Remembrance of George Harrison | Page 4 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Expert Textpert said
This has nothing to do with the thread really, but it doesn’t deserve its own thread so I’m putting it here, because I’m “remembering” George Harrison .

I’ve been really into GH this week, so I made a playlist of the two box sets, Bangla Desh, Wilburys, Brainwashed, Let it Roll, the Shankar/Harrison Collaborations box set, Concert for George and Early Takes Vol. 1, and I’m listening to them all chronologically on headphones. So far it’s an interesting listen to hear the progression of sounds. I’m on song 54 of 312.

I just realized there is a best of the Dark Horse Years cd that has two songs I don’t have. Poor Little Girl and Cockamamie something or other…I guess I have to get those too now.

Cockamammmmiiieeeee bussssiness- great song  

Have you ‘Ride Rajbun‘ on your playlist? Released in 1992 (but recorded in ’88) for a children’s show. Dhani is singing on it and Ravi plays sitar on the opening.

Inner Light said

Expert Textpert said
1. All Things Must Pass (1970)

It’s strange that George Harrison ‘s masterpiece came so early in his career. His first proper solo album was a triple album–I can’t imagine how great it would have been to buy this when it first came out. It’s like everything after this album can’t compare. I can’t think of another artist this is true for. People often say they like an artist’s “early work” better just because they think it’s a cool thing to say, but usually I don’t find this true about an artist.

I Think a lot of fans prefer the early or debut albums by artists because artists always try so hard to have a good album because they want to be successful. Once you make it, sometimes you get a little lax in your songwriting and you start to sell out or forced to write do to contractual obligations. This is not always true but I think it does happen. 

The “first album” thing comes largely from the fact (maybe more-so in the past – in the pre-internet age – than now) that artists often spent years building up the body of work that got them signed, and the best of it goes onto the debut album. Once under contract, and with the debut out of the way, there’s soon demand for the second album, but you don’t have the stockpile to fall back on. Chances are that you’ll have a few worthy contenders that didn’t make the debut, but you’re starting to have to write on the run – with the pressures of promotion and touring making it harder. By the time of your third album, often known as “the difficult third album”, what’s usable from the stockpile has gone, the life that sparked, and offered the environment for, the early creativity has probably changed beyond recognition, as have the demands.

To a certain extent this is partly true for ATMP . The earliest song on ATMP  on dates back to 1966-67, Art of Dying, with many others written well before George started putting a solo album together – a lot of them coming from 1968-69 (partly as a result of the closeness of his friendship with Dylan at that time, and the amount of time they were spending together). Several of them were tried out during the Get Back  sessions – All Things Must Pass , Hear Me Lord , Isn’t It A Pity , Let It Down  – before George started getting fed-up with offering songs to The Beatles that were being under-appreciated.

ATMP  was, in many ways, a collection of songs written over the last four years of The Beatles that they didn’t have the time or space for.