George Harrison – Early Takes Volume 1 (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 30:32 minutes | 588 MB | Genre: Pop, Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Universal Music Enterprises
Early Takes Volume 1 is a pivotal compilation that features a wealth of previously unreleased recordings from Beatles’ lead guitarist, George Harrison. The stunning release is a depiction of Harrison’s genius as a singer-songwriter. Included are unheard demo versions of “Behind That Locked Door,” “Run of the Mill,” “All Things Must Pass” and “My Sweet Lord,” all songs that would be featured on Harrison’s breakthrough chart-topping release, All Things Must Pass. The album also boasts rare and early takes of the smash hits, “I’d Have You Any Time” and “Awaiting On You All”. Experience Harrison’s high-caliber songwriting with this alluring and intimate high resolution download.
– 4 out of 5 stars – “Collection of the artist’s demos provides an appealing portrait of the ex-Beatle as a working singer-songwriter.” – Ludovic Hunter-Tilney, The Financial Times
Originally released as part of the deluxe Blu-ray edition of Martin Scorsese’s 2011 documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World, the 2012 disc Early Takes, Vol. 1 rounds up ten of George Harrison’s demos dating from the ’70s. The exact dates are fuzzy, as the liner notes are little more than hagiography, but a quick scan of the titles pegs the great bulk of them — six, to be precise — from All Things Must Pass, with two others dating from 1976’s Thirty Three & 1/3 (“Let It Be Me,” “Woman Don’t You Cry for Me), another from Living in the Material World, the 1973 album (“The Light That Has Lighted the World), and, finally, a perfectly fine cover of Dylan’s “Mama, You’ve Been on My Mind.” Several of these are solo acoustic demos, some are rough band run-throughs, and nothing is all that far removed from the finished product, so the collection winds up just a tad anticlimactic for containing nothing but unreleased music: it all feels cozy. And while it’s hard not to wish there were a surprise or two along the way, the familiar warmth certainly has its charms, too.
Tracklist:
01. George Harrison – My Sweet Lord (03:33)
02. George Harrison – Run of the Mill (01:56)
03. George Harrison – I’d Have You Any Time (03:05)
04. George Harrison – Mama You’ve Been on My Mind (03:05)
05. George Harrison – Let It Be Me (02:56)
06. George Harrison – Woman Don’t You Cry for Me (02:44)
07. George Harrison – Awaiting on You All (02:40)
08. George Harrison – Behind That Locked Door (03:29)
09. George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (04:39)
10. George Harrison – The Light That Has Lighted the World (02:22)
