Sweet George (1987)

 

Sweet George

By Legs Labelle

Manchester Evening News

November 21, 1987

It's been five years since George Harrison's last album, Gone Troppo, which was virtually ignored by the critics and the public. So George has virtually ignored us for the past five years, but he has hardly been the monkish recluse he's been painted. He's running Handmade Films, popping up at live concerts and on TV specials, and making lots of music that he just chose not to release.

 But now George is back with a strong new album, Cloud Nine. We met when George was in LA to promote the new LP. Like many press people, I hadn't seen George since the '70s, and I too, had heard the rumors that he was drawing away from the material world, that he was retreating more into his spiritual pursuits.  That George the aesthetic was an apt description.

 What is most striking about George in 1987 is his brilliant sense of humor, his obvious strength, his surprising humility, real warmth, and a sense that he's very in touch with himself. And it was nice to be in touch with George again. We talked about everything from religion to gardening to his guitar style to yes the Beatles ("Are we still talking about them?" he asked.)  But the main topic of interest today is his new album. Here's what he had to say about it.

GH:  "I racked my brains for weeks and months trying to think of a title because I was trying not to have a song title. We had various titles. Had hundreds of them, but the next day, none of them seemed to work. You know, in the end, I just had to have some title, otherwise the album would have never come out. So, as there were clouds on the cover, we called it Cloud Nine.

L.L   You sit and listen to this record, and you know certain tracks, and in two seconds, you know it's George Harrison, because there is that distinctive sound

 G.H. (laughing and looking jokingly concerned).  Is that good or bad? 

L.L.  It's good. You want to be unique, don't you? It means there is a George Harrison guitar sound.

G.H.   Well, I suppose I should be thankful for that, because a lot of people sound the same as each other. It's just one of those things that came about, sort of our old Beatley sound and guitars, yeah?

 But you see, that was helped by having Jeff Lynne co-produce the record with me. Jeff, like some other people, was a big Beatles fan, and he himself went on to write some of the greatest pop tunes of the 1970s with Electric Light Orchestra. Jeff is really into all these sly sounds and stuff, all the nostalgic sounds as well. 

L.L.   Let's talk about the musicians on the album. You've got Elton, John on piano. What is it like working with him?

G.H.  Elton's fun. He's great. Elton was phoning up and sending messages through, saying, 'If you want me to come and do something on the album...' So when he got back to England after his Australian tour, I called him up and said, 'Okay, you're on tomorrow, two o'clock'. And he just nipped in and played. He's a great rock and roll piano player. 

L.L.  And then, of course, Eric Clapton....

G.H.   How did I get to meet him? (Laugh) We shared the same wife! 

 I've been friends with Eric for years. He's a lovely fella, and I love him very dearly. I just called him up again. You know, 'doing an album, Eric, can you come and play'? 'Sure.' He came over. Played great stuff. 

L.L.  Of course, Ringo is on drums.

G.H.   You could not make an ex-Beatles record without having Ringo. Could you?  If I play a song to Ringo, I don't need to say to him, 'I wanted to go like this'. I just play, and he joins in. He's got a great feel. 

L.L.  There have been so many technological changes just in the five years since you last made an album. What changes did you have to make because of the technology? 

G.H.  None. I was determined not to make one of those sort of clattery records like everybody else seems to be doing. I was going to make a record, something like 20 years ago, just like a rock and roll band making a record, except the modern technology is going to make it sound like it's just been made. I've avoided all those drum machines, those MIDI this and that and the other, and all those emulated little phony trumpets and stuff.  We had real playing. 

L.L.  What was your biggest change then in you personally that you brought to your music? 

G.H.  Just that I'm at ease with myself, maybe?  I was happy to be making the record, whereas in the past, I got a bit fed up and got bogged down by having to write, sing, and produce the whole thing myself. I was in a good mood to do this record, you know, I didn't really think of the business end of it. I've always felt that if I were to make this kind of music, I should not try to fashion any songs or my music to a pseudo market. I think that kind of thing was happening in the '70s. That's when I decided well, I'm getting at it here. It's like somebody once said, Take me as I am or let me go.