"The Best of George Harrison"

Following a post earlier this month about best-of compilation albums for Paul McCartney, this time around, I'm looking to fix 1976's The Best of George Harrison.

This first compilation of George Harrison's songs is an odd one. Side one includes only Beatles songs that he wrote, and the second side is solo tracks. I don't know whose idea this was, but after five years and four solo albums (since the Beatles broke up), plus contributions to a live album and non-album tracks, there were enough songs to fill out one best-of compilation.

So this is a "fixed" version, featuring only solo George.

SIDE A

1.       My Sweet Lord

2.       Dark Horse

3.       You 

4.       Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)

5.       Deep Blue

6.       What is Life

SIDE B

1.       Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long

2.       Isn't It a Pity (version one)

3.       Bangladesh

4.       All Things Must Pass

5.       Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)

6.       Ding Dong, Ding Dong

Besides the six solo songs on the original album, I added six more. The album begins with George's best-known song and probably his biggest hit. The "new" tunes include:

• "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)," while not a single, has become highly regarded since its release.
• "Deep Blue," part of the double a-side of the "Bangladesh" single;
• "Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long," which was scheduled to be released as a single, but was subsequently withdrawn;
• "Isn't It a Pity (version one)," part of the double a-side of the "My Sweet Lord" single;
• "All Things Must Pass," the title track of the hugely popular album, and
• "Ding Dong, Ding Dong," a holiday single from 1974.

Both sides end up being about 24 minutes in length. The result here is a better overall look at George's post-Beatles career through 1975 and does his solo career a bit more justice. Let Beatles songs be Beatles songs, and solo ones be solo ones.