GEORGE HARRISON

I have always found it puzzling that three ex-members of the most extraordinarily talented and successful band ever to grace this earth managed to contribute barely a footnote to the annals of artistic excellence between them. Of course, Lennon and McCartney continued to be successful commercially with populist anthems like "Imagine", "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)", and "The Frog Chorus" reaching the kind of mass audiences that most great artists usually strive to keep away from. If you'd surveyed the situation in 1970 one imagines you would expect rather more classic songs to emerge from the Lennon/McCartney partnership above and beyond "Jealous Guy" and "Jet". It would do a disservice to George to use this space to speculate why Lennon and McCartney so spectacularly sucked on their own but it is usually assumed they needed the mutual tension between them to keep their insipid excesses from emerging. George, of course, enjoyed a less successful solo career, bar the odd hit single, and as we all know endured a rather tragic end to his life, not deserving of someone was obviously so genuine and unspoiled by his success and celebrity. His debut is very highly regarded, though, and is not-so-often referred to as the seventies equivalent of the Foo Fighters' eponymous debut. Like Dave Grohl, Harrison struggled to have his own material accepted in place of his more prolific band-members, and this despite the fact that when his songs did make the albums' track-list it was nearly always a highlight ("Within You Without You" excepted). It was therefore little surprise that George was the first of the four to hit the solo scene, given he had so much unused material he wanted to get out. It was therefore also not much of a surprise that his first album was so bloody long - apparently a triple set on vinyl. I guess it is to George's credit that he did not just spread his songs out over two or three separate releases and the fact that every song is at the very least good means he justified such extravagance. Well, almost justified such extravagance as there is enough good material for a double vinyl album. What tips this into the third piece of plastic is almost twenty minutes of mindless jamming at the end. It is the kind of pointless stodge you'd be dismayed to find included as bonus material and the number of listeners who play it through to the end are probably outnumbered by the group of musicians who actually recorded the damn thing. I guess we're all supposed to be dazzled by Eric Clapton's presence but coming at a time when he had all but lost his scintillating impact as a soloist it merely adds to the monotony. Clapton is by no means the only star cameo and it must be testament to George's amicability that he had so many willing contributors, including members of Badfinger and Derek and the Dominos, Ringo, steel guitarist Pete Drake, Phil Spector as producer and even Bob Dylan as occasional co-songwriter, including the classic "If Not For You". Of course, George had another co-writer in the form of the Chifons for another classic - "My Sweet Lord" - but his forgetting to include them in the credits cost him an appearance in the High Court and the legal fees that come with it. It is a shame the song has suffered such a taint as it is a wondrous slice of gospel pop and perhaps the greatest single solo Beatles offering of them all. It was also tailor-made to be played at his funeral, just as we all know what's coming on Macca's 64th birthday. We all know what Spector's production sounds like and whilst George himself since admitted some of the songs would have benefitted from less layers most of it adds up to a satisfying suite of orchestral pop. The best ballads - "I'd Have You Anytime", "Beware of Darkness", and the title track - are resplendent in the relevant sincerity and the up-beat classics "What Is Life" and "Awaiting on You All" contain just as much joyous verve as the Beatles' similar efforts. He also successfully varies the tone and tempo with the full-on country of "Let it Down" and the playful "Apple Scruffs". In any event, the production as a whole is perfectly appropriate for George's hippy pop and has dated surprisingly well, even if the lyrics haven't. The 2001 remaster includes some rather pointless bonus tracks and is bizarrely packaged but certainly seems to have the got the music side of things right. At the moment, it seems to be the only Beatles solo album that I will own and in effect offers up a rewarding glimpse of an alternative Beatles where George got the respect he really deserved from the other two. In all of this I have, of course, forgotten to mention Ringo's solo career, which proved to be a surprisingly successful one. 'Thomas the Tank Engine' just wouldn't have been the same without him.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk