The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992

The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992
Box set by George Harrison
Released	23 February 2004
Recorded	May 1976 - December 1991
Genre	Rock
Length	5:13:06
Label	Dark Horse/EMI
Producer	George Harrison, Russ Titelman, Ray Cooper, Phil McDonald, and Jeff Lynne
George Harrison chronology
Brainwashed (2002) The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 (2004) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison (2009)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
PopMatters	(favorable)[2]

The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992 is a box set of albums by George Harrison released in 2004. Comprising all of the output on his Dark Horse Records label, the set encompasses his studio albums from 1976's Thirty Three & 1/3 to 1987's Cloud Nine with bonus tracks, while 1992's Live in Japan features a special SACD remix in addition to its original mix. Furthermore, Harrison's intended artwork for Somewhere in England has been reinstated, while the lettering on the front of the album George Harrison has been modified.

Harrison's Dark Horse material had been issued on CD initially in 1992, but was allowed to go out of print some years later. By 2000, he was keen to refurbish his entire catalogue, but only managed to see an expanded All Things Must Pass out before he became ill with cancer, from which he died in late 2001. Harrison's widow Olivia and son Dhani picked up where Harrison left off and compiled this set for release. Included in the package is a DVD composed of videos and some background to this period in Harrison's career, which was later released separately as well.

Despite the title of the set, not every track from Harrison's Dark Horse years are included. The song "Lay His Head" which was the B-side to "Got My Mind Set On You" is not here. The two tracks that first appeared on Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989, "Cockamamie Business" and "Poor Little Girl", are not included. "Cheer Down", which George recorded for Lethal Weapon 2, is omitted as well (although a live version appears in on Live in Japan.) Also missing are most of the tracks recorded for George's original version of Somewhere in England (that album appears in its original intended cover art, but not with the originally-intended tracklist). Also missing, on the DVD, are the videos for Blow Away and All Those Years Ago.

Track listing

All songs by George Harrison, except where noted.

Disc 1: Thirty Three & 1/3

Released 19 November 1976

1. "Woman Don't You Cry For Me" – 3:18
   • Originally written in 1969
2. "Dear One" – 5:08
3. "Beautiful Girl" – 3:39
   • Song started in 1969 and finished for Thirty Three & 1/3
4. "This Song" – 4:13
   • Harrison's tongue-in-cheek parody of the infamous copyright infringement case against "My Sweet Lord"
5. "See Yourself" – 2:51
   • Originally written in 1967
6. "It's What You Value" – 5:07
7. "True Love" (Cole Porter) – 2:45
8. "Pure Smokey" – 3:56
   • Harrison's second tribute to Smokey Robinson
9. "Crackerbox Palace" – 3:57
   • Crackerbox Palace is the name of George's mansion in England, "Friar Park", once owned by Lord Buckley
10. "Learning How To Love You" – 4:13
    • Dedicated to Herb Alpert and intended for Alpert to record
11. "Tears of the World" – 4:02
    • Bonus track
    • One of the four rejected songs from the original edition of Somewhere in England

Disc 2: George Harrison

Released 23 February 1979

1. "Love Comes to Everyone" – 4:36
   • Guitar intro played by Eric Clapton, who would go on to cover the song on his 2005 album Back Home
2. "Not Guilty" – 3:35
   • Originally recorded by The Beatles in 1968 for inclusion on The Beatles; that version was finally issued in 1996 on Anthology 3
3. "Here Comes the Moon" – 4:48
   • A lyrical successor to Harrison's 1969 composition "Here Comes the Sun"
4. "Soft-Hearted Hana" – 4:03
   • Written about a magic mushrooms experience Harrison had in Maui
   • Incorporates actual atmosphere from Harrison's local Henley-on-Thames pub, "The Row Barge"
5. "Blow Away" – 4:00 (Appeared in the film "Nuns On The Run" starring Robbie Coltrane & Eric Idle)
6. "Faster" – 4:46
   • Incorporates actual racing effects from the British Grand Prix on 16 July 1978
7. "Dark Sweet Lady" – 3:22
8. "Your Love is Forever" – 3:45
9. "Soft Touch" – 3:59
10. "If You Believe" (George Harrison/Gary Wright) – 2:55
11. "Here Comes The Moon" (Demo Version) – 3:37
    • Bonus track

Disc 3: Somewhere in England

Released 5 June 1981

1. "Blood from a Clone" – 4:03
2. "Unconsciousness Rules" – 3:35
3. "Life Itself" – 4:25
4. "All Those Years Ago" – 3:45
   • Harrison's tribute to John Lennon, featuring Ringo Starr on drums, as well as Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine on backing vocals
5. "Baltimore Oriole" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 3:57
6. "Teardrops" – 4:07
7. "That Which I Have Lost" – 3:47
8. "Writings on the Wall" – 3:59
9. "Hong Kong Blues" (Hoagy Carmichael) – 2:55
10. "Save the World" – 4:54
    • Track's end features a short excerpt from "Crying Music" originally released on Harrison's 1968 debut album Wonderwall Music
11. "Save the World" (Acoustic Demo Version)– 4:29
    • Bonus track

Disc 4: Gone Troppo

Released 5 November 1982

1. "Wake Up My Love" – 3:34
2. "That's The Way It Goes" – 3:34
3. "I Really Love You" (Leroy Swearingen) – 2:54
   • A cover of a 1961 doo-wop song
4. "Greece" – 3:58
5. "Gone Troppo" – 4:25
6. "Mystical One" – 3:42
7. "Unknown Delight" – 4:16
8. "Baby Don't Run Away" – 4:01
9. "Dream Away" – 4:29
   • Appeared in the Terry Gilliam film Time Bandits
10. "Circles" – 3:46
    • A song originally composed in 1968 and demoed as a possible track for the White Album
11. "Mystical One" (Demo Version) – 6:02
    • Bonus track

Disc 5: Cloud Nine

Released 2 November 1987

1. "Cloud 9" – 3:15
2. "That's What It Takes" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne/Gary Wright) – 3:59
3. "Fish on the Sand" – 3:22
4. "Just For Today" – 4:06
5. "This Is Love" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne) – 3:48
6. "When We Was Fab" (George Harrison/Jeff Lynne) – 3:57
   • A celebration of The Beatles and the 1960s
7. "Devil's Radio" – 3:52
8. "Someplace Else (song)|Someplace Else" – 3:51
   • An earlier version of this song appeared in the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise
9. "Wreck of the Hesperus" – 3:31
10. "Breath Away From Heaven" – 3:36
    • An earlier version of this song appeared in the 1986 film Shanghai Surprise
11. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 3:52
12. "Shanghai Surprise" – 5:07
13. "Zig Zag" – 2:45
    • Above two songs are bonus tracks and recorded in 1986 for Shanghai Surprise
    • "Zig Zag" also appeared as the B-Side to "When We Was Fab"

Live in Japan SACD

Released 13 July 1992

Disc six

1. "I Want to Tell You" – 4:33
   • From The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver
2. "Old Brown Shoe" – 3:51
   • B-Side to The Beatles' "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" in 1969
3. "Taxman" – 4:16
   • From The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver
4. "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" – 3:37
   • From the 1973 album Living In The Material World
5. "If I Needed Someone" – 3:50
   • From The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul
6. "Something" – 5:21
   • From The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road
7. "What Is Life" – 4:47
   • From the 1970 album All Things Must Pass
8. "Dark Horse" – 4:20
   • From the 1974 album Dark Horse
9. "Piggies" – 2:56
   • From The Beatles' 1968 double album The Beatles
10. "Got My Mind Set on You" (Rudy Clark) – 4:56
    • From the 1987 album Cloud Nine

Disc seven

1. "Cloud 9" – 4:23
   • From the 1987 album Cloud Nine
2. "Here Comes the Sun" – 3:31
   • From The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road
3. "My Sweet Lord" – 5:42
   • From the 1970 album All Things Must Pass
4. "All Those Years Ago" – 4:26
   • From the 1981 album Somewhere In England
5. "Cheer Down" (George Harrison/Tom Petty) – 3:53
6. "Devil's Radio" – 4:25
   • From the 1987 album Cloud Nine
7. "Isn't It a Pity" – 6:33
   • From the 1970 album All Things Must Pass
8. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – 7:09
   • From The Beatles' 1968 double album The Beatles
9. "Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry) – 4:45
   • From The Beatles' 1963 album With the Beatles

DVD

1. Dark Horse Feature

Videos:

1. "This Song"
2. "Crackerbox Palace"
3. "Faster"
4. "Got My Mind Set on You" Version 1
5. "Got My Mind Set on You" Version 2
6. "When We Was Fab"
7. "This Is Love"

Selections from Live in Japan

1. "Cheer Down"
2. "Devil's Radio"
3. "Cloud 9" (alternate version)
4. "Taxman"

Audio:

• PCM Stereo
• Dolby Digital 5.1
• DTS 5.1

Selections from the movie Shanghai Surprise

1. "Shanghai Surprise"
2. "Someplace Else"
3. "The Hottest Gong In Town"

In-between each song is a video introduction interview with George.

References

1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r678489/review. Retrieved 7 November 2009. 
2. ^ Korenkiewicz, Jason (3 May 2004). "Review: The Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/harrisongeorge-darkhorse/. Retrieved 7 November 2009.