Thirty Three & 1/3

For the John Farnham album, see 33⅓ (album).
Thirty Three & 1/3
Studio album by George Harrison
Released 19 November 1976
Recorded 24 May–13 September 1976
Genre Rock
Length 39:15
Label Dark Horse/Warner Brothers
Producer George Harrison
George Harrison chronology
The Best of George Harrison
(1976)		 Thirty Three & 1/3
(1976)		 George Harrison
(1979)
Singles from Thirty Three & 1/3
  1. "This Song"
    Released: 1976
  2. "Crackerbox Palace"
    Released: 1977 (US only)
  3. "True Love"
    Released: 1977 (UK only)
  4. "It's What You Value"
    Released: 1977 (UK only)

Thirty Three & 1/3 (stylised as Thirty Three & 1/ on the album cover) is an album by George Harrison released in 1976. As his first release on his Dark Horse Records label, Thirty Three & 1/3 was beset with misfortune during its production, yet Harrison still managed to deliver one of his most celebrated albums.

Contents

Background

After satisfying his EMI contract with Extra Texture (Read All About It), Harrison signed immediately with Dark Horse, which was still under distribution with A&M Records. A part of their agreement was that Harrison was to deliver his new album by 25 June 1976. Unfortunately, Harrison was stricken with hepatitis and was only able to start recording the record in late May. Not wanting to rush his debut album on his own label, Harrison put off A&M, telling them the album would be ready when it was ready. But with Dark Horse's other artists no longer doing so well, and Harrison's star on the wane, A&M decided they wanted to offload the label and promptly sued Harrison for late delivery of Thirty Three & 1/3 in September. Within weeks, Harrison had moved both Dark Horse and himself over to Mo Ostin and Warner Bros. Records, who were more than pleased to have him, and Thirty Three & 1/3 and its lead-off single, "This Song", the upbeat and sardonic send-up of the "He's So Fine" vs. "My Sweet Lord" court case (which Harrison lost in 1976) were both released that November.

Named for the fact that he was thirty-three and a third years old during its recording (as well as being the speed at which the vinyl album would be played), Thirty Three & 1/3 gave Harrison his strongest reviews since All Things Must Pass, including many positive and uplifting songs. It was clear that despite his legal woes, Harrison would not let his bad luck get him down.

Unfortunately, the damage that previously-perceived mediocre albums had inflicted proved irreversible, and while Thirty Three & 1/3 actually outsold both Dark Horse and Extra Texture (Read All About It) in the United States, it reached a lower peak, cresting at #11 and going gold and selling about 800,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, it merely made it to #35. While the US single "Crackerbox Palace" made the Top 20 (and "This Song" #25), no UK singles saw any chart action. In actuality, Harrison could not care less about his record sales at this point in time. Already a private person, he began retreating more from the music industry as the 1970s drew to a close and immersing himself into films and leisure activities.

Harrison's only major promotion for Thirty Three and 1/3 was an appearance with Paul Simon as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on 20 November 1976, and in some of the show's comedy sketches. The duo performed "Here Comes the Sun" and "Homeward Bound" together on the programme. (The live Harrison-Simon performance of "Homeward Bound" was later included on the 1990 various artists' charity album, Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal and is also found on The Essential Paul Simon, Simon's greatest hits record released in 2007 on the bonus DVD). The promotional videos for "Crackerbox Palace" and "This Song", both directed by Eric Idle, debuted on the same episode.

In 2004, Thirty Three & 1/3 was remastered and reissued both separately and as part of the deluxe box set The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 on Dark Horse with new distribution by EMI, adding the bonus track "Tears of the World", an outtake from the 1980 sessions for Somewhere in England.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic link
Robert Christgau (B-) link
Music Box link
Obscure Albums link

Track listing

All songs written by George Harrison, except where noted.

Side one

  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 comment of the infamous copyright infringement case against "My Sweet Lord"
  5. "See Yourself" – 2:51
    • Originally written in 1967

Side two

  1. "It's What You Value" – 5:07
  2. "True Love" (Cole Porter) – 2:45
  3. "Pure Smokey" – 3:56
  4. "Crackerbox Palace" – 3:57
  5. "Learning How to Love You" – 4:13
    • Dedicated to Herb Alpert and intended for Alpert to record

For the 2004 digitally remastered issue of Thirty Three & 1/3, a bonus track was added:

  1. "Tears of the World" – 4:02

Personnel

The following personnel were credited in the liner notes.[1]

Chart positions

Chart (1976) Position Weeks
United States Billboard 200 [2][3] 11 21
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart (top 40)[4] 17 5
Japanese Oricon Weekly LP Chart (top 100)[5] 23 12
UK Albums Chart (top 60)[6] 35 4
Chart (2004) Position Weeks
Japanese Oricon Weekly Albums Chart (top 300)[7] 250 1

Shipments and sales

Country Organization Certification Shipments
United States RIAA Gold[8] 500,000+
United Kingdom BPI Silver 60,000+
Country Provider Sales
Japan Oricon 25,000+[9]

References

  1. ^ (2004) Album notes for Thirty Three & 1/3 by George Harrison, p. 9 [CD booklet]. Dark Horse Records.
  2. ^ "allmusic ((( Thirty Three & 1/3 > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r8989/charts-awards. Retrieved 2 October 2009. 
  3. ^ "George Harrison - Chart trajectories on the US Billboard 200". October 2006. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_george_albumchartaction_usa.htm/. Retrieved 3 October 2009. 
  4. ^ "norwegiancharts.com George Harrison - Thirty-Three & 1/3". VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=George+Harrison&titel=Thirty%2DThree+%26+1%2F3&cat=a. Retrieved 2 October 2009. 
  5. ^ a-ザ・ビートルズ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). 30 December 2007. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html a-ザ・ビートルズ. Retrieved 22 September 2009. 
  6. ^ "Chart Stats George Harrison - Thirty Three And A Third". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=3987. Retrieved 2 October 2009. 
  7. ^ ジョージ・ハリスン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of 33 1/3 by George Harrison". oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/536850/1/ ジョージ・ハリスン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック. Retrieved 3 October 2009. 
  8. ^ "RIAA — Gold & Platinum — Searchable Database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&title=Thirty-Three&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=50. Retrieved 3 October 2009. 
  9. ^ "George Harrison Japanese Album Chart trajectories". October 2006. http://homepage1.nifty.com/tuty/after_beatles_george_albumchartaction_japan.htm/. Retrieved 3 October 2009.