George Harrison - Album By Album - Portrait Of A Leg End

I too was wondering that, or the fact that maybe there were just not enough 'die hards' in the UK to make it chart, where as the USA had so much more 'die hards', due to a bigger population or would it all be relative?

 

Well, it's not like it lit up the charts in the US. Weren't the British charts Top 50? In which case, the US placement of #49 would mean it just barely made the chart.

 

This is one of my favorite albums as well.

Even though the film is mildly amusing, the soundtrack is the best thing about it. You really haven't missed that much.

 

Great to see this Harrison thread materialize!
Have enjoyed this eclectic first Apple Records album release for many years now...

Here are the 'Wonderwall Music' sessions personnel from Wiki ...
the Eddie Clayton and Richie Snare pseudonyms crack me up ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderwall_Music

England (December 1967)

* John Barham – piano and flügelhorn
* Colin Manley – guitar and steel guitar
* Tony Ashton – jangle piano and organ
* Philip Rogers – bass
* Roy Dyke – drums
* Tommy Reilly – harmonica
* Peter Tork – banjo (uncredited)
* Eddie Clayton (Eric Clapton) – guitar
* Richie Snare (Ringo Starr) – drums (rumoured)

India (January 1968)

* Aashish Khan – sarod
* Mahapurush Misra – tabla and pakavaj
* Sharad Jadev – shehnai
* Hanuman Jadev – shehnai
* Shambu-Das – sitar
* Indril Bhattacharya – sitar
* Shankar Ghosh – sitar
* Chandra Shekhar – surbahar
* Shivkumar Sharma – santoor
* S. R. Kenkare – flute
* Vinaik Vora – thar-shehnai
* Rij Ram Desad – harmonium and tabla-tarang

 

Great album. So many different styles of music. Well recorded too. I've heard a rumour a few times that "Party Seacombe" is actually The Beatles. No idea if it is true though. I love the little bits of Indian music. The tabla drums sound great.

 

As abstract as it is (a true soundtrack album in the traditional sense), it is one of my favorite albums. I found out about this in the early 80's as I discovered The Beatles for the first time, and this was the one out-of-print album they had available at Tower in Honolulu (it was the French pressing). I liked the fact that it had a lot of Indian stuff, and "Drilling A Home" was a song I played over and over, along with the medley of "Greasy Legs", "Ski Ing", "Gat Kirwani" and "Dream Scene". When I saw the movie a few years later, I didn't understand any of it, but then again what was there to understand about a mock Superman whose logo on the chest was LSD? Freaky, and the music made a bit more sense.

Somewhat.

 

I remember when I first discovered who played on this album, many of whom contributed to "The Inner Light". Aashish Khan is the son of Ali Akbar Khan, and it is Aashish's sarod playing that opens "The Inner Light". Many of these guys, including Shankar Ghosh and Shivkumar Sharma, continued to record for decades after this session.

I know that there's a number of articles on the sound of the tabla captured on "Within You, Without You" and how no one had ever recorded a tabla to sound like that, and you hear a bit of that in Mahapurush Misra's tabla and pakavaj playing not only in "The Inner Light" but in "Tabla And Pakavaj", that swooping sound is just great.

This is not to take away from Eddie Clayton or ol' Richie Snare, but the Indian stuff on here is just incredible.

 

As much as a fan of Lennon and McCartney as I am, I think that George had a more consistent solo career although it was much less prolific.

A bit of trivia--the first Harrison song to feature on a single was "I Need You" (which was the b-side) in Mexico back in 1965 or 6.

 

i've got a german LP of wonderwall i purchased in the late-70's-early-80's (?); very quiet pressing.

is the mono LP a dedicated mix or a fold-down?

later, chris

 

The mono mix is dedicated.

Chip Madinger
www.8-arms.com

 

Anyone else love In The Right Place?

 

That's true. None of John & Yoko's experimental albums, or George's two albums charted in the UK. However, Wonderwall Music was not just a one-shot, medium hit LP in the US charts. On Billboard it remained in the Top 200 for 16 weeks. It peaked at #49 for two weeks, and remained in the Top 100 for 11 weeks. Pretty damn impressive for an instrumental soundtrack release.

As a comparison, Two Virgins peaked at #124, and had a chart run in the Top 200 for 8 weeks, same chart run for its followup, Life With the Lions, which peaked at #174. The buying public thought even less of The Wedding Album which had a brief 3 week run in the Top 200, peaking at #178. Since I have my book out, Electronic Sound faired the worst of all these esoteric releases, a 2 week run, peaking at #191. Ron

 

I sure do. Very good tune and wonderful production! Ron

 

Yep. I think that is George on acoustic too. George does the count in so he must be on the track. I thought I heard his vocals in there somewhere as well. Maybe not though. I haven't heard it in awhile.

 

Are you guys talking about the "In The First Place" track with The Remo Four?

 

Yes, sorry about that. I had Dr. John on my mind

 

So, this is OOP?

 

I agree!

 

"In The First Place" was the only lyric track George recorded with The Remo Four and it never made the cut.

It was briefly issued in 1998 on a UK 7" Pilar PILAR02V and in 7" version as part of the Wonderwall Collector’s Edition DVD Box Set. Both are OOP.
A: In the First Place (original Wonderwall Abbey Road mix)
B: In the First Place (Wonderwall movie mix) (7 inch single)

 

Yes, there is a thread detailing some of the differences.

 

I think the UK only had a Top 20 Album Chart at the time.

 

The Record Retailer chart in the UK carried a Top 40 LP chart from December 10th, 1966 through February 15th, 1969 when it dropped to a Top 15.

Chip Madinger
www.8-arms.com

 

I love this album! As George is my favorite musician of all time (I even named my son after him and McCartney - Harrison Paul), I listen to it every once in awhile. Not as much as his proper albums, but hell, I even play Electronic Sounds at least once a year.

 

Forgot to mention, my favorite track is 'Ski-ing/Gat Kirwani'. Clapton's guitar on the first half is enjoyable, but when the Indian instruments kick in on the second half, it just blows me away every time. On a side note, Kula Shaker used 'Ski-ing' as the backing track to their 1997 song 'Gokula' from the Summer Sun EP. The song is credited George Harrison/Crispian Mills.

 

I'll have to look for this.