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Imagine the privileged thrill of sitting in the living room of your favorite musician(s) while they play their newest material for you. That's exactly how this album feels, and it's great! Doubly so for me, because "All Things Must Pass" is this Beatle Nut's favorite Harrison album. In case you're wondering, no, I never knew George, but I do have a unique take on the artist/fan perspective. More on that shortly.
There's so much more here than "All Things..."! Of the ten tracks, four are new. Two of those, Harrison's take of his own idol, Bob Dylan's "Mama, You've Been On My Mind", and a touching version of the Everly Brothers' "Let It Be Me" are in themselves more than worth the album's cost.
I mentioned sitting with a favorite artist while they play for you. I've had that that blessed and rare experience. If you've ever heard of the late Blues legend John Lee Hooker, I knew him very well for the final twenty years of his life. John Lee was very much my "Grandpa-by-adoption", and when he came to play Kansas City or Chicago, we'd spend a couple of days together. His bandmates would be hunting up girls, (I was already married), while Hook and I would glance at old movies or a ballgame on TV, and just talk, for hours.
George's "Early Takes Volume 1" brings back all those memories. I share some of these with you here, so that you might understand what it's like to have a hero/musician share his art and life with you, and, therefore, why this album carries extra meaning for this writer.
The day we met, "Hook" played songs for me backstage, when we were the only two in the room. When he was writing new material, he'd sing it for me, over the phone, (He in CA, and I in KS). Better still, he never failed to call me on my December birthday, and sing with that voice that defines his genre, "Happy Birthday" to me. Amazing. Quickly! Find his Grammy-winning album, "The Healer", or his "I'm in the Mood" duet with Bonnie Raitt, and you'll understand. Trust me.
I was born with cerebral palsy in my legs, so walking long distances was hard. John Lee, out of consideration, gave me some incredible "help" for this.
Whenever the concert promoter sent the limo to bring Mr. Hooker to his concert venue, John Lee made sure that I alone rode with him. (In part because, despite my legs, my upper body was "bodyguard" large. As such, I could make sure "Hook" didn't get shoved around in a crowd). I also got, not a backstage pass, but an on-stage pass, and a chair. This way, I could watch his whole show comfortably from the wings, and not battle huge crowds, such as the 450,000 that so joyously saw John Lee Hooker close the 1988 Navy Pier Blues Festival in Chicago.
The hilarious part of this was, whenever I climbed out of a limo with "Hook", fans waiting backstage naturally assumed, especially given the longer hair and full beard that I wore back then, that I must surely be in the John Lee Hooker band. Despite my insistence to these fans that I was just John Lee Hooker's friend, they asked - even demanded - my autograph. While laughing about this later, I asked John Lee what to do. He too, cracked up laughing. Then, with the charming, grandfatherly wisdom that was so typical of John Lee, he said, "Just keep the fans happy 'n sign for 'em, John. You ain't doin' any harm." Since *nobody* can read my signature anyhow, I signed a few. Sorry, if by chance, any of those fans ever read this. My autograph's only good on a check! I only felt badly when someone made me sign a book on the same page as a signature from the great Bob Dylan. That seemed to me as a kind of rock 'n' roll sacrilege.
If you're even a moderate Beatles/Harrison fan, you'll love this album. As most fans know, George was the most private of all The Beatles. To "peek behind the curtain" and see these great songs, as well as the unreleased gems, develop is indeed a treat! It's a damned shame that he had to die** before we got to hear them.
**Cancer, from smoking, even though Mr. Harrison had quit years before. As was sung in, "I'm So Tired", "...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git!" Raleigh learned to smoke tobacco from American Indians, and so he introduced that deadly habit to Colonial America.
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