#paul hicks

[greensparty]

Album Review: George Harrison "Living in the Material World" 50th Anniversary Edition

Through this blog I've had the honor of covering The Beatles a number of times over the years and just this month I got to review their new box set. Now I am getting the chance to review a new reissue from my favorite Beatle, the Quiet One himself, Sir George Harrison. In 2021 I got to review the 50th anniversary edition of his magnum opus All Things Must Pass, but this is only the second time I've gotten to review a Sir George album. Now to celebrate the 50th anniversary (actually the 51st but who's counting!?!), Living in the Material World is getting the deluxe edition treatment.

album cover

Originally released on May 30, 1973, it went to #1 on the album charts and went gold in the U.S. It got a remastered released in 2006. Then it was remastered again for inclusion in the 2014 box set The Apple Years 1968-75 (which I named my #1 Reissue Album of 2014). This new 2024 edition was overseen by George's widow Olivia and son Dhani, who have done a great job with his reissues since George's 2001 passing, and a new mix from Paul Hicks, who is part of Dhani’s band Thenewno2 as well as a noteworthy producer who worked on the music for the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. Disc 1 is the 2024 mix of the album. Disc 2 is alt versions and alt takes. Some versions also include a 7" single of the newly unearthed "Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)" and a blu-ray of the deluxe edition in blu-ray audio. There's also some excellent liner notes and photos from that era.

50th anniversary edition

For the album itself, it was a solid follow up to All Things Must Pass...even if it wasn't nearly as amazing as that album. It kicks off with "Give Me Love (Give me Peace on Earth)", the only single off that album. Then it goes into "Sue Me, Sue You Blues", one of the many examples on Beatle solo albums where they were lashing out at each other on their own albums, i.e. John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?", only this was Sir George's sadness about all of the lawsuits between The Beatles and each other. The album features some trusty musicians including Sir Ringo Starr, who shared drum duties with Jim Keltner, and the late great Gary Wright on keys. But much of the album is about living in the material world and searching for a higher guiding light beyond material things (I'm sure there's a joke that could be made about this box set being a material thing fans need to buy!?!). You always felt like Sir George was hunting higher game than other rockers of his era, especially when you hear an album like this. The alternative takes and rarities are interesting but don't really add much to the album. In the end, it's great to see this get the remastered treatment it deserves!

For info on Living in the Material World

Original album: 4 out of 5 stars

50th Anniversary Edition: 3.5 out of 5 stars

[mitjalovse]

Being a musician whose parents are hugely famous can have a share of perks, though we can agree this type of players have to prove more later on. Sure, they can easily churn out their debuts, yet they eventually reach the point, where they have to show they are more than their name. This might be the reason Dhani Harrison formed Thenewno2, since he wished to hide his name behind a faceless entity. The early works of the band did achieve this thanks to them sounding unlike anything Dhani's father did. Sure, you can point the similarities between their voices and the vicinity of their soundscapes might be close, though Thenewno2 felt something closer to the indie rock of the time than a possible modern revival of Fab Four.

[theladyvv]

The Panther goes from strength to strength. #dundaslife

Apparently Dhani wrecked his finger while whittling. So that explains that. Ouch!

[fuckyeahdhaniharrison]

George Harrison’s son pens soundtrack for new M.I.A documentary

George Harrison’s son Dhani has played a key role in the making of M.I.A’s upcoming biography documentary.

Looks like Dhani and Paul Hicks teamed up to create the soundtrack for the new M.I.A documentary. Curious to see when it’ll be released.

[rsvillustration]

thenewno2

This took about 1 1/2-2 weeks to work on. Lots of restarts and lots of learning, but it was fun to do.  I’m really proud of the final result.

[oliviasflapjacks]

Photo Credit - George Harrison offical facebook page/ Jeff Kavitz (Getty Images)

"I have an overdeveloped sense of duty," says Olivia, sitting in the Santa Monica offices and studio where her son Dhani Harrison and collaborator Paul Hicks create music for TV and film. "It obviously means everything to me."

For the book, that meant locating handwritten lyrics for songs George created for the five albums he recorded after the memoir's original release and before his death from cancer in 2001. She found the material in cupboards, piano benches and throughout Friar Park, the playfully Gothic estate the onetime Beatle purchased in 1970 and where Olivia still resides.

"The lyrics were all over the house," Olivia Harrison says of her late husband's words, compiled in 'I Me Mine.' Courtesy of Republic Media "The lyrics were all over the house," she says. One piano bench used regularly by keyboardist Billy Preston during visits to George's home studio was filled with 20 years of work, and one desk was loaded with lyrics and Polaroid photos just from 1973. "It was pretty much a revelation. There would be spiral-bound notebooks. Some of them would go back to the Sixties. Others would be around the [Traveling] Wilburys time. Some were in the Eighties."

Inside George Harrison's Newly Expanded Memoir by Steve Appleford. Rolling Stone 2 March 2017

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-george-harrisons-newly-expanded-memoir-w469872

[berkshire-blues]

Some Paul Hicks and Dhani Harrison

[greensparty]

Album Review: George Harrison “All Things Must Pass” 50th Anniversary Edition

When The Beatles broke up in 1970, George Harrison wasted no time getting right to work. Literally a few weeks later he began recording a backlog of songs he had written. The result is his third and best solo album All Things Must Pass that was officially released on November 27, 1970. Co-produced by Phil Spector this is George’s magnum opus. I’m going to throw my cards on the table and say this is also the greatest solo album by any Beatle! The fact that he was only in his late 20s when he was recording this, shows he was so wise beyond his years. This is a triple album and you also got the sense that George was excited to be out on his own with his own songs after Lennon-McCartney dominated so much of The Beatles. Truly a phenomenal beautiful album and even features a few songs co-written by Bob Dylan and sessions with Eric Clapton, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton and some of the guys from Badfinger. Last month, UMe released a special 50th anniversary edition (almost 51st anniversary actually but who’s counting) and I was lucky enough to get to review the 5-CD / 1 blu-ray box set.

album cover

Like a lot of fans, you’re probably wondering, “how many remasters can they keep making of the same album?” In 2001, there was a 30th anniversary edition that Harrison himself oversaw less than a year before his death at age 58. That edition included a hand full of bonus tracks. In 2010, there was a special 40th anniversary reissue in a limited edition vinyl box set. In 2014, there was a remastered edition included on the phenomenal The Apple Years 1968-75 box set and it included many of the features from the 2001 edition. So for this anniversary edition, George Harrison’s son Dhani and executive produced this and it was mixed by Paul Hicks, who is part of Dhani’s band Thenewno2 as well as a noteworthy producer who worked on the music for the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World. The version I got to review is the Super Deluxe Edition.

the Super Deluxe Edition

CD 1 and 2 are the 2020 stereo mix of the original album. It’s being called the Paul Hicks Mix. I need to give this a few more listens to fully appreciate it. I was a big fan of both the 2001 and 2014 remasters. This Paul Hicks Mix is not bad by any means (its really hard to make this album sound bad), its just different. CD 3 and 4 are demos that were recorded on May 26 and 27, 1970. These are worth the price of this deluxe edition alone. A lot of the time you listen to demos on a deluxe edition and its just Take 3 that is the same song and maybe they flub a few lines or notes. Here it felt like we were getting a peak at some really early incarnations of the songs on this album. There’s some that don’t appear on the album itself and there’s some funny parts too (to give it away would spoil the fun). CD 5 is the session outtakes and jams recorded from May 28-Oct. 7, 1970. Some good awesome nuggets within a lot of rehearsal jams here. Then there’s a blu-ray that has the album in blu-ray audio as dolby atmos as well as DTS-HD master audio and PCM stereo options too. It’s kinda interesting to hear it in different ways. Included in the box set is a poster replica of the original album poster that was a shadowy George where his hair and beard blends into the shadow. And finally there’s a photo book curated by George’s widow Olivia complete with photos, lyrics, quotes from George and an interview with Dhani and Paul. 

George Harrison circa 1970

Bottom line: This is one of the greatest albums of all time and I knew going into this box set that it was going to be fantastic. Having said that, the 2020 Paul Hicks mix is going to take some more listens to really assess it, but in the mean time the demos and jams are out and out amazing and we are so lucky to be able to hear this! The packaging itself is just as good if not better than the last few Beatles reissues like The White Album and Abbey Road. It is still one of the best albums ever made and still the best album by a solo Beatle, and that is saying something!

For info on All Things Must Pass 50th anniversary editions: https://www.georgeharrison.com/all-things-must-pass-50th-anniversary-out-now/

Original album: 5 out of 5 stars

50th Anniversary Edition: 5 out of 5 stars