George Harrison's Indian Songs for the Beatles

Only three? Somehow I was expecting a lot more options.

These are pretty good all told. Possibly even his best three. Love You To has it I think.

WYWY

prefer the Sonic Youth cover tho

'Love You To', easily.

If I included the ones in which he plays sitar then John and Paul would win.

LYT > TIL >>>>> WYWY

'within you without you' easy, kite->64->rita would provoke a 'o god plz stop plz plz stop' otherwise. haven't heard 'the inner light' in a very very long time.

heard it this morning and Paul's right: it's got a beautiful melody. And it's the shortest of the three.

Inner Light for sheer gorgeousness and concision

'within you without you' easy, kite->64->rita would provoke a 'o god plz stop plz plz stop' otherwise. haven't heard 'the inner light' in a very very long time.

― balls, Sunday, October 20, 2013 6:37 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Meh. I skip 'Lovely Rita' anyway!

Only three? Somehow I was expecting a lot more options.

― Ismael Klata, Sunday, October 20, 2013 5:43 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I thought this too at first. I always had 'Blue Jay Way' down as being a bit of an Indian-influenced composition in the sense that it's pretty much a drone, but I suppose it couldn't be included in this poll because it doesn't have sitars or a tabla on it. I like 'Blue Jay Way' a lot, by the way, it's "bad trip" music.

like within you without you

"Within You Without You" because of George Martin's string arrangement.

Yes, where's 'Blue Jay Way'??!?!

LA, apparently.

"Within You, Without You." Love the others, though. Given Martin's brilliant strings on WYWY it would've been interesting to hear what he might've done on "The Inner Light" (not that it's in any way lacking).

blue jay way is the highlight of magical mystery tour, apart from the strawberry fiels add-on.

love you to is definitely the worst of these, within you without you the most sophisticated. inner light is beautiful

I love Wonderwall Music

never heard wonderwall music, somehow. i really love the inner light -- missed opportunity that harrison didn't get the incredible string band to back him up on a late 60s solo LP!

oh man "Blue Jay Way" is turgid shit

Wonderwall is half Indian classical stuff and half prototypes for Mark Mothersbaugh instrumental interludes in Rushmore

sounds good. thanks to a friend's "False Raga" mix CD, i've been listening to a lot of these sort of half-digested indian grooves from European musicians in the late 60s-70s. kind of a cool little sub-genre.

Gabor Szabo - Jazz Raga is pretty fun in that vein, funky pop jazz w Eastern gimmicks, good Stones cover

Just the ones George wrote--not surprisingly, like "Norwegian Wood" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" better than any of them. I don't have "The Inner Light," not even sure that I've heard it. Of the other two, "Love You To."

(And only then in a relatively large sample size.)

Oops!

i'm gonna be a minority here voting for the inner light

I probably am too.

quite hard to find on yewtub, quite beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH_twoe66HA

It's a lovely song. For me, it's unfortunately overshadowed (like many of the Past Masters 2 tracks) by vague associations with very bad early-90s first-person shooters, e.g. "Rise of the Triad" and the demo levels of "Hexen," which I must have been playing a lot of right when I got that CD. Not really a good fit but the music in those games must have sucked pretty bad.

Yeah, that's good--I was always aware that it was out there, but I think that's the first time I've heard it. To my ears, sounds more Indian than it does the Beatles (whereas "Love You To" sounds more like the Beatles than it does Indian).

It's a lovely song. For me, it's unfortunately overshadowed (like many of the Past Masters 2 tracks) by vague associations with very bad early-90s first-person shooters, e.g. "Rise of the Triad" and the demo levels of "Hexen," which I must have been playing a lot of right when I got that CD. Not really a good fit but the music in those games must have sucked pretty bad.

― Doctor Casino, Monday, October 21, 2013 4:32 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

haha, i used to listen to eno's "music for airports" while i played "doom", kind of weird in retrospect

Doom soundtrack (and Doom 2 moreso) is pretty badass though.

Right w you guys. I played through Doom and Doom II while discovering the Beatles albums. "White Album" I played over and over as I worked my way through Doom II. Though yeah those game soundtracks were great as well.

Wonderwall soundtrack is AMAZING. I agree that "Love You To" is probably the weakest song but I voted it. The instrumental parts are pretty great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtZW7SQABt4

i was not expecting a reference to Hexen on this thread :)

Beatles Anthology + iD software shareware just a right of passage for some people

my favorite is WYWY by a long way -- don't like the other two much.

clemenza, you've never heard the 'past masters' cds? i probably like those as much as any of the actual albums.

I know about them, just don't have them. When they came out in the late '80s, I felt like I had enough Beatles stuff, and I wasn't listening to them much at that point anyway. ("Yes It Is" is on one of them, right? That's one of my all-time favourites.)

yes, it is.

hexen rules

probably voting Love You To, but The Inner Light is one of those elusive underrated Beatles songs

voted for paint it black

Love You To, mostly because I love those distorted backwards guitars, but Blue Jay Way was the first one I thought of when I opened the thread.

'The Inner Light', I think, is the only one here to have actually been recorded in India.

Doom soundtrack (and Doom 2 moreso) is pretty badass though.

― Doctor Casino, Monday, October 21, 2013 5:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea they were pretty good. my computer speakers were busted though, that's why i played the eno record

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

easily LYT.

WYWY

LUV U 2

That's what happened with "Come And Get It." Badfinger would say, "Can we try it this way?" and Paul would be all, "No, because if we do it my way, it'll be a hit. Also, I'm Paul McCartney."

John otoh at least did a good job on Pussycats, but I think thats it for him...?

xpost:

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking of when trying to picture McCartney as a producer... McCartney had Badfinger copy his demo note-for-note, whereas Harrison allowed them to be themselves and just tried to get the tracks sounding as strong as possible.

xpost:

He was probably surprised at Harrison's early solo success (as all the Beatles were) but by /Cloud Nine/ I doubt he gave much of a shit - he'd already chalked up numerous hit singles and albums without The Beatles by that point, 'Mull of Kintyre' even being a UK million-seller.

If I'm not mistaken, it was around this time that Paul asked George about trying to write together. George basically told him to fuck off.

If I was George I would have said the same thing, tbh. By that point, Paul had a zillion co-writes with Linda (although I suspect this was a business move) and none with Harrison.

It was during the Cloud Nine/Wilbury era when Paul started making noises about wanting to write with George.

oh woops -- missed Tarfumes' post. Sorry!

this is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCTYXXg9ZZI

Ha, that's great.

Supposedly, Ringo (who was in the movie) refused to play on the Beatles re-recordings for Broad Street. He said to Paul, "Nope, I think we got it right the first time around."

someone explain the title of 'love you to' to me. he signs "i'll make love to you" and 'love you to' doesn't make any grammatical sense. was it a typo?

"Supposedly, Ringo (who was in the movie) refused to play on the Beatles re-recordings for Broad Street. He said to Paul, "Nope, I think we got it right the first time around.""

he played on them

he signs "i'll make love to you" and 'love you to' doesn't make any grammatical sense. was it a typo?

I'd love you to find an answer for that question.

McCartney produced Bonzo Dog Band, Ringo, and Mary Hopkin.

Mary hopkin is the worst

Also - the Fourmost, Peggy Lee, Mike McGear/Scaffold, Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, and a late '80s comeback record by the Crickets.

it's just the one Bonzos song, no?

I think so - "I'm the Urban Spaceman" under a pseudonym. It was a single for them.

A 1987 version of the Rockestra Theme by Duane Eddy.

Some serious manspreading going on in that George Harrison interview.

he played on them

― akm, Saturday, June 24, 2017 1:33 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Really? Hm. I know he played on other tracks on the soundtrack, but I think it's Peter Doggett's book that says he wouldn't play on the Beatles songs.

It was only because he couldn't find the brushes in time.

oh you're right. ha, I always thought he did play on those but I just saw a mccartney quote stating he didn't, because he didn't want to compare his original performances to the new ones

Those re-recordings are so fucking unnecessary.

Sure, but at least they got Paul to use "McCartney-Lennon" as the songwriting credits for the first time.

Thanks for the content guys---Alfred, I enjoy his voice with the Beatles and on his singles, but might get sick of it on a whole album, along with those 70s studio hacks you mention---would like to hear him sing "IT Don't Come Easy", which I didn't know he wrote and produced--maybe too bad he didn't do a duet album with Ringo---which reminds me, I liked his duets with Paul Simon on SNL, back in the 70s or early 80s.

*Some( of his singles, that is, mostly the later ones. Oh well, at least he gave us Handmade Films (for the sake of which, along world peace, he flew to Asian location and tried to mediate between Sean Penn and Madonna, yeesh).

along with world peace.

i think there's a version of "it don't come easy" with george on vox on some bootleg. it's not bad. i still like ringo's vocals better, but that could just be because i'm acclimated to them.

My old boss recently told me about coming in as a player on a session for McCartney's son (Paul was producing). He said Paul was excellent as a producer, very laid back about suggestions but with a keen idea of what he wanted sonically from each musician. Old boss said the kid was "fucking weird", though lol

i think there's a version of "it don't come easy" with george on vox on some bootleg. it's not bad. i still like ringo's vocals better, but that could just be because i'm acclimated to them.

yep, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=160&v=4p5yzdCa2GE

My old boss recently told me about coming in as a player on a session for McCartney's son (Paul was producing). He said Paul was excellent as a producer, very laid back about suggestions but with a keen idea of what he wanted sonically from each musician. Old boss said the kid was "fucking weird", though lol

― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, June 25, 2017 1:29 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Have you ever watched an interview with James McCartney? It's like gazing into an alternate universe where Paul McCartney is a fat, balding, introverted southerner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyi9Kqo3L5Q

Sure, but at least they got Paul to use "McCartney-Lennon" as the songwriting credits for the first time.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, June 24, 2017 11:31 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm sure there are some early records where its this way around..

Yeah, check the 'Please please me' lp...

Dig this one - Macca had bought the rights to LMD and PSILY, so he gets it his way round and published by himself alone!

https://img.discogs.com/pjGEk5ST4L9TJ9dCiYjBu_wVm5g=/fit-in/600x599/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-4411022-1397392446-3720.jpeg.jpg

I think it's always been "McCartney-Lennon" on that record. First pressings it is.

I had a '70s pressing, same thing.

True, it was always McCartney-Lennon on PPM. But the songs on Broad Street were Revolver-era, and originally listed as Lennon-McCartney (not that Lennon hand much to do with writing "Eleanor Rigby," but still).

On which version of Broad Street are they "McCartney-Lennon?"

None that I've been able to find looking on Discogs.

Even the most recent UK 45 of "From Me To You" is Mc-L on both sides! ("Thank you Girl" is very Lennon song)

On which version of Broad Street are they "McCartney-Lennon?"

― timellison, Sunday, June 25, 2017 10:13 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wikipedia sez:

A notable switch from past album song credits is the crediting of song writing to "McCartney-Lennon" as opposed to the usual "Lennon-McCartney" on all other albums.

It doesn't specify which issue. I don't remember anything in the music press about it at the time; it wasn't until Paul reversed the credits on his Back in the U.S. live record that people made a big deal about it:

On Back in the U.S., McCartney reversed the songwriting credits for nineteen Lennon–McCartney compositions to read "Paul McCartney and John Lennon"[11] – a move that author Howard Sounes describes as the live album's "chief point of interest".[12] This gesture was a further attempt by McCartney to establish his legacy following Lennon's death in 1980,[13] having been vetoed from adopting the McCartney–Lennon credit during the Beatles Anthology project in 1995 by his former bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr.[14]

The revised credits on Back in the U.S. incensed Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, who threatened to take legal action,[11] while Starr said he found McCartney's actions "underhanded".[12][15] Some commentators observed that McCartney had similarly credited his Beatles songs to "McCartney–Lennon" on the 1976 live album Wings over America[16] and that Lennon had never publicly objected to the reversal;[13][17] in addition, the compositions in question were written with little or no input from Lennon.[12][18] When compiling Back in the U.S., McCartney had decided to act in response to Ono's dropping of his co-writer's credit for "Give Peace a Chance", on the 1997 compilation Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon.[citation needed] Despite their differences on this issue, McCartney and Starr united on stage for the Harrison tribute concert shortly after the release of the live album.[19]

Citation here, hi.

I noticed the solo "Lennon" credit for "Give Peace a chance" at the end of the "Live Peace In Toronto" movie.

np.

I looked at a bunch of versions of Broad Street on Discogs including a '93 CD reissue and every one is Lennon-McCartney.

I thought it was Wings Over America on which the credits are reversed.

Yes

aw man for a second i thought y'all were all talking about macca's awful "P.S. Love Me Do" from the late 80s.

did he really?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJkRxeoBY70

a move that author Howard Sounes describes as the live album's "chief point of interest".

Cold.

That "P.S. Love Me Do"...it's too obviously bad to be as bad as it is. It's like when your car gets broken into, and you see the broken window and you have a split second of disbelief like, "No, there's no way that's my car, because if it was, man, that'd really suck." Paul manages to sustain that split second of disbelief for 3:44. That's pretty impressive.