Something in the way he grooves
George Harrison
“Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison”
Capitol/EMI
Being an ardent George Harrison devotee, I thought I’d be too biased to review this new collection of hits, the first to span his entire career as a solo artist. But believe me, there is an unmatched freshness in its newly mastered sound that makes “Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison” a worthy pickup for anyone.
George has always been my favorite Beatle, perhaps because I thought his music to be the most soulful and uncomplicated. Sure, he is often regarded as the third-best member of the group, and his commercial success was rather spotty compared to the other two, but his “All Things Must Pass” triple album from 1970 still outshines anything Lennon or McCartney ever did solo (yes, including “Imagine”).
Having said that, “Let It Roll” features an extensive compilation of Harrisongs (19 of them, actually) that leads us deep into the artist’s musical journey. According to Ron Hart, although the record is not exactly a complete or ideal set — the collection could have easily been beefed up to anthology status given there are much stronger tunes in Harrison’s solo catalog than, say, Ringo’s — it certainly does an excellent job in showcasing the guitarist’s sonic abilities.
Sequenced not chronologically but almost seemingly by vibe, the tracks that ultimately made the cut here are cross-faded as though they have existed side by side on the same record player for years. For instance, the segue between Rising Sun from “Brainwashed” and “Cloud Nine”’s phenomenal tribute to his old mates, When We Was Fab flows one into the other so perfectly. The same can be said for the blending of Blow Away off Harrison’s eponymous 1979 effort into the thankfully-included Cheer Down from the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack, not to mention Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) fading into the “Let It Roll” title track, The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp — originally featured on “All Things Must Pass.”
While stubbornly elitist Beatles fans might wonder why the likes of If I Needed Someone and Taxman have been excluded from the set, the inclusion of his “big three” from his Fab Four output — While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something and Here Comes The Sun — are imperative for any collection with George’s name on it. That plus the fact that the versions here come from the Bangladesh concert album seems more appropriate for the project. Another great surprise inclusion is Harrison’s little-heard cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Don’t Want To Do It,” which was originally featured on the soundtrack to 1985’s comedic bomb Porky’s Revenge.
Sure, one can rail against the executives who oversaw the creation and production of this album and their decision to omit such fine cuts as Love Comes To Everyone, This Song, Pure Smokey and Crackerbox Palace from 1976’s diamond-in-the-rough “Thirty Three & 1/3.” It’s understood that there are only 80 minutes on a CD, but these omissions — not to mention the exclusions of such rarities as Tears Of The World or Bangladesh, the 1971 charity single that spearheaded the famed concert and has only appeared on album once via the first Harrison compilation — could have made this very good single-disc set into an excellent double-disc compendium.
Nonetheless, any Beatles fan, be they casual or hardcore, would benefit from adding “Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison” to their CD shelves, as it is gorgeously packaged in a tastefully designed cover with a 28-page booklet loaded with great information and amazing photos, making it one of the finer Beatle-related reissues in recent years.
“The keyhole into the world of George Harrison is the music itself. Yet his songs and the accomplishments for which he’s remembered are inextricably bound — and those accomplishments are, without question, eclectic in scope,” Warren Zanes writes in the liner notes for the album. It’s true. “Let It Roll” is a wonderful introduction to George Harrison if you are somehow not familiar with his solo work, and a wonderful set of memories if you’ve been following along. And while this collection lacks a number of his best songs, it’s nice to see that George is back again in the limelight.
Besides, such a tribute has been long overdue.
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(Author’s note: Some info taken from Jam Base)
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E-mail: estabillo_rt@yahoo.com.
