In 1973 George Harrison was coming out of the breakup of the Beatles in style. He had become a solo superstar thanks to the triple All Things Must Pass and at the concert for Bangladesh, a benefit with a noble intent and a star-studded cast. He had finally freed himself from the Fab Four and achieved what he had always wanted. Everything ok, then? Not exactly. George was in the midst of a spiritual crisis, which he recounted in Living in the Material Worldhis forgotten masterpiece and the weirdest album of his life.
Strange that the new edition didn't come out last year, when the 50th anniversary fell. Or perhaps it's somehow appropriate that it's late given that it's a long-neglected album and a document of existential confusion. As the years went by All Things Must Pass he was increasingly praised and ended up being eclipsed Material Worldwhich remained relegated to the area of minor Beatles solo albums in the company of Red Rose Speedway, Live Peace in Toronto 1969 And Ringo the 4th. The heirs never seemed eager to give him visibility again. But now his time has finally come.
Harrison takes a step back from the epicness of All Things Must Pass. The '73 album is by a band, the second best I've ever had, a small group of trusted friends: Klaus Voorman on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Gary Wright on organ. The sound is intimate, on a human scale, characterized by a simplicity that is magnificent in pieces such as Be Here Now, Don't Let Me Wait Too Long and in the hit Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth).
The new edition finally enhances Material World. It was remixed by Paul Hicks, who already did a great job for the box dedicated to All Things Must Pass of 2019, with a bonus disc of excellent alternate takes. The Super Deluxe Edition has rich packaging that includes a Blu-Ray disc with Dolby Atmos audio, a 60-page book and a 7″ vinyl single by Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)a song George gave to Ringo for his 1973 album of the same name, a sea shanty in which the two frolic with Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson and Rick Danko, aka The Band.
For the first time as his own producer, Harrison returned to playing the sitar, the instrument that had set him on his spiritual journey, but with which he hadn't recorded anything for years. It is his ante litteram indie rock singer-songwriter album: at times it could recall Elliott Smith or Pavement, especially for the atmosphere Wowee Zowee Of The Day the World Gets 'Round.
Harrison's mood wasn't great. Despite his religious turn, he wallowed in the chaos of sex and drugs. After his hard work for Bangladesh, he felt betrayed. The trustees he had trusted had mismanaged the funds, leaving him with a million pounds in taxes to pay. And then there was the Beatles' endless legal tangle, which inspired him Sue Me, Sue You Blues.
On a more personal level, his beloved mother Louise had died in July 1970. The weight of the loss can be heard in all his music, especially in the beautiful anthem Be Here Nowthe lament of a son devastated by pain who repeats the mantra “it's not the same as before”. The sitar gives that obsessive drone effect typical of Indian music, but it's also a very Californian song, written in the Hollywood Hills, with Neil Young-style guitar. A bit like John with Julia or Paul with Let It BeGeorge also composed some of his most intense stuff at the worst times.
The bonus disc is a delight: there are no unreleased songs, unlike the very rich box dedicated to All Things Must Pass of 2019, but we find alternative versions never heard before of some songs. Be Here Now (Take 8) it leaves you breathless: it is minimal and dramatic, without a sitar, there are only Harrison on acoustic and Nicky Hopkins on piano. Jim Keltner occasionally adds a “boom” or cymbal crash, otherwise you wouldn't notice he was there. It is clear from the outtakes that this was the only period in which Geroge was a bandleader, working with a close-knit group of like-minded musicians.
He seems regenerated in the acoustic and bubbly song Don't Let Me Wait Too Long: his voice is very strong, but soon his throat would start to give him problems. Who Can See It it's much livelier than the album version, and to think that it's take number 93. George probably didn't need Paul to create such chaos in the studio White Album.
There's also the funky B side Miss O'Dellwhich deserved to be on the album. George gossips about old friend and Apple crony Chris O'Dell, laughing too hard to sing the second verse over Keltner's cowbell part. He nonchalantly mentions “Garston 6922”, Paul's old phone number in Liverpool. It's the moment we get closest to the pure rock'n'roll fun of songs like Apple Scruffs or Wah wah. In the end, however, he didn't include it in the album: being funny it would have clashed with the spiritual tone of the rest.
When he came out Material World It was successful, but soon fell into oblivion. Dark Horse was rushed out a year later, becoming the first album by a rock star suffering from a full-blown case of laryngitis, a lethal cocktail of loud sermons and alcohol- and sleeping pill-induced stupor. But why Dark Horse Wasn't it put off until George's voice recovered? It wasn't done because he was eager to make money after the disastrous 1974 tour that had damaged his reputation so much that it wiped out the esteem he had worked so hard to earn during his career. All Things and the concert for Bangladesh. In the end, it also ruined the reputation of Material World. The songs disappeared from the radio schedules and the public decided that George had given everything with just one solo album worthy of being considered a classic, and then burned out.
Meeting his wife Olivia Arias brought the light back into his music. When his career took off again in the late '80s, people were so happy to find George again that they decided to forgive him much of his post-'70s production. All Things Must Pass. And that also meant putting aside great music too. Living in the Material World it's a record full of moments in pure Harrison style, it's worth rediscovering.
From Rolling Stone US.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
