Beathoven

Studying the Beatles

The Harrisong

Songs

Home

Mail


(c) Ian Hammond 1999
All rights reserved

3. Tabla And Pakavaj 1:05 D:
Indian. Breathtaking glimpse of Indian percussion. Western drummers need not apply.


4. In The Park 4:08 Ab:
Indian. Section one comprises a zither arpeggio intro and two sitar duets, the first slow and low, the second higher and faster. No percussion.

The second section begins with a kind of slow swinging boogy pattern for Zither and tuned drums with breakouts for the zither. Repeated with drum breaks. The piece concludes with a low sitar duet.


5. Drilling A Home 3:06 G:,Ab:,Bb:
Western+Indian. Slapstick music at its best. After a drone intro a longish verse with a closing section is introduced on jangle piano, banjo and percussion. The tune is of the same sort as Knees Up Mother Brown. A jagged break leads to a slightly more exaggerated repetition.

A cinematic crash of thunder and a flourish leads to a faster version, a semitone higher, featuring a horn. The tempo speeds up again for another piano version.

A longer break introducing 3D rain (a la Uncle Albert) is followed by an even faster version, a tone higher, with a horn sketching in bits of the theme (now sounding more like Sweet Georgia Brown). The piece closes with a stuck record fragment (like Blackbird) that hiccups its way into the distance. Great shit. I wonder if the heroin's name was Brown.


6. Guru Vandana 1:04 Ab:
Indian. Another evocative wind duet.


7. Greasy Legs 1:27 D:
Indian. The drone intro is quite interesting. Panning and dynamics are used to vary the texture of this penetrating drone. There is a later Yoko Ono POB track that uses this technique.

A high pitched duet ensues with a rather magical timbre, suspended in time. The texture is much like some of the simpler Bach two part inventions. The voices are panned extensively. Wonderfully innocent.


8. Ski-ing 1:48 c:
Western/Indian. Multiple Claptons on guitar along with bass, drums (Starr) drone. A great minor-key riff, a little reminiscent of Sunshine Of Your Love (itself released in January 1968). The first section iterates the riff over driving drums and bass. Light echos are added in the following section.

In the final section the percussion the beat drops away (a little like it does at the end of Magical Mystery Tour) and there is extended polyphonic quasi-Indian improvisation on E-guitar. The texture is like that of I Feel Free. All the Clapton money can buy.


9. Gat Kurwani 1:05 c:
Indian. A short, brilliant Gat for Sitar and Tabla. One section reminds me of Ghost Riders In The Sky. Agressive playing that sounds more like a Greek basouka (but Clappo wins this round).


10. Dream Scene 5:26 Eb: C:,B:,Bb:,Ab:,d:,Gb:
Indian/Western. Another multi-section piece. The free flourishing introduction (Eb:) features Indian tunes played backward (the dream). A surprisingly accessible tenor/soprano duet for Indian voices follows. Percussion is added for a third section. South Sea village dance stuff with lots of swirling.

The following sections would have been cued to specific film events. In rapid succession we hear a aggressive jangle piano (C:). Indian wind is added followed by snare and percussion and more wind.

A sudden flourish leads to an electronic bulge (much like part of Revolution 9) followed by a slow modern jazz cornet solo backed by electronic noise (B:).

A freaky scarey harmonica duet (very cinematic, Bb:) leads to whining clarinets (like sirens), distorted e-guitar (Ab:), disorted bells and (cinematic) trains. Slowed down voices, scratching sounds, harmonicas (d:) and piercing church bells (Gb:) finish the piece. A nightmare more than a dream.

The backwards Indian material in the first section is perhaps the most sophisticated use of this technique by a Beatle reminding us that it was Harrison who used to labor for hour over backwards solos.

Large slabs of this piece could be inserted into Revolution 9 without much change. I guess George must have been listening to John Cage, Glenn Gould and Yoko Ono as well.


11. Party Seacombe 4:31 C:
Western. Except for some crudeness in the performance, this track sounds like a better version of Flying. A long verse section, beginning with some pounding strumming and ending with a climbing figure is repeated four times with variations.

A standard rock combo is augmented by a reedy organ in the first repeat that sounds very much like Brian Jones' lines in Gomper from Their Satanic Majesties Pleasure. The percussion at the end of the bridge is similar to end of the solo on the Stones' She's Like A Rainbow, also from Satanic.

Starr takes over the kit with the other drummer adding color. Ringo is forced to take his trademark fills at a slightly higher tempo here.

Like Flying, this track is derived from a 12-bar pattern, in C major with a heavy emphasis on the suspended fourth. The verse riff emphasises the ^1-^b7 step on each chord.

12. Love Scene 4:17 C:
Indian. Free intro for two sitars. Percussion enters. Gentle section on a unison tune leads to free improvisation with simple echo, of the kind heard in Duelling Banjos. Return of the unison tune leads to a long improvisation section closed by the tune. Love in a relaxed climate.


13. Crying 1:14 e:-eb:
Indian. The slow crying scene is set for a pair of unaccompanied violin-like instruments glissing their tears all over the place. All rather pained. It closes into a sad air for violin and an Indian sounding harpsichord (eb ab Bb eb...). Less pained.


14. Cowboy Music 1:20 C:
Western. In one minute and twenty seconds you hear just about every cowboy cliche their is. The classic dotted cowboy bass (c g a g). The chromatic harmonica. The clippity-cloppity hooves. The slide guitar. Another perfect setting.


15. Fantasy Sequins 1:49 Eb:
Indian. A solo string instrument intro. Harmonium joins for a unison Indian jig melody accompanied by a tambourine. Sort of Irish-Indian.


16. On The Bed 2:21 Eb:
Western. Drone and high smashing piano thirds lead to a bona fide theme on horn (similar to parts of Fantasy Sequins). Repeated with additions, and again with percussion and Indian fills. Harmony is added to the brass line a la Tijuana Brass. Some Indian fills fade it out.


17. Glass Box 1:03 F:
Indian. Two fast sections for sitar, tabla and percussion are followed by a dronish ending. Fully worked out.


18. Wonderwall To Be Here 1:23 G:
Western. One of those plush 3d cinematic orchestral pieces with heroic Tchaikowsky piano, deep bass, stirring strings (organ) and climactic smashing cymbals. The first section repeats followed by a quieter pensive section for the piano which soon collapses, plunging back into the cleavage of the opening section. Expertly written and scored for this small combo.

Here's a nice trick. The A-section, beginning on a C minor ninth, is repeated. The B-section begins on Bb. A closer examination shows the B-section to be the A-section minus the first chord.

The section close, f c D G, has a strong medieval affect. The picardy close on G throws the both the plunge to c9 or plateau on Bb into high relief.


19. Singing Om 1:53 C:
Indian. An organ accompanies a male unison choir singing an Indian equivalent of Gregorian Chant. Lovely. Just the right ending.