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Dark Horse
 
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Dark Horse [CD]

George Harrison Audio CD
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
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Music

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This was a surprise! Back in 1970 with the break-up of The Beatles, all focus was naturally on the main songwriters/singers, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to see what they would do next. However, it was George that hit the ground running with All Things Must Pass. That it turned out to be the very first triple album ever released was even more surprising to many, given how few tracks he had… Read more in Amazon's George Harrison Store

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Dark Horse + Living In The Material World + Thirty Three And 1/3
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Product details

  • Audio CD (27 Jan 1992)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Parlophone
  • ASIN: B000008GED
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 15,128 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Hari's On Tour (Express)
2. Simply Shady
3. So Sad
4. Bye Bye Love
5. Maya Love
6. Ding Dong, Ding Dong
7. Dark Horse
8. Far East Man
9. It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Dark But Interesting 14 Feb 2005
Format:Audio CD
OK maybe three and a half stars. If that were possible here! The first thing to say is that this is the first George solo album which is open to any kind of musical criticism, the first two albums: 'All Things Must Pass' (1970) and 'Living In The Material World' (1973) being so crammed full of gorgeous melodies it is simply hard to fathom. And this album doesn't exactly ingratiate itself on first listen (in fact it must have come as quite a shock at the time). Two reasons: there is precious little guitar playing of anything like the quality of the previous two albums. And secondly, George has practically lost his voice.

So why isn't this album simply condemned to the dustbin of history, like a lost sock in the laundromat of oblivion? Well firstly because it comes from George Harrison. And even his weaker albums, of which this is probably one, contained at least three or four good songs. And also because the very roughness of George's voice, combined with top notch session musicians as always (Ringo is also here somewhere but this time less obviously) makes for a thoroughly interesting listening experience. We hear a side of George for example that no one, at least at the time, can have thought existed. George struggling with alcoholism. Quite a shocker after the previous album for me with its 'Lord there just a few...who bow before you' lyrics. But this is a marvellously honest song. And coming after the opening instrumental with its distinctive slide guitar (virtually the only example of this on the entire album!), it is somehow quite gripping. We learn here and on the next track 'So Sad' that George is actually as prone to the pitfalls of lost direction and more specifically lost love as the rest of us humans. And that is quite reassuring. But even in these dark lyrics he recognises the problem head on..."you may think of Sexy Sadie, let her in through your front door...but your life won't be so easy...Anymore'. Great bell-like Badfingeresque acoustic guitars on 'So Sad' too. Thankfully George was to find true happiness in his second marriage to Olivia who even graces the album label in the way that Linda did on 'Wild Life' and Yoko did on 'Imagine'. But here he is in the midst of a marriage break up and hence there is precious little of the uplifting and happy lyrics (or melodies) which George is now primarily remembered for. So what? This is an important document of George's emotional state at the time and he sings convincingly, though pretty throatily due to the afore mentioned loss of voice. 'Bye Bye Love' is an Everleys cover directly about the split with Patti. And he even has the nerve to invite Eric Clapton and Patti (who were now a couple) to contribute backing vocals! It is not a great version admittedly, but is a curio for us fans.
Side 1 of the vinyl record ends with 'Maya Love' which although not a very memorable song does at least feature some of that George slide which was so prominent on the first two solo albums and which is so curiously absent on this one.
Side 2 opens with George's Christmas single 'Ding Dong' which is only a shade better that McCartney's attempt 5 years later 'Wonderful Christmastime'. In this department at least, Lennon won hands down.
But then we have the title track which is memorable. Great lyrics and a jerky but effective melody and drums reminiscent of galloping horses to boot! 'Far East Man', written with Ron Wood, who featured it on his album of the same year, is subdued but quite moving in its own way. The closing track is another curio: repetitive chorus chants to Sri Krshna which are a little annoying, to these ears anyway. But a verse with a great melody which heightens expectations only to be brought down to earth firmly by the turgid chorus every time!
So this is a mixed bag for sure. Lyrics are alternately dealing with very human situations whilst elsewhere maintain a pretty firm allegiance to Krishna.
A long way from 'All Things' or 'Material World' this and still further from his joyously melodic return to form five years later, the 'George Harrison' album of 1979. But still well worthy of investigation for anyone remotely interested in George Harrison who almost always wore his heart on his sleeve and was searching for some kind of inner peace. Isn't that what we're all striving for at the end of the day?

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Dark Hoarse 9 Feb 2005
Format:Audio CD
The Dark Horse album has certainly been through the mill over the years. Hated by the critics and some fans on it's release in 1974 for its relgious lyrical content but make no mistake, there are some fine songs on this record.

George was ill during the recording of this album, but forced by Apple to deliver his next album so hense the hoarse voice on some of the tracks.

The musicianship on this record is nothing short of superb which you'd expect from the line up of usual suspects collected here.
This was really the last batch of good songs George delivered for Apple as the follow up album 'Extra Texture'(his last for the label) was virtually devoid of anything much resembling the quality that had gone before.

Remember, that George himself was happy enough with this album, so much so that he undertook his first solo tour to promote it. The opener, Hari's on Tour, a lively instrumental, was written purely with this in mind and he opened the shows with this.

The top tracks on here are the bitter 'Simply Shady', the beautiful 'So Sad', the title track 'Dark horse' and superb 'Far East Man'.

'So Sad' is one the finest songs George wrote. 'Far East Man' was co-written with Ronnie Wood and he joins George on this track.(To hear Ronnie's version of the song,check out his own 'I've Got My Own Album To Do'

'Ding Dong, Ding Dong' is a shocker with lyrics culled from an inscription George found at his Friar Park home.

One curio on the album, the unusual cover of the Everly Brothers, 'Bye,Bye Love'. This song bears little resembelance to the original and has a litle extra verse penned by George to commemorate his wife Patti taking off with his best mate Eric.

"There Goes our lady
With you know who
I hope they're happy
Old Clapper too"

Clapton even played on the track. So how's that for cheekiness?

In summary if you're a casual listener interested in sampling Harrisons solo work, this probably isn't for you. If you're a Harrison or Beatles fan and pondering whether or not to take the plunge with this one, there are tracks on this LP you NEED. So forget what you've read about this album, the good tracks on here earn it 4 stars from this reviewer.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Just gorgeous 20 Nov 2009
By Eric
Format:Audio CD
Dark Horse is a gorgeous creature of George.It stands well with others famous
LPs of the 1974, though hadn't got into charts, but does it matter? Not for me.
Within the last 45 years I was into lots of kinds of music, that it was a shortage
of time to listen to all my favourites, but beloved melodies were quite often
spinning in my head. Long ago I'd lost Dark Horse and left the idea of getting
it again for a while. Two years ago I started longing for it again, decided to buy
original LP instead of simple CD. I ought to say it was a difficult job , because even years ago it was sold not in millions of copies. Those, which I found, were not
in a great condition. A week ago I tried my luck on eBay and succeeded, it is in
VG condition. Now I'm listening to it on and on every day, gathering, that I was
longing for it very much.

It is a penetrative album, goes through your spine. Ofcourse it's different from
the other classics like All things must pass and Living in material world. Let's
say, like Picasso had pink and blue periods of his works, Dark Horse'd be George's
blue one. The music is very personal with lovely guitar tunes and lyrics.
It is a kind of farewell to his first wife (imho) and at the same time a warning
to his best friend. "You may think of Sexy Sadie let her in through your front door,
And your life won't be so easy anymore".
From one hand it is a work full of pain, but from the other hand he looks forward
to the new life and as easy to discover it's on the way. ( the picture of Olivia
is on the label)
Despite that Harrison had a difficult time while writing this album it's very
optimistic and full of hope and belief.
"God, it's hellish at times
But I feel that a heaven's in sight.."

and let them go without any regret, suppose later George really thought that Clapper
did him a favour/
"There goes our lady with a "you know who"
I hope she's happy, and "old 'Clapper' too"
We had a good rhythm (and a little slide)
Then she stepped in did me a favour
I threw them both out"

For those who didn't enjoy this LP much just listen to it again more thoughtfully and
you will appreciate it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cooking at the Source
Strange really, I dusted off my George Harrison CDs some time ago and then comes along a fantastic celebration of his life in the way of a film by Martin Scorsese. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. P. BROOKSBANK
This is good but not outstanding
I agree whole heartedly with John Heaton's review. John's review is honest.

I will say 'Ding Dong Ding Dong' (released as a single in November 1974 for Christmas) was... Read more
Published 6 months ago by A rhythm person
I just don't understand...
...the generally negative comments about this album. And I never will. All of George's songs here are worth a listen and many of them would have been stand-out tracks on a... Read more
Published 12 months ago by S. B. Goldstraw
Running slightly off course
The sleeve is very nice-a close approximation of the Sgt Pepper one,for this album named for Harrison's then new record label. Read more
Published on 10 Dec 2006 by Richard
under-rated Dark Horse
This album, Dark Horse, like Extra Texture is under-rated, It may only have 9 songs, but the songs are strong and a pleasure to listen to. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2006 by Mr. Mw Elphick
Not great, but not terrible
Lets get this straight. There are some good songs on here, in fact, all the tracks are fine, apart from Ding Dong Ding Dong, which has to be one of the worst ever songs ever... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2004 by Mr. J. A. Smith
Not one of George's best
I'm a massive fan of the Beatles and that includes their solo work too. While 'All Things Must Pass' was perhaps George's finest work, I have never felt this one came up to... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2004 by D. J. Rhodes
Mixes good and terrible
At the time of its release, Dark Horse must have done some damage to George Harrison's reputation as a songwriter. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2001 by Mr Tagomi
Hoorah for Harrison
Where has Harrison gone? People knew him as a Beatle, but after that, people seem to forget who he was. That was because he was the Dark Horse of the group, but what a shame. Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2000
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