– Press Release

Capitol/EMI have announced the reissue of George Harrison’s Living In The Material World album is due out 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.

Find out more at http://www.georgeharrison.com