The Story of the Dark Horse Album and George Harrison's 1974 US Tour...
Dark Horse is George Harrison's fifth solo studio album, recorded and released in 1974. The recording period of the record turned out to be very difficult for the musician: Harrison put his voice down, and also again turned to alcohol and psychoactive substances, which he was fond of back in the 60s ... During the same period, his wife Patty Boyd left George. As for the album itself, Dark Horse was received very badly by music critics ... One of the reviewers of Rolling Stone even stated that Harrison's weakness as a musician became obvious as soon as he was left without a team in the face of The Beatles. So… the album was described as “a collection of formulaic melodies and predictable lyrics…” However, this did not stop Dark Horse from breaking into the top five of the Billboard 200 chart. …
In the same period, Harrison completed his full-fledged solo tour of the United States, which was also not successful ... Many did not like the fact that Harrison invited Ravi Shankar to tour with him, who tired the audience with his overly long numbers on stage ...
In a word - 1974 turned into a complete collapse for the musician. However, it is still worth recalling the events of those days, because to some extent it was one of the most memorable periods in Harrison's career (if only because his North American tour was the first for any of the four Beatles!)
Tour of the States: how was it?
Other musicians from the Bangladesh concert who also participated in the 1974 tour included Billy Preston, who had several solo numbers and prominent positions on keyboards, drummers Jim Keltner and Andy Newmark, and trumpeter Chuck Findlay. The rest of the band on the 1974 tour consisted of saxophonists, Tom Scott and Jim Horn, as well as guitarist Robben Ford: all of them participated in the recording of Dark Horse ...
That the tour became known as the "Dark Horse" is no surprise. George signed Ravi Shankar to his new label of the same name and played several songs from the album, which was released towards the end of a 26-day series of concerts. However… these were not the best times for Harrison. Throughout the tour, he struggled with laryngitis and gargled his throat with a mixture of honey, vinegar, and warm water every night to relieve the symptoms a little.
But whatever the restrictions were due to the sore throat that caused the Portland shows to be cancelled, George and the band sounded great... something they never got...
How was the album recorded?
Work on the record began in the fall of 1973, in Friar Park, where Harrison and Boyd lived. Initially, the sessions used the same line-up as when recording Living in the Material World - Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, Gary Wright and Nicky Hopkins. Basic tracks such as "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" and "So Sad" were recorded.
George saw a Joni Mitchell concert at London's New Victoria. He was impressed by her jazz-rock backing band, LA Express, led by saxophonist and flute player Tom Scott, so he invited them to his home studio to record their fifth album. Soon they recorded "Hari's on Tour (Express)" and "Simply Shady"...
Scott then spent a few days at the mansion to overdub some horn tracks...
There was a short rest, after which, by the middle of 1974, George returned to work on an album with Billy Preston, Scott, Andy Newmark and Willie Wicks on bass: they recorded "Māya Love", "Far East Man" and "It Is' He' (Jai Sri Krishna)."
In October, George arrived in Los Angeles to start preparing for the tour, but his voice was in a terrible state ... Due to the need to complete work on the new album, he was under a lot of pressure ...
Final touches and release...
George used A&M Studios in Hollywood to rehearse with the touring crew. At the same time, he completed the songs that were recorded at Friar Park. Soon George was diagnosed with laryngitis, however, according to Scott, one night he recorded "Bye Bye, Love" being completely alone in the studio: he added a synthesizer, drums, electric piano and electric guitar parts to his acoustic guitar ...
Also at this stage, "I Don't Care Anymore" was recorded, which, although not included in the album, became the b-side in the US to the single "Dark Horse", and later in the UK, to the single "Ding Dong, Ding Dong ".
Eventually, George scrapped the version of "Dark Horse" he had recorded in his home studio and re-mastered it with session musicians. At the end of 1974, the album entered the Billboard 200. Reviews of the album upon its release were far from enthusiastic, but over time, people began to appreciate this record, realizing that it was a look at the world of George at that time. Over the years, Dark Horse saw an album containing great music... When George returned home in early 1975 after touring and releasing the album, he told Derek Taylor, the Beatles' press officer:
“When I got off the plane and returned home, I went to the garden and was so relieved ... My condition was very close to a nervous breakdown. I couldn’t even enter the house…”
Three months later, he returned to Los Angeles to begin work on his next album.
