Customer Reviews

Songs from the Material World: A Tribute to George Harrison

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This tribute album has some worthwhile covers of Harrison's songs; however i have to rate it down on far too much focus on his songs with the Beatles and less focus on his solo work

ALL THINGS MUST PASS considered by many to among Harrison's best solo album is only represented with one tune; the liner notes also leave something to be desired; whilst deeply personal they reflect little about the project itslef and the participating musicians. Having said that, there are some rewarding moments on this disc.

The album kicks off with an energetic rendition of WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS by Todd Rundgren-it reminded me in part of the version by Jeff Healey that is worth finding and even has particpation by Harrison himself.
DEVIL"S RADIO sounds powerful and rocked up-in my opinion a good song to release as a video and as a single-powerful rendition by Master's Of Reality.
Marc Ford's "I ME MINE" alternates between slow and rocked up tempo with a result that lends power to this often overlooked Harrison composition.
Dave Davies "GIVE ME LOVE" is so good that i had to stop and think why they did not continue so far the powerful course the album was taking-alternating between fab/solo songs
HERE COMES THE SUN has a jangly feel butisses the mark with it's vocals. It's here where the album starts to drop.
WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU picked me up again and held my interest with it's meandering mystical feel-wish they could have covered THE INNER LIGHT
SAVOY TRUFFLE is another dismissable selection although the arrangement sounds promising; but the flat vocal does not help this composition any.
I WANT TO TELL YOU would have benefitted if it had been done in the manner as RAIN was done with backwards guitars and all; here we have a straightforward version neither here nor there
Leslie West with OLD BROWN SHOE reminds me why i love to listen to cover versions in the first place-the song is delivered with a rocked up bluesy vocal-this track alone justifies this album
Bill Wyman's rythm Kings deliver a nice version of TAXMAN, but i recommend the listener to seek out Wyman's version of LOVE LETTER which features Harrison himself.
IT"S ALL TOO MUCH is delivered here with almost the same flat feel of SAVOY TRUFFLE; the backing track sounds great-listen to some interesting effects towards the end- but it will be the remixed YELLOW SUBMARINE SONGTRACK version that i prefer best.
ISN"T IT PITY is one of my favorite Harrison songs. JAy and edward deliver an interesting version which ends the album nicely with playful vocals that border on acapella-ended almost in a way like Harrison BRAINWASHED which ended with chants.

Considering that the I AM SAM soundtrack offered 17 Beatle covers, i think this album could have offered more than the 12 selections found here and certainly more from the solo period. But the subtitle says that it is "a tribute to Harrison' hopefully there will be more.

Julian lennon is thanked in the liner notes; i know he was rumored to have a version of My Sweet Lord for this project- i wonder what happened.

Anyroad, the album has very much the overall feel of what some may call "alternative music"-whatever that may mean.
Is it ultimately worth the price of admission? To Me, it definitely is- at least until we get some kind of release on what appears to have been a wonderful tribute concert for george...

Not surprisingly, this is really only of interest to George Harrison fans. Sure there are plenty of recognizable musicians on this CD (Todd Rundgren, Dave Davies (of THE KINKS), John Entwistle (of THE WHO, duh!), and Bill Wyman (of THE ROLLING STONES, double duh!), but these guys may only be impressive to people who were true fans of THE BEATLES or 60s/70s rock & roll.
I was glad to see really well done songs by newer groups.

THE SMITHEREENS' version of "I Want to Tell You" is excellent, actually quite better than the mid-sixties original. BIG HEAD TODD AND THE MONSTERS provide a very interesting version of "Within You, Without You" that is definitely worth a listen. The last two songs are probably the only other true notables. "Its All Too Much" is performed with appropriate "cool guitar" sounds, and "Isn't It A Pity" is done with similar positive feelings like George's classic. It is nice to know that others like me who didn't grow up in the 60s can still appreciate the wonderful, soulful music by brilliant people like George Harrison. I couldn't be more sorrow that he died at an early age but hearing this special tribute makes me realize what great songs were left behind to be enjoyed again, and again.

While this Harrison tribute CD may not be consistently great, it does highlight with even this small smattering of George's work what an excellent and enduring songwriter he was. While I'm sure we could all come up with SOMETHING that we wish had been included, what is here yields some diamonds. While it wasn't my favorite of George's tunes, Leslie West from the band Mountain positively smokes on "Old Brown Shoe." When West screams, "Baby, baby, I'm in love with you," you can feel the love to your toes! Rolling Stone Bill Wyman, here with the Rhythm Kings, adds a throbbing bass line to Harrison's classic "Taxman" that gives the track a soulful makeover. Dave Davies from The Kinks lays down an aching vocal with George's gorgeous classic "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)." Todd Rundgren's version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" may be very similar to the original, but why toy with perfection? He smokes on this one. Wayne Kramer from MC5 tries hard with "It's All Too Much," but his voice takes some getting used to. Former-Wilco Jay Bennett lays down a good version of the beautiful "Isn't It A Pity" which builds into a glorious choir crescendo. Smithereens on "I Want to Tell You" are excellent and Big Head Todd does an interesting version of Harrison's Sgt. Pepper track "Within You, Without You." The only track that makes me reach for the skip button is They Might Be Giants odd version of "Savoy Truffle" which is a much better song than its treatment here. While not everything here works, Harrison's music shines through. I think the true test of music is when others bring something to the spirit of the piece. In that, this set succeeds. Harrison & Beatles fans will enjoy most of this disc. Pick up the "I Am Sam" soundtrack, the Lennon "Working Man's Hero" tribute, put the 3 discs on shuffle play, and enjoy a diverse Beatles tribute evening! Happy listening!

This release has a mix of well-known performers and unknowns. It is certainly pleasant, with only one real dud, but with a roster of well-known performers it seems like it should be substantially more exciting than it is.

Todd Rundgren is a talented performer, a great musician, and a huge fan of the Beatles. The musicianship on his performance of While My Guitar Gentle Weeps is first rate. But one has to wonder what the point is of doing an arrangement that is so similar to the original version. Devil's Radio by Masters Of Reality really rocks, but the vocal is weird. I Me Mine by Marc Ford sounds sort of bluesy and is not particularly interesting.

Hearing Dave Davies performing George Harrison is worth the price of this disc. Dave never sounded more like his brother Ray. The instrumental backing is kind of funky. Here Comes The Sun is easily the outstanding track on this collection. Entwistle's voice was not the best in his later years and Steve Luongo provides a good vocal. The arrangement makes this sound like The Who's version of the song. Wow! Within You Without You by Big Head Toad And The Monsters is the other standout track in this collection. They reinvent this song giving it a Middle Eastern flavor. While I miss the wonderful Indian instrumental work of the original, they deserve credit for trying something new and different.

Savoy Truffle by They Might Be Giants is an annoyingly bad vocal with barely competent instrumental backing. What a stinker!

The Smithereens turn in a solid performance, particularly the strong instrumental work, on I Want To Tell You. People of a certain age will remember West from Mountain (Mississippi Queen). Undoubtedly he is a very talented musician, but I don't care for his style of playing. His version of Old Brown Shoe is just not to my taste.

Nice to have one of the original Stones on a George tribute but the vocal arrangement on Bill Wyman's version of Taxman is not very good.

The vocal work by Jay Bennett and Edward Burch on Isn't A Pity is outstanding. The exended fade out is particularly well done.

This one is actually worthwhile. The surprise track for me( and my favorite as it turned out) was Dave Davies doing "Give Me Love". His version is absolutely beautiful, and after doing decades of stuff with the Kinks (who i've always hated), Dave finally nailed it on this one. Other high points are Todd Rundgren and Bill Wyman's appearances (check out the rockin' version Wyman does of "Here Comes The Sun".
Wish my band had a chance to submit something... we've played "What Is Life", "My Sweet Lord", and "Blow Away" several times!

I like this cd, but I would truly love it if the running time was more than 55 minutes. I expected songs like "You," "Cloud 9," "Ding Dong," or "What is Life," to be attempted, but I was disappointed. I love They Might Be Giants, but they simply phoned in their cover of "Savoy Truffle"; "Within You, Without You" is merely okay. The saving graces are Dave Davies' cover of "Give Me Love," the Bennet/Burch cover of "isn't It A Pity," and MoR's "Devil's Radio."

I had hoped that this tribute would be stronger...it is better than the Lennon tribute, for what that's worth.

Not enough empasis on George's work after the Beetles. Very few of these cover songs are worth hearing more than once. Anybody want to buy this cd used?? Listened once. Let other Harrison fans listen. And no one wanted to take off my hands. You would do better to invest your money in the "Ringorama" and is a tribute to George from Ringo: EDIT- 5-6-2003: Ok I listened to it some more( still yuk) and lowered to a 1 star. Obviously not being bought or reviewed! Is this not correct??? It ain't worth buying- please, save your money

I'm definitely a Beatles fan, and I like most of George Harrison's Beatles songs, as well as some of his solo work - the end credits music on Time Bandits (Dream Away) in particular. So when I saw that my favorite band, They Might Be Giants had a cover of Savoy Truffle, a song I quite like, on this album I had to buy it - unfortunately I was quite disappointed with the TMBG track and somewhat disappointed with many of the others. The cover of Savoy Truffle is downbeat, the vocals sound depressed - I guess I was hoping for a raucous, fast paced version with some TMBG style but this... Oh well, the original on the Beatles white album is still great.

Many of the other tracks are competently done, but they mostly just ape Harrison's original, and I've never seen the point of doing a cover song that's as close to the original as possible. Give it some of your own style - if we want to hear the original we can listen to it.

All in all rather bland and disappointing, not horrible but no where close to great.

If you love the beatles and george harrison, this is in no way a good album for you. This takes great songs like Within, Without You and Here Comes the Sun, and butchers them in the most heinous manner. Please stay clear of this album if you want to remember George and how great his music was/is.

A music fan from Norman, OK, obviously is not what he asserts himself to be. If you have no appreciation of the Beatles, you are no fan of music.