George Harrison (post-Beatles)

1968 Wonderwall Music (1)

George Harrison's first solo album. Very impressive. It alternates between Indian classical music sections and Western musical selections. The former are dominated by instruments such as shehnai, sarod, tar shehnai, tanpura and santoor. The latter offer psychedelic rock, as well as experimental, country and ragtime styles. The album can (and should) be listen to from the beginning to the end without interruption, as it forms a single musical composition, despite the pauses between tracks.

1969 Electronic Sound (2)

George Harrison's second solo album. Not at all like his first. It is an experimental work comprising two lengthy pieces performed on a Moog 3-series synthesizer: "Under The Mersey Wall" and "No Time Or Space". Neither could plausibly be described as "music". 

1970 All Things Must Pass (21)

A triple album with 23 tracks. One of George Harrison's best solo efforts. It's his third studio album, but his first solo work after the break-up of the Beatles. Three great classics: "My Sweet Lord", "Isn't It A Pity" and "What Is Life". Seven good songs: "Wah-Wah", "I'D Have You Anytime", "Beware Of Darkness", "Behind That Locked Door", "Awaiting On You All", "All Things Must Pass" and "Art Of Dying". Seven weak tunes: "Hear Me Lord", "Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)", "I Dig Love", "Let It Down", "Run Of The Mill", "Apple Scruffs" and "It's Johnny's Birthday". And four rather unimpressive instrumental tracks: "Out Of The Blue", "Plug Me In", "I Remember Jeep" and "Thanks For The Pepperoni". There are two versions of "Isn't It A Pity", the first one much longer, faster and better than the second. "If Not For You" is a Bob Dylan cover song. 

1971 The Concert For Bangladesh (1)

A live triple album of "The Concert For Bangladesh", a charity event organized by George Harrison for homeless Bengali refugees. It was held in August 1971 at New York's Madison Square Garden. The show set the model for future multi-artist rock benefits such as Live Aid in 1985. The event brought George Harrison and Ringo Starr together on a concert stage for the first time since 1966, when the Beatles retired from live performance. George Harrison contributed 8 songs, including one superb new hit, "Bangla Desh". Ringo Starr also contributed an excellent new song, "It Don't Come Easy". Bob Dylan contributed 5 songs.

1973 Living In The Material World (13)

One masterpiece: "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)". Five good songs: "Living In The Material World", "Who Can See It", "Try Some Buy Some", "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long" and "The Light That Has Lighted The World". And five weak songs: "The Lord Loves The One (That Loves The Lord)", "Sue Me Sue You Blues", "That Is All", "The Day The World Gets 'Round" and "Be Here Now". The 2006 remaster of the albums includes two singles: weak "Deep Blue" (1971) and fine "Miss O'Dell" (1973).

1974 Dark Horse (10)

Seven fine tracks: "It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)", "Dark Horse", "So Sad", "Ding Dong Ding Dong", "Far East Man", "Simply Shady" and "Hari's On Tour (Express)". And two weak "love" songs: "Maya Love" and "Bye Bye Love". The 2014 reissue bonus tracks include a disappointing single "I Don't Care Anymore" (1974).

1975 Extra Texture (9)

One of George Harrison's greatest albums. One timeless masterpiece - "You"- arguably his best solo composition. A 45-second instrumental portion of that song, titled "A Bit More Of You", is included on a separate track. Five excellent songs: "The Answer's At The End", "This Guitar Can't Keep From Crying", "World Of Stone", "Can't Stop Thinking About You" and "Tired Of Midnight Blue". And three disappointing tracks: "Grey Cloudy Lies", "Ooh Baby You Know That I Love You" and "His Name Is Legs Ladies And Gentlemen".

1976 Thirty Three & 1/3 (9)

Only four good songs on this one: "Crackerbox Palace", "This Song", "It's What You Value" and "Beautiful Girl". The rest is nice, but rather unimpressive: "Pure Smokey", "Learning How To Love You", "Woman Don't You Cry For Me", "Dear One" and "See Yourself". "True Love" is a Cole Porter cover. 

1979 George Harrison (10)

With at least half of the titles referring to soft or sweet love ("Soft-Hearted Hana", "Soft Touch", "Dark Sweet Lady", "Love Comes To Everyone" and "Your Love Is Forever"), this is a rather pleasant and easy-going album without any weak tracks. The finest song is definitely "Blow Away", with "Not Guilty" a close second, and followed by "Faster", "Here Comes The Moon" and "If You Believe". 

1981 Somewhere In England (12)

There are only excellent songs on this album: "All Those Years Ago", "Unconsciousness Rules", "That Which I Have Lost", "Save The World", "Life Itself", "Blood From A Clone", "Teardrops" and "Writing's On The Wall". "Baltimore Oriole" and "Hong Kong Blues" are Hoagy Carmichael covers and they are very good too. It's one of George Harrison's best albums. It's so good, in fact, that four perfectly fine songs had to be rejected from its original track listing: "Lay His Head", "Sat Singing", "Flying Hour" and "Tears Of The World".

1982 Gone Troppo (9)

George Harrison's most underrated album, a pleasure from start to finish, without a single weak track. "I Really Love You" is a Leroy Swearingen cover song (originally recorded by his vocal group The Stereos in 1961). It's George Harrison's best cover song to date ("Got My Mind Set On You" would only be released 5 years later), and also the best song on this album. But all the original songs are fabulous as well: "Wake Up My Love", "Dream Away", "Baby Don't Run Away", "Mystical One", "That's The Way It Goes", "Unknown Delight", "Gone Troppo", "Greece" and "Circles". 

1987 Cloud Nine (12)

Arguably George Harrison's best solo album. It's also his second album in a row where the best song is a cover. And what a cover! - "Got My Mind Set On You" (written and composed by Rudy Clark and originally recorded by James Ray in 1962) - the last song by a former Beatle to be a Number 1 hit in the United States. The album also has three timeless classics: "When We Was Fab", "This Is Love" and "Devil's Radio". As well as five more excellent tracks: "Someplace Else", "Fish On The Sand", "Wreck Of The Hesperus", "Cloud 9" and "That's What It Takes". "Just For Today" and "Breath Away From Heaven" are two fine ballads. The 2004 reissue of the album also includes two excellent songs from the 1986 film "Shanghai Surprise" (produced by George Harrison): "Shanghai Surprise" (1986) and "Zig Zag" (1986).

1988 Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 (12)

The first album from Traveling Wilburys (George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty). They received joint songwriting credits for all the songs on the album. Eight excellent tracks: "End Of The Line", "Handle With Care", "Last Night", "Not Alone Any More", "Heading For The Light", "Tweeter And The Monkey Man", "Congratulations" and "Margarita". Two weak songs: "Dirty World" and "Rattled". Two fine songs, "Maxine" and "Like A Ship", are included on the 2007 CD reissue of the album.

1990 Traveling Wilburys Vol 3 (11)

Although it was actually the second album from the band, it was mischievously titled Vol 3 by George Harrison to play a joke on fans. According to Jeff Lynne, "That was George's idea. He said, Let's confuse the buggers". All the songs were written together by George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. There are nine excellent tracks: "7 Deadly Sins", "New Blue Moon", "Poor House", "Cool Dry Place", "You Took My Breath Away", "Wilbury Twist", "If You Belonged To Me", "Inside Out" and "The Devil's Been Busy". And two weak songs: "Where Were You Last Night?" and "She's My Baby". 

2002 Brainwashed (11)

George Harrison's last album, released after his death. Nine excellent songs: "Brainwashed", "P2 Vatican Blues Last Saturday Night", "Rocking Chair In Hawaii", "Any Road", "Pisces Fish", "Stuck Inside A Cloud", "Run So Far", "Looking For My Life" and "Never Get Over You". And two weak tunes: "Rising Sun" and "Marwa Blues". "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea" is a cover song.

Songs written for Ringo Starr (5):

superb "Photograph" (Ringo, 1973)

fine "You and Me (Babe)" (Ringo, 1973)

weak "Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond)" (Ringo, 1973) 

fine "I'll Still Love You" (Ringo's Rotogravure, 1976)

excellent "Wrack My Brain" (Stop And Smell The Roses, 1981)

Other songs (10):

weak "Sour Milk Sea" (1968)

fine "I Don't Want To Do It" (1985)

very good "Hottest Gong In Town" (1986)

excellent "Cheer Down" (1989)

fine "Ride Rajbun" (1992)

good "Mo" (1994)

very good "I Live For You" (2001)

excellent "Horse To The Water" (2001)

weak "Almost Shankara" (2014)

weak "Window Window' (2021)