Now edited!
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| I'm not sure if George likes gymnastics or not. |
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| Two trophies that I don't remember being won. |
Well, that's an easy one. George Harrison's 'Cloud 9' was released in 1987 and was produced by E.L.O. mastermind Jeff Lynne. Typically, a musician of George's character and reputation needs a producer who will just sit back, push buttons, and let the musician do his thing. Never in his life has Jeff Lynne been that kind of guy. When Jeff Lynne produces a record, he wants the whole world to know its him behind the control board. In any other situation, I'd say a strong musician in combination with a strong producer destroys the original musical vision of the project. However, I'm gonna let that slide. There will be a few other examples of these epic musician/producer combos. Savor the flavor, because they are pretty rare.
Side one begins in standard form with the title track of the album "Cloud 9." The song begins with some interesting almost sitarish sounding guitars. The two guitars remain throughout the song, somewhat slide and somewhat clean pickin', its a great combo. The sitar sound shouldn't be too surprising here, George frequently showed his love of Indian music on Beatles albums. Another frequently shown love is that of orchestral music by the album's producer. Those with a keen eye for 70's music will take note of the production job of Jeff Lynne. Lynne is unmistakable as a producer. That orchestral and synthesizer driven sound was perfected in E.L.O. and found its way into more than a few Lynne produced albums. On the opening track, the orchestration is mainly a horn section stamping down on the overall rhythm. Next up is "That's What it Takes," a song that lyrically is strong as anything George wrote in that other group he was in. The song seems to be about accepting that, change in life is inevitable and sometimes you just have to tough it out. The song is advising those who are listening not to shy away from the moments that could really be significant. If you don't put yourself out there, nothing will happen...nothing bad, but also nothing good. The guitar is similar to what's been heard already, a great slide sound as well as a clean picker in the background. The acoustic strumming is also present to give the overall structure to the song. Musically, it is an 80's song, but this one is timeless. Produce it anyway you desire and it'll work just fine. "Fish on the Sand," is a great song that kind of brings me back to a time when I wasn't even alive. In the 1960's a woman tried to come between two friends. George Harrison and Eric Clapton both were head over heals for Pattie Boyd, a young British model who first dated the former, than ended up with the latter. This must have been one hell of a woman cause she inspired countless songs by both men. "Something," "I Need You," "Layla," "Bell Bottom Blues," "Wonderful Tonight." Pretty good list of tunes. With that history of love and longing for the same woman its no stretch to say that George and Eric can really pound out a love song. "Fish on the Sand" is that kind of song. Not sure who its directed to, Harrison's wife Olivia? Recalling the old times of Pattie with his buddy Clapton? Who knows, but just listen to those lyrics, he's still got it. 'I'm not so much of a man, I'm like a fish on the sand.' Pretty harsh, I can hear Dr. Evil right now, 'throw me a frickin' bone!' Anyway, musically its also a good song, but I've wasted enough valuable blog space on this one. Moving on we arrive at "Just for Today," a song that uses a very simple instrumentation of primarily piano and strings. I'm gonna warn you, its not an uptempo dance competition. The song seems to be about depression. The lyrics yearn for just one day, one night even, when things aren't going wrong. Well damn, maybe just take a night for yourself...play some Wii golf, have a Klondike bar, or watch "Destroyed in Seconds" on the Discovery Channel. That'll perk up anyone faster than those objects can be destroyed. As the song slowly rolls forward it adds some slide guitar work that is worth noting. Slide guitar is a great sound, but its even better when done slowly. That slow and even climb up the fretboard and resulting sustain just shoots right into you, its hard not to feel something when you hear that sound. Up next is a song that tries to improve on your mood after the last track. "This is Love," is more uptempo but uses that same slow slide guitar. It also features a couple other guitars, one palm muting the rhythm chords and another playing descending riffs at key moments of the verse. I'm no musical expert (which is a problem considering that's what I attempt to display in this blog), but this song appears to be about love. The word appears about two dozen times in the song but honestly it seems to be in a bitter kind of way. Kind of like saying, 'this is love...sucks doesn't it?' Well maybe I'm missing the point, but honestly it really has that feel to it. I have to say the one element that creates the bitter feeling is that little synth riff right after Harrison delivers the line 'this is love.' Its a descending combo of notes that goes minor and just brings you down. In a major key I'm guessing the lyrics would feel much different. Amazing what a key change can do. Closing side one is a great tribute to Harrison's musical past, "When We Was Fab." This track discusses the life that Harrison lived for about a decade while a member of the Fab Four. It covers all the wonders of rock star life in the 60's, having it all, running from the cops, no privacy, and the joy of living in tax exile. Now, I'm not sure how the whole tax exile thing worked, but just about every British musician had to live outside the country for a period of time to avoid the 'Taxman.' Being the big single on the album, the influence of Lynne is a little stronger than the others. The writing credits put Lynne first and Harrison second, which is really not that shocking. The music is all Lynne, orchestral, piano fills, multiple backing vocal which sound like they've been run through a phaser, and that ever present 70's pop sheen. Here concludes side one, but fear not, side two contains plenty of additional gems.
After a quick flip side two begins with the best song about tabloid media since Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry." "Devil's Radio" is a song that goes after gossip and those that peddle it. Musically the song is a more straight ahead rock tune more than anything else on the album. The clean guitar is gone and the slide even adds a little grit to its tone, all with the glossy Jeff Lynne sound. "Someplace Else" is a slower number that finds George's guitar weaving a beautiful tapestry of sound. Again, the lyrics have that 'got to get you into my life' feel that was heard on "Fish on the Sand." This time, it seems George got the girl, but he can't imagine life without her. He's admitting that without her, he just couldn't get it together and would simply not make it. Its a sad song, thanks mainly to the slide guitar, but at the same time its quite a beautiful love song. Next up is "Wreck of the Hesperus" which simply can't be a love song...no, not with a title like that. This song seems to be the Rock and Roll equivalent of a grizzled man telling stories "'bout the things I seen." The references in the song are numerous and really I don't have time to try and analyze them all. Next time you're bored and feel like doing something useless, make a list of them and feel free to post it in the comments section. "Breath Away from Heaven," sounds to me like another downer. It starts...whoa...what the hell? Either my record player just fell into a stargate, or George Harrison has developed a taste for Far Eastern music. With a sound straight out of Japan this track comes way out of left field. Familiar technique is there, the strings seem to linger in the background, but that's about all that is recognizable. Lyrically, you've heard it a few times, a woman who has had a great impact on George's life. Who is it this time? I have no clue, but we'll assume its Olivia and not Pattie coming back to be a thorn in everyone's side in the name of great music. The album concludes with the classic that EVERYONE knows. The popular music barometer for this song is off the charts. Catchy hook? YES Easy to remember lyrics? YES Music video with a squirrel playing a saxophone? YES Weird Al Parody? YES. Well that's everything you need, its a hit! Weird Al had a good time with the fact that the reason the lyrics are so easy to remember is because 'this song is just six words long.' Wait a minute, Al, where'd you learn to count? Hmm...well it seems Al is a graduate of Cal Poly School of Architecture, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say his minor math error was really just poetic license. Believe it or not, and I myself am learning this for the first time, this song is a cover! It was written by Rudy Clark and first performed by James Ray in 1962. Well, isn't that something. I should've known this was a cover...there's no mysticism, no Hindu, no pining after British supermodels. Yeah, it all makes sense now. The resulting song is pretty good, though it does sound like a throw away that was tagged on the end. This could be the record company ensuring there was at least one commercially viable single. What, you think there's no integrity in that? Well he's George Harrison, what have you done lately?
George Harrison certainly had the reputation to carry himself anywhere he wanted to go. Interestly enough, he chose to go with Jeff Lynne on this record. As previously stated, this could've been a distaster. Too many chefs, yadda yadda yadda, BUT that did not happen here. George's vision and Jeff's production live in harmony on this album. The other Beatles certainly made their own marks. After the Beatles broke up in 1970, they would go on to various musical paths. John did his thing with Yoko and some solo stuff that produced very well known songs. Ringo would work sessions and record a few solo albums, not a huge impact, but very solid. Paul would become a force to be reckoned with, though I must say, he's better with John. George I think had the best post Beatles career. Maybe, because he never had much input into the Beatles songwriting, he had a lot of good ideas saved up. Or maybe, he just needed to find a few more women to write about.
Strongest Song: That's What It Takes
Weakest Song: Got My Mind Set on You, but seriously, try not to tap your to this one.
Song You Know: Got My Mind Set on You, When We Was Fab
Why You Might Hate It: Jeff Lynne Production drives you crazy.
Buy It? Probably don't need this one on vinyl. Its a good record, I'd say get a couple tracks on MP3...how about Devil's Radio, That's What it Takes, and Someplace Else.
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