George Harrison was overshadowed by the Lennon-McCartney duo and most of his music is little known beyond Something and My sweet lord.
By Miguel Martin Felipe Valencia
Regeneration December 4, 2022.- On November 29, 2022, it was 21 years since George Harrison left this material world to move to a world of light where the spirit reaches fullness, free of lies and other vices typical of this existence on the wheel of Samsara. That’s how he believed it and that’s how many of us prefer to think it happened.
George It was not him beatles more popular and unfortunately it still isn’t. Historically it was overshadowed by the duo Lennon-McCartney and most of his music is little known beyond something Y my sweet lord. It is worth abounding in five pieces that can take those who do not know his work in depth to revalue it and perhaps discover a new path that mixes spirituality, acid humor and a way of seeing life that provides a pause in the middle of the chaos.
George was never comfortable with fame, even with music, for there were times when he didn’t even want to know more than gardening and family life. George Harrison is a transcendent and transcendent man who withdrew from this existence satisfied and in peace, leaving an invaluable aesthetic legacy that, although some essential ones were left out, I have tried to condense in this little journey that now begins for you.
All things must pass
The Beatles met in January 1969 at London’s Twickenham Studios to reluctantly begin filming their sessions with a view to finalizing get back, Paul’s whim that included a documentary, a record and a concert for the band’s triumphant return to the stage. This project was even marked by the momentary departure of George from the Beatles, fed up with his friction with McCartney. Later the material would be recovered and published as Let it be.
In those early sessions, George came up with a good quality piece that he had previously recorded on home demos. Although the letter evokes the spirit of Hinduism, in reality, and according to what he refers to in his memoirs, the source of inspiration was the work of the poet Timothy Leary. The song was rehearsed by the band and eventually scrapped, although it really suited it better as the 1970 title piece for George’s grandiose solo debut, where he was dispatched with a triple disc.
All things must pass is a melancholic piece that talks about ephemerality, finiteness and resignation. It featured a production that made it a bombastic anthem thanks to its orchestral arrangement courtesy of Phil Spector, as well as a simple but effective strumming of acoustic guitar and a voice from Harrison free of the restrictions he had in the Beatles.
you
After the bombing of All things must pass, the quality of George’s albums gradually declined, or at least that’s what the specialized critics have decreed. However, it is worth taking a look at Extra Texture (Read all about it)from 1975, and extract youone of George’s most successful attempts to approach the soul. The lyrics are basic, but at the same time intense, like the phrasing itself. The rhythm seems typical of any musical apotheosis of a band from the South of the United States, with an organ present at all times, the guitar with a riff that sets the pace upward, and a frantic saxophone solo that ends up plunging us into that ephemeral and pleasant reality of less than four minutes.
If this had been the tone of the rest of the album, perhaps we would be facing a place of request within the most demanding rankings. Unfortunately, you it is a multicolored explosion in the middle of a barren and almost monochromatic desert, which is why this is the only piece that lives up to the name of the album.
dark sweet lady
Although the Beatles were disbanded, George Harrison’s first records came out under the Apple Records label. However, one of his many adventures was founding his own label in 1974, which he called Dark Horse Records. An office was established in Los Angeles, where Olivia Trinidad Arias, a simple American girl with Mexican roots, was hired as a liaison for the marketing area, who gradually became closer to George through phone calls thanks to the fact that they had in common issues such as practicing vegetarianism and meditation. The relationship matured and in 1978 they married.
By 1979, George released an album titled his own name: George Harrison. It is there where this piece of tender cadence is included, dominated by an atmosphere imposed by the organ, the acoustic guitar arpeggios and the Mexican wink of the marimba.
The lyrics are a beautiful love letter to who would be her life partner from then on until her last moments, to later become the main promoter of her legacy along with her son Dhani.
That’s the way it goes
The album gone tropo from 1982 is one of several undervalued in the annals of rock. However, it contains memorable pieces that require a second chance. Such is the case of this song that shows us a highly philosophical and introspective George Harrison. The lyrics are simple, but forcefully communicate deep reflections in the midst of a joyful atmosphere, although repetitive in structure. Equally philosophical in nature, but with more spiritual overtones and at the same time more festive, it also appears on this album. Wake up my love.
That’s the way it goes is one of the songs in which George unleashes the slideone of his favorite guitar playing techniques, which consists of sliding a metal or glass tube over the strings to obtain a swaying sound with which great solos can be obtained.
any road
In 1997, in a live broadcast on VH1, George Harrison appeared with an acoustic guitar together with his mentor, the Indian musician Ravi Shankar, and improvised a piece whose lyrics alluded to a lifetime of wanderings, with their respective moments. to realize that, sooner or later, existence must be endowed with a transcendental meaning in order to better appreciate it. «If you don’t know where you’re going, any road’ll take you there», was about that piece that for years was forgotten.
In November 2002, one year after his death, we discovered that, with the production of the great Jeff Lynne, this song was recorded in a marvelous version whose base instrument is the ukulele and is accompanied by some Harrison-brand guitar solos with mastery. unusual.
Likewise, the song is accompanied by a wonderful music video that constitutes George’s testament and the celebration of his multicolored life in which he was everything he wanted: guitarist, citarist, composer, singer, film producer, actor, spiritual guide, runner cars, and above all, according to those who treated him outside the public sphere, a great human being.
May George Harrison live forever, in all the magnificence of his luminous eternity.
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