George Harrison – Early Takes Volume 1 (2012)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 30:33 minutes | 618 MB | Genre: Rock, Pop
Studio Master, Official Digital Download – Source: HDTracks | Artwork: Digital Booklet | © UMe
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 – My Sweet Lord, Demo
02 – Run of the Mill, Demo
03 – I’d Have You Any Time, Early Take
04 – Mama You’ve Been on My Mind, Demo
05 – Let It Be Me, Demo
06 – Woman Don’t You Cry for Me, Early Take
07 – Awaiting on You All, Early Take
08 – Behind That Locked Door, Demo
09 – All Things Must Pass, Demo
10 – The Light That Has Lighted the World, Demo
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