Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Fretful Friday
You know how in the song "I'm Only Sleeping", it sounds like George is playing his guitar solo backwards? That's because he is. It is a common misconception that this was another of their songs to feature "backmasking",
as in "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "Rain".
In fact, George was so intent upon wanting it to sound as though it really was played backwards, that he ended up playing it backwards. He wrote the notations for the backwards solo and outro, then played them twice, one with a fuzz effect, one without. It took him five hours to achieve this to his satisfaction, and it was then reversed *again* for the final version of the song.
So, here is George's double-guitar backwards solo in all its innovative genius:
and here it is backwards, so that you can hear how the guitars sounded in their original recording.
as in "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "Rain".
In fact, George was so intent upon wanting it to sound as though it really was played backwards, that he ended up playing it backwards. He wrote the notations for the backwards solo and outro, then played them twice, one with a fuzz effect, one without. It took him five hours to achieve this to his satisfaction, and it was then reversed *again* for the final version of the song.
So, here is George's double-guitar backwards solo in all its innovative genius:
and here it is backwards, so that you can hear how the guitars sounded in their original recording.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thought for Thursday
"Anyway, there is one thing I have learned and that is not to dress uncomfortably, in styles which hurt: winklepicker shoes that cripple your feet and tight pants that squash your balls. Indian clothes are better." ~George Harrison
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Whatsoever Wednesday
Blessed are the cheesemakers!
Monty Python fans, did you know that there would be no Life of Brian without George Harrison? With the movie originally being produced by EMI, the production company backed out at the last minute due to the controversial nature of the film. George, already a fan of Monty Python, had read the script and enjoyed it very much, so he mortgaged his house in Henley for the money to set up Handmade Films, the production company that backed Monty Python's Life of Brian.
But don't take my word for it. Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth:
George even had a cameo role as Mr. Papadopoulos, owner of "The Mount". We see him briefly in a crowd scene, shaking hands with Brian. Then we hear a very George-like " 'ullo". Unfortunately, the recording of George's one-word line ended up unusable so the voice we hear is actually Michael Palin, who had to imitate George during post-dubbing.
Look for him at the 6:17 mark:
and here are a couple stills:
Monty Python fans, did you know that there would be no Life of Brian without George Harrison? With the movie originally being produced by EMI, the production company backed out at the last minute due to the controversial nature of the film. George, already a fan of Monty Python, had read the script and enjoyed it very much, so he mortgaged his house in Henley for the money to set up Handmade Films, the production company that backed Monty Python's Life of Brian.
But don't take my word for it. Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth:
George even had a cameo role as Mr. Papadopoulos, owner of "The Mount". We see him briefly in a crowd scene, shaking hands with Brian. Then we hear a very George-like " 'ullo". Unfortunately, the recording of George's one-word line ended up unusable so the voice we hear is actually Michael Palin, who had to imitate George during post-dubbing.
Look for him at the 6:17 mark:
and here are a couple stills:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Monday Minutiae
The Traveling Wilburys, the supergroup that included our dear George in the 1980's was merely a "happy accident".
George was working on his Cloud Nine album and needed a b-side for his single "This is Love". George gathered up friends Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Bob Dylan to record a song together. Tom Petty was also included when George realized he left his guitar at Tom's house and had to retrieve it. They recorded the song "Handle With Care" which the record company rejected, saying it was too good to be used as an "album filler".
So they wrote a handful of songs together as a group, calling themselves "The Traveling Wilburys", "Wilburys" being a slang term that George and Jeff used in the studio to refer to various pieces of musical equipment lying about.
The first Wilburys album "The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" was recorded in a period of 10 days in 1988. Each member contributed to every song, making it a true collaborative effort, something George missed out on during his time with the Beatles.
The album was a huge success, both critical and commercial, going triple-platinum and winning a Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1989.
George was working on his Cloud Nine album and needed a b-side for his single "This is Love". George gathered up friends Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Bob Dylan to record a song together. Tom Petty was also included when George realized he left his guitar at Tom's house and had to retrieve it. They recorded the song "Handle With Care" which the record company rejected, saying it was too good to be used as an "album filler".
So they wrote a handful of songs together as a group, calling themselves "The Traveling Wilburys", "Wilburys" being a slang term that George and Jeff used in the studio to refer to various pieces of musical equipment lying about.
The first Wilburys album "The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" was recorded in a period of 10 days in 1988. Each member contributed to every song, making it a true collaborative effort, something George missed out on during his time with the Beatles.
The album was a huge success, both critical and commercial, going triple-platinum and winning a Grammy award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group in 1989.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Fretful Friday
"Ain't She Sweet" was a standard written in 1927 by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen and was performed by the Beatles in Hamburg, Germany in 1961 before they got their first record deal and then again in 1969 at the end of the Beatles era when they were fooling around during the Abbey Road sessions.
In 1994, Ringo, George and Paul reunited to work on Anthology. While sitting around chatting, they ended up playing it again, with George on ukelele and Ringo singing as well.
1961 in Germany:
in 1969, during Abbey Road session:
in 1994, sans John:
In 1994, Ringo, George and Paul reunited to work on Anthology. While sitting around chatting, they ended up playing it again, with George on ukelele and Ringo singing as well.
1961 in Germany:
in 1969, during Abbey Road session:
in 1994, sans John:
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thought for Thursday
"Be healthy, don't eat meat, keep away from those nightclubs and meditate." ~George Harrison
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday Minutiae
A Hard Day's Night (the song) is significant for George in that it is one of the Beatles songs most quickly identified simply by the opening note - achieved by George on his Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string guitar.
A Hard Day's Night, the movie, was more significant, with George meeting Patti Boyd during filming. Patti was 19 and had hopes of becoming a successful model. She was cast as a schoolgirl for the movie and soon met George, who was all of 21. One of the first things he said to her was "Will you marry me?". She laughed and he asked that if she wouldn't marry him, would she at least go out with him? She had a boyfriend at the time and said she couldn't. She found herself enamored with George, however, so several days later when she had to be back on set and he asked her out again, she said yes, having broken up with her boyfriend since their first meeting.
They married in 1966 and divorced in 1974. Patti later married one of George's closest friends, Eric Clapton (she was his muse for "Layla", a song which he wrote for her when she was still married to George). George attended the wedding and even performed at the reception.
A Hard Day's Night, the movie, was more significant, with George meeting Patti Boyd during filming. Patti was 19 and had hopes of becoming a successful model. She was cast as a schoolgirl for the movie and soon met George, who was all of 21. One of the first things he said to her was "Will you marry me?". She laughed and he asked that if she wouldn't marry him, would she at least go out with him? She had a boyfriend at the time and said she couldn't. She found herself enamored with George, however, so several days later when she had to be back on set and he asked her out again, she said yes, having broken up with her boyfriend since their first meeting.
They married in 1966 and divorced in 1974. Patti later married one of George's closest friends, Eric Clapton (she was his muse for "Layla", a song which he wrote for her when she was still married to George). George attended the wedding and even performed at the reception.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Fretful Friday
A lot of people don't realize that George Harrison is the lunatic playing bass on the song "Old Brown Shoe" (recorded during the Abbey Road sessions and later released as a B-side to "The Ballad of John and Yoko"). Most people assume it's Paul, as he was typically the bass player on Beatles recordings. Even Wikipedia got it wrong. The lesson here? Don't trust Wikipedia when it comes to the Beatles. Especially George.
And here's Old Brown Shoe:
And here's Old Brown Shoe:
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thought for Thursday
George, on what he thinks happens when you die:
"Well, what do you think happens to people when they go home and they take their suit off? That’s what I think— your body falls off, but you’ve still got two other bodies, fortunately. This is how I see it; this thing they call the soul. In the Bible, I think Jesus said there are three cages for the Bird of Paradise. And the Bird of Paradise is this soul, this perfect thing that has its own identity, and then the three cages are these three bodies. One body is called the causal body, the next body is called the astral body and the third is called the gross physical body.
So death is only relative to birth— if you don’t wanna die, you don’t get born. But as long as you’re born, you’ve got to die, because just as sure as nighttime is gonna follow daytime, death is gonna follow birth. Like Bob Dylan said, "Look out kid, it’s something you did. God knows when, but you’re doing it again." So what happens is your body falls off. Gets tired or for whatever reason, and you’re now in your astral body, which is much more subtle and is made of light. Then, just like on your radio, where you can change the frequency without turning the dial, there’s a whole ’nother thing happening there. And that’s what it’s like: all these different levels are all right here, but they’re all vibrating on different frequencies. So death is just where your suit falls off and now you’re in your other suit. But you can’t see it on this level, so it’s all right. Don’t worry."
"Well, what do you think happens to people when they go home and they take their suit off? That’s what I think— your body falls off, but you’ve still got two other bodies, fortunately. This is how I see it; this thing they call the soul. In the Bible, I think Jesus said there are three cages for the Bird of Paradise. And the Bird of Paradise is this soul, this perfect thing that has its own identity, and then the three cages are these three bodies. One body is called the causal body, the next body is called the astral body and the third is called the gross physical body.
So death is only relative to birth— if you don’t wanna die, you don’t get born. But as long as you’re born, you’ve got to die, because just as sure as nighttime is gonna follow daytime, death is gonna follow birth. Like Bob Dylan said, "Look out kid, it’s something you did. God knows when, but you’re doing it again." So what happens is your body falls off. Gets tired or for whatever reason, and you’re now in your astral body, which is much more subtle and is made of light. Then, just like on your radio, where you can change the frequency without turning the dial, there’s a whole ’nother thing happening there. And that’s what it’s like: all these different levels are all right here, but they’re all vibrating on different frequencies. So death is just where your suit falls off and now you’re in your other suit. But you can’t see it on this level, so it’s all right. Don’t worry."
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Whatsoever Wednesday
George, in 1976, watching old Beatles footage from the Ed Sullivan Show. I love that laugh.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Monday Minutiae
The song "Something" was originally intended not as a love song for his wife but as a devotional to Lord Krishna. He changed the "he" in the original line "Something in the way he moves" to "she" so that listeners would not be confused and upset.
When writing the song, George was thinking of Ray Charles to sing it. He did end up recording his version of the song in 1971.
There have been at least 150 different versions recorded, (the song "Yesterday" is the only Beatles song with more recorded covers) including one by Frank Sinatra who called it "the greatest love song ever written." James Brown's version was George's favorite.
When writing the song, George was thinking of Ray Charles to sing it. He did end up recording his version of the song in 1971.
There have been at least 150 different versions recorded, (the song "Yesterday" is the only Beatles song with more recorded covers) including one by Frank Sinatra who called it "the greatest love song ever written." James Brown's version was George's favorite.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday Silliness
Press: What do you do when you're cooped up in a hotel room between shows?
George: We ice skate.
George: We ice skate.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Fretful Friday
George and his infamous Rickenbacker 12-string
The song While My Guitar Gently Weeps was ranked #135 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time and #7 on their list of the 100 greatest guitar songs of all time. Eric Clapton plays lead guitar on the album version, so here's an acoustic version that's all George.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thought for Thursday
"try to realize it's all within yourself,
no one else can make you change.
and to see you're really only very small
and life flows on within you
and without you."
~George Harrison
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Whatsoever Wednesday
On this day in 1970, George's mom Louise died of cancer. My thoughts are with the Harrison family today as they remember her.
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