mail: daniel_fjall@hotmail.com
all things must pass living in the material world cloud 9 live in japan brainwashed concert for george
All Things Must Pass(30th Anniversary Edition) Released: 1970 (2001) Rating: 9/10 Track listing: 1. I’d Have You Anytime/ 2. My Sweet Lord/ 3. Wah-Wah/ 4. Isn’t It A Pity/ 5. What Is Life/ 6. If Not For You/ 7. Behind That Locked Door/ 8. Let It Down/ 9. Run of The Mill/ BONUS TRACKS: 10. I Live For You/ 11. Beware of Darkness/ 12. Let It Down/ 13. What Is Life/ 14. My Sweet Lord (2000)/ CD 2: 15. Beware of Darkness/ 16. Apple Scruffs/ 17. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)/ 18. Awaiting On You All/ 19. All Things Must Pass/ 20. I Dig Love/ 21. Art of Dying/ 22. Isn’t It A Pity (Version Two)/ 23. Hear Me Lord/ 24. It’s Johnny’s Birthday/ 25. Plug Me In/ 26. I Remember Jeep/ 27. Thanks For The Pepperoni/ 28. Out of The Blue When George Harrison released his first true solo album it came as a surprise to everyone that not only did it sell well, but was also filled with great songs. Songs that had been rejected during the Beatles-years and easily would have been highlights on pretty much any other groups albums at the time. So, does that prove the quality of Lennon/McCartneys songwriting, or simply that they couldn’t tell a good song from a bad one? I’m not saying either, but it’s definitely safe to say that the Beatles could have carried on and released another three or four albums of really high quality. All Things Must Pass was produced by Harrison himself together with Phil Spector. The result is, as expected, a wall of sound. 20 acoustic guitars strumming, horn-sections, strings, loud and heavy drums. On the top of that George, along with Derek And The Dominos, does the detail work. Nice piano is heard all over the album, but even better is Claptons spare and melodic guitar playing. Playing he wasn’t even credited for on the original release because of troubles with the record company. But the spotlight never leaves George. He’s an underrated singer, and his melodies and spiritual lyrics are delivered with joy and probably a happiness to finally get full attention. Something he never got with the Beatles. Personal favorites are the beautiful title track, the country colored Dylan collaboration “If Not For You” and “Hear Me Lord” which features great piano and guitar. “What Is Life” is another highlight. A perfect pop song. It’s uplifting, has a great guitar riff, the production is as good as it gets and the song simply defines what pop music is. I have the remastered version which came with a couple of bonus tracks. Acoustic demos, instrumental version of “What Is Life”, a song that was rejected way back when and a hideous rerecording of the smash hit “My Sweet Lord”. Nothing spectacular, but it’s fun to hear. In the liner notes George writes that when listening to the album again for the first time in years during the remastering-process he felt that it would have been nice to rearrange most of the songs. To liberate them from the wall of sound and make them more naked. I agree that some songs probably would have benefited from such treatments, but other songs definitively would lose more than the others would have gained. I’m also glad he kept things they were because otherwise he’d violated the integrity of the album. An integrity that’s present in every one of these songs and one of the best albums ever.
Cloud 9
Live In Japan After the commercial and artistic comeback with Cloud 9, Eric Clapton persuaded George to do a tour. Not having been on the road for nearly 20 years, a tour that ended up being catastrophic because of throat problems, Harrison was understandably a bit nervous and actually called the thing off several times. However, with Clapton and the members of his standard backing band at the time, George managed to get comfortable enough to pull off a couple of weeks in Japan. Despite whatever issues there might be with a live album featuring mostly Beatles-songs, don’t be afraid to have a listen. Sure, it is hard to do those songs justice outside of the studio, but this particular record has a few advantages compared to the live releases of the other three Beatles-members. The most important probably being Eric Clapton. You might despise his own recordings, but here, when placed as just a backing musician, he delivers extremely tasteful solos with an adorable tone. Each and every song has a short lick, or a full solo, that makes it worthwhile. Also, he acts like a safety blanket for George, whom is able to relax a little. After all, Harrison always was considered the quiet one, or the shy one, if you like. Another thing speaking in favor of this document is the set list. Yes, McCartney’s endless string of live albums features great songs and exceptional songwriting, but how many times can one listen to various versions of “All My Loving” without being at least slightly bored? George presents an alternative. These are hardly obscure songs, but not the most well-known or most overplayed in the Beatle-catalogue either. Cleverly mixing loved classics (“Something”, “Here Comes The Sun”), slightly forgotten material (“Old Brown Shoe”, “Piggies”) along with the very best songs from his inconsistent solo-career (“What Is Life”, “Isn’t It A Pity”), Harrison creates a more than solid selection. Besides the extraordinary songwriting, it is a delight to hear George and Clapton trading guitar lines in “Cloud 9” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, the two highlights of the album. Harrison may not be as flashy or technically perfect as Clapton, but he manages to keep up, and in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” he is darn close to actually surpass his old friend. Moments like that surely is enough to forgive synthesizered brass and female backing singers. Not that those were that annoying or disturbing to begin with, but I think you know what I mean.
Brainwashed Brainwashed was Georges last album. Well, at least the last he was working on and intended to release, you never know with greedy record companies and starving families, right? After all, dying is the best promotion an artist can get. Anyway, when Brainwashed was released most people said it was an emotional affair that reflected Harrisons thoughts about death really well and the final result was very affecting, considering he passed away during the working process. The truth is that Brainwashed isn’t any different than his previous albums. It deals with the same subjects and has the sarcastic remarks and social observations George always had written about. The melodies are built the same way as always, the difference is that Harrison adjust the lyrics to the melody and not the other way around. Something he often did in the past that ruined most of his albums. You know what? It really works here. It’s far from being as lame and preachy as Living In The Material World and instead it offers a warm feeling, gentle slide guitar, thoughtful lyrics and one of his best vocal performances. I’m not going to tell you about every song here, but it’s fun to see him do “Run So Far”, which he originally gave away to Clapton who recorded it on Journeyman in 1989. Georges own version is much warmer and surpasses Claptons version. My favorite song here is the personal and confessing “Stuck Inside A Cloud”. With lines such as “just talking to myself, crying as we part. Knowing as you leave me I also lose my heart” and “never been so crazy, but I’ve never felt so sure. I wish I had the answer to give, don’t even have to cure” you realize that this is about George’s cancer, perhaps more than any other song here. Most of the other tracks have a lightweight feeling to them, musically speaking, while the lyrics handle serious subjects. If you liked Cloud 9 and “Free As A Bird” this is definitely worth your attention.
Concert For George When one year on the day had passed since George Harrison passed away, his closest friends held a concert for him. Usually tribute concerts or charity events similar to this one tend to be somewhat unsatisfying. Mostly because the artists are not giving all they got in their performances, just playing for fun or sometimes not even that. Maybe that’s why it’s no surprise that these recordings actually reveals some emotions in the performances and especially when Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney shares the stage for a couple of numbers. Well, Clapton is playing through the whole concert, but mostly standing in the background, rarely stepping into the spotlight only once in a while. Joining McCartney at the microphone doing “Something”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and taking a quick step back letting Paul have “All Things Must Pass” and “For You Blue” for himself, it’s no secret that it is Clapton that pulls most of this show together. Not that ex-member of Wings should be thought of any less, his own performance is very solid and the emotions seems genuine and his vocals on “Something” and especially “All Things Must Pass” sounds heartfelt and people saying that McCartney never could deliver emotions or feelings should have a listen. Other than that Procol Harum member Gary Brooker does a convincing and exciting version of the somewhat lost gem “Old Brown Shoe”, a highlight in the Beatles-catalog that never earned any greater attention due to its ill-fated position as a B-side (get The Beatles – Past Masters II now!). Other than “Old Brown Shoe” and one or two more tracks the band focus on Harrison’s cream of the cream material from the Beatle-days, as well as his first true solo album and arguably his only masterpiece, All Things Must Pass. That’s probably the way it should be, too. Despite some quite good moments (mainly Cloud 9 and Brainwashed), George never really cared enough about the music and superficial life as a rock star and most of time he spent in his garden with his flowers, philosophy about religion and producing films (Monty Python’s Life of Brian among others). Even though Jeff Lynne’s “I Want To Tell You”, Clapton’s “If I Needed Someone” or Billy Preston’s “My Sweet Lord” never really gives any great shakes or surpasses the original recordings, they are enjoyable and nice to listen to. Basically, it is only Tom Petty’s three songs that could be questionable. To be frank, “Taxman” sounds awful and “Handle With Care” (a Traveling Wilburys-song) is far from impressing, only the Help!-song “I Need You” manages to survive Petty’s treatment, and that is thanks to the songs beautiful melody, rather than Petty’s performance. Also Joe Brown’s “Here Comes The Sun” sounds a bit forced, but other than this, this tribute is quite solid, even if things doesn’t get heated up until the end when Clapton’s soaring guitar tears apart “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and McCartney’s lazy, jazzy ukulele rendition of “Something” culminating in a version more true to the Abbey Road-version. In fact, this is where the greatest tribute takes place. For people that followed George’s and Clapton’s careers knows that whenever they played “Something” together, George struggled with copying the solo from the studio-version and Clapton would then improvise a little and basically running over George (at least on a technical-level). Here, Clapton doesn’t do that. He plays the original solo, just the way George did it. That remains the strongest impression and probably the finest tribute of the whole night. Hardly essential, but fun for fans of the artists on the stage and it reminds us of what an excellent songwriter George could be in his best moments.
|