The three ex-Beatles not named Ringo each took their turns as punching bags in the early 1970s, starting with Paul McCartney (who announced the Beatles breakup while promoting his first solo album that seems charming now but was considered a huge letdown at the time), followed by John Lennon (who, after the glory of “Imagine,” got so politically shrill with wife Yoko Ono that the public tuned out their music).
The golden ex-Beatle at this point was George Harrison, whose creative dam burst with the smash 1970 double album (plus bonus jam disc that no one plays) “All Things Must Pass” followed by his spearheading of the first-ever large-scale, all-star rock charity show, 1971’s “The Concert for Bangladesh.” Yet by his 1975 album “Extra Texture (Read All About It),” the so-called quiet Beatle was captioning an inner-sleeve photo of himself “OHNOTHIMAGEN” (“oh, not him again”).
The self-depreciating joke was that no one wanted anything to do with him anymore. Given the feeble reception and chart performance of “Extra Texture,” he wasn’t completely wrong.
So the narrative presented in the new boxed set “George Harrison: The Apple Years 1968-75,” overseen by son Dhani Harrison, isn’t a particularly celebratory one. This seven-CD/one-DVD set is the companion and prequel of sorts to the 2004 Harrison box “The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992,” which covered his artistic and commercial rebound, starting with the bright 1976 album “Thirty-Three and a Third” and including his 1987 Jeff Lynne-produced hit “Cloud Nine,” though not his joyous Traveling Wilburys recordings.
“The Apple Years” ends with the relatively dreary “Extra Texture,” which followed the relatively miserable “Dark Horse,” which followed the relatively mopey “Living in the Material World.” The triumph of “All Things Must Pass” and its singles “My Sweet Lord” and “What Is Life” aside, this was not a happy Harrison period.
The box begins with the two albums Harrison released while he was still a Beatle: “Wonderwall Music,” his 1968 East-meets-West soundtrack to a little-seen film, and “Electronic Sound,” two lengthy, not particularly musical Moog synthesizer workouts. “Wonderwall” is more fragments than songs, yet for fans of Harrison’s Indian efforts such as “The Inner Light” (that Beatles B-side’s instrumental track was recorded during these same Bombay sessions), it does contain some very pretty moments as well as Harrison’s first recording with Eric Clapton (guitar-and-tambura jam “Ski-ing”).
You shouldn’t need a boxed set to discover “All Things Must Pass.” This version offers the original, noncolorized cover but includes the same bonus tracks as the 2001 reissue. “Living in the Material World” — which features the prayerful hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and other songs that reflect his disappointment with the vast unenlightened — also received a CD upgrade in 2006; the only track added to that package is the 1971 single “Bangla Desh.”
“Dark Horse” and “Extra Texture” are the two Harrison post-Beatle albums getting their first CD upgrades, and they sound and look excellent. They also represent Harrison at his low point. For “Dark Horse,” recorded in haste after the long-gestating “Living,” Harrison had blown out his voice preparing for his first big tour while he was drinking and snorting too much and reeling from his wife Pattie Boyd’s ditching of him for Clapton (while Harrison reportedly was having an affair with Ringo Starr’s wife, Maureen Starkey). His Clapton-mentioning shambles of a “Bye Bye, Love” cover sounds akin to one of Alex Chilton’s soul-unraveling performances of the time.
His voice was improved on “Extra Texture,” but now he was bemoaning the poor notices for “Dark Horse” and the tour. His song “This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)” even name-checks Rolling Stone magazine, which had given him a particularly brutal review.
Lennon is generally considered the most autobiographical ex-Beatle, but these albums are awfully revealing of Harrison’s state of mind. And he was down: seeking spiritual solace in “Living” (while passing judgment on those who hadn’t accepted the Lord), mining his own failings on “Dark Horse” while still seeking salvation, and trying to tap into an American soul vein on “Extra Texture” without generating the spark that would come with “Thirty-Three and a Third.”
“The Apple Years” has the effect of making you feel closer to Harrison and his struggles, even as you can be put off by the proselytizing, finger-pointing and wallowing that permeates the post-“All Things” recordings. You’re best off curbing your own judgmental side and appreciating the beautiful playing of “Material World,” the “Dark Horse” title track that remains one of his most sublime creations despite his dark-hoarse vocals (he sounds better on the bonus-track demo) and the minor-key potency of “This Guitar,” a worthier “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” sequel than you might’ve expected.
The DVD is nothing much: about 40 minutes of mostly promotional materials, including an electronic press kit for “The Concert for Bangladesh,” which isn’t even in the box. The Harrison estate isn’t too generous in the value-added department, offering few bonus tracks and even fewer previously unreleased ones.
But, hey, the box is handsome, and it’s George, urging you posthumously to be openhearted when dealing with his offerings of this material world.
Twitter @MarkCaro
