Excellent write-up! One of my favorites from Harrison's solo career. I'm surprised how few people remark on the distinctly R&B elements of this record, "Pure Smokey" especially. Some nice R&B-style rhythm guitar work throughout the album.
I'm a bit confused about this business of the "delay" of the album's release. It came out only a year after his previous record. How impatient was A&M, exactly?
Thanks for the tag, Ian! Always a pleasure to unearth gems. ;-)
I found George's solo catalog difficult to connect with at first, but now I spin him regularly and it was well worth the effort to get inside of it.
With a few exceptions, I don't consider him an album artist (the exceptions being ATMP and the stellar final effort, Brainwashed, which IMO is far and away his best overall work. There's nothing on Brainwashed that doesn't sparkle with wit and wisdom. And it's his most intricate, dare I say McCartney-esque baroque arrangements, too -- George might come back to haunt me for sayin' so ... 🤔 but there are worse things that being haunted by George Harrison!
I also highly recommend the Early Takes Vol. 1 as a gateway to solo George. It's stunning and by no means filler, but a collection of beautifully finished-sounding but still raw acoustic tracks. Woman Don't You Cry For Me is maybe even more raw on the demo. And Mama, You've Been On My Mind will break your heart in the best way. Now if only there was a volume 2.
Great piece, Ian! Im not sure if I ever played this album, so thanks for the deep dive! But what I want to know is how you were able to share the entire album with the album cover link. I forgot the name of the website. Is it an option for the free version?
Thanks Steve. I use Songwhip.com. It's free. Just enter the track or album and copy the link - it automatically offers all the streaming options. I save the album cover to my laptop (I'm never sure if this is a copyright violation, but I guess it's fair use for review purposes) and add the link in the Substack post.
Thanks for this - great Glimpse of an album I'm afraid I've never really listened to. Or heard of, for that matter. As a Beatles fan, it's always been Lennon, Harrison, McCartney, Star for me - Harrison outranking McCartney because his songs (with and without the band) are just, well, less ... cheesy. Not to diminish McCartney, but .... I'll definitely be putting this on my playlist.
Excellent write-up! One of my favorites from Harrison's solo career. I'm surprised how few people remark on the distinctly R&B elements of this record, "Pure Smokey" especially. Some nice R&B-style rhythm guitar work throughout the album.
I'm a bit confused about this business of the "delay" of the album's release. It came out only a year after his previous record. How impatient was A&M, exactly?
Thanks for the tag, Ian! Always a pleasure to unearth gems. ;-)
I found George's solo catalog difficult to connect with at first, but now I spin him regularly and it was well worth the effort to get inside of it.
With a few exceptions, I don't consider him an album artist (the exceptions being ATMP and the stellar final effort, Brainwashed, which IMO is far and away his best overall work. There's nothing on Brainwashed that doesn't sparkle with wit and wisdom. And it's his most intricate, dare I say McCartney-esque baroque arrangements, too -- George might come back to haunt me for sayin' so ... 🤔 but there are worse things that being haunted by George Harrison!
I also highly recommend the Early Takes Vol. 1 as a gateway to solo George. It's stunning and by no means filler, but a collection of beautifully finished-sounding but still raw acoustic tracks. Woman Don't You Cry For Me is maybe even more raw on the demo. And Mama, You've Been On My Mind will break your heart in the best way. Now if only there was a volume 2.
Great piece, Ian! Im not sure if I ever played this album, so thanks for the deep dive! But what I want to know is how you were able to share the entire album with the album cover link. I forgot the name of the website. Is it an option for the free version?
Thanks Steve. I use Songwhip.com. It's free. Just enter the track or album and copy the link - it automatically offers all the streaming options. I save the album cover to my laptop (I'm never sure if this is a copyright violation, but I guess it's fair use for review purposes) and add the link in the Substack post.
Thanks for this - great Glimpse of an album I'm afraid I've never really listened to. Or heard of, for that matter. As a Beatles fan, it's always been Lennon, Harrison, McCartney, Star for me - Harrison outranking McCartney because his songs (with and without the band) are just, well, less ... cheesy. Not to diminish McCartney, but .... I'll definitely be putting this on my playlist.
Nice post. I never knew there was a vid. for that song.
I’ve not played this in a while. Thanks for the write up and a timely reminder to do so.