George Harrison: “Something”

August 3, 2012 • 3:12 pm

Because it’s Friday afternoon. This is one of  Harrison’s greatest compositions, recorded by the Beatles on the Abbey Road album and performed here live in 1992.  The video ain’t so hot but the sound is good.

He died 9 years later at age 58. I miss him, and doubt we’ll ever again see such an amazing concatenation of talent as Harrison and his bandmates.

28 thoughts on “George Harrison: “Something””

      1. Harrison collaborated with many musicians post Beatles. I loved his rockabilly episodes with Carl Perkins. Unusually for a British artist he had a real feel for the music.

        1. “Unusually for a British artist he had a real feel for the music.”

          Careful there, Veroxitatis… no need to go dissing Brit musicians! They were largely responsible for introducing white America to the blues!

      2. Some years ago, when both John Lennon and George Harrison were still alive, there was a joke that went, “I knew I was old when my kid asked me if it was true that John Lennon and George Harrison were once in the same band.” I tried telling the joke to my then early teenage daughter: She said, “Who are John Lennon and George Harrison?”

        1. I’ve a friend who insists that The Beatles are dying in reverse order of talent. He says Ringo will be next.

  2. Yup, JAC, love ‘Something’, too, but what about this sleeper of his?

    So, straight to it, no messing, unlike the Beatles’ incomprehensible prevarication in not releasing ‘It’s all too much’ until 20 months after its recording. They waited for more than one fifth of their successful recording career before unleashing the mightiest of psychedelia. So, instead of being the psychedelic party’s high point, it appears at its fag-end, like an unwanted guest, inappropriate, atavistic, still up for it when everyone else, simultaneously going up and coming down, wants to slope off to bed. Its misfortune seems to have been that George penned it; it must have been hard to be heard in a group where one composer thought he was bigger than Jesus and the other had just written ‘Eleanor Rigby’.

    From the first majestic organ chords, through the beat-liberated drums, the guitar feedback as rhythm, the bass with broken volume knob, now barely registering, now über-black-noise against right-wall red, to the sinewy, nursery-rhyme melody of the verse, ‘It’s all too much’ confirms its eponym. And it’s the first recording in which everything is louder than everything else. And it’s long. And it’s rough. And it’s dirty.

    How did it sleep? No appearance on the post-career ‘Best of…’ compilations. None in Scorsese’s recent (too long) documentary on George. Relegated, if it competes at all, in the popular fandom, to the level of the Fabs’ second division material: ‘That (or is it ‘This’?) Boy’, ‘Two of us’.

    2. Thanks for that. I had never heard it till a few minutes ago on youtube. It’s great.

  3. Dang me. It’s rare to see concert footage on par with the original studio recording, but Gollee Jethro that’s about as good as the original “Abbey Road” version and with an extra added blues lick!!

    Harrison went into producing films after his first one or two solo albums (He produced most of Monty Python’s stuff). Good to see he didn’t let his musical talents get rusty in the process (and how!!)

    And I suppose readers of this blog might enjoy the irony of noting that the most overtly religious of the Beatles (Hinduism) was also executive film producer of “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”, “The Missionary” with Michael Palin and “Nuns on the Run” with Eric Idle.

  4. “doubt we’ll ever again see such an amazing concatenation of talent ….”
    That’s because you don’t know to appreciate the Borodin Quartet.
    Apples and oranges, I know. But still.

  5. It has always seemed to me that Harrison’s solo work has always sounded more like the Beatles than other ex-Beatle’s solo work. Some might say that’s because he couldn’t innovate, I think it means he was the backbone of the Beatles.

    Cloud Nine sure impressed the hell out of this 1980’s early 20something who had no use for the sixties.

  6. Harrison also had a great sense of humor. Knowing that he had a brain tumor, and not long to live, his last album was “produced by R.I.P. Productions.”

    I remember when he “toured” Haight Street, in cognito [well, as in cognito as George Harrison could get], and hung out on Hippy Hill in Golden Gate Park during the Summer of Love [1967].

  7. I am crazy about the Beatles since I was 10 but it was only in my ’30 that I realized the non-dual teaching of George in a lot of his songs:

    “We were talking-about the love that’s gone so cold and the people,
    Who gain the world and lose their soul-
    They don’t know-they can’t see-are you one of them?
    When you’ve seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
    Is waiting there-
    And the time will come when you see
    we’re all one, and life flows on within you and without you.”

    All things must pass is a masterpiece that I still listen frequently. Can’t get enough of the intro of My sweet lord… George really has a unique tone/vibrato/sound signature, especially on the slide.

    1. “My Sweet Lord” is a great song. Much better than the original “He’s so Fine”.

      I really do believe that “unconscious copying” clause in the court settlement. Both songs are good, and everyone got their money.

      Gotta point out that Brian Eno never sued The Cars for “Shake it Up” which lifts heavily from Eno’s “King’s Lead Hat”.

    2. George really has a unique tone/vibrato/sound signature, especially on the slide.

      Little known fact: George first did slide guitar on take 1 of “Strawberry Fields”.

      1. It is ironic that Jerry misses him, in spite of Goeorge’s religious nonsense…

        There a very good passage in the Scorcese documentary Living in the material world, where George (with John) answers to a classic atheist argument against mysticism in a british intellectual talk show. He explains very simply how mysticism is in fact a concrete thing. His song My sweet lord is all about that…

        1. I miss his music,not his woo. Do you understand that it is possible to like someone despite their penchant for mysticism?
          My missing him is in no sense ironic. Not a bit.

          1. It is just that from someone who often goes after accommodationists, I wouldn’t expect this comment about a musician whose biggest solo hit was My sweet lord. But I understand, no one can resist the Beatles.

          2. I can’t help by find that comment annoying. Appreciating great music does not require some special effort just because the musician responsible happens to be a woo-meister as well. You keep trying to make some point about irony even after it has been repeatedly stated that no irony is required. Sweet Lord Krishna!

        2. Great music is not the product of religion. It is the product of humans. The composer might be a victim of religious brain-worms or he might be an atheist. Religious musicians can create great non-religion-ish music, like Harrison did. And atheists can create great music based on religious themes, like Giuseppe Verdi.

          1. Music is music, we don’t need to argue about this. Lennon was far from being an angel despite all the “work” and songs he did for peace and love…

            But I couldn’t resist to mention that Harrison was a musician who put his spirituality at the centre of his music. It wasn’t something he just kept for himself. His biggest solo hit was My sweet lord… It kind of clashes with the nature of this blog.

            But that shows the power of music.

    1. It is not bad, but I don’t think it surpasses the original. Lennon said this song was his first one he didn’t wrote, or something like that…
      In Tomorrow never knows, John sings some verses taken from the Tibetean book of the dead, which again talks about non-dualism, how it looks like when you are not used to it, especially when you die…

      But that would be my choice for the best Beatle cover http://youtu.be/D92Lyxj7U7Q

      1. The first link announced that it was sorry, but it would not play in my country. The second link was obliterated by a political message denouncing Sony Corp. for some reason. I used to think that CDs were overpriced, but at least you could put them in a machine & listen to them.

  9. George was/is my favorite pop musician and songwriter. I miss him greatly too. I still listen to his songs often. He had a unique style and his humor was great. Great post and blog, by the way.

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