2009 - albums of the year.

This has been a strange year of listening for me – not many new albums have really grabbed my attention. Plus, for a couple of reasons, I spent time rediscovering old albums. The Beatles remasters of course were released in September and, while I’m getting the stereo remasters for Christmas, the mono remasters have been in my rotation for a couple of months and they’re spectacular. I can’t wait for the stereo ones. U2 came out with a remastered Unforgettable Fire which was a great thing to listen to. Between old U2 and the Beatles there isn't a whole lot of room for new music to creep in.

On top of that I spent part of the summer deliberately going back and listening to old classic albums that I had somehow missed the first time around, albums like Blue by Joni Mitchell and Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix. They are clearly on my best listening of the year list. I also continue to enjoy Electric Arguments by the Fireman (Paul McCartney) which was on my list last year.

But none of those are new albums – there actually are only a handful of new ones that got me excited, two of the are live albums of bands playing old stuff. One that surprised me is Over the Rhine’s Live from Nowhere, Vol. 4. I had low expectations for this album since it was all songs from my least favorite OtR period, their earliest days. But the playing and singing on LfN4 is just wonderful – it’s a reunion concert of the early band and Ric Hordinski’s playing is great. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood (who made up half of Blind Faith in the 60's) released Live from Madison Square Garden which is a very good live album with both Clapton and Winwood at the top of their game. I got to see their tour last summer and Clapton was clearly playing very very well. I never dreamed that I'd actually ever see the two of them playing Blind Faith songs together live. It was great (although they were playing even better when I saw them than they did on the album!)

Three new bands caught my ear this year. Owl City’s album Ocean Eyes is a lot of fun. The song “Fireflies” grabbed me right away and the rest of the album followed suit. It might sound too much alike over all but I'm not sick of it yet. I discovered another new band, the Rescues – I think they’re great and their album Crazy Ever After got a lot of play last summer too. The Rescues is a collection of four solo artists who together have catchy tunes, lush harmonies and interesting arrangements. Dhani Harrison’s band thenewno2 (the new number 2) released You Are Here, an album that has glimpses of his father George’s melodic style but cast in a fresh way. This is not just a son cashing in on his father’s name – I think Dhani might have a real future ahead of him. Even though I got it early in the year I keep going back to it.

Finally, my number one album of the year has to be U2’s No Line on the Horizon. This album is adventurous and risky but there are moments of sheer brilliance like “Magnificent” and “White as Snow.” I even like the lead single “Get on Your Boots.” Whenever I don’t hear the album for a few weeks and listen again I get excited because it’s just so good. I remember when I first got it I listened with my ipod in a hotel in Troy, MI and was just blown away. That was when I realized what a very special record this was. I got to see U2 in Chicago this fall and I will again in East Lansing next summer. The clear high point to my musical year!

The Concert for George

I watched some of The Concert for George this morning again, the George Harrison tribute concert. Especially with the recent Michael Jackson tributes I was struck with how the tone of this is just about exactly right. First of all it was a year to the day after his death. His friends, primarily Eric Clapton, not just entertainment industry folks who wanted to show that they knew George, put it together. The people who appear in the concert represent many parts of George’s musical life – Paul and Ringo, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty (from the Traveling Wilburys,) Billy Preston, Gary Booker, Ravi Shankar, Joe Brown (for whom the Beatles opened in the early 60’s) and even Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

The night did not feature any over-the-top tribute speeches proclaiming him the greatest entertainer who ever lived – OK, the Monty Python bit featured one that was SO over the top that it was hilarious but it soon morphed into “The Lumberjack Song.” It was a bunch of musical friends playing George’s music or music that George loved. Even the video was done well featuring two discs, one with the feature film “The Concert for George” with performances from the concert and the rehearsal as well as interview footage from the participants. The other disc has the entire concert.

The bottom line, though, is that the music is great. George was a good composer who was often great and this concert features the best of his work performed by Clapton’s crack band and some of his very talented friends. Highlights for me include the McCartney/Clapton version of “Something” which starts out with Paul’s ukulele version and shifts to be a full band version with Eric singing and playing – just beautiful. The version of “I Want to Tell You” is really cool. The Ravi Shankar composed “Arpan” suite performed by his daughter and an orchestra of Indian instruments is also wonderful – I listened to this a bit three years ago on my trip to India. Overall the DVD is well worth it – I truly enjoy watching it and listening to the CD.

George Harrison playlist

Here is another of my playlists. This one features the solo music of George Harrison. Once again, my rules are that it had to fit on a CD and that I wanted it to give both a good general intro to George's music and also include some of my own quirky choices.

Name / Artist / Album
01 My Sweet Lord / George Harrison / All Things Must Pass
02 Don't Let Me Wait Too Long / George Harrison / Living In The Material World
03 What Is Life / George Harrison / All Things Must Pass
04 Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) / George Harrison / Living In The Material World
05 Crackerbox Palace / George Harrison / Thirty Three & 1/3
06 Love Comes To Everyone / George Harrison / George Harrison
07 Wake Up My Love / George Harrison / Gone Troppo
08 Got My Mind Set on You / George Harrison / Cloud 9
09 Cheer Down / George Harrison / Best Of Dark Horse 1976-1989
10 Any Road / George Harrison / Brainwashed
11 Horse To The Water (with George Harrison) / Jools Holland and His Rhythm and Blues Orchestra / Small World Big Band, Vol. 1
12 When We Was Fab / George Harrison / Cloud 9
13 All Those Years Ago / George Harrison / Somewhere In England
14 Blow Away / George Harrison / George Harrison
15 This Song / George Harrison / Thirty Three & 1/3
16 Baby Don't Run Away / George Harrison / Gone Troppo
17 Never Get Over You / George Harrison / Brainwashed
18 Living In The Material World / George Harrison / Living In The Material World
19 All Things Must Pass / George Harrison / All Things Must Pass

Notice that I included the Jools Holland cut which is basically a George cut - it was released only a few months before his death and was, apparently, the last thing he recorded. (By the way, feel free to let me know if you like this format for showing the playlist more or less than the tables I had before. I have a new computer and it isn't as easy to do the tables.)

Pattie Boyd – Perhaps Not So Wonderful

As a fan of both the Beatles and of Eric Clapton, I found the idea of an auto- biography of Pattie Boyd, the woman who had married both Eric and George Harrison, to be one that I couldn't miss. She had a front row seat to the all of the post Hard Day's Night Beatles and to Clapton's years with Derek and the Dominoes and his early solo Career. Boyd is Layla! So I was anxious to read Pattie's story called Wonderful Tonight. I thought this would be interesting not only as a person who has read a lot of Beatles books but I had recently read Clapton's autobiography. The difference between them is striking. I thought that Eric's book is, curiously, the better written of the two. I say that this is curious because Boyd's is basically written by her collaborator, Penny Junor, while Clapton rewrote his ghost-written book himself. More striking, though, is that Eric rewrote his book because he said it was too easy to blame other people in the ghost-written version. Blaming themselves is something that recovering addicts seem to do well. They know that the things that they do when they're drunk are not someone else's fault. In contrast, Boyd is eager to lay her problems at the feet of lots of other people; her parents, Harrison, Clapton, etc. I'm sure that living with these people was no picnic but Boyd seems to take little responsibility for her seemingly constant drinking. (She was bad enough that Clapton wrote the song "Shape You're In" about and to her.) Near the end of the book she simultaneously writes about being short on money but yet traveling to exotic places, something those of us who are not high rollers have a hard time understanding.

To make matters worse there are a couple of errors that, while they're not a big deal, are irritating. Boyd talks about the wonderful Harrison song, "Something," that he wrote for her. Unfortunately, she says that it's on the White Album instead of on Abbey Road, where it really is. Then, near the end of the book she said that she had to sell a rare guitar because she needed the money – she sold a "1960 Les Paul Stratocaster." As any guitar player knows there are Gibson Les Pauls and there are Fender Stratocasters. What she wrote is the equivalent of saying that she has a Cadillac Mustang. She clearly doesn't really know what we had.

But quibbles aside Wonderful Tonight is just not a great book. Her story, especially as it gets near the end, just isn't interesting enough, which seems hard to believe. Beatles fans who have read other books about them will learn nothing new here. Clapton fans might find this new perspective interesting but, frankly, she doesn't add much to that story either. So, if you want to read it, do what I did – check it out of the library. I'm unlikely to ever want to refer back to it.

George Harrison - six years ago

A year ago, on the fifth anniversary of his death, I wrote this about George Harrison. I still mean it.

I have continued to listen to George's music over the past year, including and especially his work with the Traveling Wilburys (who's album re-release I reviewed here.) I have been working my way through the Beatles releases (in order, of course) in my car and I'm up to Help! and Rubber Soul. I have had these albums for over 40 years and they still sound great to me. Remarkable.

The Travelling Wilburys Collection

I snatched up the Travelling Wilburys releases when they first came out many years ago and I've enjoyed them every once in a while since then so when it was announced that their two CDs were being re-released I needed a pretty good reason (other than slightly better sound) to buy them again. Fortunately, I found that reason. Partly it was the price – Best Buy had a pretty good deal – but it was also the extras that were put on set. In addition to the two albums, Volumes one and three (there was no volume two), the set contains a DVD with a 25 minute documentary and the music videos that the band made when the singles were released. In addition, each CD had two extra tracks which made the set irresistible. So I didn't resist.

The real reason, though, why anyone should get this set is the that the two original CDs are simply too good to miss. Jeff Lynne's remaster is fine (although not revelatory) and the original tracks sparkle with the fun and enthusiasm of the five Wilburys; George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. Of the five I am mostly a Harrison fan and, in reading the things that have come out about the set, I realize that this was very much George's show. He steered the group and made it happen. He and Jeff Lynne took the rough tracks that the Wilburys made over ten days and turned them into the album we know now. And it was his charisma that brought the five together in the first place. But the real joy for me in this set is Roy Orbison. Listening to him sing "You're Not Alone" is just wonderful. There are, of course, other great tracks, the most noteworthy being "Handle With Care," but I just love hearing Orbison sing these songs. It's too bad he died shortly after the release of Volume One and couldn't be part of Volume Three – it is a weaker album perhaps because of his absence. The extra tracks on both discs are nice but not essential. The documentary is a lot of fun and great for those of us who like to look behind the scenes.

But back to the main course. The fun that these guys had in making these albums almost leaps out of the player at us. This music is hardly the most important that any of them did – it's almost like watching home movies. So it should be listened to with that attitude. Don't look for great insight or lyrics that even make you think for more than a second. Instead, just close your eyes and smile.

'While My Guitar Gently Weeps: the Music of George Harrison' by Simon Leng

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a Beatles Geek Beatles book. The bulk of the book is an album by album tour through the music of George Harrison, primarily after the breakup of the Beatles. Not only is it album by album, each song gets its own little write up. In addition to listing all the musicians on each song the songs are discussed in depth followed by a discussion of the album as a whole. For the average person with a reasonable interest in the Beatles this book is the very definition of overkill. For people like me it’s about right.

There is no way that you can enjoy this book and not be thought of as a total dork by your friends. First of all, if you enjoy this book you probably have copies of even the obscure and not great Harrison albums, like Gone Troppo. You also probably know many of the obscure facts in the book and already have opinions on the plethora of trivia and inconsequencia that lives on almost every page. But that’s just the point. So much has been written about the Beatles that it’s hard to find new things to say but Leng has said a lot here that, frankly, hasn’t been gathered in one spot before – at least not that I’ve seen.

He does a nice job of highlighting Harrison’s contribution to the music of the Beatles in the first section of the book, pointing out that George was more about adding to the song than being a guitar-slinger. He’s such a fan of George’s though that he might be giving him a bit more credit for things than he deserves. Actually, if I have a complaint about this book it’s that Leng is too much of a Harrison fan, finding the good in even his most trite and mundane songs. Granted, to write this much about a musician you better be a fan (or at least be very well paid) but Leng is occasionally over the top in his praise of all the things that George did. Even when he reviews albums that are universally panned he finds many good things to say about them often pointing out that the pans were more along the lines of “look at all these people who missed the point.” To be fair, Leng is pretty harsh on Harrison's album Somewhere in England but he lays most of the blame for that one on the record company who rejected George's first pass at that album.

So, Leng’s book is certainly one that you will want to read if you’re a real Beatles Dork. But, surprisingly, Leng’s writing is crisp enough and the story is interesting enough that even the more casual fan will enjoy many parts of it. I certainly have enjoyed it and I’m guessing that most Beatles fans will – even those who don't own Gone Troppo.

A George Harrison Conversion to Christianity?

In this post about the excellent biography of the Bealtes by Bob Spitz, I wrote

I did notice two errors, both involving George Harrison: he mentions “Everybody’s Tryin’ to Be My Baby” as a song Harrison wrote (he only sang it, I believe it is a Carl Perkins song) and said that George embraced traditional Christianity at a point late in his life which, I think, is just plain wrong. It’s my understanding that George remained a Hindu. I’d love for someone to give me confirmation one way or the other regarding this.

Now today, looking at a recent post in an email list that I used to be part of I saw this in a posting:

But I was chatting with a guy I know who is a professional musician
and who did some consulting for Beatlemania. He told me about a book
by Bob Spitz (The Beatles: The Biography) which makes that point on
p. 567:

"Later in life he would become vegetarian, consult an astrologer,
and devote himself to Transcendental Meditation before embracing
traditional Christianity."

When my friend contacted Bob Spitz about his source for that fact,
the reply included the following excerpt:

"As for the source of George's return to traditional Christianity,
the source was the man himself, conveyed to me some months before he
died. Because of agreements with the Harrison estate, I was unable
to list him as a source." [note - this is slightly edited from the longer post which you can find here.]

So, it appears that I may have been wrong about that. But how do we explain, some of the lyrics on George's last album, Brainwashed? One way is to recognize that George wrote these songs over a period of about ten years and that they may not all reflect his thinking at the end of his life. Plus, I'm willing to bet that IF (still a big if in my book) George did indeed convert to Christianity that it was more of a "hey this sort of makes sense to me" kind of conversion rather than a "throw everything else I ever did or thought overboard" kind of conversion. I'll leave it to the reader to decide if that still "counts." Actually, I'll leave it to God - he's better at that anyway.

I'm also, frankly, a little skeptical that the source is George but he "couldn't t list him as a source ." Why can he tell this now? On the other hand, I've been in correspondence with another Beatles book author who was able to tell me some things that did not get in the book (which I'm not telling) so it could be true that Spitz knows things that he was unable to write but yet is willing to tell people personally. So, the jury is out but Spitz got so much right in his book that I'm leaning toward admitting that he was right about this too.

But I'm still convinced that Carl Perkins wrote "Everybody's Tryin'..."

George Harrison

Five years ago yesterday George Harrison passed away. (In a little more than a week we’ll mark the 26^th anniversary of John Lennon’s death.) It is hard to overestimate the impact the Beatles had (and still have) on me as a musician and as a person. The recent release of Love (see my review) has allowed me to listen to their music with new ears and has reminded me that their music not only had an important place in their space and time but was really outstanding music. While they all did some fine work in their solo careers, it is clear that together they really had something special that was not ever really recreated apart. Even the Beatles’ worst album (Beatles for Sale) still stands up over 40 years later as a great album with songs that are instantly recognizable to many of us, songs like “Every Little Thing” and “Eight Days a Week.”

I was struck, in listening to Love, that George is well represented on this disc – “Within You Without You”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “Something” all made the cut. George’s playing in the Beatles was almost always exactly what the track needed from the quirkiness of the solo in “All You Need Is Love” to the dead-on rock of “Back in the U.S.S.R.” He also brought an Indian influence to the Beatles music that added an important set of colors to their aural palette. He was an important part of the mix and I think was sometimes overshadowed by the giant talents of John and Paul. But George held his own and, especially from Revolver on, added great songs to the catalog.

George’s solo albums also have many high points. I remember getting All Things Must Pass for Christmas 1970 as a sophomore in high school. (It was released 30 years ago today in the UK.) What a treat – three albums in one box. The poster that came with it stayed on my wall for years. Since then I have come to appreciate it all the more since the new better-sounding CD is available. I also remember how cool it was when, after a set of albums that were, let's face it, not outstanding (although I apparently enjoy Gone Troppo more than most people do) and after a few years off George released Cloud 9. It’s always great when one of your heroes shows that he’s still got it. So, George, thanks for the music. I have a richer life because of your work.

Platinum Weird - the true story?

There is now a Wikipedia entry about Platinum Weird, which I blogged about way back in March. Check here on Wikipedia to read what the various Wikipedia writers have to say about the group. They cite many of their sources so I think it's probably correct (at least it was on the day I wrote this - with Wikipedia, who can tell what it will be tomorrow!)

Unfortunately, the bits of PW that I've heard have left me a lot less impressed than I'd hoped I would be based on the original track that came out (with George Harrison) and the cool intricate hoax that they perpetrated about their history.

Gravity | Love by Sandra McCracken

I’ve mentioned how much I like Sandra McCracken before when I reviewed her album The Builder and the Architect. That album was a detour from her usual folk/pop style and I loved it. Now, less than a year later, comes her newest “regular” album, Gravity | Love.

Simply put, this is one of the best new albums of the year. McCracken’s writing is at her usual high standards, the singing and playing are great and the production is well done without being too slick. Every time this album comes around in the CD player in my car I enjoy it. A lot.

The opener “Head over Heel” is a joyous reflection on love which has a catchy melody and great singing and playing. "Broken Cup" is a song about materialism which manages to make it's point without being preachy or holier-than-thou. There are a number of great songs on this album – there isn’t a stinker in the bunch – but my favorite has to be “Goodbye George” a wonderful tribute to George Harrison which uses a number of lines from George’s songs and some musical quotes as well. The first time I heard it I immediately played it again. Great stuff. While I still have a great big soft spot in my heart for Builder and Architect, this may be Sandra's best album yet and that's really saying something.

So do yourself a favor and surf on over to www.sandramccracken.com or to www.myspce.com/sandramccracken and check it out.

Platinum Weird - new-old George Harrison

There is a new band named platinum weird (or maybe it's an old band) that seems to include Dave Stewart from the Eurythmics. I'm generally not a big Eurythmics fan but on their website they feature a new recording of an old George Harrison song, "This Guitar" with a never-before-released George Harrison vocal. It's a sparse arrangement with a very nice George vocal and you can download an mp3 of the song here. (There is another nice song here.)

The website claims that it's from 1974 but it's pretty clear from some of the sounds that much of the track was recorded recently and George's voice sounds more like his last album than it did in '74 so there might be some tomfoolery afoot here. The video on the website also has a Rutles-like quality to it so it could be that Platinum Wierd will only exist in order to spoof other bands. It could be that this really is a new band and Stewart is trying to generate interest. Either way, it's good to hear some new George!

EDIT: Apparently, this is a new band featuring Kara DioGuiardi, who is best known (if at all) as the songwriter behind hits by people who don't write - like Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, GWen Stefani, etc. She and Dave Stewart were put together by their management to write some material for the Pussycat Dolls and they did this instead.

The Concert for Bangladesh

It’s been over 34 years since the Concert for Bangladesh. I was just 17 at the time – in fact, it was something like two days after I had gotten my drivers license. I lived in NJ, only about 20 miles from the site of the Concert but I seem to remember not knowing much about it until after the fact. I do remember spending a lot of time listening to All Things Must Pass, which I had gotten for Christmas the year before, and I was also a fan of Cream and Eric Clapton. I played his first solo album a lot back then. I also played the album from the concert and I picked up the CD when it came out some 10 years ago.

So it was with great anticipation that I watched the DVD of the concert for Bangladesh this morning. I certainly have no issues with the transfer from film to DVD – it looks and sounds just fine. I also have not yet watched the extras – I’ve read that the 45 minute documentary on the making of the concert and the film is almost worth the price of the DVD all by itself and I’m looking forward to watching it. I’d seen the film only once before in a theater and, to my knowledge, it had not been released on VHS so this is an occasion for George Harrison fans, of which I number myself one.

So here are some random thoughts now that I’ve seen this concert again after all these years:

• Technology has come a long way. Things are better in tune now; musicians can hear themselves and each other on stage much better.


• Bob Dylan had to adjust his own mike stand before he could play. That wouldn’t have happened today – it would all be set before he went out there.


• The film crew was making it up as they went along – it took nearly the whole verse that Leon Russell sang in “Beware of Darkness” for them and for the light crew to find him!


• Rock was a lot more countercultural back then! Now rock music is all about show business – back then, the musicians hardly acknowledged the crowd – that was too much like being one of those old fogey entertainers.


• Eric Clapton was not in a good place in his life – he almost could have been absent on the stage. Even his solo in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” sounds like he’s hardly trying.


• Billy Preston was cool.


• Ravi Shankar smiled a lot more during his set than I expected him to based on just listening to the album for all these years.

The Simpsons

As long as I’m saying nice things about television, let me say some nice things about the Simpsons. I was never much of a Simpsons watcher until this year. A couple of years ago I was listening to a lot of Phish and heard via the internet that Phish was going to be on an episode of the Simpsons so I watched it. It was funny. Really funny. I realized then that I’d been missing out on some pretty good stuff. Lot’s of social comment, movie and television references and some pretty on-target lampoons of many things we hold dear.

This past summer, in preparation for a drive to Denver I bought a portable DVD player so “the kids could watch in the car” and also the first two seasons of The Simpsons for “the same reason.” And that’s when I really got hooked. Hooked enough on the crystal clear quality and commentaries, in fact, that I still don’t watch the Simpsons when they’re broadcast. I just can’t deal with commercials.

So anyway, now I’m part way through Season Five (yeah – I’ve gone a little overboard) and I have decided to list some of my favorite episodes:

1. Life on the Fast Lane – Marge Takes up Bowling – Season 1
2. The Way We Was – How Homer and Marge met – Season 2
3. Homer the Heretic – Homer skips church and meets God – my all time favorite – season 4
4. Homer's Barbershop Quartet – not a fabulous episode but it’s really about the Beatles and it features George Harrison – season 5
5. One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish – Homer eats poison food and has 24 hours to live. – Season 2
6. Bart vs. Thanksgiving – features my all-time favorite line from Marge’s mother: “I have laryngitis. It hurts to talk. So I'll just say one thing... You never do anything right.” – Season 2
7. Homer Loves Flanders - Ned and Homer become best friends. Includes many great lines like when Homer yells "Hey, Flanders, over here! I got us some kick-ass seats." The funny part is that they're IN CHURCH. - Season 5