LITMW-Press Release Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing

Press Release Source: Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing


George Harrison's Living In The Material World to be Reissued in CD and Deluxe Limited Edition CD/DVD Packages by Capitol/EMI
Tuesday June 20, 5:17 pm ET
Remastered CD Adds Two Bonus Tracks; Deluxe Edition's DVD Features Previously Unreleased and Rare Archival Film and Audio Clips
In Stores: September 26, 2006


HOLLYWOOD, Calif., June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing is proud to announce the reissue of George Harrison's Living In The Material World album on September 26, 2006.
The CD will be issued in two formats. Both packages will contain the album, which has been re-mastered at Abbey Road Studios from the original analog tapes. The new version also includes two additional tracks, "Deep Blue" (originally a B-side from 1971) and "Miss O'Dell" (the B-side to "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)").

The single-disc package's jewel case will contain a 12-page booklet with lyrics and extra photographs. The special limited edition package will house the CD and a companion DVD with an expanded 40-page booklet. The set's exclusive DVD features:


* Rare footage of George performing "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On
Earth)" from his 1991 Japanese tour with Eric Clapton.
* A mini-feature edited from film commissioned by George in 1973 of the
album's production in Britain and America.
* Previously unreleased versions of "Miss O'Dell" and "Sue Me, Sue You
Blues" set to visuals of unseen archival material.

Historical Notes -- Kevin Howlett
Living In The Material World was George's second solo album of new songs following the Beatles' break-up in 1970 and its lyrical focus revealed his continuing mission to explore spiritual themes. Many people would hear his message. Five weeks after its release in May 1973, the LP and its single 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)' simultaneously occupied the number one positions on the US albums and singles charts.

The success of the album continued a winning streak that had begun with the release of All Things Must Pass. Featuring the worldwide number one 'My Sweet Lord', the triple LP set had topped the US album chart at the beginning of 1971. Later that year, George masterminded two remarkable concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York to help raise awareness and money for the starving refugees from Bangladesh. The commercial success of the Concert For Bangladesh live album was emphatic and unprecedented -- another triple LP box set that was a best seller around the world -- and it won an 'Album of the Year' Grammy Award.

For Living In The Material World, George assembled a core group in the Apple Studio in London consisting of Nicky Hopkins and Gary Wright on keyboards, Klaus Voormann on bass and Jim Keltner on drums. They recorded backing tracks which received varying degrees of enhancement through subsequent overdubs. The most complex musical arrangement on the album is heard on the title track. Having played together at the Concert For Bangladesh, Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner perform their 'double drums' on 'Living In The Material World' and the brass parts were played by Jim Horn with help from Klaus Voormann on tenor saxophone. The gentler sections of the song feature tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussein and Jim Horn on flute and recorders.

The slide guitar playing heard throughout All Things Must Pass had quickly become associated with the George Harrison 'solo' sound and it is equally prominent on Living In The Material World. The exquisite dual harmony slide guitar parts on 'Give Me Love' were integral to that track's gentle power and on 'Sue Me, Sue You Blues', George revealed a bluesy side to his playing -- more bottleneck than Hawaiian in its style.

The four gentle ballads -- 'Be Here Now', 'The Day The World Gets Round', 'The Light That Has Lighted The World' and 'Who Can See It' -- are heartfelt reflections on how to live a spiritual life in the turmoil of the material world -- 'where there's so little chance to experience soul'. The joyous 'Don't Let Me Wait Too Long' picks up on the 'really want to see you' theme of 'My Sweet Lord'. The spiritual nature of these songs is mirrored in the artwork on the gatefold LP sleeve, which featured an illustration from the Bhagavad-Gita.

At the foundation of Living In The Material World are George's unwavering sincerity and integrity. These are rare qualities in mainstream popular music and should be treasured and nurtured wherever they are discovered. This is a welcome and timely re-issue.

Mark

And this is a welcome and timely piece of information. Thank you, Mark!

We've waited five years for the addition of two previously released bonus tracks (and we have to buy The Best of George Harrison if we want the studio version of "Bangladesh") and a DVD that appears to have just slightly more content than the Brainwashed DVD, and will likely cost us twice as much to get? Disappointing to say the least.

I'll buy it, it's a fantastic album and the B-sides are great, but I can't help but be disappointed that we seem to be in an Ono-esque money-grabbing scheme with these reissues...I love Olivia, but I can't help but feel that the bonus material we've been given on this and the Dark Horse Years set is a lot more meager than it should be.

Well I for one am very very very happy this is coming out. I lost all my George CD's and the bonus material is going to be awesome! I don't think it's a money grabbing scheme..this stuff takes time to get together and come out. "Deep Blue" and "Miss O'Dell"...whose waited a LONG TIME to get these? It's certianly not an Ono-esque thing....these things take time...this isn't meager...not at all...a mini feature from 1973 from George making the album? This isn't exactly easy to find stuff....no way is this Ono related bit....this is SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

What happened to the boxed set?

I believe that's been pushed back a bit for the re-release of LITMW...it'll be released...patience pays off

I was under the impression that all the Apple albums (excluding ATMP and TCFB) were going to be in that box. Why is this particular album getting such a special treatment? Will all the others be as well? Nevertheless, I hope they still do include LITMW in the box set in addition to this special release.

Originally Posted by Ilove77Georgie

I lost all my George CD's

Oh no! That is terribly sad! I wish my CD burner was working, and I'd offer to burn them for you. If I can get it working, I'd be glad to...

I like the news... I actually prefer the fact that they release single CDs instead of a box which is oh so expensive for me... I don't have enough money to buy those ones... And probably they could have put more bonus tracks in it but those two were the obvious ones... The ones that I was hugely disappointed with were the Dark Horse years bonus tracks. But I'm still hoping for a boxed set containing all the missing songs from those years, as some of them are among the best that George ever composed.

Originally Posted by vincenthanna

and the brass parts were played by Jim Horn with help from Klaus Voormann on tenor saxophone.

Klaus on saxophone?

Originally Posted by Ilove77Georgie

I don't think it's a money grabbing scheme..this stuff takes time to get together and come out. "Deep Blue" and "Miss O'Dell"...whose waited a LONG TIME to get these?

Nobody really; we've had high-quality bootleg copies for years. I just remember George saying before he died that he had lots of bonus tracks picked out to go on the albums...one single one each on most of the Dark Horse reissues and Bangladesh; and two each on Cloud 9 and LITMW, after there were five on ATMP? I just get the feeling that Olivia is holding back on what George had originally intended.

It's certianly not an Ono-esque thing....these things take time...this isn't meager...not at all...a mini feature from 1973 from George making the album? This isn't exactly easy to find stuff....no way is this Ono related bit....this is SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

The thing is, look at the contents of that DVD--assuming the mini-feature is the same length as the mini-features on the Bangladesh DVD, this DVD is going to be 20-25 minutes, tops. I'm not saying that that it needs to be like an hour long, but it's still very short. Add to that that the two bonus tracks are both previously released, it's kind of disappointing.

Not a big fan of the way the catalog has been handled since George's death. Not at all. Living in the material world, indeed.

Originally Posted by ringo_rama

Not a big fan of the way the catalog has been handled since George's death. Not at all. Living in the material world, indeed.

Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. George left instructions with Olivia and Dhani on how he wanted his catalogue handled after his death, and I trust them to do just that. The great love those three had for one another was obvious, and to suggest that Olivia is dishonouring George's wishes, not quite five years since his death, in order to make a fast buck does not ring true with me at all.

Personally I have been quite happy with what has been released so far. Reissues do not come with a prerequisite that they must include a set amount of bonus tracks, or dvd footage. That is up to the artist. I am sure that if George made clear that he wanted particular tracks or footage to be released then it will be.

But look at everything that's been released so far since George died:

-November 2002: Brainwashed. I have no doubt that the album itself came out the way that George wanted it to be, although I'm still curious about the absence of the song "Valentine" as mentioned in interviews. On the same day it's released, we get a special deluxe edition. For double the price of the CD, you get a poster of the album cover, a guitar pick, a sticker, and a DVD with a whopping seven minutes of footage that we'd all already seen on the Internet. Since this was meant to be George's swan song LP, everyone seemed to overlook the fact that the deluxe set really wasn't much of a value.

-November 2003. The Concert for George--the only set of releases that have been well-done, and tastefully at that besides that "My Sweet Lord" single. While I wish they could have bumped some of the disc 2 tracks onto disc 1 so that "Horse to the Water" could be included, it's still the best post-2001 Harrison release.

-February 2004. The Dark Horse Years box set. Where do I begin on this one? Should I start with how it didn't include the three new songs from The Best of Dark Horse album? Or how each reissue (except for Cloud 9 and Live in Japan) contained one measly bonus track, including the absolutely random placement of "Tears of the World" on 33 1/3? Or worst of all, the fact that it included an "exclusive" DVD unique to the box set that ended up doubling the cost of buying the individual CDs--until the DVD was released individually in November, completely ripping off fans? I guarantee you that if George were alive, he would have never allowed that.

-October 2005. The Concert for Bangladesh. Again, only a single bonus track, and it's not even a George song at that. This time, the deluxe edition was worthwhile, but still nothing to write home about. And there was no need to change the artwork, which George had selected for a reason--it was never a George Harrison vanity project. Besides, it could have all fit on a single DVD.

I'm not going to blindly praise any product that comes from the Harrison archives, and I'm not saying that anyone else here will either. But this just doesn't feel right to me.

At least we got what we got...after all..the Harrison circle didn't have to release the stuff mentioned above. We should be happy with what we get. It's not always going to match up to the standards that are placed on it...we get what we get and we shouldn't complain...hint hint....and there should be fees on complaints... I say 5 bucks for the next complaints....I guess ultimately what I'm saying is STOP COMPLAINING! Otay I'm done...oh and I agree with Siobhan...THEY ARE FOLLOWING HIS INSTRUCTIONS...AMEN!

The purpose of remastered cds is the sound quality, not bonus tracks. If we get bonus tracks great - but I prefer - and am excited to have a cd of the album that has a better sound quality than those of the 80s and early 90s (which were also at a much lower volume level which sucks for mix cds).

Originally Posted by ringo_rama

-November 2002: Brainwashed.

You're right, I agree with you on that "special edition" thing.

-November 2003. The Concert for George

[...]

I wish they could have bumped some of the disc 2 tracks onto disc 1 so that "Horse to the Water" could be included, it's still the best post-2001 Harrison release.

I'll let you have that one as well.

-February 2004. The Dark Horse Years box set.
[...]
Should I start with how it didn't include the three new songs from The Best of Dark Horse album? Or how each reissue (except for Cloud 9 and Live in Japan) contained one measly bonus track, including the absolutely random placement of "Tears of the World" on 33 1/3?

Or how they did not include all of the rejected songs from the original SIE album some of which are absolute gems; or how did they changed the covers for that album and the George Harrison one. Yes, although I love the boxed set because of the albums themselves, I agree that the packaging features could have been improved a lot.

I like the fact that the Apple CDs are going to be released individually anyway, because of the money argument... the budgetary restriction is still very strong in a person who doesn't have an income of his own, mind you. I don't even know if I will buy the edition WITH that DVD seeing that it is going to be short, probably, like the ones that came with Chaos and Creation...

Would you REALLY prefer a Dark Horse Years-like boxed set with all of the Apple albums, ringo_rama?

Oh, absolutely not! As soon as the DVD came out by itself, I knew it was a complete rip-off since the CDs sold for about $10 each (including Live in Japan) when they came out, and the DVD sold for about $20. I spent $103 on the box set, and the DVD didn't really contain enough content that it made the extra $23 worth it. I love all of the albums included in the set, but I would have bought them by themselves if I knew the DVD was coming out by itself. Like I said, I doubt that would have ever happened if George were alive.

I definitely won't be buying any Apple releases box set that comes out. I'll probably get the deluxe LITMW (I know, I'm guilty too for encouraging these kinds of releases) since I'm a completist but at least it won't be costing a fortune like the box set.

There is always a negative approach possible to everything in life, like indeed ringo rama, you are the calculator here and the total of the individuals may look like it is a rip-off, but then I like to think that at least the Harrisons had nothing to do with that. Maybe it was decided later to sell the DVD individually.

But I see your point.

As for this re release and the previous releases and the "why was song X not on it".

Sure, we could want to have the whole lot released in 2005 or 2006. However I think it is like Dhani said about Brainwashed "it was like my Dad had it all mapped out for us" and that is what I tend to believe. I feel that the Harrisons want to spread the releases over a certain amout of time.

George himself was not a rush rush man in releasing songs and albums, he also took years for albums to be finished and I am glad he did.

George talked about a sort of Anthology thing he was working on. So I believe there will be lots for us in the coming years to look forward to.
For instance there may be a plan to have the unreleased Somewhere In England tracks on a coming release and that is why they left it out sofar, because one could then think "Oh nice but it was already in the Dark Horse box" .... you know?

Yes I understand very well that some of you would want it out now, and really, anything new from George I will run for right away, but maybe I am the lucky one to have just about all the bootlegs of George material so lots of things will not be new, but also lots of things will be, like the Here Comes The Moon one which was new to me and opened my eyes to that song again.

Okay I am someone who will wait for that and be happy with what comes up.

Like now with this release, there are choises for the public as to what they want to buy. You can take that as a negative thing, or a positive thing, but in fact it is a choise to make and I think that is a good thing.

The Harrisons control most of this and I am sure that Olivia and Dhani are not after making money from as many different releases as possible. If they were like that - which I think they are not - they could have made a lot of other choise as to releases and re-releases but they take their time and I do believe that is how George would have done it too.

We have always been used to being patient as it comes to albums by George, so I just hang on to that feeling which I have become very comfortable with, but I do see the point of some of the remarks made here as to "why not ..."

It is like when I posted the info about this unreleased track from George here called "Shelter Of Your Love"...hardly anyone responded on it and still I do not see anyone referring to that one whereas that is a song which I believe does not appear on any bootkeg album, so that would be mostly interesting, but no one mentions that one.

Yet, ofcourse we all have our opinions on re-releases, that is fair, and it is nice to see that all of us here still want to have new George material. Because that is what it is about. The love for George and his music.

Originally Posted by ringo_rama

Oh, absolutely not! As soon as the DVD came out by itself, I knew it was a complete rip-off since the CDs sold for about $10 each (including Live in Japan) when they came out, and the DVD sold for about $20. I spent $103 on the box set, and the DVD didn't really contain enough content that it made the extra $23 worth it.

If you look at it that way I would say the record company ripped you off in the U.S.A. I've bought the box set for about $ 60 here in the Netherlands. Now normally I can't get 6 cd's plus a dvd for that price, so I don't think it's a rip off at all.

Who am I to say that Olivia doesn't follow George's wishes? I wasn't there with them, all I know is that George was working on these re-releases, and wanted his albums out again in the shops all "Crisp and clean". Are things perfect? Probably not with these kind or releases, but I wouldn't blame blame Olivia for it, she doesn't control all the things

I also wish there would have been more bonus tracks, I don't think that's a complaint. I don't know if anyone here can honestly say that he or she wouldn't want to hear more demo's like the beautiful acoustic version of "Mystical One". But maybe there aren't that many, or maybe George didn't wanted that many on the original albums. Maybe there will be a box set with rarities who knows? I'm just glad the albums are out in the shops again with good sound quality, and to have some extra stuff included in the collection. And together in a nice box for a very cheap price.
No I don't feel I have been ripped off.

I'm only confused by this upcoming release. Does it mean there will be no box set, or that "LITMW" won't be in the upcoming box set, or will it also be released later on in a box set?

Originally Posted by Legs

If you look at it that way I would say the record company ripped you off in the U.S.A. I've bought the box set for about $ 60 here in the Netherlands. Now normally I can't get 6 cd's plus a dvd for that price, so I don't think it's a rip off at all.

Fantastic remark Legs, indeed the price here was a normal price.