Saturday, February 25, 2023

If You Open Up Your Heart, or: Born Eighty Years Ago Today

The best Beatles song is a George song:


The best Traveling Wilburys song is a George song:



My second most listened-to album of my life is a George album:



My favorite song ever is a George song:





I've always I loved George most, people can vouch:


2 comments:

  1. Vouching.

    Also, the Pirate Song. And Frankie Crisp.

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  2. Few may now realize that the cover of Extra Texture was orange-peel textured but I ran out and bought that when it was released (and all other George Albums, along with all other solo John and Paul albums (I even got Ringo's Klaatu-covered album as a cassette in a mail order music club deal: I will never be able to describe the ecstasy of getting those bright bundles of sound in the mail as a teen). The Cracker Box Palace vid, on SNL, was a SENSATION, as a topic, in school the following Monday... just like Kate's Them Heavy People was. I must admit that some of George's songs became a little diluted, for me, as I dived into music as a technical pursuit, over the years, but the main 2 discs of ALL THINGS MUST PASS remain giants. What Is Life and If Not For You are still a glittering showroom in my romance-driven libido, Beware of Darkness and All Things Must Pass are autumn twilights of increasing relevance as I soar towards a resounding impact, with my eventual home, in the dirt-sky and The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp keeps the jiggling flame of the Mystery Religion of Nehru-jacket Surrealism alive in my heart. But, to get back to the matter of George's technique (and the question of dilution): not a week ago I found myself instructing a top notch guitarist I'd hired for a new project: "Don't shred it... I prefer composed solos like George Harrison's stuff! I want a solo I find myself HUMMING!" This young, George-skinny guitarist (from Ukraine) nodded, smiling. Of course! Of course he loved George.

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