Monday, October 18, 2010

OK, I listened to some more post-Beatle solo music today, and really enjoyed it. I wonder if these albums will be more and more appreciated as the years pass, because I can't think of any reason that they shouldn't be. Much of their solo work suffered by comparison with the Beatles output, but what doesn't? There are very few rock groups that don't sound sound diminished when played right after them, so to compare the albums of the individuals to albums made by all four is unrealistic. The two albums that I listened to today were pure delights, and nobody will convince me otherwise. (I'm referring here to the surprisingly poor reviews these recordings got at the time.)
George Harrison's self-titled 1979 album, his first for his Dark Horse label, features his beautiful legato singing on ten well played and well produced tracks. Here's a link to the remastered version of "Blow Away": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaA7TVenPXA&feature=related (And check out the early video. By the way, the promotional clips that the Beatles did for such tracks as "Rain" and "Paperback Writer" are often credited with starting music videos. Here's a link to the latter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH3TvSxT288&feature=related)
Venus and Mars (1975), the fourth album by Paul McCartney and Wings was great to hear again as well. I'll always love "Rock Show" for its great rhyme of the title with "Concertgebouw", and for mentioning Jimmy Page. More songs should do that. "Listen to What the Man Said" ranks with his best singles - and he's had a few good ones, you'll agree. Here's a link to another remastered version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw1lmCS11A8&feature=related

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