All things at once

Nearly everything George Harrison did solo. By Jim Irvin

From its arresting lenticular double portrait on a burgundy box inwards, George Harrison – The Vinyl Collection (UMC) HHHHH has been beautifully realised. Thirteen LPs, from Wonderwall Music to Live In Japan, warmly reproduced from original tapes, plus two picture-disc 12-inch singles, in a Friar Park Studio tape box. Anyone who’s ever rated Harrison will purr, though the £350 price tag is chastening. However, all 13 vinyl editions will be available separately. Contemplating an artist’s complete works in a box-set binge feels very different from just selecting an album. The timing and circumstances of the individual releases become irrelevant, the spottier albums rise to meet the masterpieces – it’s just about the work and how pleasurable or not it is to

wallow in. I was surprised by Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound. One I knew, one I didn’t. Not what anyone wanted from a Beatle at the time (1968-69),

both now give fascinating

windows onto the past. Wonderwall Music’s filmic snippets of psychedelia and Indian classicism celebrate an ingenuous time.

Electronic Sound is akin to listening to George unbox his first synthesizer, so basic he even tries out his scales, but its spooky hoots and farts become oddly engaging. Perhaps the best solo Beatle LP, All Things Must Pass is a generous cornucopia of passionate performances. Perhaps too generous and passionate for some: Phil Spector’s production may be considered overblown and the third album of matey jamming tends to stay in the box, but its strengths far outstrip its weaknesses. Its 2000 remaster had extra sparkle, but it’s good to hear it again as nature intended. I recalled Living In The Material World as a downer, George wearing his pious hat. But it’s lovely, some very fine singing and playing on songs reflecting turbulent times, spiritual doubts, the pressures of ever-greater fame and the protracted fade-out of his marriage to Patti. Stronger than memory served. Dark Horse, on the other hand, is still a mess. It flopped in the UK and, consciously or not, George coasted from this point, though every release has a couple of jewels. It wasn’t until Cloud Nine, the Jeff Lynne one, that George made another truly strong album, approachable today as a soft-rock treat. However, the, posthumously released Brainwashed was probably his finest set after All Things Must Pass, gathering signature themes and sounds for an apt farewell.

“ELECTRONIC SOUND’S SPOOKY HOOTS AND FARTS BECOME ODDLY ENGAGING.”