George Harrison (album)
| George Harrison | ||||
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| Studio album by George Harrison | ||||
| Released | 23 February 1979 | |||
| Recorded | July−November 1978 FPSHOT, Oxfordshire |
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| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 39:58 (LP) 43:37 (CD) |
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| Label | Dark Horse, Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | George Harrison, Russ Titelman |
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| George Harrison chronology | ||||
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| Singles from George Harrison | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (positive)[2] |
George Harrison is the eponymous album release by George Harrison in 1979. It was recorded during a period of domestic happiness in which Harrison married Olivia Trinidad Arias and his son Dhani was born.
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[edit] History
With Harrison's penchant for leisure and travel following Thirty Three & 1/3's release, he had not started recording a follow-up until mid-1978, although he had been writing songs during his hiatus. Teaming up with a co-producer for the first time in years, Harrison decided to use Russ Titelman to help realize the music for George Harrison, which was recorded at his home studio, entitled Friar Park, with string overdubs being effected at London's AIR Studios. Special guests included Steve Winwood, Gary Wright (who co-wrote "If You Believe") and Eric Clapton.
The album was previewed by the single "Blow Away", which reached #51 in the United Kingdom and #16 in the United States. George Harrison received positive reviews upon its February 1979 release. It reached #39 in the UK and it peaked at #14 in the US, going gold. "Blow Away" as a single was also successful in Canada, peaking at #7 on the singles chart. Harrison's increasing efforts, however, were being directed towards the film industry, having formed Handmade Films in order to help his friends in Monty Python complete Life of Brian.
Three of the songs from the eponymous album were included on Harrison's Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 compilation: "Blow Away," "Here Comes the Moon," and the single edit version of "Love Comes to Everyone." "Blow Away" was also included in the career-spanning compilation Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison.
In 2004, George Harrison was remastered and reissued both separately and as part of the deluxe box set The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 on Dark Horse with new distribution by EMI, adding the bonus track demo version of "Here Comes the Moon", recorded just after it was written in Hawaii.
[edit] The cover
The original LP featured a close-up photograph of Harrison, taken by Mike Salisbury, with the album's name printed in brown in the top right corner. For the 2004 CD-remaster, the same picture was used but with different lettering. The brown title was erased, and Harrison's signature in white was added to the top left corner.
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by George Harrison, except where noted.
[edit] Side One
- "Love Comes to Everyone" – 4:36
- Guitar intro played by Eric Clapton, who later covered the song on his 2005 album Back Home.
- The song was performed live only once, during Harrison's Japanese tour in December 1991.
- "Not Guilty" – 3:35
- Originally written by Harrison/recorded with The Beatles in 1968 for The White Album; however, it was not included.
- "Here Comes the Moon" – 4:48
- A lyrical successor to Harrison's 1969 composition "Here Comes the Sun".
- "Soft-Hearted Hana" – 4:03
- Written about a psychedelic mushroom experience Harrison had in Maui.
- Incorporates actual atmosphere from Harrison's local Henley-on-Thames pub, "The Row Barge".
- The title is a reference to the Tin Pan Alley song "Hard Hearted Hannah".
- "Blow Away" – 4:00
[edit] Side Two
- "Faster" – 4:46
- Incorporates actual racing sound effects from the British Grand Prix on 16 July 1978.
- "Dark Sweet Lady" – 3:22
- "Your Love Is Forever" – 3:45
- "Soft Touch" – 3:59
- "If You Believe" (Harrison/Gary Wright) – 2:55
For the 2004 digitally remastered issue of George Harrison a bonus track was added:
- "Here Comes the Moon" (demo version) – 3:37
[edit] Personnel
The following personnel was credited in the liner notes.[3]
- George Harrison – Guitars, vocals & backing vocals, bass on "Faster"
- Andy Newmark – Drums
- Willie Weeks – Bass
- Neil Larsen – Keyboards, Minimoog
- Ray Cooper – Percussion
- Steve Winwood – Polymoog, Harmonium, Minimoog and backing vocals
- Emil Richards – Marimba
- Gayle Levant – Harp
- Eric Clapton – Guitar intro on "Love Comes To Everyone"
- Gary Wright – Oberheim on "If You Believe"
- Del Newman – String and horn arrangements
[edit] Chart positions
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[edit] Shipments and sales
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[edit] References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ (2004) Album notes for George Harrison by George Harrison, p. 10 [CD booklet]. Dark Horse Records.
- ^ "allmusic ((( George Harrison > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r8997/charts-awards. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ^ "George Harrison - Chart trajectories on the US Billboard 200". October 2006. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_george_albumchartaction_usa.htm/. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "norwegiancharts.com George Harrison - George Harrison". VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=George+Harrison&titel=George+Harrison. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ^ a-ザ・ビートルズ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). December 30, 2007. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html a-ザ・ビートルズ. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
- ^ "Chart Stats George Harrison - George Harrison". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=4578. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ^ ジョージ・ハリスン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of George Harrison by George Harrison". oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/536854/1/ ジョージ・ハリスン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "RIAA — Gold & Platinum — Searchable Database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=George%20Harrison&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
- ^ "George Harrison Japanese Album Chart trajectories". October 2006. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_george_albumchartaction_japan.htm/. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
