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the biggest commercial mistake of George Harrison's solo career...


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Old 04-03-2007, 13:41
adam_fransella
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...is that in 1974, he went ahead with his planned tour of North America
despite having already developed a throat affection affected his voice,
leading to him performing his songs with raspy, uneven vocals -
not to mention recording his album "Dark Horse" that year, in the same state!

And while the unfair criticism he received for his solo material
(which dominated the set-list of his concerts, more than Beatles numbers) is unfair,
since IMHO he was as excellent a solo songwriter/performer as Lennon and McCartney,
he should have thought twice about incorporating Ravi Shankar and his orchestra
as a supporting act, performing 30 minutes of Indian music,
which was perhaps the biggest turn-off for most audiences!

As for Harrison 'ripping off' his fans, isn't it outrageous that his autobiography
"I Me Mine" (1978) was originally published as a limited edition book prices at £158,
and that only two years after all the copies had been bought by fans,
it was re-printed at the far cheaper price of £20!
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Old 04-03-2007, 16:57
mr. mustard
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Yeah, I waited for the paperback

Dark Horse was a pretty dire album I thought - much weaker than the album before, Living In The Material World.

There's a little known later album of his called George Harrison which is superb; his guitar playing on it is excellent.
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Old 04-03-2007, 17:30
sean97
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Originally Posted by mr. mustard
Yeah, I waited for the paperback

Dark Horse was a pretty dire album I thought - much weaker than the album before, Living In The Material World.

There's a little known later album of his called George Harrison which is superb; his guitar playing on it is excellent.
If you thought Dark Horse was bad you had better steer clear of Gone Troppo. Impossible to believe George wrote and recorded this rubbish.
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Old 04-03-2007, 18:41
big mac
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The biggest mistake of his solo career from a commercial point of view was recording My Sweet Lord. Yes, it's one of the best songs of all time and got to Number One, but because of the successful plagurism suit by The Chiffons accusing him of ripping off He's So Fine, Harrison was not able to make royalties from the song.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:01
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by mr. mustard
Dark Horse was a pretty dire album I thought - much weaker than the album before, Living In The Material World.
Actually, I found "Dark Horse" more tuneful than "...Material World",
and believe the former was marred only by Harrison's 'Hoarse' vocals.
It did not deserve to miss the UK charts altogether, whilst reaching the US Top 5.

Originally Posted by mr. mustard
There's a little known later album of his called George Harrison which is superb; his guitar playing on it is excellent.
I'm keen on this 1979 release, too. Pity it was hugely under-rated at the time,
and even today is not rated as highly as "Thirty Three And 1/3" before it.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:04
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by sean97
If you thought Dark Horse was bad you had better steer clear of Gone Troppo. Impossible to believe George wrote and recorded this rubbish.
I do not think "Dark Horse" is bad at all - I think it's one of Harrison's best.

And I actually believe "Gone Troppo" is not rubbish at all -
I find it superior to "Somewhere In England" (the album that came before it),
and while it is less tuneful than the comeback that was "Cloud Nine",
I feel it did NOT deserve to miss the US and UK charts altogether.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:06
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by big mac
The biggest mistake of his solo career from a commercial point of view was recording My Sweet Lord. Yes, it's one of the best songs of all time and got to Number One, but because of the successful plagurism suit by The Chiffons accusing him of ripping off He's So Fine, Harrison was not able to make royalties from the song.
That Harrison had to pay damages despite being guilty of 'unintentional' plagiarism, is bad -
but in fact, by a bizarre twist of fate, he ended his life owning the rights to both songs!
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:13
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by adam_fransella
And while the unfair criticism he received for his solo material
(which dominated the set-list of his concerts, more than Beatles numbers) is unfair,
since IMHO he was as excellent a solo songwriter/performer as Lennon and McCartney,
he should have thought twice about incorporating Ravi Shankar and his orchestra
as a supporting act, performing 30 minutes of Indian music,
which was perhaps the biggest turn-off for most audiences!
Does anyone agree - or have friends who attended the concerts?
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:30
sean97
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Originally Posted by adam_fransella
I do not think "Dark Horse" is bad at all - I think it's one of Harrison's best.

And I actually believe "Gone Troppo" is not rubbish at all -
I find it superior to "Somewhere In England" (the album that came before it),
and while it is less tuneful than the comeback that was "Cloud Nine",
I feel it did NOT deserve to miss the US and UK charts altogether.
Sorry it was another poster who didnt like Dark Horse. I prefer Somewhere In England to Gone Troppo, some great catchy songs on it (Teardrops,etc). The only albums that i dont listen to anymore are Living In The Material World, Gone Troppo and (sorry to say) Braindead.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:37
mr. mustard
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Originally Posted by sean97
If you thought Dark Horse was bad you had better steer clear of Gone Troppo. Impossible to believe George wrote and recorded this rubbish.
I've got Gone Troppo - there's a handful of songs on it I like.

All told, my favourite George albums are All Things Must Pass, Material World, 33 & 1/3 and George Harrison.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:49
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by sean97
Sorry it was another poster who didnt like Dark Horse.
I know - sorry for not making this clear.

Originally Posted by sean97
I prefer Somewhere In England to Gone Troppo, some great catchy songs on it (Teardrops,etc). The only albums that i dont listen to anymore are Living In The Material World, Gone Troppo and (sorry to say) Braindead.
The latter is "Brain-WASHED"!
And IMHO it should have reached the UK Top 20 (as it went Top 20 in the US),
even though it didn't equal "Cloud Nine" (Harrison's last studio album whilst alive),
or even "Dark Horse" and "Gone Troppo", for that matter!

My least favourite Harrison solo album is his last Apple release, "Extra Texture" -
what do other fans think of it?

Last edited by adam_fransella : 04-03-2007 at 19:50.
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Old 04-03-2007, 19:58
mr. mustard
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Originally Posted by adam_fransella
I know - sorry for not making this clear.



The latter is "Brain-WASHED"!
And IMHO it should have reached the UK Top 20 (as it went Top 20 in the US),
even though it didn't equal "Cloud Nine" (Harrison's last studio album whilst alive),
or even "Dark Horse" and "Gone Troppo", for that matter!

My least favourite Harrison solo album is his last Apple release, "Extra Texture" -
what do other fans think of it?
It must have been bad, I forgot it

I like the song You - as I remember it the rest was really poor.
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Old 04-03-2007, 20:10
adam_fransella
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Originally Posted by mr. mustard
It must have been bad, I forgot it

I like the song "You" - as I remember it the rest was really poor.
The rest of the album was certainly not far from dire, particularly towards the end -
one of the other songs included, "This Guitar Can't Keep From Crying",
was an above-average sequel to the classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
that didn't make the US or UK charts.

What's more, "This Guitar..." was even inferior to "Here Comes The Moon",
a track from the album "George Harrison" which was a sequel to...oh, you know!

Last edited by adam_fransella : 04-03-2007 at 20:14.
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Old 04-03-2007, 20:18
mr. mustard
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Originally Posted by adam_fransella
What's more, it was even inferior to "Here Comes The Moon",
a track from the album "George Harrison" that was a sequel to...oh, you know!
I love that album, some of the songs are quite commercial for George - a pity it's so little known.

Maybe George should have released All Things Must Pass as a single album, then some of the material would have got onto subsequent releases...I'm not sure though.
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