Dark Horse Records Partners with BMG, Will Release New Recordings

Interesting that none of this is mentioned...from what I could find at least...on George’s official site. Doesn’t mean anything, just interesting.

Mark

 

I’m just curious, from a rights point of view would they technically need to? I’d hope they would of course, I’m just wondering if the fact they haven’t necessarily implies anything or not. Thanks!

Mark

 

Most labels work from the standpoint that records are essentially "works for hire" and they own them and can do whatever they want, unless otherwise contractually stipulated. One would hope that a Beatles-affiliated label would be a bit more... artist-friendly, but legally it all boils down to what's in the contracts.

However, it should be common courtesy to at least inform the artist if a reissue is coming out...

 

The Wiki entry for this album has great info not only on the recording but on the background - and importance of - both Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. If anyone has even a passing interest in this type of music, the album is so worth checking out. Two maestros at the top of their game.

In Concert 1972 - Wikipedia

 

I can't imagine Dhani & Olivia re releasing anything by a former Dark Horse artist without everybody's knowledge of project upfront. That is why it's a bummer to hear the fellows in Splinter indicate they haven't heard anything. In light of Dhani's vague announcement of all these forthcoming releases.

 

Doesn't this just confirm that George's own music isn't involved?

 

No. It doesn't.

They might just be keeping mum until the time comes to start the promoting process...

 

I like your optimism.

 

Well, the HariSongs download label that was set up to reissue Indian/World music he produced was prominently announced there, which includes Chants and In Concert 1972 as well (and is still an active page on his site). Kind of a similar venture and led by the family as well so I thought they might share this new announcement there.

Mark

 

Thank you for posting. I really cannot imagine that there is any real money to be made with the Dark Horse catalog. But it is a nice Press Release.

I also cannot imagine that there is any new music in the George Harrison vaults that will be released under this agreement. There may be demos, alternatives, etc. of already released songs, but nothing new or significant. Perhaps that is why nothing was announced.

 

True. Early Takes 1 sold under 15,000 copies during its debut week on the charts. What would #2 sell today - half that? Even if it matched that sales mark, it's not like anyone's making much $$ on the deal...

 

Which is why we will probably never see a volume 2 of Early Takes. Too bad.

 

His facebook page had a post about the new Dark Horse releases the other day, and today posted this (familiar but unfamiliar) photo:

 

How many copies did Ringo's last album sell?

Surely, some new GH music would sell better, especially if given a decent promotional push.

I know that's not a very high bar, but if Ringo can still swing new releases, so why can't the Harrisons? [Because Ringo's making enough money off touring to bankroll them?]

 

Not sure how much we can infer from this, but I watched the short little video on the Dark Horse Facebook page, and in addition to images of Ravi, Strummer and Petty, it ends with a collection of photos of original Dark Horse albums by Splinter, The Stairsteps, Keni Burke and “Mind Your Own Business!” by Henry McCullough. So maybe we will see reissues of all those in time.

Mark

 

Petty?!? Tom Petty?

Other than the obvious Wilburys, that would be BIG news if he was releasing anything on the DH label...

Edit: Cool about Henry and the others! Fingers crossed.

 

Sorry, the Petty mention above & in the FB video was in reference to this part of the press release:

“Dark Horse Records will also release new recordings through BMG including the current Tom Petty estate charity single ‘For Real – For Tom’ featuring Jakob Dylan, Dhani Harrison, Amos Lee, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, and Willie Nelson.”

So the video shows images of the releases specified in the press release, but then ends with a collage of all the albums we’ve been wondering about here. So hopefully an indication those are coming later.

Mark

 

But like the Harisong re-releases in 2018 (Ravi Shankar) and the latest Dark Horse re-releases (Ravi Shankar and Attitudes), the Tom Petty song was released only digitally. This doesn't bode well for any future cd or vinyl releases. However, the apparent upcoming Ravi Shankar RSD 2020 release gives me hope that there may be at least some limited physical product.

 

Dreaming & Domingo Bay were released in Japan in different recordings made after Splinter left Dark Horse. They are included as bonus tracks on the Greyscale reissue of the Streets At Night album (which is, as noted elsewhere, a needledrop like all of the Greyscale releases and even erroneously includes a track that isn't by Splinter!)

 

These are also on the front page of the seemingly under construction Dark Horse Records website. It all looks promising.

 

Great news for Splinter fans who have waited so long, hope 2020 is great year for the guys!

 

Oh, right. That one. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Thanks for the correction!

 

I was trying to remember where I'd read about Olivia wanting to put Attitudes back out there, and realised it was from Dave Foster's book:

Jim introduced me to Danny Kortchmar, a great and unique guitar player, and Paul Stallworth, a bassist, and we called ourselves Attitudes. We did two albums for Dark Horse, George Harrison’s label, and if I remember correctly we recorded mostly at A&M Records. Harrison was such a low-key guy that he was okay with anything and everything we did. Unfortunately, neither of the albums created so much as a ripple. And it’s funny, because thirty years later I ran into Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and she couldn’t stop talking about those recordings. “We should get those tapes,” she said. “That band was so good. We should dig them up and put them out there again. It was really great stuff.” I think I have to agree with her. Some of the tracks were really pretty good, but we never did anything to promote them. We were just a group of studio guys trying to make good music together, but we were a little spoiled, too: We were making too much money as session musicians to take time off to promote the work.

- David Foster, Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts, and Winning Grammys

 

No big news, just something new I noticed on iTunes.

Attitudes, In Concert 1972 and Chants Of India all now have the phrase “under exclusive license to BMG Rights Management” tacked on after the label name (either Umlaut Corporation or G. H. Estate Limited).

Before it was just the label name. So some evidence of the new arrangement taking effect.

Mark