On the coattails of the successful Paul McCartney thread Paul McCartney Album by Album Thread that was well-moderated by @beatlesfan9091 , the collective thought was to continue with George next. So here we are with the George Harrison Album By Album Thread. I will post albums (and a few other oddities) at a reasonable rate. I won't have to keep up the pace that beatlesfan9091 had to so we have some additional time to breathe and post on this thread. This will be the order of presentation; Wonderwall Music 1968 Electronic Sound 1969 All Things Must Pass 1970 Bangla Desh / Deep Blue single 1971 The Concert For Bangladesh 1972 Living In The Material World 1973 Dark Horse 1974 Extra Texture (Read All About It) 1975 Thirty Three & 1/3 1976 George Harrison 1979 Somewhere In England 1981 Gone Troppo 1982 Clound Nine 1987 Live In Japan 1992 Brainwashed 2002 Early Takes 2012 If you feel something else should be added for discussion please feel free to post it in at the appropriate time. You won't hurt my feelings. I know there are a few one-off songs that aren't in this list. So without further ado, we will begin with a two-fer: Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound. Wonderwall Music via Imgflip Meme Generator From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wonderwall Music is the debut solo album by English musician George Harrison and the soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall, directed by Joe Massot. Released in November 1968, it was the first solo album by a member of the Beatles, and the first album issued on the band's Apple record label. The songs are all instrumental pieces, except for occasional non-English language vocals, and mostly comprise short musical vignettes. Following his Indian-styled compositions for the Beatles since 1966, he used the film score to further promote Indian classical music by introducing rock audiences to instruments that were relatively little-known in the West – including shehnai, sarod, tar shehnai and santoor. The Indian pieces are contrasted by Western musical selections, in the psychedelic rock, experimental, country and ragtime styles. Harrison recorded the album between November 1967 and February 1968, with sessions taking place in London and Bombay. One of his collaborators on the project was classical pianist and orchestral arranger John Barham, while other contributors included Indian classical musicians Aashish Khan, Shivkumar Sharma, Shankar Ghosh and Mahapurush Misra. The Western music features contributions from Tony Ashton and the latter's band, the Remo Four, as well as guest appearances by Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr. Harrison recorded many other pieces that appeared in Wonderwall but not on the soundtrack album, and the Beatles' 1968 B-side "The Inner Light" also originated from his time in Bombay. Although the Wonderwall project marked the end of Harrison's direct involvement with Indian music as a musician and songwriter, it inspired his later collaborations with Ravi Shankar, including the 1974 Music Festival from India. The album cover consists of a painting by American artist Bob Gill in which, as in Massot's film, two contrasting worlds are separated by a wall, with only a small gap allowing visual access between them. Harrison omitted his name from the list of performing musicians, leading to an assumption that he had merely produced and arranged the music. The 2014 reissue of Wonderwall Music recognises his contributions on keyboards and guitar. The album was first remastered for CD release in 1992, for which former Apple executive Derek Taylor supplied a liner-note essay. While viewed as a curiosity by some rock music critics, Wonderwall Music is recognised for its inventiveness in fusing Western and Eastern sounds, and as being a precursor to the 1980s world music trend. The album's title inspired that of Oasis' 1995 hit song "Wonderwall". Harrison's full soundtrack for the film was made available on DVD in early 2014, as part of the two-disc Wonderwall Collector's Edition. In September that year, the album was reissued in remastered form as part of Harrison's Apple Years 1968–75box set, with the addition of three bonus tracks. Electronic Sound via Imgflip Meme Generator From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Electronic Sound is the second studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. Released in May 1969, it was the last of two LPs issued on the Beatles' short-lived Zapple record label, a subsidiary of Apple Records that specialised in the avant-garde. The album is an experimental work comprising two lengthy pieces performed on a Moog 3-series synthesizer. It was one of the first electronic music albums by a rock musician, made at a time when the Moog was usually played by dedicated exponents of the technology. Harrison subsequently introduced the Moog to the Beatles' sound, and the band featured synthesizer for the first time on their 1969 album Abbey Road. Harrison began the project in Los Angeles in November 1968 while he was producing sessions for his Apple Records artist Jackie Lomax. "No Time or Space" comprises an edit of a Moog demonstration given there by Bernie Krause, an American synthesizer exponent and Moog salesman. Once his own Moog system had arrived in England in February 1969, Harrison recorded the second piece, "Under the Mersey Wall", at his home in Surrey. Krause later said that, with "No Time or Space", Harrison had recorded the studio demonstration without his knowledge and that it incorporated ideas he was due to include on his forthcoming album with Paul Beaver. The cover artwork of Electronic Sound was taken from a painting by Harrison. The front cover shows Krause operating the Moog console, while the back depicts Derek Taylor's office at Apple and the pressures afflicting the company at the time. The album has received an unfavourable response from many rock critics; these writers dismiss it as unfocused, unstructured, and consisting of random sounds. Some commentators and musicians recognise it as an adventurous work that displays the Moog's sonic potential at a time when the system was in its infancy. In the United States and Canada, the LP was pressed with the two tracks swapped around, leading to confusion regarding the identity of the pieces. The order was corrected for the album's CD release in 1996. The 2014 reissue includes essays by Kevin Howlett and electronica musician Tom Rowlands, along with Dhani Harrison's explanation of his father's artwork.
I’ve only heard ATMP & LITMW, so maybe this is a good chance to do some album listening so I can join in on the discussion!
I look forward to your leadership, @omikron . Wonderwall Music is a nice blend of indian and rock, eastern and western. Pretty pleasant listening. "Ski-ing" is a major highlight! Electronic Sound is... an album that was released. Not one that should be listened to, though. I. [tbd] II. [tbd] III. Wonderwall Music > Electronic Sound
George has some wonderfully beautiful music. There's also some albums where his cynicism of his public life make the album a hard bite to swallow. I hope we get some good discussion here. And I am very glad you will be checking out some George material that is new to you!
Thanks for reminding me of George's back catalog. I have only heard All Thing's Must Pass and Cloud Nine
What I particularly like about Wonderwall Music is that it consists of George's musical style from 1967-68. Even though it is a soundtrack album, so these instrumental songs are not typical "pop" tunes, the songs incorporate the sounds/vibes of George's compositions from late 1967 (think "Blue Jay Way") and 1968 (songs from the White Album). So it provides a rare glimpse into George's musical mind from that period. As for Electronic Sound, it is likely that George pulled a fast one on Bernie Krause as this album features George playing some nonsense on one side, and the other side has some nonsense actually played by Bernie Krause. See: Astronauta Pinguim: Five questions to Bernie Krause NOTE that the above link is somewhat long-winded and Bernie's time-line seems to be off by a year (Bernie says November 1969, when it should be 1968).
I picked both up in 74...and enjoyed some of Wonderwall Music. I only played Electronic Sound once. I did not buy the CD reissue of either. Bern
"No Time and Space" is (supposedly) Krause, and "Under The Mercy Wall" is George. If "NTAS" is the better of the two, that explains it.
Wonderwall Music is an interesting blend of Eastern and Western sounds that has some fantastic moments. Some of it veers towards experimental to the point that it might be hard for a typical listener to wrap their heads around. I liked the bonus material on the Apple Boxed set version. I definitely pop it in from time to time. Electronic Music, on the other hand, is challenging for even the the most open-minded fan. There is so much good music in my collection that I don't want to waste any precious time on this.
Please feel free to bring this up as a topic of discussion at the appropriate time in his catalogue. I was considering adding Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 because of Cheer Down and Poor Little Girl but figured that would stray more into a Song By Song instead of Album By Album. I'm up for spending time on those songs and Porky's if we all want too. I like them too. Just jump in with them when we get to the late 80s.
I think Wonderwall is a Top 5 Harrison solo album. I love the eclectic blend of western/eastern, with psychedelic flourishes.
I have always found the Wonderwall Music soundtrack to be a good, entertaining listen. I was lucky enough to be able to steal my dad's German LP pressing of it when I was in my early teens (NO IDEA why he had it), sometime early 80s. Some of it is very psychedelic in flavor. Anyway, it's better than what it's often made up to be. Electronic Sound on the other hand, isn't as easy to defend. I've enjoyed it as background music in the past, but I've barely returned to it. The backstory of the recording isn't exactly George's greatest moment either. I used to have an 1972 Italian LP pressing of this I regretfully sold years ago. Love the sleeve art.
A footnote worth mentioning re: Wonderwall is this single that appeared decades after the album/film. I’m not sure we know just how much involvement George had here. He’s credited as producer, but one wonders if he plays, sings and or had a hand in the writing. I don’t recall reading anything definitive on that to date...
Great thread! I need to listen to Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound still, though. I think we should discuss the two Traveling Wilburys albums. They aren't technically George solo, but he was a key part of the band. If I were running an album by album thread for Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, or Roy Orbison, I would include them.
