KLOS Harrisongs B'day 2015
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1 Three hours of GEORGE HARRISONGS – With and without the Beatles to celebrate his birth which took place this week 72 years ago. PLAYLIST Feb.22nd 2015 2 OPEN/9am George Harrison – Apple Scruffs - All Things Must Pass ‘70 This was a salute to the girls (and sometimes boys) who stood vigil at Apple, Abbey Road and anyplace a Fab was to likely to be. Upon recording the tune, George invited the “Apple Scruffs,” into the studio to have a listen. The Beatles - I Want To Tell You - Revolver (Harrison) Lead vocal: George The backing track was recorded in five takes on June 2, 1966. George Harrison's third song on “Revolver,” was, he later said, "about the avalanche of thoughts that are so hard to write down or say or transmit." Once again Harrison had no idea what to call his composition. The band briefly kicked around random ideas, and the song was recorded under the working title “Laxton's Superb,” a type of apple. It later became known as “I Don't Know,” which was George’s answer when producer George Martin asked whether Harrison had come up with a title. By the day of the final mix (June 6, 1966), Harrison had settled on the title “I Want To Tell You.” Contains the first bass overdub on a Beatles record. Paul had his bass recorded on a different track really allowed for more options when it came time to mix the song. On U.S. album: Revolver - Capitol LP 3 The Beatles - Blue Jay Way - Magical Mystery Tour (EP) (Harrison) Lead vocal: George Written by George Harrison on August 1, 1967 while vacationing in a rented house in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles. The story is essentially the same as the lyrics imply. On a foggy night in L.A., George sat at his rented house waiting for friends to arrive, but the maze of thin and winding streets and the thick fog rolling in got the best of them and they became lost. George: “I’d rented a house in Los Angeles on – Blue Jay Way, and I’d arrived there from England. I was waiting around for Derek and Joan Taylor who were then living in L.A. I was very tired after the flight and the time change and I stared writing, playing a little electric organ that was in the house. It had gotten foggy and they couldn’t find the house for some time. The mood is slightly Indian.” Following the release of the song on the “Magical Mystery Tour” LP in America, the City of Los Angeles got so tired of having to replace stolen “Blue Jay Way” street signs that it had the street name painted on walls along the street’s route. The backing track was recorded in one take on September 6, 1967. On U.S. album: Magical Mystery Tour - Capitol LP 4 9.12 BREAK Kinda mellow rainy Sunday morning…George made some fine acoustic music so lets ease you into yer Sunday morning as we salute the birth of George Harrison…with his words and music…and in this case some of Bob Dylan’s. George Harrison – Mama You’ve Been On My Mind (demo) - Early Takes Vol.1 ‘12 The Beatles - For You Blue - Let It Be (Harrison) Lead vocal: George Recorded on January 25, 1969, and completed in six takes. John Lennon provides the lead guitar part playing a lap steel guitar and using a shotgun shell as a slide. Paul McCartney plays piano. Nearly a year later, on January 8, 1970, George Harrison re- recorded his lead vocal to the already completed backing track. During the instrumental break he ad-libbed “go Johnny go” and “Elmore James’ got nothin’ on this baby” to give the impression he was singing live with the band. Immediately prior to the start of the 5 song, John can be heard saying "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members." It is one of the few inclusions of film dialogue heard on the soundtrack LP. Written by George Harrison for his wife, Pattie, “For You Blue” was a straight-forward blues song. George: “It's a simple 12-bar song following all the normal 12-bar principles, except that it's happy-go-lucky!” “For You Blue” was the flip-side of the American “The Long And Winding Road” single, released on May 11, 1970. A new mix of take six was made in 2003 for “Let It Be... Naked” and an alternative take from the January 25, 1969, session is included on the “Anthology 3” album. George Harrison – Run Of The Mill - All Things Must Pass ‘70 A lovely acoustic-driven song – George was to later use the horn line on the song for another tune nine years later on his George Harrison album. George Harrison – Not Guilty - George Harrison ‘79 The “forgotten” Beatles song – which the band had slogged over 102 takes during the “White Album” sessions, but ultimately left off the album. Here it is again, although much mellower than it was in the late 1960’s. The Beatles - Long Long Long - The Beatles (Harrison) Lead vocal: George 6 George, Paul and Ringo ran through 67 takes of George’s “Long Long Long,” then titled “It’s Been A Long Long Long Time,” on October 7, 1968. John Lennon was not at any of the sessions for the song. Harrison provided the lead vocal, accompanying himself on his Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar, Paul played Hammond organ, and Ringo played drums. George has said the “you” he is referring to in the song is God, and admits that the chords were taken from Bob Dylan’s “Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands,” which is on Dylan’s 1966 album “Blonde On Blonde.” Chris Thomas: “There’s a sound near the end of the song which is a bottle of Blue Nun wine rattling away on the top of a Leslie speaker cabinet. It just happened. Paul hit a certain note and the bottle started vibrating. We thought it was so good that we set the mikes up and did it again. The Beatles always took advantage of accidents.” The rattling sound is best heard in the right channel of the stereo version. George Harrison – This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying) - Extra Texture ‘75 Considered a “weak follow-up” to “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Jesse Ed Davis provided the guitar overdubs. “This Guitar” would be the A-side (It Is “He” on the flip) and the final Apple released single for George Harrison. It also has the dubious honor of being the first Beatles solo single NOT to make the Billboard Hot 100. BREAK The six string acoustic sound of George Harrison with and without his Beatles…as we celebrate the forthcoming birthday of the coolest Beatle. Add long quiz tones please 7 For the last few years on George’s Birthday show we play a clip of Olivia Harrison talking about the controversy over the date of George birthday…and we follow that Olivia clip with a George Harrison solo song that mentions his birth…yer QUIZ question is to name that song. OK?…following the clip of Olivia talking about George birthday…what George song do we always follow with? 800-955-KLOS 9.42 BREAK Back with winner HERE Play Olivia clip: George Harrison – Crackerbox Palace - Thirty-Three & 1/3 ‘76 This was the most successful track off the LP, and the title originally considered for the album. It’s content was inspired by the comedian Lord Buckley, a longtime favorite of George’s. Another Eric Idle directed promo film, featuring the future Mrs. Olivia Harrison, future Rutle Neil Innes, and the numerous children of Derek Taylor. The Beatles - Don’t Bother Me – With The Beatles (Harrison) Lead vocal: George 8 George Harrison’s first recorded original song. While some may see it as a misfortune that Harrison was surrounded by two of the most gifted songwriters in history, this proximity gave him great insight into the mechanics of writing a song from scratch. His first attempt was more than a throwaway composition. He called “Don’t Bother Me” an “exercise” to see if he could write a song, and it was written while George was sick in a bed at the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth where The Beatles were playing six nights at Gaumont Cinema in mid-August of 1963. It was during this engagement (on August 22) that photographer Robert Freeman took the iconic “artsy” cover photograph of the band in half lighting that would grace the cover of both the British “With The Beatles” album and the American “Meet The Beatles!” album. Aside from the financial windfall George received from having an original composition on albums selling in the multi-millions worldwide, George said, “It showed me that all I needed to do was keep on writing and maybe eventually I would write something good. It did, however, provide me with an occupation.” Recorded on September 11 and 12, 1963. On U.S. album: Meet The Beatles! - Capitol LP 9 The Beatles - Think For Yourself - Rubber Soul (Harrison) Lead vocal: George The fifth original composition by George Harrison to be recorded by The Beatles was completed on November 8, 1965 in one take with overdubs under the working title “Won’t Be There With You.” The song features Paul playing his bass through a fuzz box to give it a distorted sound. On U.S. album: Rubber Soul - Capitol LP The Beatles - I Me Mine - Let It Be (Harrison) Lead vocal: George 10 It should be noted that none of the Beatles’ rehearsals at Twickenham Studios in January 1969 were recorded on multi-track.