George Harrison - Dark Horse
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Artist: George HarrisonBrand: HARRISON,GEORGE
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1992-01-28
Music Label: Emd/Capitol
Soundtracks:
- Hari's On Tour (Express)
- Simply Shady
- So Sad
- Bye Bye, Love
- Maya Love
- Ding Dong, Ding Dong
- Dark Horse
- Far East Man
- It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)
Music reviews of Dark Horse
Music Review: a rough-around-the-edges sound from George
Rating: 4 Stars
George Harrison's "Dark Horse" album, originally released in December of 1974, makes good on the theory that an artist creates their best work in times of personal turmoil. It's pretty hard to believe that less than 2 years after this album, he put out "Thirty-Three & 1/3", which is so much slicker & more polished than this, it's almost beyond all belief. For a huge portion of Harrison's solo career, he was stuck in "pleasantly engaging" territory (particularly in the 1976-1982 years). There's an arresting rawness to the album that you don't often find in George's work--it makes a big difference & it really works on here. However, it's rather inaccurate to call the album "sloppy"--track upon track actually features crisp perfomances--it's more accurate to say that it's simply rough around the edges. There's no need to worry that the album "doesn't sound like George"--there's plenty of his trademark excellent slide guitar playing throughout--but the album's vibe does set it apart. All that said, this album absolutely stands out in his discography, & it's a great place to go next if you're only familiar with "All Things Must Pass". George produced this album & it features some of his best songwriting. It starts off with the crafty, driving, highly enjoyable "Hari's On Tour (Express)" instrumental--I believe it was written with the intent of being the opening piece for his concert tour around this time (hence the title), & for lack of better terms, it really does have a "here we are"/ introductory feel to it--you can easily picture George introducting his band members over this music (it also considerably points the way down the road to his "This Song" sound). "Simply Shady" & "So Sad" are both splendidly tuneful, emotional ballads--granted, his vocals are overall rather shaky on these two tracks, but, that said, they're filled with feeling & the melodicism of the songs shine through--the former has incisive confessional lyrics, while the latter is a touching love song. "So Sad" clearly appears to be about George losing his love, Patti Boyd, to Eric Clapton, something he takes a step further on the following track, the ingenious de-construction/ re-construction of "Bye Bye Love"--George does away with the inane bounce of the Everly Brothers' original version, replacing it with this strongly dissonant, moody, start-and-stop version, adding lyrics that refer to "ol Clapper" (Eric Clapton) directly. He writes "Pattie + Eric Clapton" next to the track's name in the credits, but doesn't say what they actually do--I think it's quite clear that the rumour that they don't actually appear on the track at all is true--George writes the words "Rhythm Ace" next to the track, which clearly refers to the drum machine sound that is audible on the track (a drum machine in 1974!!), but with Patti & Eric not actually present, that means that George plays all the instruments on the track (he credits himself with "everything else"), & the results are uncanny. This track, plus the use of the title "So Sad" suggest George was on an Everlys kick around this time. "Maya Love" is an irresistibly fun mid-tempo track with great bluesy electric piano by Billy Preston, & great, characteristically layered slide guitar from George. The perennial New Year's anthem "Ding Dong Ding Dong" is also catchy & fun (featuring a standard 8-note church melody (like McCartney would later use as the intro to his "Let 'Em In") as its opening hook) even though it's very slight lyrically & a bit overly repetitive--George's voice is quite hoarse on this track. The title track is a solid, flute-laden track based on a savvy, catchy acoustic guitar riff & again featuring George in hoarse voice, making it easy to refer to the song as "Dark Hoarse", but he doesn't sound nearly as bad as some would lead you to believe. Another great track is the pensive, smokey "Far East Man" (with the music co-written by Ron Wood), which features charming friendship lyrics. Unfortunately, the album does end in quite weak fashion with the extremely slight, insanely repetitive "It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)", additionally marred by the excessive bubbling noises. Overall, this is a highly intriguing album--it's the kind of record that could understandably be referred to as a "tough listen" or an "acquired taste", but it's quite consistently strong, & it's a must have for anyone who's truly interested in George's music. "Dark Horse", despite its flaws, is often excellent, & it's strongly recommended.
Description of Dark Horse
George Harrison Photos
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More from George Harrison
 The Best of George Harrison |  The Concert for Bangladesh |  Living in the Material World |
 All Things Must Pass |  Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 |  The Concert for Bangladesh DVD |
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