1 2 Remembering George 2014 9AM 3 The Beatles - Long Long Long - The Beatles (Harrison) Lead vocal: George 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 – Hear Me Lord - All Things Must Pass ‘70 Again written during the “Let It Be” sessions, this was the perfect ending to a master class of George Harrison compositions before entering the Apple Jam sessions. 9.13 BREAK George, tell us about the first song you ever wrote… 4 (Hit it) The Beatles - Don’t Bother Me – With The Beatles (Harrison) Lead vocal: George 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. 5 Using the basic Lennon-McCartney song structure George crafted a “Beatles song” that was on par with the material the band was currently working up for their second album. Getting the other Beatles and producer George Martin to take his work seriously was another matter, and it would take years for Harrison to finally be given his due. Normally he was relegated to one or two songs per 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 The Beatles - You Like Me Too Much - Help! (Harrison) Lead vocal: George Recorded in eight takes on February 15, 1965. The introduction features Paul and George Martin on a Steinway piano and John playing an electric piano. On U.S. album: Beatles VI - Capitol LP George’s 2nd song from the HELP! LP 6 The Beatles - I’m Happy Just To Dance With You - A Hard Day’s Night (Lennon-McCartney) Lead vocal: George Written by John and Paul specifically to give George a song in the movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” Completed in four takes on March 1, 1964, with filming slated to begin the next day. The b-side of “I’ll Cry Instead” in U.S. On U.S. album: A Hard Day’s Night - United Artists LP Something New - Capitol LP George sings the words & music of L&M 7 The Beatles - I Need You - Help! (Harrison) Lead vocal: George Recorded in five takes on February 15, 1965, the first day of recording for what was to become the “Help!” album, with overdubs completed the next day. It is the second original George Harrison song to be recorded by the Beatles. Harrison wrote “I Need You” for his future wife, Pattie Boyd. The track is notable for the first use on a Beatles record of what is now known as a “wah-wah pedal.” George achieved this by playing his 12-string Rickenbacker through a foot-controlled volume pedal. Ringo provides cowbell percussion. On U.S. album: Help! - Capitol LP 8 George Harrison – When We Was Fab (Harrison-Lynne) - Cloud Nine ‘87 While attending the Australian Grand Prix with Jeff Lynne in November 1986 – this track started out as “Aussie Fab.” George and Jeff would pull out the song every so often, tinkering with the sound and the now-famous piano riff (Jeff’s concept). “Ausie” was soon replaced with “When We Were,” which was then refined by Derek Taylor to “When We Was.” To cement the “Fab” concept, Ringo added his first drumming contribution to a George record since “All Those Years Ago.” The song was released as the second single off the album, and did quite well, reaching the Top 25 in the Billboard charts. George Harrison – Wah-Wah - All Things Must Pass ‘70 Famously composed during the “Let It Be” sessions. On January 10th, 1969 – George left the Beatles and wrote the song during this period of estrangement. 9 The title refers to the “wah-wah” (headache) he was receiving due to prolonged exposure to Macca-baiting and John and Yoko’s antics during the Twickenham rehearsals. The song obviously had some meaning to George, as he used it to open his section of the Concert for Bangladesh. 9.43 BREAK The Beatles - Something - Abbey Road (Harrison) Lead vocal: George The Beatles’ twenty-first single release for EMI, and fourth on the Apple Records label. Although initially crediting Lennon and McCartney as the songwriters, legendary crooner Frank Sinatra called George Harrison’s “Something” “the greatest love song ever written.” Commonly referred to as George’s first Beatles A-side, some sales chart makers at the time considered the single a “double-A,” as both sides of the record received significant radio airplay, and charted both “Something” and its flip side (John’s “Come Together”) as one combined chart listing. The song is the first of two CLASSIC songs George delivered for the “Abbey Road” album, the other being “Here Comes The Sun.” It was a phenomenal one-two punch that had to have Lennon and McCartney wondering what else Harrison had up his sleeve. George Harrison – Not Guilty - George Harrison ‘79 10 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. George Harrison – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) This track and lead single would be a massive hit all over the world. This single version runs a little bit faster than the LP version. The Beatles - Words Of Love - Beatles For Sale (Holly) Lead vocal: John and Paul The Beatles idolized Buddy Holly and performed his songs regularly as part of their club act. So it is a little surprising that “Words of Love” is the only Buddy Holly song the band officially recorded. John and Paul took extra care to make sure their harmonies were perfect, likewise George, in reverence to the material, double-tracked his careful guitar work. This recording was special to the Beatles, and it shows. Recorded on October 18, 1964 in three takes. On U.S. album: Beatles VI - Capitol LP 11 The Beatles - Old Brown Shoe - Non-LP B-Side (Harrison) Lead vocal: George On February 25, 1969, his 26th birthday, George Harrison went to Abbey Road Studios and recorded elaborate eight-track demos of three of his latest compositions: “Old Brown Shoe,” “Something,” and “All Things Must Pass.” All three of the demos recorded this day can be found on the “Anthology 3” album. “Old Brown Shoe” had made a brief appearance near the end of the “Get Back” sessions with a few run-through/rehearsals on January 28, 1969. The full band revisited the song for a proper recording on April 16, 1969. The rhythm track was finished in four takes, with George on lead guitar, Paul on jangle piano, John on rhythm guitar (which would be erased in favor of a Hammond organ part played by George on April 18), and Ringo on drums. Overdubs included bass guitar, lead guitar, and backing vocals by John and Paul. In his book, “I Me Mine,” George said, “I started the chord sequences on piano, which I don’t really play, and then began writing ideas for the words from various opposites… Again, it’s the duality of things - yes no, up down, left right, right wrong, etc.” Released as the flip side of “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” in the UK on May 30, 1969, while the “Get Back” single was topping the charts. The single was issued by Capitol Records in the U.S. on June 4, 1969. On U.S. album: Hey Jude - Capitol LP (1970) The Beatles - I Me Mine - Let It Be (Harrison) Lead vocal: George It should be noted that none of the Beatles’ rehearsals at Twickenham Studios in January 1969 were recorded on multi-track.