Sour Milk Sea

"Sour Milk Sea"
Song
B-side	"The Eagle Laughs at You"

"Sour Milk Sea" is a song that was recorded by English singer Jackie Lomax and released as his debut single on Apple Records in August 1968. It was written by George Harrison during the Beatles' stay in Rishikesh, India, and given to Lomax to help launch the Beatles' record label. The recording was the first of many extracurricular musical projects produced by Harrison, and a rarity among non-Beatles songs since it features three members of the band. Along with Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, the backing musicians on the track were Eric Clapton and session pianist Nicky Hopkins.

Harrison wrote the song to promote Transcendental Meditation, which he and his fellow Beatles had been studying in Rishikesh with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The group recorded a demo of the song while considering material for what became their 1968 double album, The Beatles. On release, Lomax's single was overshadowed in Apple's "Our First Four" promotional campaign by the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days"; it enjoyed only minor success internationally, becoming a top 30 hit in Canada. The B-side was "The Eagle Laughs at You", written by Lomax and also produced by Harrison. Both tracks were later included on the singer's only Apple album, Is This What You Want?, released in March 1969.

"Sour Milk Sea" has received praise from several music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic describes it as "a dense, brilliant, and soulful psychedelic rocker". The song appeared on the 2010 multi-artist compilation Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records.

Background and inspiration

See also: The Beatles in India

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose teachings inspired the song "Sour Milk Sea"

"Sour Milk Sea" was one of several songs that George Harrison wrote while at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh, India, during February to April 1968. Having first travelled in India in September 1966, following the Beatles' final concert tour, Harrison was enamoured with the teachings of the Maharishi and had led his fellow Beatles to Rishikesh to study Transcendental Meditation two years later. With Life magazine labelling 1968 "the Year of the Guru", the Beatles' stay generated wide interest in Transcendental Meditation, and Eastern spirituality generally, among Western youth. Author Simon Leng writes that with "Sour Milk Sea", Harrison now adopted "the role of advertising executive" to further promote meditation. Leng adds: "At the time, it was the enlightened artist's job to share their insights with 'the people,' which makes 'Sour Milk Sea' an obvious companion to 'Within You Without You.'"

The way George is going he will be flying on a magic carpet by the time he's forty ... I would like to know how far I can progress with [Transcendental Meditation]. George is a few inches ahead of us.

– John Lennon in Rishikesh, 1968

In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says that the song espouses meditation as a means to improve one's life, as well as conveying the message: "if you're in the shit, don't go around moaning about it; do something about it." He also explains that he named the composition after a picture titled Kalladadi Samudra, which reflects the theme of Vishvasara Tantra in sacred Hindu texts, particularly regarding "the geological theory of the evolution of organic life on earth". Singer Jackie Lomax, whose debut solo album Harrison had agreed to produce before departing for India, said that the eponymous Sour Milk Sea symbolises "a fallow period" during each of the Earth's 26,000-year evolutionary cycles, before the planet begins its process of regeneration.

Composition

Referring to Harrison's "compositional draft" of "Sour Milk Sea", musicologist Walter Everett states that together the various chords used in the song suggest "a pentatonic minor scale on A". In practice, however, according to Everett, the verses are roughly based in the key of E and the chorus focuses on D, "the Mixolydian ♭VII area". Author and critic Richie Unterberger views these changes as "tense chord ascensions" and similar to those in "Savoy Truffle", another Harrison song from 1968.

In his lyrics over the verses, theologian Dale Allison writes, Harrison focuses on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation – namely, "illumination, increased awareness, and release from limitation" – rather than outlining "the method for obtaining those results". Through its promise of a quick solution, Allison continues, the song pre-empts the concept espoused by John Lennon two years later in "Instant Karma!" Author Ian Inglis views the chorus lyrics as particularly forthright – the advice being, "admit your shortcomings, pull yourself together, look for a solution" – as Harrison urges:

Get out of Sour Milk Sea
You don't belong here
Get back to where you should be
Find out what's going on there.

Although it originated as an acoustic guitar composition, "Sour Milk Sea" is in the heavy rock style typical of the late 1960s. Harrison biographer Joshua Greene writes that the "hard-driving, blues guitar medium" was an appropriate way for Harrison to "express a simple rule of thumb" regarding the human condition. Greene describes the lyrical thrust of the song as follows: "Is life getting you down? Not getting the breaks you want? Try illumination."

The Beatles' demo

After his time in Rishikesh, Harrison's output as a writer had become prolific, although he continued to be overshadowed in the Beatles by the band's primary songwriters, Lennon and Paul McCartney. Referring to the competition for space on their self-titled 1968 double album, also known as the White Album, author Mark Hertsgaard writes that the group were "confronting the paradox of having too much talent for their own good". Along with other new material that was considered for the White Album, the Beatles recorded a demo of "Sour Milk Sea" at Harrison's Esher home, Kinfauns, in May 1968.

The demo was taped on Harrison's Ampex four-track recorder. The performance features Harrison singing falsetto throughout, and a musical backing that includes guitars and various percussion – all played with "real enthusiasm", in Leng's description. Author and critic Kenneth Womack writes of this and the 22 other songs demoed at Kinfauns: "the Esher Tapes witness the Beatles working in unison and exalting in the pure joy of their music." The demo has appeared on bootleg albums, including Acoustic Masterpieces (The Esher Demos).

As with several of the songs taped at Kinfauns, the Beatles did not return to "Sour Milk Sea" during the White Album sessions. Although the group announced on 15 June that their association with the Maharishi had been "a public mistake", Allison writes that, for Harrison, "the guru's teachings did not leave him." Harrison decided to give the song to former Undertakers singer Jackie Lomax – a fellow Liverpudlian and one of the first artists signed to the Beatles' nascent record label, Apple Records, in early 1968. In a 2004 interview, Lomax said that he was fortunate to have Harrison's help, adding: "even on a big project like The White Album he only had four songs. I think he was feeling held back [in the Beatles]."

Recording

WIth Harrison as his producer, Lomax recorded "Sour Milk Sea" for release as a single. The sessions for the song began at EMI's Abbey Road Studios on 24 June 1968, before moving to Trident Studios, to use that facility's superior, eight-track recording equipment. Speaking to Melody Maker in September that year, Harrison described the recording as a "glorified jam session". The line-up consisted of Lomax on vocals, Harrison and Eric Clapton on guitars, Nicky Hopkins on piano, McCartney on bass, and Ringo Starr on drums. McCartney was absent from the initial session, however, only returning on 25 June from an Apple-related business trip to California.

With Eric Clapton playing on it, it was on fire. When the backing tape was played back, I thought it worked as an instrumental. "You want me to sing on top of that?!"

– Jackie Lomax, 2010

While Apple projects typically featured one member of the Beatles, "Sour Milk Sea" is the only track where more than two members of the band appeared on another artist's recording. Lomax later said that he thought the song "worked as an instrumental", and he recalled his nervousness when it came to overdubbing the vocal part: "There I am in the studio and there are three Beatles in the control room watching me ... I guess I was nervous at first, but after a couple of takes I was into it."

Recording was completed on 26 June. In addition to supplying acoustic rhythm guitar on the song, Harrison played the electric guitar solo, beside Clapton's lead guitar part. Hammond organ was also added over this instrumental break, although the part is uncredited. Like Clapton and Hopkins, Lomax went on to contribute to the Beatles' White Album sessions, singing backing vocals on "Dear Prudence".

Leng identifies "Sour Milk Sea" as marking three important "firsts" in Harrison's career. It was the first song Harrison "gave away" to another artist, a sign that his output as a songwriter had outgrown the quota of tracks typically allocated to him on Beatles releases. The Lomax album project also marked the first time that Harrison served as producer for another artist, having already produced sessions in London and Bombay for his own debut solo album, Wonderwall Music. In addition, although Clapton had contributed to Wonderwall Music earlier in the year, "Sour Milk Sea" is the first example of him and Harrison sharing the lead guitarist's role on a recording. Later in 1968, the pair co-wrote Cream's final hit single, "Badge", while their guitar combination would be a feature through much of Harrison's solo career, as well as on Derek and the Dominos' first single, "Tell the Truth".

"The Eagle Laughs at You"

For the single's B-side, Lomax recorded an original composition, titled "The Eagle Laughs at You". Produced by Harrison, the song was also recorded between 24 and 26 June. According to Apple Records historian Andy Davis, the musicians on the track comprised an "ad hoc power trio" of Lomax on bass and rhythm guitar, Harrison on lead guitar and "a couple of overdubs", and drummer Tony Newman from Sounds Incorporated. Lomax recalled that he and Harrison overdubbed a cornet part (played by a studio cleaner) and then treated the recording to make it sound "like a bloody elephant screaming through the place".

Release

The "Sour Milk Sea" single was issued on 26 August 1968 in America (as Apple 1802) and 6 September in Britain (as Apple 3). Along with "Hey Jude" by the Beatles, Mary Hopkin's "Those Were the Days", and the Black Dyke Mills Band's "Thingumybob", it was one of Apple's "Our First Four" singles, marking the official launch of the label. The four releases took place on the same day in the United States but were spread out over two weeks in the UK. Apple's lavish promotional campaign was led by Derek Taylor, whom Harrison had invited to help run the Beatles' new enterprise. In advance of the release date, Apple declared 11–18 August to be "National Apple Week" and sent gift-wrapped boxes of the four records to Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family, and to the British prime minister.

I thought it would be a hit, but Apple released four singles on the same day and other labels would have complained if the BBC had played them all. How could I compete against "Hey Jude" and "Those Were The Days"?

– Jackie Lomax, 2004

Although Lomax's single received considerable promotion, it was a surprising commercial failure. "Sour Milk Sea" did not chart in Britain. In America, the song reached number 117 during a two-week run on the Bubbling Under listings of Billboard's Hot 100 chart, and "The Eagle Laughs at You" placed at number 125. "Sour Milk Sea" was a hit in Canada, however, peaking at number 29 on the RPM 100 in November 1968. In a 1974 feature on his career in ZigZag magazine, Lomax said that the song's release in tandem with "obvious" hits like "Hey Jude" and "Those Were the Days" jinxed its commercial performance, since radio stations were reluctant to risk alienating other record labels by featuring Apple singles too heavily on their playlists. Lomax added: "So they kind of lost me in the shuffle."

Both sides of the single were included on Lomax's only album for Apple, Is This What You Want?, released in March 1969. Like the single, the album failed to achieve commercial success, a result that perplexed the Beatles, who continued to believe in Lomax's talents. Due to the song's strong association with the Beatles and Eric Clapton, "Sour MIlk Sea" retained a notoriety among rock music fans; Danny Eccleston of Mojo magazine later described it as a "cult rendering". In 1970, Sour Milk Sea, one of singer Freddie Mercury's pre-Queen bands, was named after the track. In June the following year, Apple re-released "Sour Milk Sea" with "Fall Inside Your Eyes" on the B-side, but this single also failed to chart.

In 2010, Apple reissued Is This What You Want? as both an individual release and as part of the seventeen-disc box set titled The Apple Box. "Sour Milk Sea" also appeared on the accompanying two-CD compilation, Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records. In conjunction with these releases, a mono mix of the song was made available for digital download.

Reception

On release in 1968, the single received favourable reviews from music critics. Writing for Rolling Stone in 1971, Ben Edmonds described "Sour Milk Sea" as "excellent" but suggested that Lomax "seemed to get lost among the superstars" accompanying him. Three years later, Andy Childs of ZigZag admired it as "a classic single – a really dynamic rock song with Lomax in great voice".

Among Beatles biographers, Bruce Spizer attributes the commercial failure of Lomax's "great rock single" to the simultaneous release of "Hey Jude" and "Those Were the Days", while John Winn describes it as an "excellent debut" and "an inexplicable flop". Simon Leng opines that the song "just wasn't catchy enough" in Lomax's reading and views the Beatles' "garage rendition" as superior. Although he finds the musical arrangement and Lomax's singing slightly incongruous beside Harrison's "thoughtful" lyrics, Ian Inglis recognises the track as "an early prototype of heavy metal, particularly in the interplay between drums and lead guitar and its relentless sequence of musical climaxes".

Writing in Goldmine magazine in 2002, Dave Thompson included "Sour Milk Sea" and "Badge" in his list of the Harrison-written songs that "rank among the finest Beatles compositions of the group's final years", and he concluded: "the only regret is that neither of the latter two ever made it into a Beatles recording session." Less impressed, Richie Unterberger finds the lyrics "a blend of encouragement and mild scolding", and he considers the track to be "a serviceable hard-rock number with a bluesy boogie feel" next to the "considerably superior" "Savoy Truffle".

In his preview of Apple's 2010 reissues, for Rolling Stone, David Fricke listed Is This What You Want? third among the record label's top five non-Beatle album releases and praised "Sour Milk Sea" as, variously, a "get-off-your-ass rocker" and "dynamite". Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot considered it to be "a knockout version". Among reviews of the Come and Get It compilation, Douglas Wolk of Pitchfork Media opined that "Sour Milk Sea" "would've been one of the best songs on [the White Album] if George had kept it for himself", and Uncut's David Cavanagh described the track as "sensational". AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the song "a dense, brilliant, and soulful psychedelic rocker". In his liner notes to the compilation, former Record Collector editor Andy Davis wrote: "'Sour Milk Sea' is the greatest record The Beatles never made."

In an online article for Mojo published shortly after Lomax's death in September 2013, Danny Eccleston wrote that "Sour Milk Sea" was "a brilliantly excitable recording", although he attributed the song's lack of success to an "accusatory tone" in Harrison's lyrics. In his Lomax obituary for The Independent, Spencer Leigh described the singer as "one of Liverpool's unluckiest musicians", adding: "Most music fans of the era cite 'Sour Milk Sea' (1968) as a Top 10 single that never was, so why didn't they buy it?"

Personnel

• Jackie Lomax – vocals
• George Harrison – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Eric Clapton – electric guitar
• Nicky Hopkins – piano
• Paul McCartney – bass
• Ringo Starr – drums
• uncredited – Hammond organ

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