Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea

‘Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea’ is the tenth song on George Harrison’s Brainwashed album.

The only non-original song on the album, ‘Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea’ was first recorded by Cab Calloway in 1931. The music was by Harold Arlen, and lyrics by Ted Koehler.

Harrison’s version was recorded at a George Formby convention in Blackpool, England, on 3 March 1991, It was filmed for UK TV show Mister Roadrunner and first broadcast on 6 June the following year. The show was presented by Jools Holland, who plays piano on the recording.

That’s really what he was like around the house, all day, just playing ukulele and smiling. We’d heard every Hoagy Carmichael song from from ‘Barnacle Bill The Sailor’ to, you know, he’d sing everything on the uke. He’d sing anything and everything. So we had to get that in there, to have. There’s uke on a lot of the other tracks as well, but that was the one that really reeked of my dad.