Somewhere in England

Infobox Album | Name = Somewhere in England
Type = Album
Artist = George Harrison


Released = 5 June 1981
Recorded = sporadically between
30 October 1979 -
23 September 1980 &
November 1980 -
February 1981
Genre = Rock
Length = 39:43
Label = Dark Horse/Warner Bros. Records
Producer = George Harrison
and Ray Cooper
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:bp811vg4zzxa~T1 link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|2|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/georgeharrison/albums/album/176119/review/5946590/somewhere_in_england link]
Last album = "George Harrison"
(1979)
This album = "Somewhere in England"
(1981)
Next album = "Gone Troppo"
(1982) |

"Somewhere in England" is an album by George Harrison, released in 1981. Recorded as Harrison was becoming increasingly frustrated with the music industry, the album's making was a long one, and witnessed a tragic event in Harrison's life.

History

Content to move at his own speed, Harrison began recording "Somewhere In England" in the autumn of 1979 and continued at a sporadic pace, finally delivering the album to Warner Bros. Records in September 1980. However, the powers that be at Warner Bros. rejected it, ordering Harrison to drop four of its songs ("Tears Of The World", "Sat Singing", "Lay His Head" and "Flying Hour") which they somehow found too downbeat. Harrison's original cover art, featuring his profile against a map of Great Britain was also vetoed by Warner Bros. With Harrison already feeling unable to relate to the current post-punk and New Wave musical climate, he acceded to their requests, but knew that when his recording contract came up for renewal after his next album, he wouldn't bother re-signing.

Interestingly, a survey conducted in 2006 of the top 50 most popular 'Harrisongs' on the official George Harrison.com message boards included only one song from "Somewhere in England" ("Life Itself," #29), yet included three of the four rejected songs ("Flying Hour" at #14, "Lay His Head" at #27, and "Sat Singing" at #41).

Picking up the project again in November, Harrison was joined in his home studio at Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames by none other than Ringo Starr, who arrived specifically to have Harrison produce some songs for him. They recorded two Harrison originals "Wrack My Brain" and "All Those Years Ago" plus a cover of "You Belong To Me" for Starr's impending album "Can't Fight Lightning" which was later released as "Stop and Smell the Roses". Two songs were finished but "All Those Years Ago" went unadorned. Starr later admitted that the key was too high for him to sing. During this period, Harrison had received word that John Lennon was slightly hurt over his biography "I Me Mine", which, in Lennon's estimation, praised every musician Harrison had worked with except him. Unfortunately, Harrison was never able to make amends with Lennon; on 8 December 1980, Lennon was gunned down outside the The Dakota apartment building by Mark David Chapman.

After the shock and devastation of Lennon's murder, Harrison decided to utilise the unfinished recording of "All Those Years Ago". He changed the lyrics of the song to reflect the Lennon tragedy. With Starr's pre-recorded drum track in place, Harrison invited Paul and Linda McCartney, and their fellow Wings band-mate Denny Laine, to record backing vocals in early 1981. Aside "All Those Years Ago", "Blood From A Clone" (a searing indictment of the current music scene), "Teardrops" and "That Which I Have Lost" were added to replace the four discarded songs, and after a new cover was shot in the Tate Gallery in London, "Somewhere In England" was resubmitted and accepted.

"All Those Years Ago" was released as the lead-off single that May to, hardly surprisingly, a very strong response. Reaching #13 in the UK and #2 in the US, it was Harrison's biggest hit since "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" in 1973, and "Somewhere In England" benefited from its placement on the album. Peaking at #13 in the UK and #11 in the US, these chart positions were, superficially, Harrison's best transatlantic album peaks in some time, yet "Somewhere In England" actually sold less than it would appear, since its chart life – in both countries – was brief, and it became Harrison's first proper studio album to fail to reach gold status in the US. It was generally overlooked by the public, with follow-up single "Teardrops" reaching only #102 in the US.

In 2004, "Somewhere In England" was remastered and reissued, both separately and as part of the deluxe box set "The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992", on Dark Horse Records with new distribution by EMI, adding the bonus track demo version of "Save The World", recorded in 1980. Specially for this reissue, Harrison's originally rejected artwork was nowreinstated.

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

#"Blood from a Clone" – 4:03
#"Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:05
#"Life Itself" – 4:25
#"All Those Years Ago" – 3:45
#* Harrison's tribute to John Lennon, featuring Ringo Starr on drums, as well as Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine on backing vocals
#"Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 3:57
#"Teardrops" – 4:07
#"That Which I Have Lost" – 3:47
#"Writings on the Wall" – 3:59
#"Hong Kong Blues" (Carmichael) – 2:55
#"Save the World" – 4:54
#* the track's end features a short excerpt from "Crying", originally released on Harrison's 1968 debut album "Wonderwall Music"

"Somewhere In England" was remastered and reissued in 2004 with the bonus track:

11. "Save the World" (Acoustic Demo Version) – 4:31

The iTunes Music Store offers one of the lost tracks:

12. "Flying Hour (Bonus Track)" – 4:35

Original (rejected) track listing

# "Hong Kong Blues" (Carmichael) – 2:53
# "Writings on the Wall" – 3:58
# "Flying Hour" (Harrison/Mick Ralphs) – 4:04
# "Lay His Head" – 3:43
# "Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:36
# "Sat Singing" – 4:28
# "Life Itself" – 4:24
# "Tears of the World" – 4:00
#* issued as a bonus track on the 2004 remaster of Thirty Three & 1/3
# "Baltimore Oriole" (Carmichael) – 3:57
# "Save the World" – 4:56

Personnel

* George Harrison – lead vocals and guitars, plus synthesisers and keyboards
* Ringo Starr – drums
* Paul and Linda McCartney, Denny Laine – backing vocals on "All Those Years Ago"
* Ray Cooper – drums, keyboards, synthesisers, percussion
* Jim Keltner, Dave Mattacks – drums
* Willie Weeks – bass
* Herbie Flowers – bass, tuba
* Gary Brooker, Al Kooper, Mike Moran, Neil Larsen – keyboards and synthesisers
* Tom Scott – lyricon, horns
* Alla Rakha – tabla

Charts

Albums

References