George Harrison - Extra Texture

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Music Review: Extra Texture (Read All About It)
Rating: 4 Stars

One thing you will find on this album and on George's next album "Thirty Three and a Third" (1976 and out of print?!?!?)
is that Harrison had a very soulful voice. Moreso than McCartney's Little Richard impersonations and Lennon's nasal derived voicings. Whats most pleasing to hear after a few years away from this album, is that George Harrison had a pretty [darn] good falsetto and upper range voice. "The Answer's At The End" has one of his best vocal performances recorded.

I've read a previous review where it's said that the staunchest anti-Beatle reunion participant (Harrison) constantly made reference to The Beatles songs in his solo work. Sorry, but thats no different than any of them apart from Paul. Lennon, Starkey and Harrison all made reference to Beatles years in their solo work. I find the most hypocritical of those three to be Lennon, not Harrison. The man who said he did not believe in Beatles went an awful long way to make sure "How Do You Sleep" hit its target (McCartney), and to release such a petty and nasty song at someone you've said you didn't care about anymore a year previously is just hypocritical. The Beatles were these 4 individuals past, they can say what they like about it in song, jest or interview.

The standouts on this album are "Tired of Midnight Blue", "World of Stone", "Can't Stop Thinking About You", "The Answer's At The End", and "You". Even Harrison at his supposed worst wrote very good songs, and when listening to 1975's other offerings from ex-Beatles, you know I'd rather hear "Tired of Midnight Blue" than Paul's "Magneto & Titanium Man". Whatever the tale was that inspired Harrison to write "Tired . . . " it is a very twisted tale and quite dark in tone. Not a nice subject, but the thing is no matter what the darkness of the story, this song is upbeat, has an amazing hookline in it and is sung with great voice and character. It has a very New Orleans / Rhythm & Blues verse and chorus and a very smooth jazz bridge. Up and down in mood, "Tired of Midnight Blue" is an underrated gem.

This and "Dark Horse" are the albums by Harrison absolutely trampled on (apart from "Gone Troppo" and "Somewhere In England"). It's also been said that this is the last album Harrison made of concentrated spiritual message. Wrong. Every album he wrote had spiritual tone and lyric throughout. Just because you don't see 'God' written in the lyric, doesn't mean its not about God. "Dear One" (from 33 1/3) is just as spiritual in tone as "The Lord Loves The One (That Loves the Lord)" from 1973. He never stopped talking about God in his songs. That you think its about God you find in a bible or in a church is up to you, but if anyone had listened to the lyrics of All Things Must Pass's "Awaiting On You All" , Harrison said you'd have a fat chance of finding God in any of those places or things. That this man is seen as preachy by the populace is absolutely infuriating to me. On Extra Texture itself he says "Wise men you won't be to follow the likes of me . . . ", whereas Lennon, who is absolutely raised on a pedestal, told you to follow him if you wanted to be a Working Class Hero. Harrison tried not to let ego infiltrate his songs, which is what the whole rock world and pop culture is about -- EGO. That is why Bono, McCartney, Elton John, and a host of others are raised way above their stations in life, but contribute very little to the conscience or the pursuit of life outside the SELF. Would you rather see another egotistical Jennifer Lopez in the world, or another self-involved Lennon complaining Harrison hadn't included him in his auto-biography about gardening, cars and guitars? There is too much I ME MINE in the world, and Harrison tried to tell you all about its destructive qualities, but you shoved it back in his face and told him he was better being The Quiet One.

Great.

Buy Extra Texture if you've had enough of [bad stuff] in your musical collection and "Baby Hit Me One More Time" just doesn't have the punch that it used to anymore.

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