Surprising when you stop and think that only 22 songs from The Beatles' awesome canon of work were written by George.
in more or less chronological order, they are:
Don't Bother Me
I Need You
You Like Me Too Much
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
Love You To
I Want To Tell You
Within You Without You
Blue Jay Way
The Inner Light
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Piggies
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
For You Blue
Ruthless I know, but if you had to send 50% of them into permanent oblivion - which would you choose to lose?
And of those, which would be the first half dozen to go?
With a heavy heart I would be forced to jettison:
Blue Jay Way
The Inner Light
It's All Too Much
For You Blue
Piggies
Love You To
in that order, followed by (in no particular order):
I Need You
You Like Me Too Much
Within You Without You
Old Brown Shoe
I Me Mine
I think your list covers his underachieving songs pretty well. I'd keep I Need You and I Me Mine.
I'd then toss out Don't Bother Me and It's Only a Northern Song. I don't hate either of those. I'm quite fond of Northern song but it'd get pipped by I Need You and I Me Mine.
Be prepared Mr M for the replies along the lines of "Only 50%? I could chuck out 80!"
While I find all of them listenable, there are a few I can live without:
The first 6 to get the ax:
1) Blue Jay Way
2) Savoy Truffle
3) Old Brown Shoe
4) Piggies
5) For You Blue
6) Something (yeah, I know, but it's never been one of my favorites)
The final cut (now is where it gets difficult to choose):
7) You Like Me Too Much
8) Don't Bother Me
9) I Want To Tell You
10) Long, Long, Long
11) Within You Without You
Don't Bother Me
I Need You
You Like Me Too Much
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
Love You To
I Want To Tell You
Within You Without You
Blue Jay Way
The Inner Light
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Piggies
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
For You Blue
Ive bolded the ones I think are good/great songs
The rest I rate as filler (sorry George fans)
I wish he'd done 'What Is Life' with The Beatles - great song
As 'The Inner Light' would get in my Beatles Top 5 it's unlikely I'd chop that!
Actually, as they're so rare, I wouldn't chop any of George's contributions. It's a bit like a Ringo vocal, it might not be the best song but it somehow wouldn't be right not to have one.
When you factor in cover versions, weaker Lennon-McCartney songs, and a personal (slight) disregard for certain favourites ('In My Life', 'Walrus', 'Lucy', 'Sgt. Pepper's') I reckon George's 22 are pretty much on a par with the other 190 or so.
Story about 'The Inner Light'.....
In the absolutely DIRE 1980s there was no sport more entertaining, in London at least (things were that bad!), than finding a pub which still played 45s on the jukey, seeing if it had 'Lady Madonna', and allowing the 60s dodgers present to 'enjoy' the aural pleasure of 'The Inner Light'. You couldn't have elicited a greater shock than if you'd started limbo dancing in front of them. On one occasion I even remember a landlord turning the machine off!
In that staid, dull, conservative era, it REALLY sounded way out, and it's the main reason I hold it so dearly to this day.
Quote from: nimrod on Aug 11, 2014, 12:30 AM
Don't Bother Me
I Need You
You Like Me Too Much
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
Love You To
I Want To Tell You
Within You Without You
Blue Jay Way
The Inner Light
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Piggies
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
For You Blue
Ive bolded the ones I think are good/great songs
The rest I rate as filler (sorry George fans)
I wish he'd done 'What Is Life' with The Beatles - great song
I'm with you for a great deal. Not too fond of WMGGW, I'm one of the people that thinks that Clapton ruins the song. Instead I would choose Taxman. I Want To Tell You is not in my list and would replace it for Savoy Truffle.
I'm a George fan but I'd agree he had maybe half a dozen really good to great songs with the Beatles.
Here Comes the Sun
Something
WMGGW
Taxman
I Want to Tell You
If I Needed Someone
Then there's a few that are pretty good and I enjoy them.
Think for Yourself
I Me Mine
Savoy Truffle
Long Long Long (although the recording lowers my opinion of this one)
Some such as Northern Song and It's All too Much sound like they could have made it. Perhaps with a bit of help from his friends. Or George Martin. (It's a pity no one took to nurturing George a bit more. Although can't say whether he'd have welcomed it.)
Old Brown Shoe and For You a Blue are fun enough throwaways and while I wouldn't seek them out I dont skip them.
The rest are skip material.
Quote from: Bobber on Aug 11, 2014, 02:07 AM
I'm with you for a great deal. Not too fond of WMGGW, I'm one of the people that thinks that Clapton ruins the song. Instead I would choose Taxman. I Want To Tell You is not in my list and would replace it for Savoy Truffle.
I really like the acoustic version of WMGGW actually. I like the original too but the acoustic shows the basic melodic qualities of the song.
Quote from: Moogmodule on Aug 10, 2014, 06:02 PM
Be prepared Mr M for the replies along the lines of "Only 50%? I could chuck out 80!"
Well I'd say the opposite. Most of George's songs fit in well with the albums they're on, both musically and lyrically. I've never considered them as filller.
I'm at a loss for words when someone considers Taxman as expendable. It's an essential song on an essential album.
I'd jettison Long Long Long but I know a lot of people love that song. In any case I'd put Not Guilty in its place, so there'd still be as many George songs around on Beatles albums.
Quote from: zipp on Aug 11, 2014, 04:32 PM
Well I'd say the opposite. Most of George's songs fit in well with the albums they're on, both musically and lyrically. I've never considered them as filller.
I agree, zipp. I can't choose any that I dislike.
Quote from: Bobber on Aug 11, 2014, 02:07 AM
Not too fond of WMGGW, I'm one of the people that thinks that Clapton ruins the song.
I'm one of those who feel that Eric Clapton adds greatly to the song. Hearing it for the first time in 1968, I was impressed with the expressive lead guitar. We found out later who it was.
George seems to appreciate it too...
George Harrison and Eric Clapton - While my guitar gently weeps (HQ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDs2Bkq6UU4#)
2:19
I like how George and Eric Clapton play some harmony guitar at the end.
Quote from: zipp on Aug 11, 2014, 04:32 PM
Well I'd say the opposite. Most of George's songs fit in well with the albums they're on, both musically and lyrically. I've never considered them as filller.
I'm at a loss for words when someone considers Taxman as expendable. It's an essential song on an essential album.
dont be zipp, I just dont like it, never have, its all just opinions mate ;)
Quote from: nimrod on Aug 11, 2014, 05:32 PM
dont be zipp, I just dont like it, never have, its all just opinions mate ;)
Would this change your mind, Kev?
Taxman -- George Harrison and Eric Clapton (live) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8OgkjcW0g4#)
No Baz, its a nothing song to me, a little riff, like Birthday ;sorry
Quote from: nimrod on Aug 11, 2014, 06:47 PM
No Baz, its a nothing song to me, a little riff, like Birthday ;sorry
I always liked it but when I realised they'd based the taxman refrain on the Batman theme, like turned to love.
Quote from: nimrod on Aug 11, 2014, 06:47 PM
No Baz, its a nothing song to me, a little riff, like Birthday ;sorry
I love Birthday!
Don't Bother Me
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
I Want To Tell You
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
Hmph. I like all of these to an extent. Thats more then I figured I would.
Quote from: tkitna on Aug 13, 2014, 08:50 AM
Don't Bother Me
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
I Want To Tell You
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
Hmph. I like all of these to an extent. Thats more then I figured I would.
we like what we like Todd :)
Barry likes everything ha2ha
Quote from: tkitna on Aug 13, 2014, 08:50 AM
Don't Bother Me
Think For Yourself
If I Needed Someone
Taxman
I Want To Tell You
Long Long Long
Savoy Truffle
Only A Northern Song
It's All Too Much
Old Brown Shoe
Something
Here Comes The Sun
I Me Mine
Hmph. I like all of these to an extent. Thats more then I figured I would.
That's a great list and
very close to my own, although you've saved thirteen (rather than eleven) from the chop there. But if you were to lose "Old Brown Shoe" and "I Me Mine" and swap "It's All Too Much" for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which I think we all know you don't like) then it's exactly the same as my preferences.
Part of the reason I put this thread up was to see if anyone would leap to the defence of the Indian stuff. HG and zipp seem to approve since they couldn't bear to lose anything from the list, and OBS is a fan of "The Inner Light", but beyond that most of us seem to have chosen to swerve around the tabla/sitar driven compositions. I wonder if that's partly because they are so very much of their time and fickle Western ears have failed to embrace the aural demands of Eastern tonal music? Just a thought.
I never much rated "Within You Without You" until the LOVE project twinned it to "Tomorrow Never Knows"...wow! for me it took on a whole new dimension and I can now even appreciate the Pepper original and its profound lyrics a lot more than I once could. I'm not sure whether that tribal drumbeat woke up me or the track!
Also just a little shout up for "Don't Bother Me". Even George himself was dismissive of and "embarrassed" by it. But I've always had a soft spot for it, not just because it was Harrison's songwriting debut but because it strikes a wonderfully sulky, saturnine tone in sharp contrast to the gloriously upbeat sentiments being dished up by John and Paul at the time. Nice stubborn bit of independence from George I've always thought!
Quote from: nimrod on Aug 13, 2014, 05:13 PM
Barry likes everything ha2ha
;D
Wild Honey Pie is borderline, though. The only part I like is when Paul says "Honey Pie." ;)
Quote from: Mr Mustard on Aug 13, 2014, 08:01 PM
Part of the reason I put this thread up was to see if anyone would leap to the defence of the Indian stuff. HG and zipp seem to approve since they couldn't bear to lose anything from the list, and OBS is a fan of "The Inner Light", but beyond that most of us seem to have chosen to swerve around the tabla/sitar driven compositions. I wonder if that's partly because they are so very much of their time and fickle Western ears have failed to embrace the aural demands of Eastern tonal music? Just a thought.
I never much rated "Within You Without You" until the LOVE project twinned it to "Tomorrow Never Knows"...wow! for me it took on a whole new dimension and I can now even appreciate the Pepper original and its profound lyrics a lot more than I once could. I'm not sure whether that tribal drumbeat woke up me or the track!
I do find it hard to judge his Indian stuff. I go through moods of not minding it. And I think he fits in some good melodies. (Within You Without You has a really lovely melody). But I admit it is all a bit too out of my musical experience to pretend to get into it too much. It'd be interesting if anyone knowledgeable about Indian music could give us an opinion.
I sometimes think George was doing the "you cannot lose if you don't play" thing. Not downplaying his genuine interest in this music but given he had to write pop songs to compete with John and Paul, I'm not surprised he opted to do something so far removed from what they were doing that it couldn't be judged against them.
I'm glad these songs exist. I think it was an excellent thing for George to do. I think he did a pretty good job on them. But I only listen to them when they're part of an album I have on (meaning inner light never gets a run). I'd never put them on a playlist.
George's hybrid stuff on Wonderwall on the other hand I'm quite happy to listen to.
Quote from: Mr Mustard on Aug 13, 2014, 08:01 PM
Also just a little shout up for "Don't Bother Me". Even George himself was dismissive of and "embarrassed" by it. But I've always had a soft spot for it, not just because it was Harrison's songwriting debut but because it strikes a wonderfully sulky, saturnine tone in sharp contrast to the gloriously upbeat sentiments being dished up by John and Paul at the time. Nice stubborn bit of independence from George I've always thought!
I've always liked this song. I think its the darker, don't give a shit attitude it gives off. Like you said Mr. M, its a nice piece of independence from George and it threw a nice right hook to all of the innocent Beatle fans at the time that thought it was all rainbows and unicorns.
I'm not really a fan of 'Love' but that's an interesting slant on Eastern/Indian music.
Actually, living in an area with a large Asian population, one of my local libraries has an extensive Asian CD section.
Next week I'll go down there and get some of the pre-George Ravi Shankar stuff.
That Indian drone seems to have gone down well as a backdrop to songs ('Paint It, Black', 'Heart Full Of Soul', 'See My Friends', 'Norwegian Wood') but is less popular when IT IS the song.
I'm married to an Indian, so am exposed to the stuff at home, weddings, parties and funerals at very regular intervals.
Not once, on any occasion, have I heard music featuring a sitar. They regard this is a classical instrument, in much the same way we regard the violin.
The indian music I hear is much folkier and much more melodic. In fact, categorising "Indian" music is I suspect no easier than doing the same with "western" music.
I had lunch at the India Palace in Nasua, NH this afternoon. The buffet was really good. I had a 2 hour nap when I got home.
Quote from: Mr Mustard on Aug 13, 2014, 08:01 PM
That's a great list and very close to my own, although you've saved thirteen (rather than eleven) from the chop there. But if you were to lose "Old Brown Shoe" and "I Me Mine" and swap "It's All Too Much" for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which I think we all know you don't like) then it's exactly the same as my preferences.
Part of the reason I put this thread up was to see if anyone would leap to the defence of the Indian stuff. HG and zipp seem to approve since they couldn't bear to lose anything from the list, and OBS is a fan of "The Inner Light", but beyond that most of us seem to have chosen to swerve around the tabla/sitar driven compositions. I wonder if that's partly because they are so very much of their time and fickle Western ears have failed to embrace the aural demands of Eastern tonal music? Just a thought.
I never much rated "Within You Without You" until the LOVE project twinned it to "Tomorrow Never Knows"...wow! for me it took on a whole new dimension and I can now even appreciate the Pepper original and its profound lyrics a lot more than I once could. I'm not sure whether that tribal drumbeat woke up me or the track!
Also just a little shout up for "Don't Bother Me". Even George himself was dismissive of and "embarrassed" by it. But I've always had a soft spot for it, not just because it was Harrison's songwriting debut but because it strikes a wonderfully sulky, saturnine tone in sharp contrast to the gloriously upbeat sentiments being dished up by John and Paul at the time. Nice stubborn bit of independence from George I've always thought!
You're very perceptive. Yes, that's the body of his work as a Beatle. Opinions may vary, but none of the songs should be summarily dismissed.
"Raga Rock" was all the rage soon after Sgt. Pepper's was released. Ravi Shankar records sold well too! But George introduced us to Indian music well before it was vogue. Personally, I liked Tomorrow Never Knows and Within You Without You when I first heard them. When I first heard Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), I hoped that George would do more with his sitar in the future. And he did...in the most wonderful way.
I like Don't Bother Me too. George worked so hard on his debut effort...
The Beatles - Don't Bother Me (demo) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqRaQTB6WM#)
The Beatles - Don't Bother Me - Take 10 Quality Restored!!! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7I6P6mfU0#ws)
Don't Bother Me (take 11 and 12) / The Beatles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndm9PyAepZI#)
The Beatles - Don't Bother Me [Mono] (With The Beatles) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuSLdwGNEFU#)
Great song! :)
Cool little story about The Inner Light I just recalled.
Back in the late 70's, remember the album 'Rarities'? That was the first time I had heard TIL. I liked it.
I was at school and we were reading the novel of 2001:A Space Odyssey at the time.
I always felt the dreamy verses would've made good background music to watching the 2001 movie. I could picture this space ship moving through the galaxy while TIL played.
While I'm here - lol - it's cool to try and watch The Lord of the Rings films (or certain scenes from them) while playing specific Led Zep songs. For example...play The Song Remains The Same while the Black Riders are pursuing Arwen and Frodo in the first film. A lot of Zep songs have LOTR references anyway so it all kind of fits. Lol
Quote from: stevie on Aug 17, 2014, 01:05 AM
Cool little story about The Inner Light I just recalled.
Back in the late 70's, remember the album 'Rarities'? That was the first time I had heard TIL. I liked it.
I was at school and we were reading the novel of 2001:A Space Odyssey at the time.
I always felt the dreamy verses would've made good background music to watching the 2001 movie. I could picture this space ship moving through the galaxy while TIL played.
While I'm here - lol - it's cool to try and watch The Lord of the Rings films (or certain scenes from them) while playing specific Led Zep songs. For example...play The Song Remains The Same while the Black Riders are pursuing Arwen and Frodo in the first film. A lot of Zep songs have LOTR references anyway so it all kind of fits. Lol
I remember those rarities albums. I got both the US and Australian versions. Pretty lame in retrospect. I can't recall which album it was on but one was I am the Walrus where the major difference seemed to be an extra half bar on the intro. When you compare what was on these records with what came out on Anthology they seem pretty half assed.
(https://www.dmbeatles.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fd%2Fd5%2FTheBeatlesRaritiesalbumcover.jpg&hash=d51d7a3e21bc2acdf3d6b972777e01a533987930)
I had (and have) this one. When I got it, it thought it was very much an addition to what I already had. It was merely a collection of b-sides from singles and songs from EP's (Long Tall Sally) that had not appeared on a European album. In these days of an overwhelming offer on the internet, it does seem lame, but it once wasn't.
Quote from: Bobber on Aug 20, 2014, 05:23 AM
I had (and have) this one. When I got it, it thought it was very much an addition to what I already had. It was merely a collection of b-sides from singles and songs from EP's (Long Tall Sally) that had not appeared on a European album. In these days of an overwhelming offer on the internet, it does seem lame, but it once wasn't.
Same here. It is hard to believe now, but I had never heard Rain until this came out (didn't own the single, never played on the radio, not on any albums)
It's a bit unfair to compare 1979's Rarities with the much later Anthology offerings. I regard Rarities more as a sort of "proto-Past Masters", gathering up all those odds and ends that weren't readily available at the time.
What induced the real gasp of delight when I first plucked a copy from the record store rack was seeing those two German language recordings listed on the cover! Wow!!
Much later I got the US Rarities album. The best thing about that one as I recall was some never before seen (by me) photos on the inner sleeve!
Quote from: Bobber on Aug 20, 2014, 05:23 AM
(https://www.dmbeatles.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fen%2Fd%2Fd5%2FTheBeatlesRaritiesalbumcover.jpg&hash=d51d7a3e21bc2acdf3d6b972777e01a533987930)
I had (and have) this one. When I got it, it thought it was very much an addition to what I already had. It was merely a collection of b-sides from singles and songs from EP's (Long Tall Sally) that had not appeared on a European album. In these days of an overwhelming offer on the internet, it does seem lame, but it once wasn't.
This is from the Beatles Collection from 1978(?) which was all the UK studio albums plus this one of Rarities that came with it. Later it was released with a new cover in 1979/80. I remember buying the second version here in Oz in about 1980. I remember the inner photo collage was pretty cool. I should still have it in a box with all my other all records.
It was the first time I had heard The Inner Light as I stated earlier lol
(https://www.dmbeatles.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi357.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Foo16%2Fstevie49%2F504f46c3e2c4118abefe025b4799e9b5_zpsd861ef99.jpg&hash=ba005b6761f0608332a2d684661e9cfdd5fa4306)
Quote from: Mr Mustard on Aug 20, 2014, 02:03 PM
It's a bit unfair to compare 1979's Rarities with the much later Anthology offerings. I regard Rarities more as a sort of "proto-Past Masters", gathering up all those odds and ends that weren't readily available at the time.
What induced the real gasp of delight when I first plucked a copy from the record store rack was seeing those two German language recordings listed on the cover! Wow!!
Much later I got the US Rarities album. The best thing about that one as I recall was some never before seen (by me) photos on the inner sleeve!
I suppose having bought Beatles records in both the US and Australia, the holes in my collection were a bit smaller. The US albums for instance have the German versions. As well as I'll Get You, This Boy, Thank You Girl etc.
But yes there were a couple of new things. Like Stevie I think it was my first hearing of the Inner Light. And although I'd heard You Know my Name on those Beatle themed radio station days, I didn't have a recording of it.
And back then even one or two new Beatle tracks was worth the price of the album to me. It's just in retrospect that the wealth of really rare recordings that were later revealed suggested that calling the albums rarities was gilding the lily a bit. My criticism is probably more relevant to the US version, which I bought first, which I think was more heavily focused on slightly different versions of already known tracks. Like I am the Walrus and Penny Lane. The European version was as you say more of a collection of stuff not on albums there and as such would have been a valued collection.
I'm wondering what's happened to my copies now. I've kept all my Beatle records ( my daughter has stolen them for her turntable though).
Quote from: Mr Mustard on Aug 20, 2014, 02:03 PM
It's a bit unfair to compare 1979's Rarities with the much later Anthology offerings. I regard Rarities more as a sort of "proto-Past Masters", gathering up all those odds and ends that weren't readily available at the time.
What induced the real gasp of delight when I first plucked a copy from the record store rack was seeing those two German language recordings listed on the cover! Wow!!
Much later I got the US Rarities album. The best thing about that one as I recall was some never before seen (by me) photos on the inner sleeve!
Right. The Capitol Rarities LP kept me happy for fourteen years until the Anthology CDs started coming. I was able to listen to the piccolo trumpet ending of Penny Lane any time I felt the urge. :)
I like the Indian stuff. Adds a little curry to the dish.
:P
I used to love 'Rarities'.
Indeed, an expanded 'Rarities' that gathered up the other b-sides (e.g. Old Brown Shoe, Don't Let Me Down, Revolution) would find favour in my house. Could fit them all onto a single CD as well.