Popdose: CD Review: “Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison”
MichaelFortes
· 5 months ago
I completely agree, this collection falls far short of expectations.
BTW, the "Porky's Revenge" soundtrack was reissued by Columbia/Legacy in 2004. Good stuff!
Jack
· 5 months ago
I can't defend the tracklisting. Was EMI trying to limit the number of songs they had to license from another company? I'm torn. Without a big PR campaign, I think this collection will come and go pretty quickly, which is a damn shame. I read somewhere that his son Dhani was compiling unreleased tracks for a possible release, but sales figures of a best of might certainly impact that ever seeing the light of day.
Gosh, on one hand, I find myself compelled to buy a copy of this to show posthumous support for a great artist and help expedite future releases of more interesting material. On the other hand, I feel bad rewarding whoever did this shoddy choice of songs. It's like they had only select Harrison CDs on an iPod, hit shuffle, and picked the first 19 choices. Bizarre.
Brett Alan
· 5 months ago
Olivia Harrison says the tracklisting was "all about flow". Not that that explains anything.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. They get some points for picking "I Don't Want To Do It" and the excellent "Any Road", but other than that, it's a mess. Maybe I could take one live version of a Beatles song, but given George's feelings about The Best of George Harrison, even that's questionable. No "Crackerbox Palace", "Dark Horse" (the Live In Japan version is wonderful, if they wanted to avoid the hoarse voice), or "Bangla Desh"? Indefensible.
fhc
· 5 months ago
EMI Capitol has made a freaking career out of screwing up hits packages and re-issues. This one doesn't surprise me at all. They looked at the chart hits, probably asked a few people around the office or on a street corner which songs they even remembered by George, and included the live Bangladesh cuts to make it look like they'd done some "real" homework. I loathe this label because of that and a few more reasons that don't really matter here...
fhc
Dennis
· 5 months ago
"Doesn’t George Harrison deserve at least one pass at a truly career-spanning two-disc package, if not a box set?"
Agreed. I'm dissapointed that songs from Dark Horse were omitted. The title song, "Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong", and "Far East Man" were worthy of inclusion.
el bandito
· 5 months ago
If the original "Dark Horse" is not there then it is not worth anything. I feel the same as you on this disc. "Why" is all I kept saying. I'd include the live "Here Comes the Sun" because it is really cool and different than what most would have heard. Or get the Paul Simon version...something that connects to the Beatles isn't all bad...but there is more than enough to NOT include any. Shame...this could have been nice.
Tim Connelly
· 5 months ago
I think this new CD is awesome. There's no doubt that there are plenty of other Harrison tunes that would be fine inclusions but when you're limited to 80 minutes- you've got to draw the line somewhere.
I think the songs from Brainwashed were great choices. I think the Bangla Desh Beatles songs represented a vitally important part of his solo career. He chose to do those Beatles songs for the Bangla Desh Concert. He did all 3 of them again when he toured in Japan. This CD isn't just for all the people who know and love his solo work. Many (younger) fans may have no idea he wrote and sang those 3 Beatles classics so it's providing them a better look at his body of work.
I thought Giles Martin did an amazing job. Phil Spector and Jeff Lynne brought a very different sound to the table but I feel like his work balanced that out enough where it was never an issue.
With the sequencing, we were introduced to 2 of his #1's to start the CD, the 3 Bangla Desh songs were spread out (5,14 and 17), the two movie tunes were very late (16 and 18), 5 of the first 6 songs were very early and the CD closed with Isn't It a Pity- a song that was so important he included it twice on ATMP.
iHeartGeorgeHarrison
· 3 months ago
Ah..George. I wish only everyone could see your greatness..its such a shame. Too sad. At least I know your brilliancy. R.I.P. <3
All Comments
BTW, the "Porky's Revenge" soundtrack was reissued by Columbia/Legacy in 2004. Good stuff!
Gosh, on one hand, I find myself compelled to buy a copy of this to show posthumous support for a great artist and help expedite future releases of more interesting material. On the other hand, I feel bad rewarding whoever did this shoddy choice of songs. It's like they had only select Harrison CDs on an iPod, hit shuffle, and picked the first 19 choices. Bizarre.
I agree with pretty much everything you said. They get some points for picking "I Don't Want To Do It" and the excellent "Any Road", but other than that, it's a mess. Maybe I could take one live version of a Beatles song, but given George's feelings about The Best of George Harrison, even that's questionable. No "Crackerbox Palace", "Dark Horse" (the Live In Japan version is wonderful, if they wanted to avoid the hoarse voice), or "Bangla Desh"? Indefensible.
fhc
Agreed. I'm dissapointed that songs from Dark Horse were omitted. The title song, "Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong", and "Far East Man" were worthy of inclusion.
I think the songs from Brainwashed were great choices. I think the Bangla Desh Beatles songs represented a vitally important part of his solo career. He chose to do those Beatles songs for the Bangla Desh Concert. He did all 3 of them again when he toured in Japan. This CD isn't just for all the people who know and love his solo work. Many (younger) fans may have no idea he wrote and sang those 3 Beatles classics so it's providing them a better look at his body of work.
I thought Giles Martin did an amazing job. Phil Spector and Jeff Lynne brought a very different sound to the table but I feel like his work balanced that out enough where it was never an issue.
With the sequencing, we were introduced to 2 of his #1's to start the CD, the 3 Bangla Desh songs were spread out (5,14 and 17), the two movie tunes were very late (16 and 18), 5 of the first 6 songs were very early and the CD closed with Isn't It a Pity- a song that was so important he included it twice on ATMP.
I wish only everyone could see your greatness..its such a shame.
Too sad.
At least I know your brilliancy. R.I.P.
<3