplets emphasizes the drama of the moon's emergence. The CD's two versions of this song complement each other. The full instrumental recording paints an image of the spectacle unfolding in the sky, while the bonus, solo acoustic track expresses Harrison's feelings as he watches.
Created at the artistic midpoint of Harrison's solo career, "George Harrison" is his transcendent album. Its radiant spirit reveals the essence of the artist, and shows why he is irreplaceable.
Free Music Review: The Soft Touch Of George Harrison
Hit: 5 Stars
Some years back when I first heard this album on vinyl I wasn't sure if I cared for it too much. Because it didn't contain any big blockbuster hit songs that burst out at me it seemed like something that was all too easy to ignore. When I recently listened to this album over again on the remastered CD I have a new opinion on it. Already haven taken the step to begin adding new elements to his sound,particularly a heavy soul and funk influence on his previous album Thirty Three & 1/3 he then took the time on this album to bring in the usual musical charges such as Gary Wright,Clapton along with Steve Winwood for an album that was a true departure for him and a very liberating musical experience. This album doesn't contain as much,if any at all of the melodic pop/rock style of The Beatles that was very common on his earlier albums and makes an effort to alter the nature of his arrangements to accomodate a different style. As illustrated by the soft focus photo of George on the album cover this album is by and large a rich,glossy and melodic affair with songs that are generally mid to lower tempo. "Love Comes To Everyone" sets the stage as a sweetly grooving urban R&B type groove that,as with everything here is a big counterpoint to the disco and heartland rock dominating radio during this time. "Not Guilty",the one Beatle era tune here is presented with a relaxed Caberet type jazz arrangement."Here Comes The Moon","Blow Away","Faster","Soft Touch",Your Love Is Forever" and "If You Believe" all have a glistening,optimistic late 70's singer-songwriter vibe to them. Producing the album along with Russ Titelman really added to the heavy sheen the music on this album contains. George's slide guitar is played down here as he strums pretty much in the style he probably used while writing the songs and some of his riffs are mildly more jazzy than usual. The likeminded "Dark Sweet Lady" is a kind hearted,loving type of musical wedding present to his second wife Olivia and I am sure she more than appreciate the gesture because it's one of this album's highlites."Soft Hearted Hana" of all things takes a note from Paul McCartney type of musical hall pop and,being somewhat different in that respect is truly a highlite here as well. The demo of "Here Comes The Moon" is here as the bonus cut and is a pleasant unplugged style version of the tune that really gives you something of a peek into how Harrison composed his songs. While bearing little resemblance to what came before and after it,as well as being George Harrison's least obviously rock styled efforts this album is actually one of George's most individual and in every respect has well stood the test of time and changes on the pop music front.Free Music Review: It Only Takes Time.
Hit: 5 Stars
Damn, he sounds contented! And who wouldn't be? With successful careers on two fronts (music & film production), millions in the bank, and a beautiful wife & child, George apparently had reached a new level of peace with himself & the world. And it definitely shows on this great disc! "Love Comes To Everyone" is awash with gorgeous chiming guitars and an immaculate vocal performance. From another artist, George's optimistic lyrics might have sounded cloying. From him, they sound absolutely genuine. "Not Guilty" is a defensive jab at the Lennon-McCartney behemoth. Musically, it's light years away from the Beatles Anthology release.
"Hear Comes The Moon" is (obviously) a sequel song to a certain Beatles classic. I think I might actually prefer this song to "Hear Comes The Sun." Definitely one of George's classic tunes. "Soft-Hearted Hana" is the song here with the most Sixties references, both musically and lyrically. Harrison plays some tasty dobro, and the lyrics are George's most surreal.
"Blow Away" was a smash over here in the US, and it's the first George song I ever remember hearing on the radio. Starting with a beautiful slide solo, Harrison proceeds with one of his most melodically assured compositions. It's really compulsively infectious.
"Faster" is another one of the many breezy, melodic tunes on this album. Brisk acoustic guitars and a joyful Harrison vocal make this most appealing. "Dark Sweet Lady" is a pleasant ballad for Olivia Harrison which features some nice guitar stylings.
"Your Love Is Forever" may very well be George Harrison's most beautiful song (though it has a lot of competition). With some of his best singing and his most beguiling melody, this song alone would be worth the price of the CD.
"Soft Touch" has some interesting twists and turns. The descending guitar riff is really cool. Of all the tunes, this one reminds me most of the Beatles. "If You Believe" is, unfortunately, marred slightly by a cumbersome melody, but the silky slide guitar work more than makes up for this.
The "Moon" demo is interesting, but not much of a revelation. Still, a welcome addition. Of all the remastered Harrison albums to have come out lately, this one has benefited most from improved sound. Hopefully, this eponymous album will find a new audience after all this years. As the man said, it only takes time.