by Jake Topp
Up until the end of The Beatles career many people dismissed George Harrison's contributions to the band because he was overshadowed by the greatness of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
He had written a lot of songs while he was in The Beatles that he wasn't able to get onto their albums (due to being pushed out by John and Paul's songs). Because of this, he had a huge amount of songs saved up and ready to go when he recorded his debut solo album which was 1970's All Things Must Pass which ended up being a triple album (although the 3rd LP of the album was instrumental jams rather than proper songs).
In this article I highlight seven of George's best post-Beatles songs (many of which appear on that first album which is truly excellent). This list is not in any particular order and I don't claim they are necessarily the seven best, just seven solo Harrison songs that I think are worth a listen.
"My Sweet Lord" - This is probably Harrison's most well known solo song so it's likely you have already heard it. If not, you should seek it out. It's track two on the first LP of All Things Must Pass. It's definitely a "Beatles quality" song that would have been at home on an album like Abbey Road.
"What Is Life" - This another very well known solo George song that you've likely already heard. It's track #5 on the first All Things Must Pass LP. Like "My Sweet Lord," it's a very uplifting song that is absolutely brimming with life.
"All Things Must Pass" - The final track on the first All Things Must Pass LP. I think this song is truly beautiful, perhaps my favorite solo George song. Although, I think I actually prefer the very basic version heard on The Beatles Anthology 3 (yes, he had already written this great song while he was with The Beatles and couldn't get it onto one of their albums).
"Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" - The lead track on his 1973 album Living in a Material World. It was a #1 hit in '73 although it doesn't seem as well known today as "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life", still it's reasonably well known. It's a really sweet catchy little tune. And it's got a lovely message too, doesn't it?
"I Live for You" - This is a really great little tune that I only recently became familiar with. It was originally recorded for All Things Must Pass in 1970 but Harrison decided the recording wasn't good enough to include on the album. It was remastered and included on the 2001 version of All Things Must Pass as a bonus track.
"Beware of Darkness" - Another All Things Must Pass track. I feel a bit bad for mostly ignoring Harrison's later work on this list as I don't think it's terrible. It's just that his early '70s stuff (particularly this album) is just so good.
"I'd Have You Anytime" - This song was co-written with Bob Dylan. I love it's dark mood. This was actually the very first song on his debut solo album (which I've already mentioned the name of about 74 times in this article so I'm refraining from naming it this last time) and what a great way to begin his solo career!
Jake Topp recommends http://www.MusicByDay.com as it's a great music blog for people interested in both older and new music.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
John Lennon's Five Best Solo Albums
by Jake Topp
Sadly John Lennon's solo career wasn't nearly as long as that of his former songwriting partner (Paul McCartney) because Lennon was killed by a lunatic when he was only 40 years old.
But during his 10 year solo career Lennon did release a number of very good solo albums and it's those albums that I'm featuring in this article. There are five solo Lennon albums that I think are particularly worthy of a listen.
Plastic Ono Band (1970) - In my opinion, Lennon's first solo album was also his best. From the opening bells of "Mother" this is a dark emotionally stark album that leaves the often fantastical world of The Beatles far behind. "Mother" is about his mother's death and his father leaving him as a child. Yeah, this is heavy stuff. The song ends with "primal screams" where it sounds like you can hear his voice being ripped apart by some sort of wild beast. Then there's the heavy rock of "I Found Out" and the lyrics of "Working Class Hero." This is Lennon at his most powerful.
Imagine (1971) - While Plastic Ono Band seemed to be Lennon leaving the sound of The Beatles far behind, with Imagine he sort of returned to it with a much more commercially palatable album. It's also a really good album that's probably his most consistent as far as song quality. If I were to give someone one album to get them into Lennon's solo career, it would be this one. Everyone knows the title track but there's also a lot of other great songs such as "Crippled Inside" and "Jealous Guy."
Mind Game (1973) - I think this album and the next one (Walls and Bridges) are too often overlooked. Are they as good as his first two albums? No, I don't think so. But they are still really good albums that don't deserve to be dismissed. This is actually a pretty fun upbeat album, even though it has a lot of serious political themes.
Walls and Bridges (1974) - The most well known songs on the album are probably "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" and "#9 Dream" but they actually aren't very good representatives of the album as a whole. My favorite track on the album is definitely "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out").
Double Fantasy (1980) - His final album was released not long before his death and it contained some really great songs like "Watching The Wheels" and "Beautiful Boy" which makes one wonder what kind of great music he could have made during the rest of the 1980s if his life wasn't cut short by a madman.
Jake Topp is a big fan of the http://www.HomeStudioEssentials.com blog because it helps him with learning how to record his own John Lennon covers.
Sadly John Lennon's solo career wasn't nearly as long as that of his former songwriting partner (Paul McCartney) because Lennon was killed by a lunatic when he was only 40 years old.
But during his 10 year solo career Lennon did release a number of very good solo albums and it's those albums that I'm featuring in this article. There are five solo Lennon albums that I think are particularly worthy of a listen.
Plastic Ono Band (1970) - In my opinion, Lennon's first solo album was also his best. From the opening bells of "Mother" this is a dark emotionally stark album that leaves the often fantastical world of The Beatles far behind. "Mother" is about his mother's death and his father leaving him as a child. Yeah, this is heavy stuff. The song ends with "primal screams" where it sounds like you can hear his voice being ripped apart by some sort of wild beast. Then there's the heavy rock of "I Found Out" and the lyrics of "Working Class Hero." This is Lennon at his most powerful.
Imagine (1971) - While Plastic Ono Band seemed to be Lennon leaving the sound of The Beatles far behind, with Imagine he sort of returned to it with a much more commercially palatable album. It's also a really good album that's probably his most consistent as far as song quality. If I were to give someone one album to get them into Lennon's solo career, it would be this one. Everyone knows the title track but there's also a lot of other great songs such as "Crippled Inside" and "Jealous Guy."
Mind Game (1973) - I think this album and the next one (Walls and Bridges) are too often overlooked. Are they as good as his first two albums? No, I don't think so. But they are still really good albums that don't deserve to be dismissed. This is actually a pretty fun upbeat album, even though it has a lot of serious political themes.
Walls and Bridges (1974) - The most well known songs on the album are probably "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" and "#9 Dream" but they actually aren't very good representatives of the album as a whole. My favorite track on the album is definitely "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out").
Double Fantasy (1980) - His final album was released not long before his death and it contained some really great songs like "Watching The Wheels" and "Beautiful Boy" which makes one wonder what kind of great music he could have made during the rest of the 1980s if his life wasn't cut short by a madman.
Jake Topp is a big fan of the http://www.HomeStudioEssentials.com blog because it helps him with learning how to record his own John Lennon covers.
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