George fans have been longing for details about the upcoming album. The news has been slim; if you're a regular reader here, you know we've been on top of what little there was. It's come, so far, in bits and pieces. (Thank you, Dave Clark 5.)
But now, we finally have more details. The album George had been working on for two months before his death, formerly called "Portrait of a Leg End" (reflecting George's humor), is now called "Brainwashed." The album, to be released Nov. 19, 10 days before the anniversary of his death and 15 years after the release of his last album, "Cloud Nine," will be a combined effort from EMI and Dark Horse Records, the label Harrison established. It will feature 11 original tracks and one yet unnamed cover. Harrison did some of the production prior to his passing; Jeff Lynne and George's son, Dhani, will continue the work.
Here's the text of the EMI press release (special thanks to Terry Ott):
For Immediate Release
September 9, 2002
New George Harrison Studio Album Released This November
Dark Horse and EMI Recorded Music are proud to announce the release of "Brainwashed," the new George Harrison studio album written and recorded before he died in 2001. Produced by George, Jeff Lynne and Dhani Harrison, the album features eleven new Harrison compositions and one cover.
"Brainwashed" is the first release of new Harrison material since the 1987 album "Cloud Nine."
"We started working on the album in 1999," Jeff Lynne explains. "George would come round my house and he'd always have a new song with him. He would strum them on a guitar or ukulele. The songs just knocked me out."
Dhani Harrison and Jeff Lynne spent much of this year completing the final work on the album. "George talked about how he wanted the album to sound," Jeff adds. "He told Dhani a lot of things he would like to have done to the songs and left us little clues. There was always that spiritual energy that went into the lyrics as well as the music."
David Munns, Vice Chairman of EMI Recorded Music said: "EMI is thrilled to have this new affiliation with Dark Horse. George Harrison is an absolutely legendary artist and this is an extraordinary record and a testament to his genius. We are proud to offer this album to the world."
"Brainwashed" will be released in North America on Tuesday, November 19, 2002.
Several song titles -- "Valentine," described in Billboard as a "power ballad," and "Pisces Fish," which Billboard called "a partially autobiographical rock hymn," and "Love's Got a Hold on Me" and "Doing the Bonzo Dog," which were mentioned by drummer Jim Capaldi, have been known for a while, as has what is now the title song, "Brainwashed," which Billboard.com describes as a song directed at his former manager. The 1999 Billboard interview with George described it as "a blistering anthem about social delusions in a world running down," with the lyrics alternating between scathing and witty.
"I need to get that last song out of my system," George told the late Billboard editor-in-chief Timothy White in a 1999 interview. "To have someone sit at your table with your family every night and then betray your trust is one of the worst experiences imaginable. Sometimes songwriting is the only way I can respond to the outside world, to exorcise its demons."
Harrison reflected on his philosophy for the album in an interview with Rolling Stone: "I don't listen to anything, and I don't read the papers, and I don't watch TV, and I don't go to concerts. And so my music, it doesn't matter if I did it twenty years ago or if I did it tomorrow. It doesn't go with trends. My trousers don't get wider and tighter every six months. My music just stays what it is, and that's the way I like it."
To end off his 1999 Billboard interview, George answered Timothy White's question about how he as a songwriter would answer the "awful era that Dylan once recognized would arrive." His answer gives a few more clues to the album.
"Well, I say that everybody knows they're all being brainwashed, by everything. So in my music, I just sing a rock 'n' roll song about the power of love on "Valentine," or about the eternal river that keeps flowing through this area near my home in "Pisces Fish," or I sing (quoting from his new song, "Brainwashed"), "God, God, God, won't you lead us through this mess?!"
Final note: ABC News.com reported "Horse to the Water," the collaboration with Jools Holland that was the last new Harrison song to be released before his death, won't be on the new album.
http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/news/geospeaks.htm
