"Simply Shady" | |
---|---|
Song by George Harrison | |
from the album Dark Horse | |
Released | 9 December 1974 |
Genre | Country rock |
Length | 4:38 |
Label | Apple |
Songwriter(s) | George Harrison |
Producer(s) | George Harrison |
"Simply Shady" is a song by English musician George Harrison that was released on his 1974 album Dark Horse . The song addresses Harrison's wayward behaviour during the final year of his marriage to Pattie Boyd, particularly the allure of temptations such as alcohol and drugs over spiritual goals. Harrison said the song was about "what happens to naughty boys in the music business". [1]
Harrison wrote "Simply Shady" in Bombay in early 1974 during his first visit to India since 1968, when he and his Beatles bandmates had studied Transcendental Meditation at Rishikesh. In his lyrics, he reflects on the karmic consequences of his lifestyle in England and references John Lennon's "Sexy Sadie", a song inspired by the Beatles' time in Rishikesh. Harrison recorded the track at an impromptu session held at his Friar Park home studio with the L.A. Express, who were touring Britain as Joni Mitchell's backing band at the time. Two of the musicians, Tom Scott and Robben Ford, subsequently played with Harrison on his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar.
Harrison's vocals on the track were marred by his contracting laryngitis towards the end of the sessions for Dark Horse – a result of his having overextended himself on business and musical commitments, as well as his punishing lifestyle. Partly due to Harrison's hoarse singing, "Simply Shady" has been viewed in an unfavourable light by many music critics and reviewers. Other commentators consider its confessional tone to be significant in Harrison's career, representing a departure from the spiritual certainties that typically defined his work following the Beatles.
According to George Harrison's recollection in his autobiography, I, Me, Mine , the visit he made to India in 1974 was his first since 1968, [2] when the Beatles had studied Transcendental Meditation at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in Rishikesh. [3] [4] The main purpose of the 1974 trip was to attend a Vedic ceremony in honour of Ravi Shankar's new home in Benares and to film the event. [5] Accompanied by his friend and fellow musician Gary Wright, Harrison first went to Calcutta in early January before travelling to Benares; [6] there, he and Shankar formulated the concept for Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India [7] and an ensuing joint tour of North America at the end of the year. [8] [9] Harrison and Shankar then travelled to the Hindu holy city of Vrindavan, [10] where Harrison was inspired to write the devotional song "It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)". [11] Later in the trip, [12] while in Bombay, he wrote another new composition, "Simply Shady". [1]
I went on a bit of a bender to make up for all the years I'd been married. If you listen to "Simply Shady", on Dark Horse, it's all in there – my whole life at that time was a bit like Mrs. Dale's Diary . [13]
– George Harrison to Rolling Stone , 1979
In a 1994 interview held at Shankar's home in California, [14] Harrison spoke of the reluctance he used to feel before visiting India or meeting with friends such as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada of the Hare Krishna movement, due to the "craziness" taking place in his life as a rock musician. [15] Written during a period when his marriage to Pattie Boyd was ending, [16] [17] "Simply Shady" was inspired by the decadent lifestyle that Harrison had been leading at his Friar Park home in England. [18] [19] Over this period, he had immersed himself in his work, [8] while returning to the worldly ways he had mostly abandoned in 1967, following his embrace of Indian philosophy, particularly meditation. [20] [21] Boyd has written of their overindulgence with drugs and alcohol over 1973–74 and highlighted Harrison's excessive use of cocaine, about which she says: "I think it changed him ... it froze George's emotions and hardened his heart." [22] In I, Me, Mine, Harrison describes the song as being "about what happens to naughty boys in the music business". [23] While recognising a disparity between its subject matter and his surroundings at the time, he says he most likely came up with the theme before leaving for India. [1]
"Simply Shady" is in 4/4 time and its musical key is C minor. [24] The song comprises three combinations of verse and chorus, [25] followed by repeated choruses. [24] Author Simon Leng defines its musical style as country rock. [26]
The lyrics to the song serve as a confession in which Harrison details how he has lost his way. [23] [27] Author Ian Inglis describes "Simply Shady" as an autobiographical account of a musician "who succumbs to the temptations of 'sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll' that are stereotypically linked with the mythology of rock". [28] Leng likens the track to contemporary work by Neil Young, particularly "Yonder Stands the Sinner", adding that Harrison arrives at "the same impasse" as the Canadian singer: "decadence, dependency, and despair". [29]
In the opening verse, [30] Harrison acknowledges the changes brought about by his overindulgence with drugs and alcohol. [31] He recalls partaking from "the juicer", after which his "senses took a dip" and he became "blinded by desire". [32] During the second verse, [30] he likens his increased cravings to a form of madness. [27] [33] In the lyrics to the chorus, he recognises the futility of this behaviour, knowing that, just as "it's all been done before", it provides nothing beyond relief in the short term. [34]
Harrison measures the consequences of his actions in terms of their karmic effect, [35] a preoccupation he had first embraced in his songwriting over 1966–67 with songs such as "Art of Dying". [36] In the third verse, [37] he acknowledges that all thoughts and deeds affect the world, since "A pebble in the ocean must cause some kind of stir". [38] [nb 1] Recognising his culpability, Harrison concludes: "The action that I've started sometime I'll have to face / My influence in motion rebounding back through space." [40] In their respective commentaries on "Simply Shady", Christian theologian Dale Allison cites Harrison's indictment of his behaviour in the context of karmic retribution as evidence of the composition offering "religious interest", [23] while Inglis highlights an important contrast between Harrison's lack of moralising in the song relative to the sermonising quality of his 1973 album Living in the Material World . [40] [nb 2]
The song's final choruses include the line "You may think of Sexy Sadie, let her in through your front door", [40] reprising the late-period Beatles device of self-reference. [41] [42] In this case, Harrison name-checks "Sexy Sadie", [26] John Lennon's thinly veiled attack on the Maharishi [43] and the latter's alleged sexual advances towards one of the female students at the Rishikesh retreat. [44] [45] [nb 3] Inglis views this mention in "Simply Shady" as significant on three levels: Harrison is alluding to a casual sexual partner in the present; recalling his former mentor and guru, the Maharishi; and supplying "a coded reference" to his past as a Beatle. [50]
There was a bad domestic year, 1974 ..."Simply Shady", that song is about it. At the same time I was doing a Splinter album and a Ravi Shankar album and my own album ... [I]n the end Denis O'Brien carried me out of the studio to my first concert (in Canada) ... [51]
– George Harrison in I, Me, Mine
Harrison returned to England in March 1974 [52] and recorded "Simply Shady" the following month for his new album, Dark Horse . [53] Unlike his two previous studio albums, All Things Must Pass and Material World, Harrison worked on Dark Horse in stages, over a year-long period. [54] During this time, he focused instead on projects such as setting up Dark Horse Records [55] [56] and producing albums by the record label's first two signings: Shankar's Shankar Family & Friends , and The Place I Love by the group Splinter. [57] [58] [nb 4] Leng cites the recording of "Simply Shady" – an impromptu session with the L.A. Express, who were touring the UK as Joni Mitchell's backing group – as an example of the unpredictable approach that Harrison adopted when making Dark Horse. [64]
Harrison had collaborated with Tom Scott, the leader and saxophonist of the L.A. Express, [65] during the Shankar Family & Friends sessions in Los Angeles in 1973. [66] After attending Mitchell's show at the New Victoria Theatre in London, he invited the band to record at his home studio, FPSHOT, the following day. [67] Lead guitarist Robben Ford recalls that on arrival at Friar Park, at 1 pm, the musicians were entertained by Boyd until Harrison woke up, at which point the couple "didn't interact and she just disappeared". [68] The recording session began at 1 am. [68] "Hari's on Tour (Express)" – an instrumental that Harrison used as the opening song of both Dark Horse and his live shows with Shankar [69] – was recorded on the same day. [53] [70] The recording engineer at the session was Phil McDonald. [71]
Leng describes "Simply Shady" as a "stark-sounding cut" due to the unpolished production. [72] The track has a blues-based arrangement, [27] for which Ford and Roger Kellaway supplied the main instrumental fills, on guitar and piano, respectively. [70] Bassist Max Bennett recalled that he enjoyed the visit, which included a tour of Harrison's Friar Park estate, but did not feel they had "accomplished much musically". [67] The band then went back to London to continue their tour with Mitchell in support of her album Court and Spark . [67] [68]
Scott returned to Friar Park to work further with Harrison in August, [73] by which time Boyd had left him for his friend Eric Clapton. [74] Scott overdubbed a variety of horn parts on "Simply Shady", while Harrison played the closing guitar solo [70] – a part that Inglis views as "straining" and in keeping with the song's "emotional plea". [28] Both Scott and Ford later played in Harrison's tour band. [75] [76]
Described by author Robert Rodriguez as "a Tom Waits croak", [27] Harrison's singing on "Simply Shady" was affected by laryngitis, like many of the tracks on Dark Horse. [77] He contracted this affliction through a combination of overwork and drug and alcohol abuse. [68] [78] The vocal parts were overdubbed either at FPSHOT or at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, late in October 1974, during the rush to complete the album while simultaneously rehearsing for the North American tour. [12] [79]
In his pre-tour press conference on 23 October, [80] Harrison fended off questions about his personal life. [81] He cited "Simply Shady" and "So Sad" as examples of how his forthcoming album was like the television soap opera Peyton Place [82] and would reveal "exactly what I've been doing". [83] [84] [nb 5] He also acknowledged that it was "difficult" to maintain his spirituality as a rock musician and concluded by reaffirming his support for the Maharishi. [82]
Apple Records issued Dark Horse on 9 December 1974 in North America, [90] over halfway through the tour, [91] and on 20 December in Britain. [92] "Simply Shady" was sequenced as the album's second track, following "Hari's on Tour (Express)", [93] and preceding two other songs concerning Harrison's domestic problems, "So Sad" and "Bye Bye, Love". [94] Reflecting the contrast between the songs on side one of the LP and the more optimistic themes on side two, [95] the record's face labels included a photo of Harrison on the first side and one of his new girlfriend, Olivia Arias, who worked at Dark Horse Records' Los Angeles office, [96] on the reverse. [97]
The majority of reviews for Dark Horse were unfavourable [98] and, in Leng's description, "Simply Shady" was "much maligned". [72] Recalling the release in 2001, Record Collector editor Peter Doggett paired the song with "Dark Horse" as the two tracks that most alienated Harrison's fans due to the ravaged quality of his singing. [99] [nb 6] In addition, as a chronicle of its author's self-degradation, "Simply Shady" marked a departure from the standard subject matter of Harrison's solo work. [27] According to Leng, the song "shatter[ed] the 'Beatle George' image" and so proved unwelcome amid the high expectations surrounding the concurrent tour, which was the first in North America by a former Beatle since the band's 1966 tour. [101]
In Rolling Stone 's highly unfavourable critique of Dark Horse, [102] [103] Jim Miller condemned Harrison for showing disdain towards the Beatles' legacy during the tour and then releasing an album on which his voice was blown. [104] [105] Writing in Circus Raves , Michael Gross defended Harrison's new direction and highlighted the reference to "Sexy Sadie" as the artist "look[ing] askance" at his past. [70]
In the NME , Bob Woffinden denigrated "Simply Shady" as "[evincing] all the faults that clog the album". Woffinden continued: "George's vocals are tiresome, his voice, nasal and toneless, seems to be slowing down the song; the lyrics are straightforward and dull. Also the familiar cloying punches that Harrison's own production pulls are evident. Nothing ever happens – the sound is dense, viscid ..." [106] [nb 7] In an otherwise favourable review, Brian Harrigan of Melody Maker praised the musicianship of Harrison and the L.A. Express, and Harrison's singing on the album, but said that the song "really drags on". [108] [109]
In a 1979 interview with Rolling Stone, Harrison cited "Simply Shady" as the song that best summed up a fallow period in his personal life that ended when he found lasting happiness with Arias. [13] Arias has commented on the surprising background to the song, saying, "He's in India, a very spiritual place, writing about a very material experience", adding that a tape has been discovered of Harrison working on the composition while at the Lake Palace hotel in Udaipur. [66] She told Mojo of this period in Harrison's career: "Everything in his life had changed at that point: getting divorced, Apple was in turmoil, he had his own personal demons. '74 was one of those breaking-through-the-sound-barrier periods. You come through and it's just quiet on the other side." [110]
Among Beatles biographers, Chip Madinger and Mark Easter write that, as the first vocal track on Dark Horse, "Simply Shady" "bring[s] the LP to a screeching halt", and they describe it as "Somnambulistic in tone and tempo". [12] Elliot Huntley offers a positive view, enjoying the song's "pleasant melody" and its "continuation of the West Coast feel that commenced the album". [69] Alan Clayson considers that "Simply Shady" would have benefited from a sparser musical arrangement, [nb 8] but he recognises an element of intrigue in Dark Horse, with Harrison revealed as "an ex-Beatle in uncertain transition". [112]
New Zealand Herald journalist Graham Reid similarly deems the track to be "More interesting than exceptional", as an account of how Harrison "soaked himself in booze and whatever" in reaction to the disintegration of his marriage. [113] Among other recent reviews, Scott Elingburg of PopMatters considers Dark Horse to be an album on which "Harrison is playing music like he has nothing to lose and all the world to gain", and he cites "Simply Shady" as one of two tracks that "experiment subtly with tone, mood, and, most surprisingly, darkness". [114] Writing in Classic Rock , Paul Trynka highlights the song among the "beautiful, small-scale moments" that were overlooked at the time of the album's release, describing it as "a shamefaced confessional on the banality of drunkenness". [115]
Like Simon Leng, Robert Rodriguez identifies the subject matter as highly unusual among Harrison's work up to 1974, and he includes "Simply Shady" on his list of the artist's most underrated songs from the 1970s. [116] While labelling the track a Lennon-style "self-flagellation", Rodriguez praises the musicianship on the recording and the musical arrangement, and considers that Harrison's "detached delivery proves to be just as chilling in its own way as [Lennon's] typical emotional approach was". [117]
According to Simon Leng: [29]
Dark Horse Records is a record label founded by former Beatle George Harrison in 1974. The label's formation coincided with the winding down of the Beatles' Apple Records and allowed Harrison to continue supporting other artists' projects while maintaining his solo career. The initial signings were Indian musician Ravi Shankar and Splinter, the latter of whom provided the label with its only significant commercial success until Harrison himself signed with Dark Horse in 1976. The label was distributed internationally by A&M Records for the first two years of its operation. Following a highly publicised split with A&M, Harrison and Dark Horse formed a long-term partnership with Warner Bros. Records that lasted until the expiration of his contract in 1994.
Thirty Three & 1⁄3 is the seventh studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1976. It was Harrison's first album release on his Dark Horse record label, the worldwide distribution for which changed from A&M Records to Warner Bros. as a result of his late delivery of the album's master tapes. Among other misfortunes affecting its creation, Harrison suffered hepatitis midway through recording, and the copyright infringement suit regarding his 1970–71 hit song "My Sweet Lord" was decided in favour of the plaintiff, Bright Tunes Music. The album contains the US top 30 singles "This Song" – Harrison's satire on that lawsuit and the notion of plagiarism in pop music – and "Crackerbox Palace". Despite the problems associated with the album, many music critics recognised Thirty Three & 1⁄3 as a return to form for Harrison after his poorly received work during 1974–75, and considered it his strongest collection of songs since 1970's acclaimed All Things Must Pass.
Dark Horse is the fifth studio album by English rock musician George Harrison. It was released on Apple Records in December 1974 as the follow-up to Living in the Material World. Although keenly anticipated on release, Dark Horse is associated with the controversial North American tour that Harrison staged with Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar in November and December that year. This was the first US tour by a member of the Beatles since 1966, and the public's nostalgia for the band, together with Harrison contracting laryngitis during rehearsals and choosing to feature Shankar so heavily in the programme, resulted in scathing concert reviews from some influential music critics.
"Dark Horse" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison and the title track to his 1974 solo album on Apple Records. The song was the album's lead single in North America, becoming a top-20 hit in the United States, but it was Harrison's first single not to chart in Britain when issued there in February 1975. The term "dark horse" had long been applied to Harrison due to his unexpected emergence as the most accomplished solo artist of the four former Beatles following the band's break-up in 1970. In the song, however, he said he used the phrase in reference to gossip about someone who carries out clandestine sexual relationships. Commentators interpret the lyrics as a rebuttal to several possible detractors: Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd; reviewers who criticised the spiritual content of his 1973 album Living in the Material World; and his former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Harrison named his Dark Horse record label after the song, and his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar came to be known as the Dark Horse Tour.
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"Far East Man" is a song written by English rock musicians George Harrison and Ronnie Wood, each of whom released a recording of the song in 1974. Wood's version appeared on I've Got My Own Album to Do, his debut solo album, and Harrison's on Dark Horse. Their only official songwriting collaboration, "Far East Man" is an affirmation of friendship in the face of life's obstacles and musically reflects the two guitarists' adoption of the soul genre. Written mostly by Harrison, the composition has been interpreted as a restatement of the humanitarian message expressed in his 1971 single "Bangla Desh", and a tribute to Indian musician Ravi Shankar.
"Sue Me, Sue You Blues" is a song written by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1973 album Living in the Material World. Harrison initially let American guitarist Jesse Ed Davis record it for the latter's Ululu album (1972), in gratitude to Davis for his participation in the Concert for Bangladesh. When writing the song, Harrison drew inspiration from the legal issues surrounding the Beatles during the early months of 1971, particularly the lawsuit that Paul McCartney initiated in an effort to dissolve the band's business partnership, Apple Corps.
"World of Stone" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on Extra Texture , his final album for Apple Records. It was also issued as the B-side of the album's lead single, "You". Harrison wrote the song in 1973 but recorded it two years later, following the unfavourable critical reception afforded his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar and the Dark Horse album. Due to its context on release, commentators view "World of Stone" as a plea from Harrison for tolerance from these detractors. According to some of his biographers, the lyrics reflect Harrison's doubts regarding his devotion to a spiritual path – an apparent crisis of faith that followed his often-unwelcome spiritual pronouncements during the tour, and which permeated his work throughout 1975.
"Hari's on Tour (Express)" is an instrumental by English musician George Harrison, released as the opening track of his 1974 album Dark Horse. It was also the B-side of the album's second single – which was "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" in North America and most other territories, and "Dark Horse" in Britain and some European countries. Among Harrison's post-Beatles solo releases, the track is the first of only two genuine instrumentals he released from 1970 onwards – the other being the Grammy Award-winning "Marwa Blues", from his 2002 album Brainwashed.
"Māya Love" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1974 album Dark Horse. The song originated as a slide guitar tune, to which Harrison later added lyrics relating to the illusory nature of love – maya being a Sanskrit term for "illusion", or "that which is not". Harrison's biographers consider the lyrical theme to be reflective of his failed marriage to Pattie Boyd, who left him for his friend Eric Clapton shortly before the words were written. Harrison recorded the song at his home, Friar Park, on the eve of his North American tour with Ravi Shankar, which took place in November and December 1974. The recording features Harrison's slide guitar extensively and contributions from four musicians who formed the nucleus of his tour band: Billy Preston, Tom Scott, Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark. Reviewers note the track as an example of its parent album's more diverse musical genres, namely funk and rhythm and blues, compared with the more traditional rock orientation of Harrison's earlier solo work.
"It Is 'He' " is a song by English musician George Harrison, released as the final track of his 1974 album Dark Horse. Harrison was inspired to write the song while in the Hindu holy city of Vrindavan, in northern India, with his friend Ravi Shankar. The composition originated on a day that Harrison describes in his autobiography as "my most fantastic experience", during which his party and their ascetic guide toured the city's temples. The song's choruses were adapted from the Sanskrit chant they sang before visiting Seva Kunj, a park dedicated to Krishna's childhood. The same pilgrimage to India led to Harrison staging Shankar's Music Festival from India in September 1974 and undertaking a joint North American tour with Shankar at the end of that year.
"Can't Stop Thinking About You" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on his final album for Apple Records, Extra Texture . A love song in the style of a soul/R&B ballad, it was written by Harrison in December 1973, towards the end of his marriage to Pattie Boyd and while he was having an affair with Maureen Starkey, the wife of his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr. Having first considered the song for his 1974 release Dark Horse, Harrison recorded "Can't Stop Thinking About You" in Los Angeles in May 1975 for his so-called "soul album", Extra Texture. Some authors view its inclusion on the latter release as an obvious attempt by Harrison to commercialise the album, in response to the harsh critical reception afforded Dark Horse and his 1974 North American tour.
"His Name Is Legs (Ladies and Gentlemen)" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, released in 1975 as the closing track of his album Extra Texture (Read All About It). The song is a tribute to "Legs" Larry Smith, the drummer with the 1960s satirical-comedy group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and one of many comedians with whom Harrison began associating during the 1970s. Smith appears on the recording, delivering a spoken monologue, while Harrison's lyrics similarly reflect the comedian's penchant for zany wordplay. The song serves as a precursor to Harrison's work with Monty Python members Eric Idle and Michael Palin, including his production of the troupe's 1975 single "The Lumberjack Song" and films such as Life of Brian (1979) that he produced under the aegis of his company HandMade Films.
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"Writing's on the Wall" is a song by English musician George Harrison from his 1981 album Somewhere in England. It was also the B-side of the album's lead single, "All Those Years Ago", which Harrison wrote as a tribute to his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon. In his lyrics, Harrison sings of the transient nature of life and the importance of recognising a spiritual purpose. Although the song was written long before Lennon's murder in New York in December 1980, the lyrics' reference to how easily friends can be shot down and killed led listeners to interpret it as a further comment on Lennon's death.
"So Sad" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison that was released on his 1974 album Dark Horse. Harrison originally recorded the song for his previous album, Living in the Material World, before giving it to Alvin Lee, the guitarist and singer with Ten Years After. Lee recorded it – as "So Sad " – with gospel singer Mylon LeFevre for their 1973 album On the Road to Freedom. The latter recording includes contributions from Harrison and marked the first of several collaborations between him and Lee.
"I Don't Care Anymore" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released as the B-side of the lead single from his 1974 album Dark Horse. The A-side was "Dark Horse" in the majority of countries internationally and "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" elsewhere, including the United Kingdom. It is one of Harrison's relatively rare compositions in the country music genre and, equally unusual among his 1970s releases, the recording is a solo performance.
George Harrison and Ravi Shankar's 1974 North American tour was a 45-show concert tour of the United States and Canada, undertaken by English musician George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar in November and December 1974. It is often referred to as the Dark Horse Tour, since the concerts served as a launch for Harrison's record label Dark Horse Records, to which Shankar was one of the inaugural signings, and Harrison's concurrent single was the song "Dark Horse". The release of his delayed album, also titled Dark Horse, followed towards the end of the tour. The shows featured guest spots by Harrison's band members Billy Preston and Tom Scott.