The material world of George Harrison

Often the most forgotten among The Beatles, George Harrison’s music continues to shine on just like the first time my mother took ‘lil ‘ol me to a first class hotel. It was awe, bewilderment and yearning all at once.

“Living In The Material World” was Harrison’s second solo album following the fab four’s break-up in 1970 and its lyrical focus revealed his continuing mission to explore God’s spiritual themes. Many people would hear his message. Five weeks after its release in May 1973, the LP and its carrier single Give Me Love simultaneously occupied the number one positions on the US albums and singles charts.

For some, the early years of the ‘70s were a disappointing unraveling of the optimistic music scene of the previous decade but Harrison’s career seemed to prove otherwise. His first post-Beatles album “All Things Must Pass” — a triple LP set featuring the worldwide classic My Sweet Lord topped the US and UK charts at the beginning of 1972. In August of that year, Harrison concocted those extraordinary concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York to help raise awareness and money for the starving refugees from Bangladesh. The commercial success of the live album was naturally emphatic and unprecedented — another triple LP box set that was a best seller around the world — and it eventually won the Album of the Year Grammy Award. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the achievement of the concert was an “incandescent revival of all that was best about the sixties.”

“Living In The Material World” continues this successful phase of Harrison’s solo career, though it was created without any thought of chasing any currently commercial trend. George simply sang what was on his mind, and its prelude to a record permeated by spiritual yearnings was Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth) — “a prayer and a personal statement between me, the Lord and whoever likes it.” Musically, it set the tone for the rest of the album.

Try Some Buy Some dates back to the sessions co-produced by Harrison himself and the legendary Phil Spector for “All Things Must Pass.” He had actually given the song to one of his favorite female vocalists at the time (I forget who it was), for a single released on The Beatles’ Apple label. But on this one, using the same backing track, he simply substitutes his own vocals to the original, which, to many a lot, sounds a heck of a lot better. John Lennon even generously recalled how he was inspired by the melody of the song’s string arrangements to write the classic #9 Dream.

The slide guitar licks Heard throughout “All Things Must Pass” had already, by this time, become his patented solo sound; and it was equally prominent on this record. The exquisite dual harmony slide parts on Give Me Love were integral to the track’s gentle power and on other parts, particularly Sue Me, Sue You Blues, as Mr. Harrison reveals a more bluesy side to his playing — more bottleneck than Hawaiian in style. Its gritty edge complemented the sardonic character of a song which he wrote during the period of legal tussles sparked by the Beatles’ break-up.

For the most part, the songs on “Living In The Material World” were created to rise above secular distractions. Harrison constantly expressed something that was not run of the mill, while deep spirituality and musical virtuosity were always present. The gentle ballads, including The Light That Has Lighted The World (one of my favorite tracks), are heartfelt reflections on how to live a spiritual life on the turmoil of this materialistic home of ours ” ‘…where there’s so little chance to experience soul’. The joyous Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long picks up on the ‘really want to see you’ theme of My Sweet Lord.

But ultimately, the spiritual nature of the tracks on this rather overlooked set of gems is mirrored on the gatefold LP sleeve, which features not the quaint, good looks of a legendary rock star, but rather an illustration from the Bhagavad-Gita (Haribol!).

So if your hearts and minds are wide open listening to “Living In The Material World,” you’d learn that at its foundation are the late  Harrison’s unwavering sincerity and love for music. More on wellness and stubborn grit never to sell-out, these are rare qualities in mainstream pop that should always be treasured. Indeed, a welcome and timely re-issue.

Happy birthday, George. We miss you.

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(Author’s note: Many thanks to Kevin Howlett and to all those wishing Harrison was still here with us. All glories to Sri Krsna.)

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Email: estabillo_rt@yahoo.com