Somewhere in England

For the 1940 film, see Somewhere in England (film).
Somewhere in England
Studio album by George Harrison
Released 1 June 1981
Recorded Sporadically between 30 October 1979 and 23 September 1980, and November 1980 to February 1981
Studio FPSHOT, Oxfordshire
Genre
Length 39:43
Label Dark Horse
Producer
George Harrison chronology
George Harrison
(1979)		 Somewhere in England
(1981)		 Gone Troppo
(1982)
Singles from Somewhere in England
  1. "All Those Years Ago"
    Released: 11 May 1981
  2. "Teardrops"
    Released: 15 July 1981

Somewhere in England is the ninth studio album by George Harrison, released in 1981. The album was recorded as Harrison was becoming increasingly frustrated with the music industry. The album's making was a long one, during which conflicts with Warner Bros. Records arose. Somewhere in England was the first Harrison album to be released after the death of his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon.

Background

Content to move at his own speed, Harrison began recording Somewhere in England in the autumn of 1979 and continued sporadically, finally delivering the album to Warner Bros. Records in September 1980. However, the executives at Warner Bros. rejected it, ordering Harrison to drop four of its songs ("Tears of the World", "Sat Singing", "Lay His Head", and "Flying Hour"), finding them too downbeat. Harrison's original cover art, featuring his profile against a map of Great Britain was also vetoed by Warner Bros. With Harrison already feeling unable to relate to the current post-punk and new wave musical climate, he acceded to their requests.

Recording

Picking up the project again in November, Harrison was joined in his home studio at Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames by Ringo Starr, who arrived specifically to have Harrison produce some songs for him. They recorded two Harrison originals "Wrack My Brain" and "All Those Years Ago" plus a cover of "You Belong to Me" for Starr's impending album Can't Fight Lightning (which was later released as Stop and Smell the Roses). The two other songs were finished but "All Those Years Ago" went unadorned. Starr later admitted that the key was too high for him to sing.

Shortly before the death of John Lennon, excerpts from Lennon's forthcoming interview in Playboy magazine were published in which Lennon said he was hurt over Harrison's autobiography I, Me, Mine, which, in Lennon's estimation, praised every musician Harrison had worked with except him. Harrison was never able to make amends, as on 8 December 1980, Lennon was shot dead outside his apartment building, the Dakota.

After the shock and devastation of Lennon's murder, Harrison decided to utilise the unfinished recording of "All Those Years Ago". He changed the lyrics of the song to reflect the Lennon tragedy. With Starr's pre-recorded drum track in place, Harrison invited Paul and Linda McCartney, and their fellow Wings band-mate Denny Laine, to record backing vocals in early 1981. Along with "All Those Years Ago", three more songs were added to the album: "Blood from a Clone" (a searing indictment of the music scene at the time), "Teardrops" and "That Which I Have Lost". A new cover was then shot in the Tate Gallery in London, and Somewhere in England was resubmitted and accepted.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Elsewhere[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Goldmine(favourable)[4]
Mojo[5]
The Music Box[6]
Music Story[7]
People(favourable)[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Uncut[10]

"All Those Years Ago" was released as the lead-off single that May to a strong response, reaching number 13 in the United Kingdom and number 2 in the United States. It was Harrison's biggest hit since "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" in 1973, and Somewhere in England benefited from its presence on the album. Peaking at number 13 in the UK and number 11 in the US, these chart positions were Harrison's best transatlantic album peaks in some time. Somewhere in England's chart run was relatively brief in America, however, and it became Harrison's first proper studio album to fail to reach gold status there. The follow-up single, "Teardrops", reached only number 102 on Billboard's singles listings.

Aftermath and later releases

Two of the songs from Somewhere in England were included on Harrison's 1989 Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 compilation: "All Those Years Ago" and "Life Itself". "All Those Years Ago" also appeared on the Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison career-spanning compilation, released in 2009.

In 2004, Somewhere in England was remastered and reissued, both separately and as part of the deluxe box set The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992, on Dark Horse Records with new distribution by EMI. The reissue featured the original mix of "Unconsciousness Rules" and, as a bonus track, Harrison's demo of "Save the World", recorded in 1980. In addition, Harrison's rejected artwork was reinstated, replacing that used for the 1981 official release.

The iTunes Music Store's digital version of the album includes the song "Flying Hour" as a second bonus track. Rather than this being the rendition of "Flying Hour" that Harrison had intended for release on Somewhere in England, however, it is the version that appeared on the EP accompanying the rare 1988 book Songs by George Harrison. With a running time of 4:35, this slower version begins with a studio count-in, is longer, lacks and adds guitar riffs, fades slightly at the end, and plays at the correct speed.

In 2006, a survey was conducted on the official GeorgeHarrison.com message boards to find the artist's 50 most popular songs, the results from which featured only one track from the album – "Life Itself", at number 29. The same survey included three of the four rejected songs, however: "Flying Hour", at number 14; "Lay His Head", number 27; and "Sat Singing", number 41.

Track listing

All songs composed by George Harrison, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Blood from a Clone" – 4:03
  2. "Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:05
  3. "Life Itself" – 4:25
  4. "All Those Years Ago" – 3:45
  5. "Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 3:57
Side two
  1. "Teardrops" – 4:07
  2. "That Which I Have Lost" – 3:47
  3. "Writing's on the Wall" – 3:59
  4. "Hong Kong Blues" (Carmichael) – 2:55
  5. "Save the World" – 4:54
    • The track's end features a short excerpt from "Crying", originally released on Harrison's 1968 debut album Wonderwall Music.
2004 reissue bonus track
  1. "Save the World" (Acoustic demo version) – 4:31
iTunes Music Store bonus track
  1. "Flying Hour" (Harrison/Mick Ralphs) – 4:35
Original (rejected) track listing
  1. "Hong Kong Blues" (Carmichael) – 2:53
  2. "Writing's on the Wall" – 3:58
  3. "Flying Hour" (Harrison/Mick Ralphs) – 4:04
    • Remixed and issued as bonus track on the iTunes edition of the album
  4. "Lay His Head" – 3:43
  5. "Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:36
  6. "Sat Singing" – 4:28
  7. "Life Itself" – 4:24
  8. "Tears of the World" – 4:00
  9. "Baltimore Oriole" (Carmichael) – 3:57
  10. "Save the World" – 4:56

Personnel

Guest musicians on "All Those Years Ago"

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1981) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[11] 17
Austrian Albums Chart[12] 15
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[13] 14
Dutch Albums Chart[14] 42
Japanese Oricon LP Chart[15] 31
New Zealand Albums Chart[16] 40
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[17] 2
Swedish Albums Chart[18] 13
UK Albums Chart[19] 13
US Billboard 200[20] 11
West German Media Control Albums Chart[21] 36

Peak positions (reissue)

Chart (2004) Position
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart [22] 294

Year-end charts

Chart (1981) Position
Australian Albums Chart[11] 98
Canadian Albums Chart[23] 80

References

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r678539/review
  2. ↑ Graham Reid, "George Harrison (2011): Ten years after, a dark horse reconsidered" > "Somewhere in England", Elsewhere, 22 November 2011 (retrieved 14 August 2014).
  3. ↑ Colin Larkin, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th edn), Volume 4, Oxford University Press (New York, NY, 2006; ISBN 0-19-531373-9), p. 158.
  4. ↑ Dave Thompson, "The Music of George Harrison: An album-by-album guide", Goldmine, 25 January 2002, pp. 18, 53.
  5. ↑ John Harris, "Beware of Darkness", Mojo, November 2011, p. 83.
  6. ↑ John Metzger, "George Harrison The Dark Horse Years (Part Three: Somewhere in England)", The Music Box, vol. 11 (5), May 2004 (retrieved 14 August 2014).
  7. ↑ "George Harrison" > "Discographie de George Harrison" (in French), Music Story (retrieved 5 October 2015).
  8. ↑ "Picks and Pans Review: Somewhere in England". People. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  9. ↑ Archived 24 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Nigel Williamson, "All Things Must Pass: George Harrison's post-Beatles solo albums", Uncut, February 2002, p. 61.
  11. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ↑ "austriancharts.at George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 35, No. 4" (PHP). RPM. 4 July 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  14. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  15. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  16. ↑ "charts.org.nz George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (ASP). Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "swedishcharts.com George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  19. ↑ "George Harrison > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  20. ↑ "allmusic ((( Somewhere in England > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  21. ↑ "Album Search: George Harrison - Somewhere in England" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
  22. ↑ ジョージ・ハリスン-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック "Highest position and charting weeks of Somewhere in England by George Harrison" Check |url= value (help). oricon.co.jp. Oricon Style. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  23. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of 1981". RPM. 26 December 1981. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
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