Dark Horse (George Harrison album)

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Dark Horse
George Harrison studio album

Publication
(s)

0December 9, 1974 ( US ) ,
December 20, 1974 ( UK )

Label (s) Apple Records , EMI Group

Format (s)

LP , MC , CD

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

9

running time

41 min 19 s

occupation
  • Roger Kellaway - piano
  • Max Bennett - electric bass
  • Neil Larsen - synthesizer
  • Andy Newmark - piano
  • Derrek Van Eaton - vocals

production

George Harrison

Studio (s)

chronology
Living in the Material World
1973
Dark Horse Extra Texture (Read All About It)
1975

Dark Horse is George Harrison's third solo studio album after the Beatles split up . At the same time, including the two instrumental albums from the 1960s and the live album, it is Harrison's sixth album. It was released on December 20, 1974 in the UK and on December 9, 1974 in the US .

History of origin

The recordings for Dark Horse took place in November 1973 and between August and September 1974. At the time, George Harrison was simultaneously engaged in several musical and business projects. In addition, the separation of the Harrison couple fell into this phase. Pattie Harrison began a relationship with Eric Clapton , a close friend of George Harrison.

In March 1974, George Harrison produced the album Shankar Family and Friends at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. On March 28, 1974, he founded OOPS Publishing to better control his business interests. On May 23, 1974 he founded his own record label under the name Dark Horse Records , whose record productions were distributed by A&M Records . George Harrison himself was contractually bound as an artist to Apple Records until January 26, 1976 . In September 1974 the first album The Place I Love by the group Splinter was released on the new label. For this album, George Harrison took over the production activities and also played a large part of the instruments. Harrison also produced the Ravi Shankar Music Festival from India album on September 23, 1974 , which was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in London .

During this time Harrison began to record his own album. On the negative side, Harrison suffered from a laryngitis , which caused his singing to suffer badly. Another unfavorable circumstance was that the musicians were under time pressure, since a North American tour had been scheduled for the beginning of November 1974 and rehearsals were to be carried out beforehand. Between November 3 and December 20, 1974, 45 concerts were held in 26 cities. Only two recordings of the tour were released: For You Blue was released in February 1988 on Songs by George Harrison and Hari's On Tour (Express) was released in June 1992 on Songs by George Harrison Two . These two limited releases are each a four-title EP with illustrated books, all copies of which have been signed by George Harrison. During the tour on December 13, 1974, Harrison visited US President Gerald Ford with Billy Preston and Ravi Shankar, among others .

George Harrison with Billy Preston (left), US President Gerald Ford (right) and Ravi Shankar (far right), December 13, 1974

In contrast to Living in the Material World, the Dark Horse album dealt with much less religious and philosophical topics; so only It Is “He” (Jai Sri Krishna) deals exclusively with the religious view of George Harrison. Ding Dong, Ding Dong deals with the New Year; while the instrumental piece Hari's On Tour (Express) announces the North American tour. Harrison wrote a new text for Bye Bye Love , a cover version of a song by the Everly Brothers , in which he dealt with the separation from his wife. The track Dark Horse was recorded live. The piece Far East Man wrote Harrison along with Ron Wood . Wood's version of the song appeared on his I've Got My Own Album to Do in September 1974 . Harrison changed the arrangement and the lyrics in his recording.

Parts of the recordings took place in Harrison's own home studio FPSHOT (Friars Park Studio, Henley-on-Thames). The album was completed at A&M Studios in Los Angeles .

The upper half of the face of George Harrison and Olivia Arias , his girlfriend at the time and later wife, can be seen on the labels of the LP .

In December 1974 the album was awarded gold in the USA for 500,000 copies sold.

Cover design

The design of the hinged cover is by Tom Wilkes, the photos by Terry Doran. The front cover shows an artistically altered class photo of George Harrison.

Track list

All titles were written by George Harrison unless otherwise noted.

  • Page one
  1. Hari's on Tour (Express) - 4:43
  2. Simply Shady - 4:38
  3. So Sad - 5:00
  4. Bye Bye Love ( Felice Bryant , Boudleaux Bryant , George Harrison) - 4:08
  5. Māya Love - 4:24
  • Side two
  1. Ding Dong, Ding Dong - 3:40
  2. Dark Horse - 3:54
  3. Far East Man (George Harrison, Ron Wood ) - 5:52
  4. It Is “He” (Jai Sri Krishna) - 4:50

Re-releases

  • It was first published in CD format in January 1992 without bonus tracks. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page illustrated booklet that contains the lyrics.
  • On September 19, 2014, the CD, remastered , was re-released with the following bonus tracks:
    • I Don't Care Anymore - 2:44
    • Dark Horse (Early Take) - 4:25

The remastering was done by Paul Hicks, Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen in the Lurssen Mastering Studios . The bonus tracks were remixed by Paul Hicks. The CD album has a cardboard cover that can be opened and a 16-page illustrated booklet is enclosed, which contains information from Kevin Howlett about the album and the lyrics. The CD is in an inner cover that is based on the original inner cover of the vinyl album. The design is by Darren Evans.

Single releases

Dark Horse

Dark Horse / I Don't Care Anymore was released as a pre-single in the US on November 18, 1974 . In Germany, the single Dark Horse / I Don't Care Anymore was released in December 1974 .

The second British single was released on February 28, 1975. Dark Horse / Hari's on Tour (Express) .

In August 1977, the single Dark Horse / You was re-released in the USA .

The promotional single was published in the USA as follows: on the A side is the mono version and on the B side the stereo version of the A side of the purchase single.

Ding Dong, Ding Dong

On December 25, 1974, Ding Dong, Ding Dong / Hari's on Tour (Express) was released as the second single of the album in the USA .

In Great Britain, on December 6, 1974, the first single was Ding Dong, Ding Dong , which contained I Don't Care Anymore on the B-side .

In February 1975 the single Ding Dong, Ding Dong / Hari's on Tour (Express) was released in Germany.

Chart placements

album

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1974 Dark Horse DE45 (1 week)
DE
AT10 (4 weeks)
AT
- - US4 (17 weeks)
US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1974 Dark Horse
Dark Horse
DE46 (2 weeks)
DE
- - - US15 (10 weeks)
US
Ding Dong, Ding Dong
Dark Horse
DE31 (5 weeks)
DE
- - UK38 (5 weeks)
UK
US36 (6 weeks)
US

literature

  • Chip Madinger, Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You. The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions, Chesterfield, MO, 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 , pp. 442-450.
  • Neville Stannard, John Tobler: Working Class Heroes. The History of The Beatles' - Solo Recordings . Virgin, London 1983, ISBN 0-907080-92-8 .
  • CD booklet for re-publication in 2014

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Meeting of US President Gerald Ford and George Harrison
  2. Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records . New Orleans: Four Ninety-Eight Productions, 2005. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9 , p. 264.
  3. Gold award
  4. 7 ″ vinyl single: Dark Horse / I Don't Care Anymore
  5. German 7 ″ vinyl single: Dark Horse / I Don't Care Anymore
  6. British 7 "vinyl single: Dark Horse / Hari's on Tour (Express)
  7. US 7 ″ vinyl single: Dark Horse / You
  8. Promotion 7 ″ vinyl single: Dark Horse
  9. 7 ″ vinyl single: Ding Dong, Ding Dong / Hari's on Tour (Express)
  10. British 7 ″ vinyl single: Ding Dong, Ding Dong / I Don't Care Anymore
  11. German 7 ″ vinyl single: Ding Dong, Ding Dong / I Don't Care Anymore
  12. a b chart sources: