George Songs 2

A continuation of yesterday's post with my favorite songs composed by George Harrison.  The last post covered songs George did with The Beatles.  Next up are the rest of my favorites, again in chronological order.

Badge (1968), written with Eric Clapton and released by Cream on its final album Goodbye.  It turns out the title came from Clapton misreading George's handwriting on the lyric sheet and thinking the word "Bridge" denoting the middle section of the song was actually "Badge" and the song title.

Beware of Darkness from Harrison's solo triple album All Things Must Pass (1970).  Strong lyric and beautiful melody.  Clapton, Ringo, Billy Preston, and a slew of other rockers contributed to the album.

What Is Life, also from All Things Must Pass.  I actually don't like the riff that introduces the song and the verse but the chorus is infectious.  As long as we're on All Things Must Pass, this is a terrific take on Isn't It A Pity from the Concert for George, with Clapton and Billy Preston on vocals.

Photograph (1973), written with Ringo Starr and released as a Ringo single which hit #1.  Here he is performing the song in 2009.  Sounds pretty good!

All Those Years Ago (1981), originally written by George for Ringo who didn't like the lyrics.  After John Lennon's murder in December 1980, George rewrote and recorded it.  Ringo is on drums and Paul sings harmony.  Here's the best sounding version but the one you want to watch is below:

Handle With Care (1988).  George wrote this as a single for himself and enlisted Jeff Lynne to produce. Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan got pulled into the production and the The Traveling Wilburys were born!

End Of The Line (1988).  Though all the Wilburys were credited with the composition, George composed most of it.  The video was made after the sudden death of Roy Orbison in December 1988; that's why you see an empty rocking chair when Roy's voice is heard.

Maybe somewhere down the road aways
You'll think of me, wonder where I am these days
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays
Purple haze

We'll let Ringo have the last word:

Not Alone Anymore

Roy Orbison born on April 23, 1936.  His vocal style and idiosyncratic songwriting were unique in popular music.  Someone described his voice as "the cry of an angel falling backwards through an open window" and it was the voice that defined him.  He was certainly not a stage presence - Roy was known for his lack of movement, even his mouth barely seeming to move as those beautiful sounds were coming out.

After a string of huge hits from 1959 through 1964, including Only The Lonely, Cryin' (THC's favorite) and Pretty Woman, Roy disappeared from the U.S. pop charts for two decades, although he remained popular and continued touring in Europe and his reputation among fellow musicians remained sterling.

In 1987 his career revived with the release of a new greatest hits album and a duet with k.d. lang on Cryin'.  It culminated with being inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame with a speech by Bruce Springsteen who said:

I wanted a record with words like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector—but, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now everyone knows that no one sings like Roy Orbison

In early 1988 while recording an album with Jeff Lynne (formerly of ELO) he joined Jeff's other project which eventually became the Traveling Wilburys whose other members were Tom Petty, George Harrison and Bob Dylan.   Their album was released later that year and became a surprise hit, selling two million copies.  Roy was not to enjoy his resurgent popularity for long dying of a heart attack in December 1988.

From the Traveling Wilburys here are Roy and the guys (who do a great job on the sha-la-las) performing Not Alone Anymore.