Here’s the latest Beatles-minutia quandary occupying my brain.
When bands want to be George Harrison-esque they’re almost certainly gonna do it via some non-bluesy slide guitar. Examples include Todd Rundgren’s “I Saw the Light”, The Move or ELO’s “Do Ya”, and Jellyfish’s “New Mistake.” Hell, Harrison himself did the job for Badfinger on “Day After Day” (A bit of rock-nerd trivia I only learned today).
But Harrison hardly, if ever, played slide guitar this way when he was in The Beatles. (The main figure in “Something” might be the only instance.) It seems he truly developed this inimitable style in his solo career. It helped that the slide guitar is one of the primary hooks of “My Sweet Lord”. My theory is that “My Sweet Lord” was such a big hit – the first monster smash by a newly ex-Beatle, right? – it was inevitable that the bottleneck stylings would get under the skin of many a pop nerd.
So, this is my question: Does anyone else find it odd that one of the most recognizably Harrison-esque instrumental touches is something he mastered in his post-Beatles career? Should we not therefore give his solo career some extra props?
Oats, I’ve been thinking about these questions since the day you first mentioned them to me a couple of months ago. Where did that slide style come from? Had anyone done it before Harrison? Duane Allman is the only other melodic slide player who comes to mind. Had he been doing it already when Harrison started leaning on the style? Did Harrison ever play a more typical, bluesy slide part beside “For You Blue”?
As an aside on the Badfinger thing, supposedly Pete Ham and George were playing the slide simultaneously to track this. Leon Russell also come in to play piano on that tune. And George recorded parts on several other tracks for that album as well because they had to rerecord the whole thing because the label hated the first recording, so George brought them into the studio in 71 to get it done himself. Around this time, Joey and Pete also acted as session musicians for John Lennon.
I think it’s neat that George kept moving forward with his musical ability and learned the slide later in his career. I wonder if he was still alive if he’d be producing anyone now or just putting out his next album. Was he too far gone?
i was about to say that george played slide on “for you blue”, but that’s john. and it wouldn’t matter anyway. it’s bluesy.
another aside, to add to the conversation: when the three remaining beatles got together to do “free as a bird” and “real love”, george DID play *that* style of slide guitar. paul admitted later that he rolled his eyes and said “i thought oh man…it’sgonnabe my sweet loooord all over again, iddn’t it?” but he went on to say “but i was wrong! he played a real blinder on that.”
i think you’re right mod, it IS a bit strange. but i also think i remember reading somewhere that he didn’t really start doing slide in earnest until near the very bitter end of the beatles.
as for other artists who do a non’bluesy thing with slide, you’re right, allman is the only one i can think of. the stuff he did on ‘layla’ is as close as clapton ever got to doing that kind of thing…
Doesn’t the Let It Be film show John playing the slide on For You Blue lap style with a cigarette lighter?
I never thought the hook/riff in Something was slide but rather a standard string-bend.
I believe Robbie Krieger played some slide with the Doors that might not be considered bluesy, but I’m blanking on examples. I remember reading an interview where he claimed to have been the first rock guy in L.A. to play slide, pre-dating even Ry Cooder.
yeah, steve, i realize it’s john on for you blue. that’s why i wrote “but that’s john” above (ha!).
but you’re right about robbie! i forgot all about him! a good example is “moonlight drive”, which is one of the prettiest slide parts i’ve ever heard. the solo gets bluesier, but not completely bluesy. it’s really expressive in the verses.
oh, and i agree with you about the riff in “something”. i can imitate that part perfectly with finger bends, not a slide.
Googling around, I found this on the RnR HoF site: “Delaney Bramlett (of Delaney & Bonnie) introduced Harrison to slide guitar in 1968.” So the Leon Russell connection makes sense. That guy Don Preston who played guitar in Russell’s band played some slide. I believe that’s him doing the classic slide solo on Dylan’s Watching the River Flow.
Later, in the 70s, there was also that period when Dave Davies played slide, mostly on Muswell Hillbillies. Harrison usually played some kind of melodic solo or hook on slide, while Dave’s slide parts often are part of the rhythm section. But there’s an acoustic slide part on the Dave song You Don’t Know My Name on Everybody’s in Showbiz that works pretty much like a Harrison slide part.
In an interview around 33 and 1/3, George talked about how a combination of playing the same songs during the touring years of the Beatles, then getting into the sitar made him suddenly feel like he was “behind” everybody else playing guitar at the time. He said this is what spurred him to find a new style, which developed into his slide sound. I think it’s also been suggested that how he learned to play sitar specifically led him towards how he would later play his leads, but I can’t remember where I read that.
Where the Harrison Sound (slide or not) fits into the Beatles: “Something” is definitely the big one, and I think “Old Brown Shoe” is part of it…maybe some of the bends on the “Let It Be” solo have the Harrison Sound without being actual slide playing. Prior to those, the closest things to feel similar might be George’s solo on “The Night Before” and Paul’s leads on things like “Drive My Car” and maybe “Good Morning Good Morning.” Somewhere between those points lies a mythic Beatles Sound which became tied to George’s ‘70s stuff and Cloud Nine and Wilbury-era songs like “Cheer Down” and “Someplace Else” that made the guitar sound on “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love” feel Beatle-esque, whether or not it actually was.
Even the harmonies that weave around George’s part on “Free as a Bird” sound closest to the end of “The End” and “Because” than anything else. I think the way that and the late-emerging “Something” sound are now so closely tied to what people consider Harrison-esque and Beatle-esque speak pretty strongly to the lasting impact of the late-era Beatle albums.
Regarding the actual question about Solo George, most of the albums between All Things Must Pass and Cloud Nine are pretty spotty, but on a song-by-song basis, “I’d Have You Any Time,” “Beware of Darkness,” “The Day The World Gets Round,” “Deep Blue,” “The Answer’s In The End,” “Beautiful Girl,” “Flying Hour” and “Dream Away” are all winners for me. And when the shots start firing, I got 1970-1982-Era Paul’s back, too.
nice work alex.
i always thought george’s complex about being behind all of the groundbreaking guitar that was happening around him (clapton, hendrix, the yardbirds, townshend), was really a shame, because he was such a blazing guitar when he wanted to be. hendrix was fond of covering the song “sgt. pepper” and felt that it was one of the heaviest guitar parts he had heard.
i like your list. that solo on “old brown shoe” is kickass, isn’t it? i also hear alot of georgie-ness in those mournful guitar lines at the end of “sexy sadie”, which are prescient of the approach he uses on “something”.
but before anybody out there in rth praises george for those tasty little leads on “get back”, that’s john, too.
These are great points, all. Thanks a bunch.
Didn’t Syd Barrett play some non-bluesy slide guitar when he was in the Floyd?
Good point that George played slide on the new songs for the Anthology. Part of what was confusing me, probably.
The line seperating the late-Beatles sound and the sound of their early solo albums is sometimes kinda blurry.
“Old Brown Shoe” is my favorite Fabs b-side
My favorite George solo: Slow Down. It’s from outer space.
how could we forget Syd!!!??
“remember a day” (a richard wright vehicle) features WAY off kilter slide stuff.
from his solo work, there’s also…ummm…can’t remember the title but the words are “inside me i feeeeeel….alone and un real….”. this has meandering slide all over it, which, in turn, reminds me of the cascading slide at the beginning of hendrix’s “waterfalls”. not bluesy at all, but very psychedellic.
which in turn reminds me of that blurry line you’re talking about: “sun king”, “don’t let me down”, and “hold on” all feature john playing “wind cries mary” / “albatross” style guitar riffs in “e”. that approach would eventually become “beautiful boy”.
Hi, gang…my first comment…this thread led me to register…I side with the folks who believe “Something” did not have slide on it. I’ve pondered that solo for a loooong time, finally had a flash of inspiration that maybe they used the Abbey Road ADT gizmo (Artificial Double Tracking) on the guitar (usually used it for vocals, but why not on instruments too?) and, lo & behold, the RECORDING THE BEATLES book reveals that that is in fact the case…
That solo is magnificent – the notes – the tone – the phrasing (SCHWING!), one of the best ever, IMHO, and I think if you listen carefully you’ll hear some clear fret sounds during one particular upward slide…OMG, I have to go listen…
As for the general style of playing, I think of Duane Allman first…I’ve had a couple times in the last year when I’ve employed the two-note dual playing technique…once I get going, though I think I’m doing a “Duane” it winds up sounding more like a George…go figure…a Strat played with some tasty tubey distortion with proper bending and a little bit of vibrato can sound a lot like a slide without using a slide…I think I have to go and rock out now, the urge is too much(!) Thanks for a fun thread…
One other I can’t believe we forgot: Jeremy Spencer’s slide part on Fleetwood Mac’s “Albatross” is atypically non-bluesy for that devoted Elmore James disciple.
Speaking of, check the YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZHT2XvoLM
What I love about this is the look of plain unfettered joy on Peter Green’s face. You don’t think of that as his usual mode.
Oh, and does lap steel/pedal steel count?
Cause if so, props to the almighty “Sleepwalk”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAk_0N85wNk
I’ve always been amazed that “Albatross” was a hit, slide or no.
Awesome “sleepwalk” video find Great48, just watching it now;) Really cool.
New Townsman in the Hall Hugo wrote:
I’m afraid that I might have first suggested the “Something” side to Oats when he first told me about his thread idea. I think we’re all on the side of “Not slide” now. What I was hearing, I think, was the type of melody Harrison was playing, the phrasing, and how it all functioned within the song. It seemed to me, at least, an early example of that soon-to-be distinctive Harrison sound. Good stuff, Townsman Hugo, and welcome aboard! Thanks for taking the plunge with us.
Townsman Alexmagic, good work on your end as well. You obviously know your stuff.
Oats, once again, great work on this thread.
“How it functioned within the song” yes. Certainly the way the signature guitar riff functions as the main hook of the song is the thing that Something opened up for George. I think he just combined that idea with the fact that using slide for the riff/hook usually makes it stand out even more than a fretted electric guitar would. For an interesting comparison, check out the the versions of If Not For You on All Things Must Pass and New Morning.