The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992

The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
Box set by George Harrison
Released 23 February 2004
Recorded May 1976 -
December 1991
Genre Rock
Length 5:13:06
Label Dark Horse/EMI
Producer George Harrison,
Russ Titelman, Ray Cooper, Phil McDonald,
and Jeff Lynne
George Harrison chronology
Brainwashed
(2002)		 The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
(2004)		 Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
PopMatters (favorable)[2]

The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992 is a box set of albums by George Harrison released in 2004. Comprising all of the output on his Dark Horse Records label, the set encompasses his studio albums from 1976's Thirty Three & 1/3 to 1987's Cloud Nine with bonus tracks, while 1992's Live in Japan features a special SACD remix in addition to its original mix. Furthermore, Harrison's intended artwork for Somewhere in England has been reinstated, while the lettering on the front of the album George Harrison has been modified.

Harrison's Dark Horse material had been issued on CD initially in 1992, but was allowed to go out of print some years later. By 2000, he was keen to refurbish his entire catalogue, but only managed to see an expanded All Things Must Pass out before he became ill with cancer, from which he died in late 2001. Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhani picked up where Harrison left off and compiled this set for release. Included in the package is a DVD composed of videos and some background to this period in Harrison's career, which was later released separately as well.

Despite the title of the set, not every track from Harrison's Dark Horse years are included. The song "Lay His Head" which was the B-side to "Got My Mind Set On You" is not here. The two tracks that first appeared on Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989, "Cockamamie Business" and "Poor Little Girl", are not included. "Cheer Down", which George recorded for Lethal Weapon 2, is omitted as well (although a live version appears in on Live in Japan.) Also missing are most of the tracks recorded for George's original version of Somewhere in England (that album appears in its original intended cover art, but not with the originally-intended tracklist). Also missing, on the DVD, are the videos for Blow Away and All Those Years Ago.

Contents

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Disc 1: Thirty Three & 1/3

Released 19 November 1976

  1. "Woman Don't You Cry for Me" – 3:18
    • Originally written in 1969
  2. "Dear One" – 5:08
  3. "Beautiful Girl" – 3:39
    • Song started in 1969 and finished for Thirty Three & 1/3
  4. "This Song" – 4:13
    • Harrison's tongue-in-cheek parody of the infamous copyright infringement case against "My Sweet Lord"
  5. "See Yourself" – 2:51
    • Originally written in 1967
  6. "It's What You Value" – 5:07
  7. "True Love" (Cole Porter) – 2:45
  8. "Pure Smokey" – 3:56
  9. "Crackerbox Palace" – 3:57
    • Crackerbox Palace is the name of George's mansion in England, "Friar Park", once owned by Lord Buckley
  10. "Learning How To Love You" – 4:13
    • Dedicated to Herb Alpert and intended for Alpert to record
  11. "Tears of the World" – 4:02

Disc 2: George Harrison

Released 23 February 1979

  1. "Love Comes to Everyone" – 4:36
  2. "Not Guilty" – 3:35
  3. "Here Comes the Moon" – 4:48
    • A lyrical successor to Harrison's 1969 composition "Here Comes the Sun"
  4. "Soft-Hearted Hana" – 4:03
  5. "Blow Away" – 4:00 (Appeared in the film "Nuns On The Run" starring Robbie Coltrane & Eric Idle)
  6. "Faster" – 4:46
    • Incorporates actual racing effects from the British Grand Prix on 16 July 1978
  7. "Dark Sweet Lady" – 3:22
  8. "Your Love is Forever" – 3:45
  9. "Soft Touch" – 3:59
  10. "If You Believe" (George Harrison/Gary Wright) – 2:55
  11. "Here Comes the Moon" (Demo Version) – 3:37
    • Bonus track

Disc 3: Somewhere in England

Released 5 June 1981

  1. "Blood from a Clone" – 4:03
  2. "Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:35
  3. "Life Itself" – 4:25
  4. "All Those Years Ago" – 3:45
  5. "Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 3:57
  6. "Teardrops" – 4:07
  7. "That Which I Have Lost" – 3:47
  8. "Writings on the Wall" – 3:59
  9. "Hong Kong Blues" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 2:55
  10. "Save the World" – 4:54
    • Track's end features a short excerpt from "Crying Music" originally released on Harrison's 1968 debut album Wonderwall Music
  11. "Save the World" (Acoustic Demo Version)– 4:29
    • Bonus track

Disc 4: Gone Troppo

Released 5 November 1982

  1. "Wake Up My Love" – 3:34
  2. "That's The Way It Goes" – 3:34
  3. "I Really Love You" (Leroy Swearingen) – 2:54
    • A cover of a 1961 doo-wop song
  4. "Greece" – 3:58
  5. "Gone Troppo" – 4:25
  6. "Mystical One" – 3:42
  7. "Unknown Delight" – 4:16
  8. "Baby Don't Run Away" – 4:01
  9. "Dream Away" – 4:29
  10. "Circles" – 3:46
    • A song originally composed in 1968 and demoed as a possible track for the White Album
  11. "Mystical One" (Demo Version) – 6:02
    • Bonus track

Disc 5: Cloud Nine

Released 2 November 1987

  1. "Cloud 9" – 3:15
  2. "That's What It Takes" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne/Gary Wright) – 3:59
  3. "Fish on the Sand" – 3:22
  4. "Just For Today" – 4:06
  5. "This Is Love" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne) – 3:48
  6. "When We Was Fab" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne) – 3:57
  7. "Devil's Radio" – 3:52
  8. "Someplace Else" – 3:51
  9. "Wreck of the Hesperus" – 3:31
  10. "Breath Away From Heaven" – 3:36
  11. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 3:52
  12. "Shanghai Surprise" – 5:07
  13. "Zig Zag" – 2:45
    • Above two songs are bonus tracks and recorded in 1986 for Shanghai Surprise
    • "Zig Zag" also appeared as the B-Side to "When We Was Fab"

Live in Japan SACD

Released 13 July 1992

Disc six

  1. "I Want to Tell You" – 4:33
  2. "Old Brown Shoe" – 3:51
    • B-Side to The Beatles' "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" in 1969
  3. "Taxman" – 4:16
    • From The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver
  4. "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" – 3:37
  5. "If I Needed Someone" – 3:50
  6. "Something" – 5:21
  7. "What Is Life" – 4:47
  8. "Dark Horse" – 4:20
  9. "Piggies" – 2:56
  10. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 4:56

Disc seven

  1. "Cloud 9" – 4:23
    • From the 1987 album Cloud Nine
  2. "Here Comes the Sun" – 3:31
    • From The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road
  3. "My Sweet Lord" – 5:42
  4. "All Those Years Ago" – 4:26
  5. "Cheer Down" (George Harrison/Tom Petty) – 3:53
  6. "Devil's Radio" – 4:25
    • From the 1987 album Cloud Nine
  7. "Isn't It a Pity" – 6:33
  8. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – 7:09
    • From The Beatles' 1968 double album The Beatles
  9. "Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry) – 4:45

DVD

  1. Dark Horse Feature

Videos:

  1. "This Song"
  2. "Crackerbox Palace"
  3. "Faster"
  4. "Got My Mind Set on You" Version 1
  5. "Got My Mind Set on You" Version 2
  6. "When We Was Fab"
  7. "This Is Love"

Selections from Live in Japan

  1. "Cheer Down"
  2. "Devil's Radio"
  3. "Cloud 9" (alternate version)
  4. "Taxman"

Audio:

Selections from the movie Shanghai Surprise

  1. "Shanghai Surprise"
  2. "Someplace Else"
  3. "The Hottest Gong In Town"

In-between each song is a video introduction interview with George.

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r678489/review. Retrieved 7 November 2009. 
  2. ^ Korenkiewicz, Jason (3 May 2004). "Review: The Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/harrisongeorge-darkhorse/. Retrieved 7 November 2009.