Covered: George Harrison, Volume 5: 2010-2014
As I mentioned in my write-up to the previous album, since Harrison tragically died in 2001, the volumes that come after that are playing catch up, with covers from all points in his music career. In fact, most of the songs here are from his Beatles years or from his great "All Things Must Pass" album, making this a particularly strong volume of familiar songs.
However, there's one song here that very few people will recognize, probably not even die-hard fans: "Silence Is Its Own Reply." Admittedly, including it here is a bit of a stretch, but I decided to do so anyway because it's a good song, and it's unlikely you'll find it elsewhere.
There's an interesting story behind this song. Around 1967 or 1968, Harrison wrote about ten lines of song lyrics on a piece of paper, and gave it the title "Silence Is Its Own Reply." At the time, author Hunter Davies was writing an authorized biography about the Beatles. While writing that, he asked for writing samples from each of the Beatles. These lyrics were given to him to show Harrison's writing. Davies published his book, simply called "The Beatles," in 1968, but the lyrics weren't included or mentioned. Then, decades later, around 2009, Davies rediscovered the lyrics while combing through his archives of papers as he prepared to write an updated version of his Beatles book. He mentioned the lyrics in a BBC interview. The BBC DJ was intrigued, and got a copy of the lyrics. That DJ then passed the lyrics on to a singer-songwriter named Dean Johnson, and gave him the opportunity to finish the song.
Johnson did, and I think the result is very good. Keep in mind that only the title and the first verse were written by Harrison. Johnson came up with the melody and the lyrics for a second verse and bridge. But I think that still counts as a legitimate co-write. Unfortunately though, it seems that the song was never officially released, probably due to legal complications arising from Harrison's contribution. But I found a version Johnson performed for the BBC, cleaned up the sound some, and I'm including it here.
Adding to the interest, at first glance, the lyrics appear to be about romance. But when Johnson was asked about the meaning of the song, he had this to say: "The lyrics are of a personal nature and were first thought to be a song of unrequited love but, in hindsight, they seem to allude to George's uneasy relationship with John Lennon. This is substantiated by first-hand observations by Hunter Davies and by people close to Harrison." He said he did his best to follow through with the original meaning Harrison gave to the song.
In case you're curious, here's the portion of the lyrics written by Harrison:
I'm happy to say that it's only a dream
When I come across people like you
It's only a dream and you make it obscene
With the things that you think and you do
You're so unaware of the pain that I bear
And jealous for what you can't do
There's times when I feel that you haven't a hope
But I also know that isn't true
And every time I ask you why
Silence is its own reply
Here's a newspaper article about the song:
https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/4687467.wirrals-dean-finishes-lost-george-harrison-song/
The only other comment I have to make about this album is that two other songs here are also officially unreleased, "Any Road" by Phil Lesh and Friends, and "Heading for the Light" by Susan Cowsill. Both had sound quality issues. I think I was able to fix those problems for "Any Road." But "Heading for the Light" still sounds pretty rough. However, it's one of my favorite Harrison songs from later in his career, so I had to at least include a version. If anyone finds a better version that it's a virtual carbon copy of the original, please let me know and I'll use that instead. (And it definitely is mostly written by Harrison, despite being credited to all of the Traveling Wilburys.)
This album is one hour long.
01 All Those Years Ago (Emmy the Great)
02 Apple Scruffs (Billie Amit)
03 Think for Yourself (Christine Collester)
04 Your Love Is Forever (Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou)
05 I Need You (Webb Sisters)
06 Silence Is Its Own Reply (Dean Johnson)
07 Awaiting on You All (Michael Carpenter)
08 Ding Dong, Ding Dong (Popdudes)
09 Art of Dying (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club)
10 Any Road (Phil Lesh & Friends)
11 Beware of Darkness (Ann Wilson)
12 Heading for the Light (Susan Cowsill)
13 Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp [Let It Roll] (Jonathan Bates & Dhani Harrison)
14 Behind That Locked Door (Norah Jones)
15 It's All Too Much (Flaming Lips)
