|  Author | Topic: Tired of Midnight Blue (Read 459 times) |
trainguy
Simply Shady
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Karma: 0 |  | Tired of Midnight Blue
« Thread Started on Feb 22, 2005, 7:33pm » | ![[Quote]](http://s1.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif) |
Ironic that I have found this site while grooving to the Extra Texture album for the past few months. George can be an aquired taste and the longer and deeper you listen, the more you gotta have it. The great yellow album is so often dismissed, but the more you listen, just lay there and listen, there are so many little gems within the music that you wonder how one person can create so much, and in relative obscurity. Listen closely to Tired of Midnight Blue for the best example on the album. According to the liner notes, this is a four person song, with George taking all the guitar and vocal work (save for Stallworth's bass). The compressed, reverberating rhythm fills in the break are tremendous in their simplicity and ringing quality, and are almost more worth noticing than the equally impressive slide lead licks. Russell's impeccable piano is most worthy of Harrison's unique phrasing and shifts in timing. And when you listen close, George's backing vocal work on the second and fourth line of each verse-brilliant. The shift from major to minor key is just not where one would expect an artist to take it. Often said that you have to be in the mood for this album-well, you gotta be in the mood for some really well thought out, personal material. Midnight Blue stands out, but save for the commercial "You" and "A (snipet)Bit More of You", which smacks of being tailor made for airplay, all the material is purely L.A. influenced 70's funk, in material and production values, and holds up well against any of George's volume of work. Clearly superior to Dark Horse, Somewhere, Gone Troppo, maybe even George Harrison album-all of which I enjoy as well. I'm not cheating.....
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Tony
The Taxman
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« Reply #1 on Feb 22, 2005, 9:01pm » | |
I've always admired the guitar and vocal work of this song. While it's not my favorite album of Harrison's, it stands pretty high for me. I think, however, that this is an album for standing fans and not for the new listener. I really love your entry though. Have you ever thought about writing full length articles for a new George Harrison site? 
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trainguy
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« Reply #2 on Feb 23, 2005, 10:51pm » | |
Concur that the Extra Texture album is not for the newbies. I hooked up with George's music about the time Cloud Nine hit the shelves. Got it on vinyl. Grew out of Beatle interest, and the mysterious Beatle that no one ever really heard about. The Dark Horse-how apt. Cloud Nine was, and is, a good album to get the uninitiated interested and looking for more. Today I find that the depth of Harrison's music, especially the spirituality bent, to be particularly attractive. I get the feeling that he didn't really give a darn about what people thought about the music, rather, it was written because the words and sounds were important to him. If you liked it too, OK fine, if not, OK fine. Sure, a couple of songs per album because hey you gotta eat, but the rest purely for him. Like a personal family album. He lets us inside and takes us on his faith journey. There are so few artists that take us in at that level today. So genuine. Not to take away from Paul as a popular artist, but the obvious annoyance George exhibits toward him on the Anthology series really sends home the idea that George "didn't suffer fools gladly". He was honest, sincere, and personal-just the gardener. Truly a sadder world without him.
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Tony
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Karma: 0 | | Re: Tired of Midnight Blue
« Reply #3 on Feb 23, 2005, 11:43pm » | |
Couldn't agree with you more.
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Michael
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« Reply #4 on Mar 25, 2005, 1:59pm » | |
OK, I wouldn't say that "ET" is an album begging for airplay and then praise "C9" as the album to start newbies with because to me, "C9" IS THE COMMERCIAL RADIO album. Every song on there sounds like an attempt to hit the airwaves. That doesn't mean that I dislike the album - just that to me, the essence of George is in his "textured" work.
The guitars of "So Sad" from "DH" or the arrangments found on "ET" or "LINTMW" are more George to me as far as capturing his inner self. "C9" and "GT" are George having fun with friends. Like a day outing.
And don't forget his masterful production work with Badfinger and Splinter to name a few.
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Tony
The Taxman
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Karma: 0 | | Re: Tired of Midnight Blue
« Reply #5 on Mar 25, 2005, 3:05pm » | |
I totaly agree on your comments about C9. I think there is too much Jeff Lynne influence on that record to really be considered a George album. It's a fantastic album but it's not the same.
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train guy
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« Reply #6 on May 21, 2005, 8:39am » | |
Think perhaps my point of saying C9 was a good place to start may not have come off right. Yes, C9 is a commercial album (most all the way-but not every song), but in today's material world that can sometimes be the only way to reach people for the first time. My wife has always been a "Greatest Hits" purchaser-drives me nuts, never taking the time to get to know the artist better. If someone can pick up C9 because they like a few of the songs, and that leads to more interest in GH, then who cares how you got there? It's how I got started, and now my 9-year old boy is singing and guitaring Here Comes the Sun and For You Blue at a concert next week. And his Isn't it a Pity ain't too shabby either.
C9 is music you take to the beach. ET-you stay at home, play it on your headphones in the evening with your favorite drink.
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