Harrison on Harrison

Last updated

Harrison on Harrison
Harrison On Harrison CD cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 25, 2005
StudioPeter Karl Recording Studio, Brooklyn, NY; Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY
Genre Jazz
Length71:00
Label HighNote
Producer Joel Harrison

Harrison on Harrison, subtitled Jazz Explorations of George Harrison, is an album by the American jazz guitarist and arranger Joel Harrison released in October 2005. It contains jazz interpretations of ten songs written by the former Beatle George Harrison, who died in November 2001, together with a version of the gospel standard "In My Father's House".

Contents

Inspiration and recording

In his liner notes to the CD, Harrison says he was inspired to record the album after being invited to perform a short set of George Harrison's songs at the 2002 New York Guitar Festival. [1] In his selection of compositions for the album, he was drawn to the former Beatle's incorporation of a wide range of musical styles in his work, namely, "country, blues, British hymns and ballads, rock and roll, gospel, psychedelia, Indian music, and early jazz". He adds of George Harrison's songs: "They combine aching beauty and biting wit, spiritual longing and earthy humor, simple modal vamps and sophisticated harmony, mystical ballads and bashing beats." [1]

Harrison also credited the Beatles' guitarist with introducing him to Indian classical music, which he studied at the Ali Akbar College of Music in California. [2] In a 2014 interview for Guitar Player , Harrison said that part of the attraction of making Harrison on Harrison – as with his 2003 album of country and folk covers, Free Country – was that the material was not usually played by jazz artists, and so these projects were "essentially my way of creating my own jazz repertoire". [3]

Harrison recorded the album in Brooklyn, New York [4] backed by jazz musicians such as David Liebman, David Binney and Uri Caine. [5] He and Liebman wrote the musical arrangements for the songs. [4] Although mostly instrumental pieces, the tracks include vocals by Harrison and, on "All Things Must Pass", a guest appearance by singer Jen Chapin. [6]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
JazzTimes (mixed) [8]

Harrison on Harrison was released by HighNote Records on October 25, 2005. [9] James Christopher Monger of AllMusic describes it as one of the artist's "critically lauded albums". [10]

In his contemporary review for All About Jazz, John Kelman admired the album as another successful jazz interpretation of an alternative musical form by Joel Harrison, following his earlier adaptations of material by artists such as Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie. Kelman highlighted the modal arrangements on "Here Comes the Sun" and "Within You Without You", the last of which he likened to Miles Davis' experimentation with Indian rhythms during the late 1960s and early 1970s. [6] Writing in JazzTimes , Russell Carlson began his review with: "Jazz guitarist Joel Harrison plays the music of rock guitarist George Harrison … Does the slight novelty of a shared surname justify paying jazz tribute to a rock god? About half the time it does." While praising the musicianship throughout, Carlson rued the inclusion of vocals on selections such as "The Art of Dying" and "My Sweet Lord", which he otherwise considered to be a "wonderfully sparse, steel-guitar rendition”. [8]

Matt Collar of AllMusic describes Harrison on Harrison as "an adventurous and forward-thinking album that celebrates not only the former Beatle's superb songcraft, but also his sense of musical exploration". Collar admires Harrison's reading of "Within You Without You", for "expanding the raga-psych elements of the original into a post-bop wilderness of angular improvisation", and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", for its musical journey "from a woozily funky Indian beat on the main verse, to a drunken soft-rock bridge that sounds something like guitarist Adrian Belew covering Burt Bacharach". He concludes: "Harrison on Harrison is an inspired, engaging and superbly executed tribute to a true music original." [7]

Track listing

All songs written by George Harrison except where noted.

  1. "Here Comes the Sun" – 5:59
  2. "Within You Without You" – 8:09
  3. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – 7:44
  4. "The Art of Dying" – 6:41
  5. "My Father's House" (trad.) – 7:20
  6. "All Things Must Pass" – 6:30
  7. "Taxman" – 5:44
  8. "My Sweet Lord" – 4:45
  9. "Love You To" – 7:20
  10. "Beware of Darkness" – 5:14
  11. "Isn't It a Pity" – 5:49

Personnel

Related Research Articles

While My Guitar Gently Weeps Beatles song written by George Harrison

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist. The song serves as a comment on the disharmony within the Beatles following their return from studying Transcendental Meditation in India in early 1968. This lack of camaraderie was reflected in the band's initial apathy towards the composition, which Harrison countered by inviting his friend and occasional collaborator, Eric Clapton, to contribute to the recording. Clapton overdubbed a lead guitar part, although he was not formally credited for his contribution.

My Sweet Lord Song by George Harrison

"My Sweet Lord" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his triple album All Things Must Pass. It was also released as a single, Harrison's first as a solo artist, and topped charts worldwide; it was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number-one single by an ex-Beatle. Harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston's Encouraging Words album in September 1970.

<i>Wonderwall Music</i> 1968 soundtrack album by George Harrison

Wonderwall Music is the debut solo album by English musician George Harrison and the soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall, directed by Joe Massot. Released in November 1968, it was the first solo album by a member of the Beatles, and the first album issued on the band's Apple record label. The songs are all instrumental pieces, except for occasional non-English language vocals, and mostly comprise short musical vignettes. Following his Indian-styled compositions for the Beatles since 1966, he used the film score to further promote Indian classical music by introducing rock audiences to instruments that were relatively little-known in the West – including shehnai, sarod, tar shehnai and santoor. The Indian pieces are contrasted by Western musical selections, in the psychedelic rock, experimental, country and ragtime styles.

Raga rock

Raga rock is rock or pop music with a pronounced Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of Indian musical instruments, such as the sitar and tabla. In addition, rock music from the 1960s and 1970s that incorporates South Asian musical influences and instruments, along with Western ideas of the Indian subcontinent, is often regarded as raga rock.

Savoy Truffle

"Savoy Truffle" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles. The song was written by George Harrison and inspired by his friend Eric Clapton's fondness for chocolate. The lyrics list the various flavours offered in Mackintosh's Good News chocolates and serve as a warning to Clapton about the detrimental effect that his gorging would have on his teeth. Along with Clapton's guest appearance on the White Album track "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Harrison reciprocating on Cream's "Badge", it is one of several songs that mark the start of a long-lasting musical association between the two guitarists.

All Things Must Pass (song)

"All Things Must Pass" is a song by English musician George Harrison, issued in November 1970 as the title track to his triple album of the same name. Billy Preston released the song originally – as "All Things (Must) Pass" – on his Apple Records album Encouraging Words (1970), after the Beatles had rejected it for inclusion on their Let It Be album in January 1969. The composition reflects the influence of the Band's sound and communal music-making on Harrison, after he had spent time with the group in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968, while Timothy Leary's poem "All Things Pass", a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching, provided inspiration for his song lyrics.

What Is Life

"What Is Life" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. In many countries, it was issued as the second single from the album, in February 1971, becoming a top-ten hit in the United States, Canada and elsewhere, and topping singles charts in Australia and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, "What Is Life" appeared as the B-side to "My Sweet Lord", which was the best-selling single there of 1971. Harrison's backing musicians on the song include Eric Clapton and the entire Delaney & Bonnie and Friends band, with whom he had toured during the final months of the Beatles. Harrison co-produced the recording with Phil Spector, whose Wall of Sound production also employed a prominent string arrangement by John Barham and multiple acoustic rhythm guitars, played by Harrison's fellow Apple Records signings Badfinger.

"I'll See You in My Dreams" is a popular song. It was written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn, and was published in 1924. Originally recorded by Isham Jones and the Ray Miller Orchestra, it charted for 16 weeks during 1925, spending seven weeks at number 1 (US). Other popular versions in 1925 were by Marion Harris; Paul Whiteman; Ford & Glenn; and Lewis James, with three of these four reaching the Top 10.

John Barham is an English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He is best known for his orchestration of George Harrison albums such as All Things Must Pass (1970) and for his association with Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Barham trained at the Royal College of Music and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, before establishing himself during the mid 1960s as a composer of piano interpretations of Indian classical ragas. He became a student of Shankar, for whose East–West collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin and others he transcribed Indian melodies into Western musical annotation. Through Shankar, Barham began a long friendship with Harrison in 1966, then a member of the Beatles, which assisted Harrison's own education in Indian music as well as his promotion of the genre to Western audiences. Barham collaborated with Harrison on the latter's Wonderwall Music soundtrack album (1968), before providing the orchestral arrangements for All Things Must Pass songs such as "Isn't It a Pity" and "My Sweet Lord", and for Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World.

Isnt It a Pity

"Isn't It a Pity" is a song by English musician George Harrison from his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. It appears in two variations there: one the well-known, seven-minute version; the other a reprise, titled "Isn't It a Pity ". Harrison wrote the song in 1966, but it was rejected for inclusion on releases by the Beatles. In many countries around the world, the song was also issued on a double A-side single with "My Sweet Lord". In America, Billboard magazine listed it with "My Sweet Lord" when the single topped the Hot 100 chart, while in Canada, "Isn't It a Pity" reached number 1 as the preferred side.

<i>White Rabbit</i> (George Benson album) 1972 studio album by George Benson

White Rabbit is an album by George Benson. The title track is a cover of the famous Great Society/Jefferson Airplane song by Grace Slick.This album was George Benson's second CTI Records project produced by Creed Taylor and was recorded nine months after Beyond the Blue Horizon.

Art of Dying (song)

"Art of Dying" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison began writing the song in 1966 while still a member of the Beatles and during a period when he had first become enamoured with Hindu-aligned spirituality. The subject matter is reincarnation and the need to avoid rebirth, by limiting actions and thoughts that lead to one's soul returning in another, earthbound life form.

Learning How to Love You

"Learning How to Love You" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1976 as the closing track of his debut album on his Dark Horse record label, Thirty Three & 1/3. Harrison wrote the song for Herb Alpert, sometime singer and co-head of A&M Records, which at the time was the worldwide distributor for Dark Horse. Although the relationship with A&M soured due to Harrison's failure to deliver Thirty Three & 1/3 on schedule, resulting in litigation and a new distribution deal with Warner Bros. Records, Harrison still dedicated the song to Alpert in the album's liner notes.

<i>Doris Troy</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Doris Troy

Doris Troy is an album released in 1970 on the Beatles' Apple Records label by American soul singer Doris Troy. It features songs written by Troy and a number of the participants on the sessions, including George Harrison, Stephen Stills, Klaus Voormann and Ringo Starr. Through the extended period of recording, the album became an all-star collaborative effort, typical of many Apple projects during 1968–70, although it was Troy's only album on the Beatles' label. Other guest musicians included Billy Preston, Peter Frampton, Leon Russell, Eric Clapton and members of the Delaney & Bonnie Friends band. Like the Harrison-produced single "Ain't That Cute", Doris Troy failed to chart in Britain or America on release.

I Am Missing You

"I Am Missing You" is a song by Indian musician Ravi Shankar, sung by his sister-in-law Lakshmi Shankar and released as the lead single from his 1974 album Shankar Family & Friends. The song is a rare Shankar composition in the Western pop genre, with English lyrics, and was written as a love song to the Hindu god Krishna. The recording was produced and arranged by George Harrison, in a style similar to Phil Spector's signature sound, and it was the first single issued on Harrison's Dark Horse record label. Other contributing musicians include Tom Scott, Nicky Hopkins, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner. A second version appears on Shankar Family & Friends, titled "I Am Missing You (Reprise)", featuring an arrangement closer to a folk ballad.

<i>Footprint</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Gary Wright

Footprint is the second solo album by American musician Gary Wright, released in 1971 on A&M Records. It contains "Stand for Our Rights", an anthem-like song calling for social unity that was issued as a single in advance of the album. Wright recorded the majority of Footprint in London with a large cast of musicians – including George Harrison, Hugh McCracken, Alan White, Klaus Voormann, Jim Gordon, Jim Keltner and Bobby Keys – many of whom, like Wright, had played on Harrison's All Things Must Pass triple album in 1970. Harrison's contributions included an uncredited role as producer, and serve as an example of his support for Wright during the early stages of the latter's solo career. The ballad "Love to Survive" is one of three tracks that feature an orchestral arrangement by John Barham.

Joel Harrison

Joel Harrison is an American jazz guitarist, singer, composer, and arranger.

<i>Free Country</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Joel Harrison

Free Country is an album by the American jazz guitarist and arranger Joel Harrison released in June 2003. It consists of jazz interpretations of country and folk songs. The album contains musical contributions from David Binney, Uri Caine and, as a guest vocalist, Norah Jones. Free Country has received praise from music critics for its success in fusing the jazz and country genres.

<i>Brother</i> (Lon & Derrek Van Eaton album) 1972 studio album by Lon & Derrek Van Eaton

Brother is the debut album by the American pop-rock duo Lon & Derrek Van Eaton. It was released on the Beatles' Apple record label in September 1972 in the United States and February 1973 in Britain. It includes the single "Sweet Music", produced by George Harrison, and was otherwise produced by Klaus Voormann, a friend and longtime associate of the Beatles. On release, the album received favorable reviews from music critics but failed to achieve commercial success. Rolling Stone critic Stephen Holden hailed it as a "staggeringly impressive first album".

References

  1. 1 2 Harrison, Joel (2005). Harrison on Harrison: Jazz Explorations of George Harrison (CD liner notes). Joel Harrison. HighNote Records.
  2. Netsky, Ron (April 17, 2013). "Joel Harrison: Guitar chameleon". City Newspaper . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  3. Cleveland, Barry (January 30, 2014). "Joel Harrison's 'Holy Abyss'". Guitar Player . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Harrison on Harrison: Jazz Explorations of George Harrison (CD credits). Joel Harrison. HighNote Records. 2005.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. "Harrison on Harrison CD". joelharrison.com. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Kelman, John (November 14, 2005). "Joel Harrison: Harrison On Harrison: Jazz Explorations Of George Harrison". All About Jazz . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  7. 1 2 Collar, Matt. "Joel Harrison Harrison on Harrison". AllMusic . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Carlson, Russell (January 1, 2006). "Joel Harrison: Harrison on Harrison". JazzTimes . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  9. "Joel Harrison – Harrison on Harrison CD Album". CD Universe/Muze . Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  10. Monger, James Christopher. "Joel Harrison". AllMusic . Retrieved February 27, 2017.