"Give Me More Of That...Uh...Gee-Tar" - The Final Farewell Of A Rock Legend
Written: Jun 20 '03 (Updated Jun 20 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: Beautiful melodies and lyrics, touching... Just amazing
Cons: Nothing worth mentioning
The Bottom Line: A little sad, a little optimistic, and a little spiritual. An amazing farewell from one of the most innovative and legendary figures in rock.
headlessparrot's Full Review: Brainwashed by George Harrison
Who’s your favourite Beatle?
In my experience, every big music fan I’ve ever encountered has had a favourite member of the Beatles. Something about this always strikes me as being a little silly and juvenile - I mean, do you have a favourite member of Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd (somehow I suspect that I’ll be overrun with comments telling me who peoples’ favourite Zeppelin or Floyd members are now)? So why do you have a favourite Beatle? Regardless, I find this phenomenon to be a very amusing and entertaining one. Is it John? How about Paul? Or maybe Ringo - the ugly one? Or how about George Harrison, the quiet one? I’ve noticed that the two most common selections are Paul and John (for obvious reasons, I suppose), and Ringo and George are usually about tied for dead last. But I think it’s safe to say that no matter who your favourite was (*sigh*… John… he’s sooo dreammmy!), you have to admit that good old George Harrison was the most criminally underrated of the bunch, the most talented musician of the bunch, and a more than capable songwriter.
Someone once asked me if the Beatles would be as successful a rock act if they had come out today rather than in the sixties. I wasn’t quite sure how to answer, exactly, but not because I don’t think the Beatles are an amazing band. I couldn’t answer, because the whole question was flawed and paradoxical - if the Beatles hadn’t come around in the sixties, it’s very likely that today’s rock would bear little resemblance to what it otherwise does. They’re that important of a group, and I doubt anyone can argue with that fact (although I’m up for a flame war if you are). But there is one fuzzy thing about the Beatles that I’ve never fully been able to wrap my head around. For one reason or another, the band as a whole is far superior to the sum of its members. John Lennon and Paul McCartney are both talented songwriters on their own, but when they get together with the admittedly rudimentary drumming of Ringo Starr and the beautiful guitar work of George Harrison, they sound almost infinitely better than each member does as a solo artist. Virtually ever Beatles album is a bona fide classic, where I can count on one hand the number of post-Beatles albums that are worth your time. Incidentally, most of those albums on that one hand have been recorded by George Harrison (and sadly, a couple of them are currently out of print, which is truly a shame).
When the Beatles finally called it quits after recording Abbey Road, Harrison wasn’t the first member to go off on his own solo career - but he was the first ex-Beatle to score a number one hit with My Sweet Lord. That particular song was the single from his expansive and ambitious double-album All Things Must Pass, what we all might as well accept as the definitive post-Beatles solo album (I can just hear the McCartney and Lennon fans loading up their shotguns and lighting their torches). The Beatles were home to three-and-a-half of popular music’s greatest song writers (Ringo gets a half because most of his songs were just so silly and inane whilst stilling being absolutely amazing… and because he’s one ugly mother), so it’s understandable that George didn’t get that much say in the writing process as a Beatle, which is why I think a solo career benefited him better than it did Lennon or McCartney. Harrison still had all those ideas lodged up in his head, whereas Paul and John may very well have exhausted their lyrical repertoire.
The success of the Beatles an his first solo recording allowed George to take on a number of charitable causes, but it also raised expectations for him. The Concert For Bangladesh took place soon after, with one of the three concerts being released on record and as a film, and a follow-up to All Things Must Pass was released in 1973. Unfortunately, most consider that record to be a disappointment of sorts, as did the two records that followed that. Several more recordings followed as Harrison drifted in and out of the public eye, but nothing in the late seventies or early eighties ever hit a real chord with the majority of audiences and critics. It wasn’t until 1987 that Harrison would put out another recording even near the stature of All Things Must Pass, an album that at that point toward ominously over anything else he’d ever done. Cloud Nine, assisted by the single When We Was Fab, returned Harrison to the top of the charts and finally destroyed the stigma that Harrison had become a one-trick pony. But it wasn’t long until the album’s sales began to fade and a tour in support of it garnered little attention. A stint with the Travelling Wilburys super group (composed of Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne of ELO and Roy Orbison) was well-received, yielding two excellent albums and a return to stardom but by 1991, he made a conscious decision and devoted himself more to his private life. He made few public appearances, of which most were related to Beatles releases or court cases, but tried to avoid the limelight. Some time between 1992 and 1999, Harrison began work on his next and what would ultimately be his final studio album, assisted largely by his son Dhani.
Already recovering from throat cancer, Harrison would end up back in the news as the result of an attack by an insane fan that nearly left the guitarist unable to use his fret hand. Almost as if it were just to prove a point, Harrison fully recovered, and work intensified on his studio album. Sadly, Harrison was found to have a serious form of brain cancer and he died like so many other men and women of this and generation have. On November 29, 2001, cancer took George Harrison’s life, triggering a period of morning for people everywhere for one of the most influential musicians of all-time. And to add insult to injury, he hadn’t even been able to finish recording his final record before his passing.
Life went on, eventually. Remasters of some of Harrison’s works were released (yet for some inexplicable reason, Cloud Nine remains officially out-of-print in the United States), as was a charity single. But then at some point or another, it was publicized that there would in fact be a final farewell album from Harrison. The songs on which Harrison had been working on, which would eventually make up Brainwashed, weren’t yet complete. But son Dhani and friend/Wilburys cohort Jeff Lynne took it upon themselves to finish what Harrison had started. They added some arrangements, back up vocals and guitar passages here and there, simply completing what Harrison almost had. Brainwashed was finally released (amidst minimal mention just about anywhere) on November 19, 2002, nearly a year to the day of Harrison’s untimely passing.
Brainwashed hasn’t sold nearly as well as it should have, but I suspect that there are a few reasons for that ( all of which just serve to illustrate how cynical the music buying public has become in recent years). Posthumously released albums, quite frankly, are often terrible. They reek of grabbing for some extra cash. They feature compositions that you just know somewhere in the back of your head that the deceased artist would never in their right mind approve of. Instrumentation is added where there should be none - the songs simply have the life sucked out of them from whoever was responsible for putting them together. Whether they mean well or not, it just doesn’t work out very often. For proof of this, all you have to do is look at the countless number of Tupac Shakur recordings currently flooding the market, not a one with very much to say. Then there’s the Jimi Hendrix catalogue, which could very well be the purest example of musical bastardization there ever has been. Between Hendrix’s death in 1970 and the time when his family gained control of his catalogue, there were hundreds of releases that Hendrix would never have approved of - impromptu jam sessions, joke sessions, silly outtakes. One producer even took it upon himself to record his own accompaniment for a number of unfinished Hendrix songs. If that weren’t enough, it’s fairly well known that Jeff Lynne had his hand in this particular project, and Lynne’s brand of electro-symphonic, dense pop songwriting is a tremendous contradiction to the way in which Harrison wrote and recorded. Would Brainwashed suffer from Lynne’s well documented style of slick overproduction and heavy-handed instrumental approach? It certainly was a possibility in my mind and in the minds of many others when Brainwashed was released. There’s no doubt that this was a labour of love for Dhani and Lynne, but were good intentions enough to produce a good album that was true to the legacy of the elder Harrison?
Fortunately, the good intention shown by the number of producers, engineers, musicians and collaborators on Brainwashed resulted in an album that defies the tradition of lacklustre posthumous releases. Simply put, Brainwashed sounds fantastic. With the skeleton instruments and vocals of most of the twelve tracks here already present, the key for Dhani was to accentuate what was already on tape without overdoing it, and in this he succeeded. The work he put in to finish his father’s final hurrah was tremendous, taking several months of intense work, all of which must have been emotionally exhausting considering the circumstances. But all the hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. Well, rather, it has. It’s literally impossible to separate what Harrison already had completed from what was added later on each and every one of these songs, which is, I suppose, the best compliment that you could possibly give to Dhani or to anyone else involved in the project. They might have filled the songs out a little, but at the heart, everything here remains an obvious Harrison composition, unspoiled by the added instrumentation or anything else that was done. If anything, the presence of Dhani heightens the experience of the recording because this is truly a family affair, and a remarkable one at that. Brainwashed is easily one of the best Harrison albums - no doubt in the top three.
The musical approach taken on Brainwashed is, by and large, very similar to the body of George Harrison’s work. Jeff Lynne’s contribution to the recording, luckily, didn’t change any of this. Like always, Harrison takes the low-key, calm and relaxed tone with his instruments, using fairly sparse arrangements that are lush, but not at all dense ore hard to penetrate. There are no synths or high tech effects to digitize or alter Harrison’s unique sound. The guitars are very natural sounding for the most part, utilizing only the smallest amount of distortion for a little bit of warmth. His guitar tone is absolutely mesmerizing - but then it always was - nearly on par with that of David Gilmour’s (who, if you follow my reviews, I consider to have the single greatest guitar tone in rock music history). It’s a nice mixture of warmth and energy. The rhythm guitars are jangly, upbeat and fast-paced for the most part, replaced by softer and more sombre accompaniments during the ballads or harder-edged tracks. Harrison’s infamous slide guitar is present in full-force, very similar in sound to the slide guitar used on classic Beatles compositions like Something and While My Guitar Gently Weeps. In addition to his acoustic guitars and slide guitar, he plays some electric, and the bass, and as always, makes use of a wide variety of instruments from different cultures. The ukulele and sitar play significant (if somewhat subtle) roles in the compositions. Jim Keltner’s drumming is very unobtrusive, making sure not to interfere with the low key, jangling guitars and passionate slide work. Lynne and Dhani added some additional, tasteful acoustic guitar flourishes here and there, using both acoustic guitars and a twelve-string, while Lynne also contributes some piano work with which he helps to emphasize Harrison’s subdued melodies. On the whole, Brainwashed sounds like a shockingly gorgeous amalgamation of slow blues, folk, jazz and pure pop, all combined in just the right way for just the right effect.
Harrison’s voice was never the strongest in the Beatles, but it was far from being the worst either. Despite throat cancer, his tone and unique enunciation remain virtually unchanged from his Beatle days. Like the music, his vocals are low-key, relaxed and calm - only once ever seeming to let aggression seep into them. Given the context of Brainwashed, you can’t help but admire someone who remains so upbeat and tranquil in the face of something so awful. Lyrically, you’d think that Harrison’s condition would be the focus, and the whole of the album would be a sombre affair. You’d be right, but only to an extent. There are some moments of Brainwashed that are absolutely drenched with pure emotion on the part of Harrison (and times, it feels, from everyone else playing). There are several cuts that find Harrison pondering about his future while also looking back on his past at the same time. You can literally feel Harrison coming face to face with his own mortality and accepting it for what it is, yet he never wavers from his optimistic notions - which is rather impressive. More than anything else, Harrison has realized that he didn’t have much time left, and the result is a man trying to say all the things that he wanted to say but hasn’t yet gotten the chance. Harrison ponders God, religion and spirituality on more than one occasion, but yet he seems completely unfazed, as if he personally knows the truth. The quiet reflections are some of the saddest, looking back at some missed opportunities. But it’s interesting that a good portion of the album isn’t simply filled with Harrison staring death straight in the eye. There’s a wry sense of humour about the whole situation, and George’s voice is filled with playfulness, as if music made him forget his troubles for just a moment. And while the sad looks back on his life do happen, they are also counteracted by Harrison reflecting in a more jovial tone, seemingly realizing that he’s done more in a lifetime than most people ever could hope to. There’s certainly some religious and (even more so) spiritual undertones to Harrison’s lyrics, but on the whole, Brainwashed seems to be filled with hope for the future - not so much for himself, but for his family and all of humanity. Brainwashed is Harrison making amends with everyone in his life, almost a self-eulogy, told with the same deprecating and wry wit that the man always had. There are times where you would normally be near tears, but Harrison’s perspective is just so beautiful and so clever that it doesn’t seem nearly as depressing as it could be. I honestly cannot say enough about the lyrics throughout Brainwashed. Harrison’s lyrical imagery is just beautiful, his prose is smart, and there is so much depth to each and every one of his thoughts.
“Give me, uh, plenty of that gee-tar,” George says to the engineer, the final spoken words of Harrison released in recorded form opening Any Road. Easily the strongest cut throughout the entirety of Brainwashed, Any Road is a very Travelling Wilburys-esque number, filled with upbeat, jangly guitars and soulful slide guitar licks as Harrison explains the importance of ambition in life, admonishing to the listener, “if you don’t know where you’re going/any road’ll take you there.” Some soft, almost subliminal keyboard and added acoustic guitar textures fill out the background, setting a lovely tone for the rest of the record. Pisces Fish is a very slow, melancholic number Harrison’s lovely, quavering face pushed up to the forefront, accompanied by strumming guitars and understated drums. One of the single most beautiful arrangements I’ve heard in years, it’s enhanced by Harrison’s thoughtful lyrics.
Sometimes my life it feels like fiction
Some of the days it’s really quite serene
I’m a living proof of all life’s contradictions
One half’s going where the other half’s just been
Looking For My Life returns a little bit to the Travelling Wilburys style - reflections from a dying man, while Rising Sun features just a touch of orchestration from Lynne, as Harrison’s cryptic lyricism seems to touch briefly on the 1999 attack that began a long string of misfortunes for the star. Marwa Blues is an instrumental, a slice of absolutely beautiful and soulful guitar work filled with raw passion and emotion, saying as much as any words could. Stuck Inside A Cloud instantly reminded me of My Sweet Lord, despite bearing only a passing resemblance in the first few seconds, before it turns into something all it’s own. Run So Far, a song that has already been embraced by Eric Clapton in concert, is probably the only obviously unfinished track on the album, with George’s vocals multi-tracked and the guitar part seeming slightly forced - but it’s still an excellent song, sombre and introspective, yet optimistic at the same time.
A cover of the traditional Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea features only George and his trusty ukulele, but as the song progresses from verse to verse, the instrumentation gradually picks up and another instrument joins in the proceedings in what is one of the most upbeat performances on the recording. The title track Brainwashed closes the record, a somewhat preachy sounding number that lists all of the aspects of modern life that frustrate the late guitarist. Using a song structure that immediately reminded me of a blues version of Smoke On The Water, this track is one of the few moments when Jeff Lynne gets an opportunity to texture and orchestrate a somewhat dense melody, and it works somewhat effectively. Truth be told, even six months after picking up this record, I’m still torn on the title track. It has it’s moments, but it does sound a little forced and faux-angry. Harrison’s outburst (if you could call it that) gradually fades away, replaced by the recitation of a peaceful yoga aphorism by Isabela Boryzmowska, a somewhat defining moment for the album and for Harrison’s music and life as a whole.
The more I listen to Brainwashed, the more it grows on me. It certainly isn’t the best post-Beatles solo album by any of the Fab Four (that one still has to go to All Things Must Pass), but it’s easily in the top five. It isn’t a tremendously accessible record, but it’s raw, emotional and passionate, the last statement from a dying man, reflecting back on a life that saw him change the conventions of pop and rock music. Harrison’s lyrics are powerful, beautifully written, and filled with all sorts of deeper, thoughtful meaning. His (and Dhani and Lynne’s) arrangements are absolutely beautiful, tasteful, understated and appropriate considering the tone of the record, and the songs as a whole are appealing. There’s nothing that immediately stands out like When We Was Fab, Got My Mind Set On You or even My Sweet Lord, but every song on Brainwashed knows it’s place and knows exactly the purpose it serves. Brainwashed is consistent, powerful and compelling - a definite must-have for any Beatles fan or Harrison fan. George Harrison will be missed, but Brainwashed is an excellent reminder of the legacy that he will forever carry.
The eagerly anticipated George Harrison album Brainwashed, released posthumously, was produced by George, Jeff Lynne and Dhani Harrison, and features ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.