''Wonderwall Music'' is the debut solo album by English musician
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
and the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
to the 1968 film ''
Wonderwall'', directed by
Joe Massot
Joe Massot (1933 – April 4, 2002) was an American writer and film director who was known for the film '' Wonderwall'' (1968) which featured a soundtrack by George Harrison, and the Led Zeppelin concert film '' The Song Remains The Same'' (197 ...
. Released in November 1968, it was the first solo album by a member of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, and the first album issued on the band's
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
record label. The songs are all
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
pieces, except for occasional non-English language vocals, and mostly comprise short musical vignettes. Following his Indian-styled compositions for the Beatles since 1966, he used the film score to further promote
Indian classical music
Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...
by introducing rock audiences to instruments that were relatively little-known in the West – including
shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.[sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...]
,
tar shehnai The tar shehnai, also spelled tarshenai or sometimes tar shehanai, is an esraj (an Indian bowed instrument) whose sound is amplified by a metal horn attached to its sound board. The term is also used to refer to the horn itself. The horn of a phono ...
and
santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is a ...
. The Indian pieces are contrasted by Western musical selections, in the
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...
styles.
Harrison recorded the album between November 1967 and February 1968, with sessions taking place in London and
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. One of his collaborators on the project was classical pianist and orchestral arranger
John Barham
John Barham is an English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He is best known for his orchestration of George Harrison albums such as ''All Things Must Pass'' (1970) and for his association with Indian sitar maestro R ...
, while other contributors include Indian classical musicians
Aashish Khan
Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a reci ...
,
Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...
,
Shankar Ghosh
Pandit Shankar Ghosh (10 October 1935 – 22 January 2016) was an Indian tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. He was an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he followed the Patiala gharana.
He was ...
and Mahapurush Misra. The Western music features contributions from
Tony Ashton
Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.
Biography
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...
and his band
the Remo Four
The Remo Four were a 1950s–1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein. Its members were Colin Manley (born Colin William Manley, 16 April 1942, in Old Swan, ...
, as well as guest appearances by
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
and
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
. Harrison recorded many other pieces that appeared in ''Wonderwall'' but not on the soundtrack album, and the Beatles' 1968 B-side "
The Inner Light" also originated from his time in Bombay. Although the ''Wonderwall'' project marked the end of Harrison's direct involvement with Indian music as a musician and songwriter, it inspired his later collaborations with
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
, including the 1974
Music Festival from India.
The album cover consists of a painting by American artist
Bob Gill in which, as in Massot's film, two contrasting worlds are separated by a wall, with only a small gap allowing visual access between them. Harrison omitted his name from the list of performing musicians, leading to an assumption that he had merely produced and arranged the music. The 2014 reissue of ''Wonderwall Music'' recognises his contributions on keyboards and guitar. The album was first remastered for CD release in 1992, for which former Apple executive
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...
supplied a liner-note essay.
While viewed as a curiosity by some rock music critics, ''Wonderwall Music'' is recognised for its inventiveness in fusing Western and Eastern sounds, and as being a precursor to the 1980s
world music trend. The album's title inspired that of
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
' 1995 hit song "
Wonderwall". Harrison's full soundtrack for the film was made available on DVD in early 2014, as part of the two-disc ''Wonderwall Collector's Edition''. In September that year, the album was reissued in remastered form as part of Harrison's ''
Apple Years 1968–75'' box set, with the addition of three bonus tracks.
Background
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
first met
Joe Massot
Joe Massot (1933 – April 4, 2002) was an American writer and film director who was known for the film '' Wonderwall'' (1968) which featured a soundtrack by George Harrison, and the Led Zeppelin concert film '' The Song Remains The Same'' (197 ...
while
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
were filming ''
Help!
''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help! ( ...
'' in early 1965. He agreed to write the musical score for Massot's film ''
Wonderwall'' in October 1967, after
the Bee Gees
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
had become unavailable.
[Clayson, p. 234.] It was Harrison's first formal music project outside the Beatles and coincided with his continued immersion in
Indian classical music
Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...
. Since 1966, this association with India had given Harrison a distinct musical identity beside the band's primary songwriters,
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
and
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
. While he had minimal interest in the Beatles' main projects during 1967 – the album ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and their television film ''
Magical Mystery Tour
''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP ...
''
[Leng, p. 47.] – Harrison led the group in terms of their shared philosophical direction, as his bandmates followed him in embracing
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...
under the guidance of
.
[Steve Rabey]
"George Harrison, 'Living in the Material World'"
''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', 9 October 2011 (archived version retrieved 12 May 2017).
Harrison viewed ''Wonderwall'' at
Twickenham Film Studios
Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...
with Massot
and was intrigued by the storyline.
The film's premise concerns a lonely professor (played by Irish actor
Jack MacGowran
John Joseph MacGowran (13 October 1918 – 30 January 1973) was an Irish actor, probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett.
Stage career
MacGowran was born on 13 October 1918 in Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He establi ...
) and his increasing obsession with his female neighbour, a fashion model
named Penny Lane (played by
Jane Birkin
Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...
),
[Howlett, p. 12.] whose life he spies on via a hole in the wall separating their apartments.
[Lavezzoli, p. 182.] In the context of 1960s
Swinging London
The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London as its centre. It saw a flourishing in art, mus ...
, the contrast between their existences symbolised the division between traditional norms and the younger generation's progressive thinking.
In his soundtrack for the film, Harrison conveyed this contrast further in terms of the duality between
psychedelia
Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...
and his
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
-aligned spiritual convictions.
According to author Simon Leng: "The lack of dialogue left acres of room for music to speak, and a soupçon of cosmic apotheosis also helped ... ''Wonderwall'' touched on themes that would come to preoccupy George Harrison – critically, the objectification of celebrities and the shallowness of fame."
Concept and composition
Given full artistic control by Massot, Harrison approached the project as an opportunity to further educate rock and pop audiences in aspects of Indian music.
[Leng, p. 48.][George Harrison, in The Beatles, p. 280.] Having incorporated
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
,
tambura,
swarmandal
The ''swarmandal'' ( hi, स्वरमण्डल ), ''surmandal,'' or Indian harp is a plucked box zither, originating from India, similar to the qanun that is today most commonly used as an accompanying instrument for vocal Indian classi ...
,
dilruba
The dilruba (also spelt dilrupa) is a bowed musical instrument originating in India. It is slightly larger than an esraj and has a larger, square resonance box. The dilruba holds particular importance in Sikh history.
It became more widely k ...
and
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
in his work with the Beatles, Harrison sought to include less well-known Indian musical instruments.
[Timothy White, "George Harrison – Reconsidered", '']Musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
'', November 1987, p. 56. Among these, the
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
-like
shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.[Bismillah Khan
Bismillah Khan (born Amaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title ''Ustad'', was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. While the shehnai had long held imp ...]
perform at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
in August 1967. Also prominent on the soundtrack is the
tar shehnai The tar shehnai, also spelled tarshenai or sometimes tar shehanai, is an esraj (an Indian bowed instrument) whose sound is amplified by a metal horn attached to its sound board. The term is also used to refer to the horn itself. The horn of a phono ...
, a bow-played string instrument that is similar to an
esraj
The (from the pa, ਇਸਰਾਜ) is an Indian stringed instrument found in two forms throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is a relatively recent instrument, being only about 300 years old. It is found in North India, primarily Punjab, whe ...
.
Other instrumentation introduced on ''Wonderwall Music'' includes the
sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...
, similar to a
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
, and the
santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is a ...
,
a type of
hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...
with up to 100 strings. Having used personnel from the
Asian Music Circle
The Asian Music Circle (sometimes abbreviated to AMC) was an organisation founded in London, England, in 1946, that promoted Indian and other Asian styles of music, dance and culture in the West. The AMC is credited with having facilitated the assi ...
in north London on his Beatles songs "
Love You To
"Love You To" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album '' Revolver''. The song was written and sung by George Harrison and features Indian instrumentation such as sitar and tabla. Following Harrison's introduction ...
" and "
Within You Without You
"Within You Without You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Written by lead guitarist George Harrison, it was his second composition in the Indian classical style, aft ...
", in addition to his own sitar playing, Harrison decided to record part of the soundtrack in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, the centre of India's film industry, in order to work with some of the country's best musicians.
The ''Wonderwall'' score was Harrison's first opportunity to compose extensively for a single project.
[Rodriguez, p. 9.] He later described how he went about preparing the music: "I had a regular wind-up stopwatch and I watched the film to 'spot-in' the music with the watch. I wrote the timings down in my book, then I'd go to
he recording studio make up a piece, record it."
As with his songs for the Beatles over this period, including "Within You Without You" and "
Blue Jay Way", he composed mainly on keyboard instruments such as piano or organ, rather than guitar. In addition to the Indian pieces, Harrison wrote and arranged selections in Western musical styles.
[Inglis, p. 17.] In some cases, these pieces were outlined to the musicians at the recording session by Harrison, on guitar, and they then improvised on his ideas.
[Matt Hurwitz]
"Wonderwall Music"
georgeharrison.com (archived version retrieved 1 February 2021). With other selections, he first made a
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
, which the musicians followed.
Harrison collaborated on much of the project with
John Barham
John Barham is an English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He is best known for his orchestration of George Harrison albums such as ''All Things Must Pass'' (1970) and for his association with Indian sitar maestro R ...
,
[Leng, pp. 49–50.][Mat Snow, "George Harrison: Quiet Storm", '']Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'', November 2014, p. 69. who had studied composition under Harrison's sitar teacher,
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
. A classically trained pianist and musical arranger, Barham annotated some of the melodies that Harrison sang to him and transcribed them onto
staves.
Leng describes Barham as Harrison's "fellow traveler", due to the two musicians' shared appreciation of Indian classical music. He adds that their musical compatibility made Barham a natural choice over
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
, the Beatles' producer and orchestral arranger.
Recording
London, November 1967 – January 1968
![Wonderwall by George Harrison](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Wonderwall_by_George_Harrison.jpg)
The first session for the ''Wonderwall'' soundtrack took place on 22 November 1967
[Everett, p. 151.] at EMI Studios (now
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
) in London.
[Miles, p. 283.] That day, Harrison recorded with a tabla player and flautists
Richard Adeney
Richard Gilford Adeney (25 January 1920 – 16 December 2010) was a British flautist who played principal flute with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra, was a soloist and a founding member of the Melos Ensemble. ...
and Jack Ellory,
[Harry, p. 393.] taping the pieces "Swordfencing", "India", "Backwards Tabla" and "Backwards Tones".
On 23 November, he carried out further work on some of these selections,
with two oboe players, a trumpeter and two flautists.
Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter state that some of these recordings may have been used as musical cues in the film but excluded from the soundtrack album, while "Swordfencing" was a piece that Harrison incorporated into "
Dream Scene
''Dream Scene'' is an album by the progressive bluegrass Maryland band The Seldom Scene. There were several personnel changes in the group after the unsuccessful comeback with John Starling. Mike Auldridge, Moondi Klein, and T. Michael Colema ...
" on the album.
[Madinger & Easter, p. 419.] Over this period, Harrison also worked at a second London location,
De Lane Lea Studios
Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios is a recording studio, based in Dean Street, Soho, London.
Although the studios have mainly been used for dubbing feature films and television programmes, major artists such as the Animals, the Beatles, Soft M ...
.
According to a contemporary issue of ''
Beatles Monthly
''The Beatles Book'' (also known as ''Beatles Monthly'') was a fan magazine dedicated to the English rock band the Beatles, founded in 1963. It was first published in August 1963 and continued for 77 editions until it stopped publication after the ...
'' magazine, the sessions continued at Abbey Road on 11, 20 and 31 December.
The contributing musicians included Indian
sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...
ya
Aashish Khan
Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a reci ...
and
tablist Mahapurush Misra,
[Castleman & Podrazik, p. 198.] the last of whom was the regular accompanist to Khan's father,
Ali Akbar Khan
Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he ...
. Aashish Khan and Misra's contributions were recorded at Abbey Road, rather than later in India, since the pair were performing in London in December 1967.
[Howlett, p. 8.] Barham attended this session and also contributed to some of the Western recordings for ''Wonderwall'', playing piano,
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
and
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
, and providing orchestral arrangements for flutes, oboes and trumpet. Another session with some unnamed Indian musicians took place on 5 January 1968.
The main participants on the Western pieces were
the Remo Four
The Remo Four were a 1950s–1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein. Its members were Colin Manley (born Colin William Manley, 16 April 1942, in Old Swan, ...
,
whose first session with Harrison was on 22 December.
The band were an instrumental group from Liverpool that had toured with the Beatles in 1964 and comprised Colin Manley (guitar),
Tony Ashton
Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.
Biography
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...
(keyboards), Phillip Rogers (bass) and
Roy Dyke (drums).
Ashton contributed on
tack
TACK is a group of archaea acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota, the first groups discovered. They are found in different environments ranging from acidophilic the ...
(or jangle) piano and organ,
and played the majority of the
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
parts that are prominent on the album.
[Howlett, p. 10.]
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
and
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
joined Harrison to record "Ski-ing"
on 2–3 January.
Credited only on the US release,
under the pseudonym "Eddie Clayton", Clapton's appearance marked the first of several collaborations between him and Harrison over 1968–71.
Peter Tork
Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...
of
the Monkees
The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...
played
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
, although his contribution, recorded in December 1967, was to a track that only appeared in the film.
[Graeme Thomson]
"Macca's banjo, Mellotron and a Monkee: The story of George Harrison's Wonderwall Music"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 24 March 2017 (archived version retrieved 26 May 2017).
Bombay, January 1968
Harrison recorded the rest of the Indian selections between 9 and 13 January at HMV Studios in Bombay.
In contrast to the
multitrack recording
Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...
carried out at Abbey Road, the music was captured on a two-track tape machine,
which replaced the studio's usual
mono
Mono may refer to:
Common meanings
* Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease"
* Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono
* Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single
Music Performers
* Mono (Japanese b ...
equipment.
Harrison recalled that EMI India's managing director,
Bhaskar Menon
Bhaskar Menon (29 May 1934 – 4 March 2021) was a music industry executive of Indian origin. He hailed from Palakkad, Kerala, India. He initially worked with The Gramophone Company of India Ltd. (HMV) Dum Dum, Calcutta, India as the chairma ...
, personally delivered this machine, a STEEDS
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
recorder, by train from Calcutta.
The Bombay studio's
soundproofing
Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound wav ...
was similarly inadequate,
[Clayson, p. 235.] resulting in traffic noise from the street below appearing on pieces such as "In the Park".
On 10 January,
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
and
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
filmed Harrison working with three of the Indian musicians at HMV. A brief portion of this footage was broadcast in Britain on 11 January.
[Winn, p. 149.] In Menon's recollection, following each day's recording session, Harrison returned to his rooms at the
Taj Mahal Hotel and studiously documented his observations on the sounds and nuances of the various Indian instruments. Menon described the process as "a kind of immersion for him into the folk music of India".
According to author
Alan Clayson
Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as ...
, the Indian players were "fascinated" to be following Western rules of harmony for the first time.
The musicians were recruited by
Shambhu Das
Shambhu Das (born 1934) is an Indian classical music, Indian classical musician and educator. He is best known for his long association with Ravi Shankar, on whose behalf Das has acted as an ambassador for Indian music in Canada since the early 1 ...
, who ran Shankar's
Kinnara School of Music
The Kinnara School of Music was a music school founded in Bombay, India, in 1962 by Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar. With his increased popularity and influence in the West, he opened a second branch of the school in Los Angeles in May 1967. ...
in Bombay, and Vijay Dubey, the head of
A&R for
HMV Records
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
in India. The shehnai players were Sharad Kumar and Hanuman Jadev,
[Album credits, ''Wonderwall Music'' CD (]Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
, 2014; produced by George Harrison). while the tar shehnaist was Vinayak Vora.
Shambhu Das and Indranil Bhattacharya were the sitarists, and Chandrashekhar Naringrekar played
surbahar
''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...
(a low-
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts entertainment, and media Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), th ...
version of the sitar). The tablist was
Shankar Ghosh
Pandit Shankar Ghosh (10 October 1935 – 22 January 2016) was an Indian tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. He was an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he followed the Patiala gharana.
He was ...
,
although the original album credits listed him on sitar.
Rijram Desad, a
multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency.
Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...
whose past work included film scores and ballets with vocalists such as
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...
, played
Indian harmonium and
tabla tarang
The tabla tarang (Hindi: तबला तरंग) is a melodic percussion instrument consisting of between ten and sixteen tuned dayan drums. In a tabla "pair" instrument, the dayan is the treble drum and the bayan is the bass drum. Tarang mea ...
.
Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...
contributed on santoor, and the
bansuri (bamboo flute) was played by S.R. Kenkare.
[MacDonald, p. 240.] Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition.
Early life
Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the ...
also contributed on bansuri,
but only after the soundtrack pieces had been completed, and the efficient progress of the sessions allowed Harrison to record some other compositions.
[Lavezzoli, p. 183.]
London, January–February 1968
After returning to England on 18 January,
Harrison recorded the majority of the Western music for ''Wonderwall'' with the Remo Four,
again at Abbey Road.
Author
Bruce Spizer
David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is a tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books, and is frequently quoted as an authority on the history of the band an ...
writes that Harrison played piano, guitar and Mellotron on some of the Western tracks.
[Spizer, p. 206.] In addition, according to Manley, Harrison provided the
steel guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...
part on "Cowboy Music", even though Manley is credited on the album sleeve.
[Spizer, p. 207.] Also present at the sessions were Dutch designers The Fool (design collective), the Fool – Simon Posthuma, Marijke Koger and Josje Leeger – who had created the Psychedelia, psychedelic-themed sets for Massot's film.
Well known for his theme tune to BBC television's ''Dixon of Dock Green'',
Tommy Reilly (harmonica player), Tommy Reilly played on the soundtrack after Harrison had asked Martin to suggest a good harmonica player.
At various stages while working on the project, Harrison returned to Twickenham to ensure that each musical piece married up with its scene in the film; he later recalled: "it always worked. It was always right."
Final mixing began on 31 January, and a late overdubbing session took place on 11 February, when extra sound effects were added to "Dream Scene".
[Madinger & Eater, pp. 419–20.] Harrison mixed the recordings with Ken Scott,
completing stereo and mono versions of the album.
Harrison then went back to India on 15 February,
with Lennon and their wives,
[Winn, p. 145.] to study meditation with the Maharishi The Beatles in India, in Rishikesh.
Having been allocated a budget of £600, Harrison eventually spent £15,000 on recording the film soundtrack, paying the difference himself.
One of the non-soundtrack pieces taped at the end of the Bombay sessions was "
The Inner Light", which he completed at Abbey Road in early February. This song became the first Harrison composition to appear on a Beatles single when it was issued as the B-side to "Lady Madonna" in March 1968, a release that served to cover the band's absence in Rishikesh. The Remo Four song "In the First Place" was another product of the ''Wonderwall'' sessions,
[Richie Unterberger]
"The Remo Four 'In the First Place'"
AllMusic (archived version retrieved 20 November 2016). although the track remained unreleased until the late 1990s.
[Winn, p. 143.] In 1993, Harrison told ''The Simpsons, Simpsons'' creator Matt Groening that ''Wonderwall Music'' had been his most enjoyable album to make.
Musical content
The nineteen tracks on ''Wonderwall Music'' range from just over a minute in length to five-and-a-half minutes.
On some pressings of the 1968 LP, various pieces lacked Audio mastering, mastering rills between them; with these selections instead presented as Medley (music), medleys, the number of distinct album tracks was reduced to twelve.
[Castleman & Podrazik, p. 69.] On many of the Indian selections, instruments such as sitar, surbahar and harmonium
provide a drone-like backing,
over which Harrison's chosen instrument plays the main musical theme.
In the original album credits, Harrison was listed as producer, writer and arranger but was not included among the performers,
leading to an assumption that he did not play on the recordings.
[Tom Fritsche]
"The Wild World of WONDERWALL's Music"
''The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', 20 October 2016 (archived version retrieved 6 July 2017). After consulting Barham in 2002 for his book ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps'', Leng credited Harrison as a performing musician, and Spizer also recognised him in his track-by-track list, published in 2005.
The performer credits in the 2014 reissue of ''Wonderwall Music'' rectified the situation,
and list Harrison on piano and guitar.
Side one
![Shehnai](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Shehnai.jpg)
The album opens with "Microbes", which consists of call-and-response shehnai parts
[Leng, p. 49.] and was partly based on the raga Darbari Kanada.
The waltz-time
"Red Lady Too" includes what musicologist Walter Everett (musicologist), Walter Everett describes as "Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven), 'Moonlight' Sonata-like suspensions on piano, honky-tonk piano, Mellotron, and drums".
Ashton performed the tack piano part, with Barham supplying the lower-register piano accompaniment.
On "Tabla and Pakavaj", Mahapurush Misra played the two types of hand drums named in the title, the barrel-shaped pakhavaj being another mainstay of Hindustani classical music. "In the Park" includes Sharma's santoor alternating solos with surbahar
and tabla tarang.
Neither of these last two tracks appears in the film.
Author Peter Lavezzoli recognises "Harrison's dry humor" in "the honky-tonk, piano-driven" "Drilling a Home".
The song is subject to dramatic changing of pitch, from the Key (music), key of G major, G up to B-flat major, B, through the tape being sped up.
In the film, only the portion up to the sound of a rainstorm is used.
The ragtime feel of the track is accentuated by an arrangement that includes tack piano, horns and banjo,
with the last two sounds created through Ashton's use of different settings on the Mellotron.
Author Ian Inglis writes of the effectiveness of "Drilling a Home": "its jangle piano instantly recreates the mood of a crowded saloon in a frontier town, or a Laurel and Hardy or Keystone Cops pursuit."
The track segues into "Guru Vandana",
another Bombay-recorded piece
featuring multiple shehnais.
The title references Guru Vandana, a Hindu prayer in honour of God and one's teacher. "Greasy Legs" consists of harmonium and Mellotron, including parts played on the latter instrument's flute, organ and cello settings.
On "Ski-ing", Clapton plays a blues-based guitar riff treated with a Distortion (music), fuzz-tone effect,
over a rock rhythm and heavy tambura drone.
While Spizer and Everett credit all four electric guitar parts (two of which were taped backwards) to Clapton alone,
he recalls that "we put down this thing [on tape] and George then put backwards guitar on it." The seagull-like sounds
of the guitars segue into "Gat Kirwani",
a fast-paced Indian piece with Aashish Khan on sarod, backed by sitar and Misra's tabla.
The performance is based on the Kirwani, similarly named raga, which Harrison had suggested that Khan play.
"Dream Scene" is a combination of segments that Harrison edited together.
Along with "Ski-ing", it is the only track on the album that combines Indian and Western music.
The song consists of three distinct pieces, the first of which is a meditative section containing Phaser (effect), phase-shifted instrumentation such as tabla tarang,
[Spizer, pp. 206–07.] harp (swarmandal) and sitar,
[D.J. Pangburn]
"George Harrison: Forgotten Solo Gems"
''Death and Taxes (website), Death and Taxes'', 25 February 2011 (archive version retrieved 17 November 2017). and singing.
The music is delivered via backwards-played tape loops as the vocals Panning (audio), pan from one side to the other across the stereo image.
The other two pieces include a section comprising Barham's piano and flutes,
followed by a trumpet solo, harmonica interspersed with a police siren, and more backwards tape loops.
The song fades out with a slowed-down spoken voice over the sound of church bells.
Leng notes that "Dream Scene" was recorded several months before Lennon's experimental sound collage "Revolution 9", released on the double album ''The Beatles (album), The Beatles''.
[Leng, p. 50.]
Side two
"Party Seacombe" includes a rock accompaniment that Clayson likens to the style of Pink Floyd,
and the song equally recalls the Beatles' instrumental "Flying (Beatles song), Flying",
[Inglis, p. 18.] with which it shares a twenty-bar blues structure.
Recorded with the Remo Four, it includes Wah-wah pedal, wah-effected lead guitars,
one of which resembles the sound of a human voice;
phase-shifted treatment on the acoustic rhythm guitar; and additional drums and percussion,
possibly played by Starr.
Writing for ''NME Originals'' in 2005, Adrian Thrills described the track as "Whimsical '60s psychedelia from George's experimental dabblings".
![Dia5246 Shiv Kumar Sharma](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Dia5246_Shiv_Kumar_Sharma.jpg)
The two Indian pieces "Love Scene" and "Crying" form another medley,
with the first track featuring Khan's call-and-response sarod parts.
Overdubbing was unprecedented in Indian music until this time,
and Khan later said he was "thrilled" with the effect on "Love Scene", where the sarods "[play] to each other like two lovers in a romantic mood".
The piece resulted from Barham's suggestion that Khan play Mauj-Khamaj, a raga created by his grandfather, Allauddin Khan.
Described by Madinger and Easter as "aptly titled",
[Madinger & Easter, p. 421.] "Crying" contains the mournful tones of a tar shehnai.
"Cowboy Music" is a Country and Western, country-and-western piece that Inglis likens to the incidental music typically heard in American Western (genre), westerns from the 1940s.
The performance includes steel guitar and contributions from the Remo Four, along with Reilly on harmonica.
Returning to the Indian style, "Fantasy Sequins" combines tar shehnai
with harmonium, played by Desad,
and bell-like percussion known as khas.
This track segues into "On the Bed", although Madinger and Easter say that the correct title, as it appeared on early US copies of the album, should be "Glass Box", which is the name given instead to the Indian piece that follows it.
[Madinger & Easter, p. 422.] "On the Bed" opens with a piano riff from Harrison, which, in Leng's description, is complemented by "spacey steel guitar, and a fugue of flugelhorn countermelodies, added by Barham".
The song includes backing from the Remo Four, and Big Jim Sullivan on bass.
Harrison overdubbed the sitar-like steel guitar part.
![PAUL HARMONIUM11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/PAUL_HARMONIUM11.jpg)
"Glass Box" is "a high-speed Indian raga", according to Spizer,
with Indranil Bhattacharya on sitar.
Everett describes "Wonderwall to Be Here" as a tune "based on a Minor mode, minor-mode I-VII-VI-V progression, styled like Liberace, Liberacian variations on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'".
The performance is led by Ashton, on piano,
and also includes instrumentation such as organ, acoustic guitar, drums and percussion.
Leng views the piece as the soundtrack's "best collective work", adding: "This moving music was a close fit with the scene it covered – a mute passage in which the implied lust of the aging academic turns to compassion for Jane Birkin['s character], whose suicide attempt he witnesses ... Harrison's melody was strongly empathetic to the first appearance of human feeling in the film."
The album closes with "Singing Om", in which a male Indian voice chants the sacred term Om over a musical backing of harmonium and bansuri.
The piece is an early example of Harrison blending Vedic chanting with Western harmony,
a concept that he explored further in his The Radha Krsna Temple (album), 1969–70 productions for the Radha Krishna Temple, and also in his post-Beatles songs such as "My Sweet Lord" and "Awaiting on You All".
Film premiere and aftermath
Harrison attended the world premiere of ''Wonderwall'', held at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 1968, accompanied by his wife Pattie Boyd, Starr and Birkin.
Although he had expected the film's producers to purchase the soundtrack rights and issue the album independently, they declined to do so,
leading Massot to suggest that Harrison release it on the Beatles' new label,
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
. ''Wonderwall Music'' therefore became Apple's first album release,
as well as the first solo album by a member of the Beatles.
[Ingham, p. 154.]
Inglis writes that Massot was impressed with "the accuracy with which [Harrison's music] illustrated and enhanced the images on screen".
Massot asked Harrison to provide the soundtrack for a new film he had written, ''Zachariah (film), Zachariah'',
a western that was eventually made by director George Englund and released in 1970. Although Harrison declined, he later supplied incidental music for ''Little Malcolm'' (1974), a film he produced under the aegis of Apple Films, before going on to contribute to soundtracks for his HandMade Films productions in the 1980s, including ''Time Bandits'' and ''Shanghai Surprise''.
Together with "The Inner Light", the ''Wonderwall'' project marked the end of Harrison's overtly Indian musical phase.
After filming his scenes for the Shankar documentary ''Raga (film), Raga'' in Los Angeles, in June 1968, he decided to abandon his sitar studies and return to his first instrument, the guitar. In an interview to promote his Apple signing Jackie Lomax, in September, Harrison said that, although ''Wonderwall Music'' represented a style of music he had moved on from in recent months, "I still like [the album]. I still think it's very good." He later cited the Bombay sessions for ''Wonderwall'' as the inspiration for his 1974 collaborations with Shankar – namely, the
Music Festival from India and their subsequent George Harrison–Ravi Shankar 1974 North American Tour, North American tour. Both of these projects featured Indian musicians that Harrison first worked with in January 1968.
Album artwork
Apple commissioned American artist
Bob Gill to produce a painting for the front cover of ''Wonderwall Music''. Gill recalls that he first attended a meeting at the company's headquarters, where the four Beatles emphasised the importance of the album for their new record label and outlined the concept behind the film.
Gill painted a picture in the style of Belgian surrealist René Magritte, showing a formally dressed man "separated by a huge red brick wall from a group of happy bathing Indian maidens", Spizer writes. Apple executive
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...
, whom Harrison had invited to help run the Beatles' label in early 1968, later wrote of Gill's submission: "It was a nice painting but missed the essence of hope."
To Gill's chagrin, Harrison requested that a brick be removed from the wall, because he deemed it important to "give the fellow on the other side a chance, just as the Jack MacGowran character had a chance [in the film]".
[Derek Taylor's liner notes, ''Wonderwall Music'' CD (]Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
/EMI, 1992; produced by George Harrison).
Along with Gill, John Kelly and Alan Aldridge were credited for designing the album's artwork.
For the back cover of the LP, Harrison chose a photo of part of the Berlin Wall – a stock image from the Camera Press picture agency – which Kelly and Aldridge then manipulated and mirrored to represent a corner.
Taylor describes the result as innovative for its time, with the wall made to look "proud and sharp as the prow of a liner".
The sleeve was designed so that the rear face appeared upside down relative to the front.
In America, some copies of the LP had the Berlin Wall image mistakenly printed on the front, which made for "a less than exciting cover to be sure", in Madinger and Easter's opinion.
The LP's sleeve insert included a black-and-white photograph of Harrison taken by Astrid Kirchherr,
a friend since the Beatles' The Beatles in Hamburg, first residency in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960. Clayson cites Kirchherr's involvement as an example of Harrison's efforts to ensure that friends from the Beatles' pre-fame years were included in the Apple enterprise.
Release
Apple Records originally scheduled the release for late August 1968 to coincide with the label's launch,
[Spizer, p. 205.] which was marked by the highly publicised release of its "First Four" singles. As a result, parts of "Ski-ing", "Cowboy Music" and "Wonderwall to Be Here" were included in ''Apple'', a ten-minute film designed to promote the new label at distributor EMI's international sales conferences.
Delayed from this scheduled date, ''Wonderwall Music'' instead appeared in November, a few weeks before ''The Beatles''.
The release date was 1 November 1968 in Britain (with Apple catalogue number SAPCOR 1)
[Everett, p. 152.] and 2 December in America (as Apple ST 3350). The mono version of the album was available only in the UK.
Promotion for ''Wonderwall Music'' consisted of print advertising,
including a full-page advertisement in the 14 December issue of ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine, and an Apple-prepared poster that superimposed details from Gill's painting onto a photo of Harrison. The album's commercial impact was lessened by its unusual position of being the soundtrack to a film that had yet to receive a general release.
The album failed to chart in the United Kingdom,
but performed surprisingly well in the United States.
On ''Billboard''s pop LPs listings, it had a sixteen-week chart run, peaking at number 49 for two weeks in March 1969. On the US ''Cashbox (magazine), Cash Box'' and ''Record World'' charts, the album peaked at numbers 39 and 33, respectively.
''Wonderwall Music'' also placed in the top 30 on Canada's ''RPM (magazine), RPM'' albums chart
["''RPM'' Top 50 Albums, 24 February 1969"](_blank)
Library and Archives Canada (archived version retrieved 22 February 2017). and in West Germany, where it peaked at number 22.
["Album – George Harrison, Wonderwall Music"](_blank)
charts.de (archived version retrieved 14 July 2014).
Reissues
Having been out of print since the 1970s, ''Wonderwall Music'' was remastered and issued on CD in June 1992, as part of Apple's campaign to reissue its entire catalogue. The CD booklet contained liner notes by Taylor,
as well as stills from ''Wonderwall'' and a photo of Harrison working with some of the Indian musicians in 1968.
In November 1997, Massot began preparing a director's cut of ''Wonderwall'', which omitted many of the musical cues that had appeared in the original film but not on the soundtrack album, and instead repeated tracks such as "Ski-ing" and "Cowboy Music" at different points in the film.
Harrison supplied Massot with a tape containing various pieces recorded for ''Wonderwall'', which led to the unearthing of the Remo Four's "In the First Place".
A Manley–Ashton composition,
"In the First Place" was released as a single in January 1999 with Harrison credited as producer, after Massot had incorporated the song into his new audio for the film.
Harrison had played on the recording,
[Bill Harry]
"Colin Manley"
triumphpc.com/Mersey Beat (archived version retrieved 30 June 2014). but according to an article by Martin Lewis (humorist), Martin Lewis, he eschewed any credit as a performer.
[Martin Lewis]
"The Story of 'In the First Place'"
Abbeyrd's Beatle Page (archived version from 16 July 2012; retrieved 30 May 2017). In March 2014, Harrison's full soundtrack was made available on DVD when the original cut of the film was included in the two-disc set ''Wonderwall Collector's Edition''.
The album was remastered again and reissued in September 2014, as part of the Harrison box set ''The Apple Years 1968–75''.
[Joe Marchese]
"Review: The George Harrison Remasters – 'The Apple Years 1968–1975'"
''The Second Disc'', 23 September 2014 (archived version retrieved 4 April 2016). The CD booklet includes a liner-note essay by author Kevin Howlett and an introduction by Indian composer Nitin Sawhney.
["Announcing The Apple Years 1968–75 Box set – Released 22nd September"](_blank)
georgeharrison.com, 2 September 2014 (archived version retrieved 29 September 2014). The reissue added three bonus tracks: the previously unreleased "Almost Shankara", titled after an epithet for the Hindu deity Shiva and based on a traditional Indian raga;
an alternate instrumental take of "The Inner Light", which opens with Harrison's instructions to the musicians at HMV Studios;
[Nick DeRiso]
"One Track Mind: George Harrison, 'The Inner Light (alt. take)' from ''The Apple Years'' (2014)"
''Something Else!'', 19 September 2014 (archived version retrieved 26 June 2017). and "In the First Place" by the Remo Four".
[Kory Grow]
"George Harrison's First Six Studio Albums to Get Lavish Reissues"
Rolling Stone, rollingstone.com, 2 September 2014 (archived version retrieved 23 October 2017). The reissue series was overseen by Harrison's son Dhani Harrison, Dhani,
also a film-score composer.
In an interview with music journalist David Fricke, he described ''Wonderwall Music'' as his personal favourite of his father's Apple solo albums and "a cross of Spaghetti Western, spaghetti-western music, the ''Chants of India'' things my Dad [did] with Ravi, and the Beatles' best freakouts".
[David Fricke]
"Inside George Harrison's Archives: Dhani on His Father's Incredible Vaults"
Rolling Stone, rollingstone.com, 16 October 2014 (archived version retrieved 21 June 2017). Coinciding with this reissue, the ''Wonderwall'' film and soundtrack was the subject of an event held at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, partly hosted by music journalist and television writer David Wild.
Critical reception
Contemporary reviews
''Record World''s reviewer said that ''Wonderwall Music'' was an example of the Beatles beginning to "stretch out on their own separate tethers" and described the mix of Indian and Western music as "moody and pretty". According to Clayson, ''Films and Filming'' gave it a "glowing review".
[Alan Clayson, "Off the Wall", in ''Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days of Revolution'', p. 50.] The magazine's writer, Gordon Gow,
said that "the Harrison music replaces dialogue, waxing almost vocal like a cinema organist from the silent days." In his review for ''International Times'', Barry Miles wrote:
A genius description and interpretation of how someone else is feeling. Their moods, loves, wants. A delicate light cobweb of music, Indian, Chinese, French Impressionist, Jingle-jangle piano, hot horn. The music of the '20s occurs throughout in evocative snatches … Like Spike Jones and his City Slickers, only seen through the curtains of memories, parts of themes, incomplete lines. Then a '60s theme, a moving pattern of colours, bobbing the lilies on the pond.
Miles concluded by describing it as a "gentle human record".
[Barry Miles, "Magic Music, Nova Music, & Pink ...", ''International Times'', 15–28 November 1968, p. 5.] By contrast, ''Melody Maker''s review read: "Heavily Indian-influenced music written, arranged and produced by George for the film. Much of the music fails to have much point away from the pictures."
Writing in February 1969, Geoffrey Cannon of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' cited ''Wonderwall Music'' and recent individual projects by Lennon and McCartney for Apple as evidence that the three bandmates had "musical ideas which cannot be related to the Beatles". He added: "Playing these albums again and again, the threat of the Beatles' dissolution has become increasingly apparent to me." In his review of Harrison's 1969 experimental album, ''Electronic Sound'', Ed Ward (writer), Ed Ward of ''Rolling Stone'' said that ''Wonderwall Music'' "clearly shows" Harrison to be a "consummate musician".
Retrospective assessment
Professional reviews
''Musician'' magazine said of the 1992 CD release: "Of all the Beatles-related esoterica, this 1968 soundtrack album is one of the choicest treasures ... a freewheeling tapestry of music and sound ... [and] a pastiche-like head trip with a mind all its own."
["Review: George Harrison ''Wonderwall Music'' CD", '']Musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
'', December 1992, p. 98. ''Billboard''s reviewer rated it a "Vital Reissue" (signifying a re-release or compilation that merits "special artistic, archival, and commercial interest") and described the album as an "often enchanting sequence of 19 harmonious themes and tone poems" and an "intriguing treat".
Writing for ''Rolling Stone'' in 2002, Mikal Gilmore described ''Wonderwall Music'' as "a soundtrack to a rarely seen film, though Harrison's music was inventive and the album remains among his best works". In the 2004 edition of ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', however, Mac Randall gave the release two-and-a-half stars (out of five) and grouped it with ''Electronic Sound'' as being "interesting, though only for established fans".
In a 2011 assessment for ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'', John Harris (critic), John Harris said it was "As subtly inventive as you'd expect, though hardly compulsory."
In January 2012, Bryan Bierman of ''Magnet (magazine), Magnet'' presented ''Wonderwall Music'' in the magazine's "Hidden Gems" series, lamenting that "the album has become an obscure piece of Beatles trivia instead of what it is: a fascinating experiment from one of popular music's most interesting figures." Bierman wrote that, while the Beatles held a familiar role as pioneers in rock music's new developments, the album showed Harrison breaking away and "creating fresh and unique sounds" of his own.
[Bryan Bierman]
"Hidden Gems: George Harrison's 'Wonderwall Music'"
''Magnet (magazine), Magnet'', 5 January 2012 (archived version retrieved 25 May 2017). In February 2011, the website ''Death and Taxes (website), Death and Taxes'' similarly identified the album as one of Harrison's two "Forgotten Solo Gems", along with ''Electronic Sound''.
Reviewing the 2014 ''Apple Years'' remaster for ''Uncut (magazine), Uncut'', Richard Williams (journalist), Richard Williams writes that ''Wonderwall Music'' represents "an exploded diagram of a Beatles album", which includes "[d]reamy miniature ragas", "a pub knees-up gatecrashed by a Dixieland band ('Drilling A Home')" and "the bones of early Acid rock, acid-rock songs ('Red Lady Too' and 'Party Seacombe')". Williams describes the album as "a treat from start to finish" offering "an innocent optimism that will always be worth a listen".
[Richard Williams, "George Harrison ''The Apple Years 1968–75''", ''Uncut (magazine), Uncut'', November 2014, p. 93.] ''New Zealand Herald'' critic Graham Reid (journalist), Graham Reid considers "Dream Scene" to be "by far the most psychedelic and out-there piece by any Beatle to that time", adding that "towards the end you can almost anticipate Lennon's Revolution 9 coming in." Reid describes the album as, variously, "peculiar and terrific" and "one of the most interesting and courageously different of [Harrison's] solo albums". In a review for ''Uncut''s ''Ultimate Music Guide'' issue on Harrison, Jon Dale describes ''Wonderwall Music'' as "a beguiling, charming snapshot of a moment in time". He says that, in response to the soundtrack restrictions, Harrison skilfully abbreviates the Indian raga form, "somehow capturing an essence, and condensing it to the fleeting, the elemental", while similarly presenting Western experimentalism "cloaked in a velvet glove".
Biographers' appraisal
Author Robert Rodriguez writes that, although the brevity of each selection allowed little opportunity for progression beyond a basic motif, "sonically, the range explored even within the Western cues was astonishing". He adds: "The Indian cuts too were quite varied stylistically, showing open-minded listeners that there was more to the country's music than twanging sitars and thumping tablas."
Simon Leng considers ''Wonderwall Music'' to be "a companion in spirit" to Bill Evans' ''Conversations with Myself (album), Conversations with Myself'', due to the doubling of the lead instrument in some of the Indian pieces; he comments on the significance of Harrison recording in India in January 1968: "There were now three Beatles who held firm artistic visions. The group was unraveling in earnest." Leng praises "Dream Scene" in particular, describing it as a "musical acid trip" that "rivals anything on ''Sgt. Pepper'' for sheer freak-out effect".
Ian Inglis views ''Wonderwall Music'' as "an assured and varied collection of music that ... perfectly complemented the juxtaposition of the exotic and the ordinary that Massot's film depicted". Among the selections he highlights as transcending their soundtrack role, Inglis describes "Microbes" as "a beautiful example of Harrison's ability to create forlorn, mournful, yearning soundscapes" and "Greasy Legs" as "a delicate and charming composition".
Inglis concludes of Harrison's debut solo album: "it provides a fascinating summary of the myriad patterns of musical activity whose fusions stimulated the growth of psychedelic, underground, and progressive scenes in the late 1960s, and it is a key moment in the development of his preparations for life after the Beatles."
Cultural influence and legacy
According to Dale, as the first solo release by a member of the band, ''Wonderwall Music'' is widely viewed as "the Marco Polo of Beatle solo albums", yet its true historical significance lies in its standing as "one of the first records to really bring Indian classical music into pop and rock, across the entire narrative of an album".
Shambhu Das, who subsequently became a teacher and ambassador of Indian music in Canada, recognises the album as having helped inspire Indo jazz, Indo–jazz fusion. American film-score composer Quincy Jones once described it as "the greatest soundtrack he had heard", according to Massot's recollection to BBC Radio presenter Spencer Leigh (radio presenter), Spencer Leigh.
Leng credits ''Wonderwall Music'' with having established Harrison as "a pioneer in fusing global music", and Madinger and Easter similarly view it as "an early example of what would eventually become known as 'World Music': the mixing of Western music with other types from around the globe".
In his book ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Peter Lavezzoli describes the album as "a charming potpourri of Indian and Western sounds"; he considers Harrison to be a principal figure in the introduction of Indian music to Western audiences, along with Yehudi Menuhin and John Coltrane, and groups him with Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and Mickey Hart as the rock musicians most responsible for popularising world music. Writing for ''Mojo'' in 2011, Michael Simmons described ''Wonderwall Music'' as a "groundbreaking blend of Bombay and London", while Kevin Howlett comments in his 2014 liner-note essay that Harrison's decision to "travel to the source" and professionally record non-Western music was "unprecedented for a pop musician".
Graeme Thomson, writing in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in March 2017, called ''Wonderwall Music'' "a world music crossover before such a notion even existed".
Clayson says that the album's influence was evident on mid-1990s Britpop acts such as
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
, Supergrass and Ocean Colour Scene. Of these bands, Oasis took the title of their international hit "
Wonderwall" from that of Harrison's album. Like Clayson,
[Clayson, p. 439.] music journalist Chris Ingham sees the most obvious example of ''Wonderwall Music''s legacy in the raga rock sound of Kula Shaker,
[Ingham, p. 162.] who also adopted lyrical influences from Harrison's work. The band's 1996 single "Govinda (Kula Shaker song), Govinda" was a cover of a Harrison-produced song by the Radha Krishna Temple, and its B-side, "Gokula", used an identical guitar riff to the one on "Ski-ing",
resulting in a co-writing credit for Harrison.
[B-side label credits, "Govinda" single (Columbia Records, 1996; produced by Shep & Dodge).]
Track listing
All selections written by George Harrison, except where noted.
Original release
Side one
#"Microbes" – 3:42
#"Red Lady Too" – 1:56
#"Tabla and Pakavaj" – 1:05
#"In the Park" – 4:08
#"Drilling a Home" – 3:08
#"Guru Vandana" – 1:05
#"Greasy Legs" – 1:28
#"Ski-ing" – 1:50
#"Gat Kirwani" – 1:15
#"
Dream Scene
''Dream Scene'' is an album by the progressive bluegrass Maryland band The Seldom Scene. There were several personnel changes in the group after the unsuccessful comeback with John Starling. Mike Auldridge, Moondi Klein, and T. Michael Colema ...
" – 5:26
Side two
#"Party Seacombe" – 4:34
#"Love Scene" – 4:17
#"Crying" – 1:15
#"Cowboy Music" – 1:29
#"Fantasy Sequins" – 1:50
#"On the Bed" – 2:22
#"Glass Box" – 1:05
#"Wonderwall to Be Here" – 1:25
#"Singing Om" – 1:54
2014 reissue
Tracks 1–19 per the original release, with the following bonus tracks:
#
"In the First Place" (Colin Manley, Tony Ashton
Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.
Biography
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...
; performed by the Remo Four
The Remo Four were a 1950s–1960s rock band from Liverpool, England. They were contemporaries of The Beatles, and later had the same manager, Brian Epstein. Its members were Colin Manley (born Colin William Manley, 16 April 1942, in Old Swan, ...
) – 3:17
#"Almost Shankara" – 5:00
#"
The Inner Light" (alternative take, instrumental) – 3:43
Personnel
*
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
– piano,
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
, electric and acoustic guitars, tape loops, musical arrangements
*
John Barham
John Barham is an English classical pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator. He is best known for his orchestration of George Harrison albums such as ''All Things Must Pass'' (1970) and for his association with Indian sitar maestro R ...
– piano,
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
,
harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...
, orchestral arrangement
*
Tony Ashton
Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.
Biography
Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...
– tack piano, organ, Mellotron, piano, harmonium
*Remo Four (The), Colin Manley – electric and acoustic guitars,
steel guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...
*Remo Four (The), Philip Rogers – bass guitar
*
Roy Dyke – drums
*Tommy Reilly (harmonica player), Tommy Reilly – harmonica
*
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
– electric guitar
*
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
– drums
*Big Jim Sullivan – bass
*
Aashish Khan
Aashish Khan Debsharma (born 5 December 1939) is an Indian classical musician, a player of the sarod. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006 in the 'Best World Music' category for his album "Golden Strings of the Sarode". He is also a reci ...
–
sarod
The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...
*Mahapurush Misra –
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
, pakhavaj
*Sharad Kumar –
shehnai
The ''shehnai'' is a musical instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end.[Shambhu Das
Shambhu Das (born 1934) is an Indian classical music, Indian classical musician and educator. He is best known for his long association with Ravi Shankar, on whose behalf Das has acted as an ambassador for Indian music in Canada since the early 1 ...]
–
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
*Indranil Bhattacharya – sitar
*
Shankar Ghosh
Pandit Shankar Ghosh (10 October 1935 – 22 January 2016) was an Indian tabla player from the Farukhabad gharana of Hindustani classical music. He was an occasional Hindustani classical singer where he followed the Patiala gharana.
He was ...
– tabla
*Chandrashekhar Naringrekar –
surbahar
''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...
*
Shivkumar Sharma
Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...
–
santoor
The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is a ...
*S.R. Kenkare –
bansuri
*Vinayak Vora –
tar shehnai The tar shehnai, also spelled tarshenai or sometimes tar shehanai, is an esraj (an Indian bowed instrument) whose sound is amplified by a metal horn attached to its sound board. The term is also used to refer to the horn itself. The horn of a phono ...
*
Rijram Desad – harmonium,
tabla tarang
The tabla tarang (Hindi: तबला तरंग) is a melodic percussion instrument consisting of between ten and sixteen tuned dayan drums. In a tabla "pair" instrument, the dayan is the treble drum and the bayan is the bass drum. Tarang mea ...
Charts
See also
* ''Raga (film), Raga''
* ''Shankar Family & Friends''
Notes
References
Sources
* Dale Allison, Dale C. Allison Jr, ''The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ).
* Keith Badman, ''The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After the Break-Up 1970–2001'', Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ).
* The Beatles, ''The Beatles Anthology'', Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA, 2000; ).
* Andy Bennett & Jon Stratton (eds), ''Britpop and the English Music Tradition'' (rev. edn), Ashgate Publishing (Farnham, UK, 2013; ).
* Nathan Brackett & Christian Hoard (eds), ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' (4th edn), Fireside/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2004; ).
* Harry Castleman & Walter J. Podrazik, ''All Together Now: The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975'', Ballantine Books (New York, NY, 1976; ).
*
Alan Clayson
Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as ...
, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; ).
* ''Collaborations'', book accompanying ''Collaborations (Ravi Shankar and George Harrison album), Collaborations'' box set by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison (Dark Horse Records, 2010; produced by Olivia Harrison; package design by Drew Lorimer & Olivia Harrison).
* Peter Doggett, ''You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup'', It Books (New York, NY, 2011; ).
* The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', ''Harrison'', Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002; ).
* Walter Everett (musicologist), Walter Everett, ''The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology'', Oxford University Press (New York, NY, 1999; ).
* ''George Harrison: Living in the Material World'' DVD (Village Roadshow, 2011; directed by Martin Scorsese; produced by Olivia Harrison, Nigel Sinclair, Martin Scorsese).
* Gary Graff & Daniel Durchholz (eds), ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'', Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999; ).
* Joshua M. Greene, ''Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison'', John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken, NJ, 2006; ).
* Olivia Harrison, ''George Harrison: Living in the Material World'', Abrams (New York, NY, 2011; ).
* Bill Harry, ''The George Harrison Encyclopedia'', Virgin Books (London, 2003; ).
* Kevin Howlett, "Wonderwall Music" (liner note essay), ''Wonderwall Music'' CD booklet (
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...
, 2014; produced by George Harrison).
* Chris Ingham, ''The Rough Guide to the Beatles'', Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2003; ).
* Ian Inglis, ''The Words and Music of George Harrison'', Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ).
* Peter Lavezzoli, ''The Dawn of Indian Music in the West'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ).
* Simon Leng, ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison'', Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ).
* Ian MacDonald, ''Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties'', Pimlico (London, 1998; ).
* Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, ''Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium'', 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ).
* Barry Miles, ''The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years'', Omnibus Press (London, 2001; ).
* ''Mojo (magazine)#Special editions, Mojo Special Limited Edition: 1000 Days of Revolution (The Beatles' Final Years – Jan 1, 1968 to Sept 27, 1970)'', Emap (London, 2003).
* Robert Rodriguez, ''Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980'', Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; ).
* Nicholas Schaffner, ''The Beatles Forever'', McGraw-Hill (New York, NY, 1978; ).
* Nicholas Schaffner, ''The British Invasion: From the First Wave to the New Wave'', McGraw-Hill (New York, NY, 1982; ).
* Michael Simmons, "Cry for a Shadow", ''
Mojo
Mojo may refer to:
* Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo
Arts, entertainment and media Film and television
* MOJO HD, an American television network
* ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film
* ' ...
'', November 2011, pp. 74–87.
*
Bruce Spizer
David "Bruce" Spizer (born July 2, 1955) is a tax attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, who is also recognized as an expert on the Beatles. He has published thirteen books, and is frequently quoted as an authority on the history of the band an ...
, ''The Beatles Solo on Apple Records'', 498 Productions (New Orleans, LA, 2005; ).
* Gary Tillery, ''Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison'', Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; ).
* John C. Winn, ''That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966–1970'', Three Rivers Press (New York, NY, 2009; ).
* ''World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)'', Rough Guides/Penguin (London, 2000; ).
External links
*
*
Wonderwall' at AllMovie
''Wonderwall'' film reviewat Cinema Retro, Cinemaretro.com
{{Authority control
1968 debut albums
1968 soundtrack albums
George Harrison albums
Albums produced by George Harrison
Albums recorded in India
Apple Records soundtracks
EMI Records soundtracks
Drama film soundtracks
Albums with cover art by Alan Aldridge
Raga rock albums
World music albums by English artists
The Beatles and India