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Songs by George Harrison 2
Songs by George Harrison 2 is a book of song lyrics and commentary by English musician George Harrison, with illustrations by Keith West and an accompanying EP of previously unreleased Harrison recordings. It was published in June 1992, in a limited run of 2500 copies, by Genesis Publications. As with Harrison and West's first volume, published in 1988, each copy was hand-bound and available only by direct order through Genesis in England.
The musical disc includes "Tears of the World", a song that Warner Bros. Records had rejected in 1980 for inclusion on Harrison's album Somewhere in England, together with a live version of "Hari's on Tour (Express)". The latter remains a rare officially released recording from Harrison's 1974 North American tour. Also appearing on the disc is "Hottest Gong in Town", one of the songs that Harrison contributed to the soundtrack of his 1986 HandMade Films production Shanghai Surprise.
With Genesis undertaking only a single print run for the book, Songs by George Harrison 2 has become a collector's item. Aside from an alternative mix of "Tears of the World" that appeared as a bonus track on the 2004 reissue of Thirty Three & 1/3, none of the EP's four selections has been reissued on an official release.
George Harrison began working with New Zealand-born artist Keith West in 1985, overseeing West's illustrations to accompany the song lyrics included in Songs by George Harrison, published in February 1988. Limited to a single print run of 2500 copies, and available at considerable expense directly from Genesis Publications in England, the book soon sold out. Although Harrison had discussed a second volume during his late-1987 interview with Musician magazine, its publication did not take place until midway through 1992. In the intervening years, Harrison followed up his 1987 comeback album, Cloud Nine, with two similarly successful albums with the Traveling Wilburys, released in 1988 and 1990, before returning to the collaboration with West.
Songs by George Harrison 2 contains the lyrics to 59 Harrison compositions, following the 60 included in the first book. Among the songs were "Something", "My Sweet Lord" and "All Things Must Pass". West again supplied a series of watercolours designed to complement the song themes, in addition to hand-lettering the words. The pages, measuring 175 by 250 millimetres, were hand-bound by Genesis inside a black leather cover. On the cover's spine, two gold-leaf stars differentiated the book from the 1988 volume, which carried a single star.
Following the first book's inclusion of a foreword by Jeff Lynne and a "middleword" by Elton John, the new volume featured contributions from other musical associates of Harrison – former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr and American singer Harry Nilsson. As before, an accompanying music EP was offered in either vinyl or CD format, with the disc housed beside the book in a handmade Solander box.
The opening track on the EP is a demo of "Life Itself", which Harrison would re-record with a full band for release on his 1981 album Somewhere in England. Harrison biographer Simon Leng describes the composition as the singer's "love song to his God" and contrasts Harrison's spiritual message with that of Bob Dylan during the same period; unlike Dylan's song "Every Grain of Sand", Leng concludes, "'Life Itself' is the work of a man who has arrived at his destination."
The demo, which features Harrison playing all the musical instruments (accompanied by a drum machine), was made in the months before the album sessions began in March 1980. The musical arrangement differs little from the album version. Noting Harrison's more "delicate performance" on the demo, however, author Ian Inglis views it as "a reminder that, in their formative stages, songs can possess a natural simplicity that is sometimes lost on later versions".
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Songs by George Harrison 2
Songs by George Harrison 2 is a book of song lyrics and commentary by English musician George Harrison, with illustrations by Keith West and an accompanying EP of previously unreleased Harrison recordings. It was published in June 1992, in a limited run of 2500 copies, by Genesis Publications. As with Harrison and West's first volume, published in 1988, each copy was hand-bound and available only by direct order through Genesis in England.
The musical disc includes "Tears of the World", a song that Warner Bros. Records had rejected in 1980 for inclusion on Harrison's album Somewhere in England, together with a live version of "Hari's on Tour (Express)". The latter remains a rare officially released recording from Harrison's 1974 North American tour. Also appearing on the disc is "Hottest Gong in Town", one of the songs that Harrison contributed to the soundtrack of his 1986 HandMade Films production Shanghai Surprise.
With Genesis undertaking only a single print run for the book, Songs by George Harrison 2 has become a collector's item. Aside from an alternative mix of "Tears of the World" that appeared as a bonus track on the 2004 reissue of Thirty Three & 1/3, none of the EP's four selections has been reissued on an official release.
George Harrison began working with New Zealand-born artist Keith West in 1985, overseeing West's illustrations to accompany the song lyrics included in Songs by George Harrison, published in February 1988. Limited to a single print run of 2500 copies, and available at considerable expense directly from Genesis Publications in England, the book soon sold out. Although Harrison had discussed a second volume during his late-1987 interview with Musician magazine, its publication did not take place until midway through 1992. In the intervening years, Harrison followed up his 1987 comeback album, Cloud Nine, with two similarly successful albums with the Traveling Wilburys, released in 1988 and 1990, before returning to the collaboration with West.
Songs by George Harrison 2 contains the lyrics to 59 Harrison compositions, following the 60 included in the first book. Among the songs were "Something", "My Sweet Lord" and "All Things Must Pass". West again supplied a series of watercolours designed to complement the song themes, in addition to hand-lettering the words. The pages, measuring 175 by 250 millimetres, were hand-bound by Genesis inside a black leather cover. On the cover's spine, two gold-leaf stars differentiated the book from the 1988 volume, which carried a single star.
Following the first book's inclusion of a foreword by Jeff Lynne and a "middleword" by Elton John, the new volume featured contributions from other musical associates of Harrison – former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr and American singer Harry Nilsson. As before, an accompanying music EP was offered in either vinyl or CD format, with the disc housed beside the book in a handmade Solander box.
The opening track on the EP is a demo of "Life Itself", which Harrison would re-record with a full band for release on his 1981 album Somewhere in England. Harrison biographer Simon Leng describes the composition as the singer's "love song to his God" and contrasts Harrison's spiritual message with that of Bob Dylan during the same period; unlike Dylan's song "Every Grain of Sand", Leng concludes, "'Life Itself' is the work of a man who has arrived at his destination."
The demo, which features Harrison playing all the musical instruments (accompanied by a drum machine), was made in the months before the album sessions began in March 1980. The musical arrangement differs little from the album version. Noting Harrison's more "delicate performance" on the demo, however, author Ian Inglis views it as "a reminder that, in their formative stages, songs can possess a natural simplicity that is sometimes lost on later versions".