Every day I start the morning show with a bang by playing some music from my favorite band, The Beatles.  Last week, it was suggested to me that I do another "theme week", and I chose to start with some solo material by the individual Beatles.This week, I went through the solo catalog of George Harrison.  I do love George, he was so funny and such an interesting character.  He loved to garden, but he also loved race cars.  He was a big supporter of Monty Python (he's one of the main reasons that their movie The Life of Brian even came out - he paid for most of it) and a devoted religious scholar with a big heart to people in need around the world.     Be prepared - a lot of these that I've chosen are off of one album. Sorry.

On Monday, I started with "Wah Wah".

It was released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Harrison wrote the song in January 1969 following his temporary departure from the Beatles, during the troubled Get Back sessions that resulted in their Let It Be album and film. The lyrics were a response to the musical criticism he had been receiving from band mates Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Music critics and biographers recognize the song as Harrison's statement of personal and artistic freedom from the Beatles, following his more-satisfying collaborations with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan and the Band in the months leading up to the Get Back project. In his autobiography, he explains that the song title was a reference to "a 'headache' as well as a foot pedal", the wah-wah pedal being a guitar effect that Harrison favored for much of the early Get Back sessions. The message of the song, in its author's own words, was: "you're giving me a bloody headache."

On Tuesday, I played "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace)".

This one is the opening track of his 1973 album Living in the Material World. It was released as the lead single from the album in May that year and became Harrison's second US number 1, after "My Sweet Lord". In doing so, the song demoted Paul McCartney & Wings' "My Love" from the top of the Billboard Hot 100, marking the only occasion that two former Beatles held the top two chart positions in America. The single also reached the top ten in Britain and Canada, and in other singles charts around the world. "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" is one of Harrison's most popular songs, among fans and music critics, and features a series of much-praised slide-guitar solos from Harrison. The recording signaled a deliberate departure from his earlier post-Beatles work, in the scaling down of the big sound synonymous with All Things Must Pass and his other collaborations with co-producer Phil Spector over 1970–71.

On Wednesday, I played "Isn't It a Pity".

This is yet another one off of the 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. It appears in two variations there: one the well-known, seven-minute version; the other a reprise, titled "Isn't It a Pity (Version Two)".  I chose to play version one.  Harrison wrote the song in 1966, but it was rejected for inclusion on releases by the Beatles. In many countries around the world, the song was also issued on a double A-side single with "My Sweet Lord". In America, Billboard magazine listed it with "My Sweet Lord" when the single topped the Hot 100 chart. An anthemic ballad and one of Harrison's most celebrated compositions, "Isn't It a Pity" has been described as the emotional and musical centerpiece of All Things Must Pass and "a poignant reflection on The Beatles' coarse ending".

On Thursday, I played "My Sweet Lord".

"My Sweet Lord" topped charts worldwide and was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. Harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston's Encouraging Words album in September 1970. In America and Britain, the song was the first number 1 single by an ex-Beatle. Harrison wrote "My Sweet Lord" in praise of the Hindu god Krishna. Later in the 1970s, "My Sweet Lord" was at the center of a heavily publicized copyright infringement suit, due to its similarity to the Ronnie Mack song "He's So Fine", a 1963 hit for the New York girl group the Chiffons. In 1976, Harrison was found to have subconsciously plagiarized the earlier tune, a verdict that had repercussions throughout the music industry. He claimed to have used the out-of-copyright "Oh Happy Day", a Christian hymn, as his inspiration for the song's melody.

On Friday, I played "What is Life".

This one has to be my favorite George solo track. An uptempo composition in the soul genre, "What Is Life" is one of several Harrison love songs that appear to be directed at both a woman and his God. Harrison wrote the song in 1969 and originally intended it as a track for his friend and Apple protégé Billy Preston to record. Built around a descending guitar riff, it is one of Harrison's most popular compositions and was a regular inclusion in his live performances.

Let me know if there's something you'd like to hear next week - I'm going to continue with the theme week of Beatle Solo Careers.  Next week we'll start up with Paul McCartney.

Wahingly yours,

Behka

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