Somewhere in England [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: George Harrison
Artist: Gary Brooker; Ringo Starr; Al Kooper; Paul & Linda McCartney
Engineer: Phil McDonald
Producer: Ray Cooper; George Harrison
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: George Harrison (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer); Tom Scott (lyricon, horns); Herbie Flowers (tuba, bass); Ray Cooper (keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion); Gary Brooker, Al Kooper, Neil Larsen, Mike Moran (keyboards, synthesizer); Willie Weeks (bass); Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr, Dave Mattacks (drums); Alla Rahka (tabla); Paul & Linda McCartney (background vocals). Personnel: George Harrison (vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer); Herbie Flowers (tuba); Tom Scott (horns, lyricon); Ray Cooper (keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion); Gary Brooker, Al Kooper, Mike Moran , Neil Larsen (keyboards, synthesizer); Dave Mattacks, Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr (drums); Alla Rakha (tabla). Audio Remasterers: John Etchells; Simon Heyworth. Falling squarely between the soulful, exploratory songwriting of George Harrison's early solo efforts and his later, commercially oriented pop, 1981's SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND is a varied collection that reflects the guitarist's past with the Beatles and the musical currents of the early '80s. "Blood from a Clone" has an almost New Wave feel to it, and is a vitriolic attack on the corporate music industry (Harrison was embroiled in battles with Warner Brothers over the release of the album). In the tradition of ABBEY ROAD's "Something," Harrison includes two fluid, slower numbers: "Writing's on the Wall" and the love song "Life Itself." The record's highlight, however, is the John Lennon tribute "All Those Years Ago." The shiny pop pulse nicely balances the sense of longing and loss at the song's core, and contributions from Ringo Starr, Paul and Linda McCartney, and George Martin make it something of a collective statement from a group of old friends. Along with his self-titled album, this is one of Harrison's strongest releases. This record had a troubled birth, for when George Harrison originally submitted it for release in November 1980, Warner Bros. rejected it, claiming that four songs -- "Flying Hour," "Lay His Head," "Sat Singing," and "Tears of the World" (once available on the bootleg Ohnothimagen) -- were not worthy of being issued. Harrison was forced to go back into the studio to cut four new tunes, delivering a bitterly barbed thrust at his record label in "Blood From a Clone" (which they did release) and a tune originally meant for Ringo Starr but rewritten as a remembrance after John Lennon's assassination ("All Those Years Ago"), as well as "Teardrops" and "That Which I Have Lost." As a result, the most compelling issue of this album is the contest of wills between the artist and the suits. Now how do the four deleted tunes stack up against the ones that replaced them? The four missing tunes are of generally even quality, even similar in sound, although "Tears of the World" is a strident attack against corporate and political masters that probably unnerved the executives the most. Actually, the six tunes that Warner Bros. spared should have been more likely candidates for the hook, including the curious covers of two Hoagy Carmichael songs, "Baltimore Oriole" and "Hong Kong Blues." Yet in general, the new ones are indeed superior and more varied, with more of a punch than the ones they replaced. The bouncy "All Those Years Ago" is a definite gain, being the most heartfelt song on the record as well as a de facto Beatles reunion (Starr plays drums and Paul and Linda McCartney overdubbed backing vocals), and it was justly rewarded with a number two showing on the singles charts. The official release is slightly preferable over the bootlegs of the original. [Somewhere in England was reissued in 2004 with a different cover based on Harrison's original intention for the cover, plus a demo of "Save the World" as a bonus track.] ~ Richard S. Ginell

Mojo (Publisher) (4/04, p.120) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[T]hough 1981's SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND numbers among the most ignored Beatles-related albums, it sounds positively vivacious by comparison."

George Harrison was always a fluid guitarist, but his voice and his skills as a songwriter came to full flower in the post-touring years of the Beatles. He became the first from that defunct band to release a work that was justifiably hailed as a masterpiece, the epic ALL THINGS MUST PASS. With his passing in 2001, the rock world lost one of its most deeply spiritual voices, whose signature slide-guitar style and early experiments with incorporating Eastern influences into rock were enormously influential.

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