15 - George Harrison - Living in the Material World - 1973

Side One
Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)
Sue Me, Sue You Blues
The Light That Has Lighted The World
Don't Let Me Wait Too Long
Who Can See It
Living In The Material World

Side Two
The Lord Loves The One (That Loves The Lord)
Be Here Now
Try Some, Buy Some
The Day The World Gets 'Round
That Is All


DISCOVERY; The family started to frequent an Italian/American/Minnesotan restaurant in Coon Rapids for the weekend meal out. No juke box or pinball machines, no pool table or drunken cowboys. It was mood lighting, checkerboard table cloth, candles and fake brickwork. I thought it was great. Tucked away in a strip mall with a well lit parking lot. They piped in a popular radio station on little speakers hidden behind some plastic flowers and it was the first I heard of the latest George Harrison single. Give Me Love (Give me Peace on Earth) and yes indeed there was a new album to go with the single. I snapped it up on our very next trip to Northtown Mall.

WHERE & WHEN; Intriguing cover art (my 13 year old self thought so anyway) so I did a bit of research into what this symbol was all about.

Om, meditation, prayer, three aspects of God. I found it all very curious and as I was attending confirmation classes (raised Lutheran) I asked the pastor what he made of the similarities with the Christian idea of a triune God. I learned from his answer not to ask professionals their opinion if they haven't actually studied the thing you're asking them about. In the same way a rock musician isn't likely to know much about jazz or a brain surgeon much if anything about horticulture. I was reasonably certain George Harrison was not involved in a Satanic cult. So I let that one be.

I never really saw/heard this album as an overtly religious bunch of songs. All Things Must Pass seemed more that way inclined to me and personally I would have loved it if George would have written more songs like Taxman, It's All Too Much, Old Brown Shoe, Savoy Truffle, I Me Mine but it's no good pigeon holing people. He just wrote tunes and there are some excellent ones seemingly lost on this album. Before bland became the norm. This is a substantial album.

HIGHLIGHTS; Sue Me, Sue You Blues - Who Can See It - Be Here Now - Try Some, Buy Some - The Day The World Gets 'Round - That Is All

STATUS; CD (not remastered)