Extra Texture (Read All About It)

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Extra Texture (Read All About It)

Studio album by George Harrison
Released	3 October 1975
Recorded	June - July 1975 Except "You" and "A Bit More Of You": backing tracks recorded in February 1971
Genre	Rock
Length	41:53
Label	Apple/EMI
Producer(s)	George Harrison
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone (not favorable) link
George Harrison chronology
Dark Horse (1974)	Extra Texture (Read All About It) (1975)	The Best of George Harrison (1976)

Extra Texture (Read All About It) is an album by George Harrison which was released in 1975. Following the Dark Horse debacle, Extra Texture (Read All About It) was Harrison's last album under his contract with Apple Records and EMI, all set to embark on his own Dark Horse Records imprint, initially distributed by A&M Records.

Once Harrison allowed himself some needed time to rest following the events of 1974 and busied himself with other Dark Horse acts, he finally got around to recording his "contractual obligation" album - the bulk of which was cut at A&M Studios in Los Angeles in the summer of 1975. Among the musicians he used to record Extra Texture (Read All About It) were Jim Keltner on drums, Leon Russell on piano, and a young David Foster - then contracted with Dark Horse Records with a band called Attitudes - who provided three string arrangements and keyboards. Different bass guitarists appear on nearly every track, and include Klaus Voormann, Carl Radle, Paul Stallworth, Willie Weeks, and Harrison himself, playing synthesized Arp bass.

Specially for the album, Harrison completed "You", a song he had intended for Ronnie Spector to record, and which went no further than its backing track back in 1971. It subsequently became a US Top 20 hit, reaching #38 in the UK. The follow-up single, "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)" - a lyrical sequel to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - was the last-ever new release on Apple Records in February 1976, and also the first solo Beatles single to miss the charts. "Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)" was the first of two Smokey Robinson tributes Harrison would release.

Released with a thick and heavily textured orange cover (hence its title), Extra Texture (Read All About It) was better received than Dark Horse by the critics, though it was still considered slightly below par by the general public. Harrison himself would later designate the album as his worst. Yet, there are many Harrison devotées who will find much to savour on Extra Texture (Read All About It). The album reached #8 in the US - his last Top 10 album there for twelve years - and went gold, while reaching #16 in the UK.

Points of interest: Perhaps a joke referencing the impending demise of The Beatles' Apple Records label, the Apple logo is presented on Extra Texture (Read All About It) all eaten away. In addition, Harrison is pictured on the inside jacket with the caption "OHNOTHIMAGEN" (i.e. "Oh, not him again!"); a humourous take on Harrison's dwindling popularity at this time.

Extra Texture (Read All About It) was remastered for CD release in 1992, though it will likely be upgraded sometime in 2007.

[edit] Track listing

All songs by George Harrison.

"You" – 3:41
- Backing track cut in February 1971 and intended for Ronnie Spector; finished in 1975 for this album
"The Answer's At The End" – 5:32
- Inspired by a wall caption written by Sir Frankie Crisp, the original proprietor of Friar Park, which Harrison purchased in 1970
"This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)" – 4:11
- A lyrical successor to Harrison's 1968 composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
"Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)" – 3:59
- A musical tribute to Smokey Robinson
"World of Stone" – 4:40
"A Bit More of You" – 0:45
- A 45-second reprise of "You"'s backing track
"Can't Stop Thinking About You" – 4:30
"Tired Of Midnight Blue" – 4:51
- Originally titled 'Midnight Blue', but changed to avoid confusion with Melissa Manchester's recent hit
"Grey Cloudy Lies" – 3:41
"His Name Is Legs (Ladies And Gentlemen)" – 5:46
- Features the vocal antics of "Legs" Larry Smith, formerly a member of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band