George Harrison: Live In Japan - Disc 1 CD Track Listing

A list by checkmate

George Harrison Live In Japan - Disc 1 (1992)
Live In Japan (Hybrid SACD) - Disc 1 of 2\n2004 Capitol Records, Inc.\n\nOriginally Released July 14, 1992\nHybrid SACD Edition Released February 24, 2004\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: George Harrison returned to the stage for the first time in years in 1991; that Japanese tour is documented on the fine double-disc set Live in Japan. Backed by a stellar supporting band led by Eric Clapton, Harrison turns in surprisingly strong versions of his best solo material; it easily surpasses Paul McCartney's double-disc Tripping the Live Fantastic or Paul Is Live. Not bad for a guy who doesn't like to give concerts. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: Eric Clapton \nProducer: Spike & Nelson Wilbury \n\nAlbum Notes\nThis is a multi-channel hybrid Super Audio CD playable both on regular and Super Audio CD players.\n\nPersonnel: George Harrison (vocals, guitar); Andy Fairweather-Lowe, Eric Clapton (guitar, background vocals); Greg Phillinganes, Chuck Leavell (keyboards, background vocals); Nathan East (bass, background vocals); Steve Ferrone (drums); Ray Cooper (percussion); Tessa Niles, Katie Kissoon (background vocals).\n\nRecorded live in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan in December, 1991. Includes liner notes by George Harrison.\n\nPerhaps still smarting from the poor reviews he received on his 1974 American tour, Harrison decided to make his 1992 return to the concert stage in Japan, where he presumed that both the fans and the media would be less critical and demanding than in America and England. Judging from the superb music on LIVE IN JAPAN, Harrison had little reason to worry. Backed by Eric Clapton's seasoned touring band (Clapton also plays guitar on the album but is not credited due to contractual reasons) Harrison performs confident, enthusiastic versions of most of his greatest songs, ranging from Beatles favorites like "Taxman" and "Here Comes The Sun" to a forceful version of his latest hit, "Cheer Down." Packed with excellent live versions of obscure (though wonderful) Beatles songs like "Piggies" and "I Want To Tell You," LIVE IN JAPAN easily surpasses THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH as the definitive George Harrison live album and it provides as excellent overview of Harrison's long and illustrious career.\n\nIndustry Reviews\nRolling Stone (08/06/1992) - 3.5 Stars - Good Plus - ...a rocking, extroverted performance...it is a pleasure to hear a pair of past masters [Harrison & Eric Clapton] bring out the best in each other...\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGood Live concert overview, March 23, 2004\nReviewer: Denny Angelle (Richmond, Texas United States)\nReleased as a SACD hybrid disk as part of the recent Dark Horse reissues, this two-CD set mixes a pretty decent overview of George Harrison's solo career with nice versions of some of his Beatles highlights.\nI don't have a SACD player, but other hybrid disks I've bought sound pretty good on a standard player. However, "Live in Japan" doesn't offer that extra "oomph" on a standard system -- it just sounds, well, standard.\n\nAside from that, the concert is excellent: Eric Clapton lends his guitar wizardry to some of the set's highlights, such as "What Is Life" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." George is in fine voice throughout -- the version here of "Dark Horse" is light years better than the studio cut -- and Harrison isn't afraid to dip deeply into his Beatles catalog. It's kind of a nice surprise to hear "Piggies," alongside his more familiar "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something."\n\nIf there is a complaint, it might be that this set is maybe a bit too slick. They don't mess around with the original arrangements of the songs too much, and some of the extra touches might be a bit much at times. For example: the background "doo wop" singers on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are totally unnecessary.\n\nAll in all, a good set.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFaithful to the original recordings: fabulous!, December 19, 2003\nReviewer: Candace Scott (Glendora, CA USA)\nGeorge didn't tour after his disastrous '74 Dark Horse tour. He had been castigated because he changed lyrics in several Beatles songs and his voice gave out halfway through the tour. He finally played live again in Japan and the result is this fabulous recording, replete with Clapton on blistering guitar. The remarkable thing is, several songs on this two-CD set are superior to the original recordings. Believe it or not, Here Comes the Sun is better than the 1969 version on Abbey Road. I realize it's sacreligious to say any solo effort could top a Beatles effort, but it's true. Isn't it a Pity is also an improvement over the Phil Spectorized 1970 original version.\nThe only small criticism is that George's vocals are sometimes not mixed correctly. This is especially evident in the closing encore song, Roll Over Beethoven. You can scarcely hear George over the female background singers. But this is a minor complaint. If you love George Harrison, this is a must have set. Enjoy it!\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nTerrific live album All those years ago...., September 28, 2003\nReviewer: Wayne Klein "Wayne Klein" (Fairfield, CA United States)\nHarrison didn't perform much live after his Dark Horse tour. Honestly, touring didn't hold much attraction for him later in life I suppose. Luckily, we have this fine collection that covers his career from The Beatles to his Dark Horse Best of collection from over a decade ago. Back by Eric Clapton and his band, Harrison turns in some terrific performances. It's a bit slick with all the rough edges removed which is where Harrison was at the time.\nOpening with I Want to Tell You (a great opening song and so appropriate) and working his way all the way back to Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven, he touches on the major songs from his career. In reality, this is a greatest hits album recorded live as it concentrates mostly on his singles and Beatle album tracks at the expense of some lesser known material.\n\nSome songs work better than others. I Want To Tell You is spirited and Old Brown Shoe has always been a Beatles favorite of mine. It's an underrated minor Harrison classic that receives a nice reading here. If I needed Someone and What Is Life roar out of the stable but it's the unusual selections of Dark Horse and Piggies on the first disc that make this interesting. \n\nDisc Two starts with the rousing Cloud 9. The sublime Here Comes The Sun captures your attention next. My Sweet Lord benefits from an expanded arrangement. The only song that doesn't work for me is All Those Years Ago. I never cared for it when it was first released and still don't. Still, it's a good performance. Devil's Radio features Harrison's humorous take on talk radio and talk TV. Isn't It A Pity (which I've always felt recalls Hey Jude beyond the dirge like arrangement)is downright majestic. Harrison closes with the whiplash snap of While My Guitar Gently Weeps which rocks out the house after the preceding dirge. Roll Over Beethoven brings him full circle; it was his first hit single in America with The Beatles. Interestingly, Harrison doesn't play any of his music and guitar playing idol Carl Perkins' tunes. I would have loved to hear George do a cover of Honey Don't (which Ringo sang with The Beatles and John performed for a BBC performance) or even his interesting arrangement of John and Paul's In My Life.\n\nIt's a pity that Live in Japan wasn't performed all around the world vs. just Japan but it's understandable; after The Beatles, his disasterous Dark Horse tour (where he lost his voice and critics were quite unkind)and Lennon's murder, Harrison was reluctant to be as exposed again. Great performance immortalized for us all (hopefully some video exists of this somewhere). We miss you George!\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nNot Even Close To The concert For Bangla Desh !, July 9, 2003\nReviewer: John Wilson (Castile, New York United States)\nThe eight George Harrison songs, played by an all-star band, that are featured on 1971's "Concert For Bangla-Desh" album are nothing short of amazing. Sadly this is not the case here. There are certainly some moments that might warrant a return listening, but after editing out the poorer moments here, you'd be left with very little of merit anywhere near the level of the former live work. The main problem here seems to be Eric Clapton's very bland, & corporate sounding, backing band. Harrison is able to lift them above themselves on a couple of songs, but for the most part they collectively weigh down any momentum generated around them. I've got a copy of this that I should sell at a resaonable price...this may be out of print, and hard to find, but if you've never heard it...don't get your hopes up looking at the great set list...and if you don't already own it, get the amazing "Concert For Bangla-Desh" first !\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBuy it for the band's sound, not for George's vocals, November 11, 2004\nReviewer: Beatles Fan (Indiana)\nGeorge hadn't performed live for many years until this trip to Japan in the early 1990s, or just two or three years before the Beatles Anthology was put out. Never a great vocalist, George nevertheless managed to sing decent enough, especially for the last Beatles period and his early solo career. Still, he was at his best in supporting than leading roles, and indeed, in "Abbey Road" he sang "Something" as Paul would have and "Here Comes the Sun" as John would! \n\nUnfortunately, after a long absence from touring, by this time his voice had faded a great deal, and in this CD, it sounds hoarse, nasal, slightly whiny, not particularly melodious or attractive. From "Give Me Love" to "Something" to "Piggies" to "Cloud 9" to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the Quiet Beatle simply doesn't deliver. Sad to say, but perhaps also understandable. \n\nStill, this CD is worth having simply because George is supported by Eric Clapton's very fine band. It plays tight and well, a feat repeated just over a decade later in the "Concert for George." Clapton's guitar solos are especially breath-taking -- the solos in "Something," "Isn't It a Pity," and "While My Guitar..." are only three of the many brilliant takes from George's dear friend. Also, not all the singing is lost, as Clapton's band also provided background vocals, and the best singing comes when there's more band vocals, usually in rocking songs like "Taxman," "Devil's Radio," and "Roll Over Beethoven." \n\nIn conclusion, listen to the guitar solos and the band; for better vocals of George's songs, get "Concert for George".\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA tepid revue of some fantastic material, April 19, 2004\nReviewer: David Goodwin (Westchester, NY United States)\n"Oldies tour." The very phrase has an unpleasant, slimy connotation, doesn't it? It makes you think of bands that include no original members performing very stale, very "adult" versions of past glories. The potential may thrill you, but "importance" of the moment aside, the experience usually ends up being a let-down.\nGeorge Harrison's "Live in Japan" really has good intentions, and thus it pains me somewhat to be as indifferent towards it as I am. George's brief Japan tour marked his first time as a regular concert performer since the ill-received 1974 "Dark Horse" tour; with a band consisting of Clapton's current touring band and such 60s luminaries as Andy Fairweather-Low (of, if I'm remembering correctly, Apostolic Intervention and others), it seemed as if George was determined to deliver the goods this time around.\n\nBut...\n\nUnfortunately, George falls squarely into the maw of the Oldies Revue curse, although he manages to escape some of its worst effects. You know what I mean. Female backing vocals where none were previously needed! Synths! Smooth, suave professionalism. I read somewhere a description of this album that complained that you could *hear* the ill-advised ponytails-on-middle-aged-rockers syndrome, and I think that describes the atmosphere excellently.\n\nNot that "Live in Japan" is totally worthless. George delves into interesting parts of his back catalogue (although you'd be fooling yourself if you thought that "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something" would go un-aired). "I Want to Tell You" is a fascinating choice to start off the set, and I must say that I prefer this version of "Dark Horse" to the studio version on the album of the same name ("Give Me Love" is also a worthy take on that oft-overlooked track). Clapton seems to be trying a bit hard, but is in good form throughout, and it's nice to hear "Piggies" and other late-Beatles tunes get their inaugural live airings. Additionally, the *newer* tracks--Cloud 9, Cheer Down--receive very spirited performances.\n\nThe warhorses, though--"Something," "Guitar," and "Here Comes the Sun"--are performed quite perfunctorily, and the aforementioned Oldies syndrome really destroys several tracks for me. "Taxman" has cheekily-updated lyrics, but doesn't rock like it should; "If I Needed Someone" emphasizes its structure differently than the original, but feels almost like a sing-along.\n\nWorse, George doesn't seem to be at ease. At all. He rarely sounds like he's really enjoying the proceedings, and his unwillingness to commit does cast a pall over the performances. The "Japan" footage on the Dark Horse DVD doesn't exactly reveal a festive atmosphere! Weirdly, the reissue accentuates this problem by cutting out a few lines, which I'll discuss in a second.\n\nSo how does this reissue compare with its predecessor? Fascinatingly, this might be the one time in recent memory where a remaster is even *less* processed than the original disc; the sound here is nice and dynamic, if a bit underwhelming. Parts of the concert sound slightly re-assembled as compared with the earlier disc (in particular, crowd noise is quieter at places), and the transitions between songs are slightly different. Strangely, one of George's best--and most bizarre--lines is suddenly missing; on the original disc, he jokingly introduces Cheer Down as being "from the film 'South Pacific'," but this quip is MIA here. What gives?\n\nThis disc is an SACD hybrid, which means that it plays both in regular CD players and in players that can access the high-resolution SACD layer (hybrids have been known, however, to cause problems with DVD players). The SACD layer doesn't sound too different from the CD layer, and I'm kind of disappointed by the somewhat-uninvolving surround mix; it almost sounds like a reprocessing job instead of a discrete mix. The SACD content was added due to a lack of suitable bonus tracks for the reissue, but I have to wonder why they bothered.\n\nVerdict? "Live in Japan" isn't awful, but it isn't something that gets much spin-time, either. It's perfunctory and somewhat soulless, marred by the same slick professionalism that occasionally made George's solo albums stray dangerously near MOR banality. Additionally, if you own the old disc, there really isn't much reason to upgrade; SACD content aside, this offers very little the fine-sounding old disc doesn't (and you get the "Cheer Down" intro to boot). This is hardly the best introduction to George, and as a double-disc SACD hybrid is surprisingly expensive. Be wary.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGreat Concert - So-So Sonics, March 23, 2004\nReviewer: Daniel A. Cooper "Music Lover & Audiophile" (Washington, DC United States)\nHarrison was notoriously uncomfortable on stage. "The Quiet Beatle" relished his privacy and tried vigorously to stay out of the spotlight. Perhaps that was part of the reason why he was relegated to 1 or 2 songs per Beatles album (although -- competing with Lennon & McCartney for songs would be a losing battle for any songwriter).\nHarrison's solo career and his Beatles compositions are well represented on this album, and the band behind him is a solid collection of road-tested musicians who were clearly having a good time playing great songs behind a legendary front-man. Harrison's vocals aren't as strong as I would have liked, even to the point of occasionally sounding like someone doing a weak impression of him, but his strong band more than makes up for any of his vocal shortcomings. I'm not a big fan of Clapton's solo work in the past 10 years or so, but it is absolutely thrilling to hear him expanding on the classic solo of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."\n\nThe redbook CD sounds similar to the previous release of this CD and is unremarkable. The original concert was not very well recorded, so the sound on the CD layer is a bit flat and muddy, including George's vocals. The SACD layer makes a good attempt at polishing the sound, and does so admirably, considering the source material. Harrison's vocals are still a little weak, but anchored to the center channel they are better focused and clearer. There is more immediacy to the music, better audience ambiance, and individual performances from the band are more clearly defined than previous editions of this CD.\n\nThe SACD is a definite improvement, and if you are a fan of George Harrison, then this is a must own.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nDissapointing transfer to SACD, February 28, 2004\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is one of my favorite albums. It had been out of print until this new release. I bought it again because of the upgrade and the transfer to SACD. I prefer my old version to this one. I do not think the transfer to SACD had any improvement. To me it sounds like all I am getting is the reverberation of the concert hall.\nI guess I was hoping for sound as spectacular as the Concert for George.\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nI want to tell you, February 28, 2004\nReviewer: Kelly Gold "mrleadfoot" (Shelby, NC)\nI always hoped that I could see George Harrison in concert and never had the oppurtunity. I'm glad Eric Clapton persuaded George to do the tour in Japan and that it was recorded for posterity. All of the songs are performed adequately and most of them for the first time live. Thanks for re-releasing it. The sound on the SACD Hybrid does surpass that of the original release. There is some minor editing though, on the original release before they play Cheer Down. George says " I'd like to play a song from the film South Pacific " and then they go straight into Cheer Down. On the SACD Hybrid its been edited out, I'm not griping over such a minor thing but it is kind of pecular that that would be edited out. I know the song was at the end of Lethal Weapon 2 and just took what he said as a joke. Was EMI worried that they were gonna get sued?\nBuy it and enjoy it cause it is worth multiple listenings
This rock cd contains 10 tracks and runs 42min 31sec.
Freedb: 8509f50a
Buy: from Amazon.com

Categories

Latest lists

George Harrison: Live In Japan - Disc 1 CD Track Listing

Category

Tags

cyList

Legal