Welcome to this week’s Beatles Rarity of the Week. I’m responding to a request this week for George Harrison’s recording of “I Don’t Want To Do It, ” but since this is BROW, don’t expect to hear the most familiar account of the song.

“I Don’t Want To Do It” was a track penned by Bob Dylan in early 1970 and was very little known until George Harrison covered it in 1985 for inclusion on the March 1985 Porky’s Revenge soundtrack. It was also released on a single the following month, which is similar but not the same as the soundtrack version. The single mix has additional guitar in the instrumental break to accompany the organ solo and also has a different lead vocal track. The song was certainly not new to George in 1985 as is shown by a widely bootlegged demo of him performing it (on acoustic guitar only) much earlier during the sessions for All Things Must Pass in 1970.

All three of the aforementioned accounts of this track are interesting in there own way but for this week’s BROW I am offering up a 4th account which is also a demo, but one that was recorded near the the time of the late 1984 recording of the soundtrack version. At this point George is just getting the band warmed up, so it is not as polished as either of the officially released versions and actually has a completely different feel. The final version of this song would be George’s only commercial release between 1982 and his October 1987 single which was also a cover – Rudy Clark’s “Got My Mind Set on You”.

George Harrison - I Don't Want To Do It

George Harrison, circa mid-1980's

Extra info: Since the soundtrack version of “I Don’t Want To Do It” was chosen for the 2009 George Harrison hits compilation Let It Roll – Songs By George Harrison, the single version may also be selected as a future BROW, as it has not been released officially since the 1985 vinyl single.

Some Amazon links to read up on or purchase related items to this post:

1) Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison – a great 2009 hits compilation of George Harrison’s best, including the soundtrack version of “I Don’t Want To Do It”.

2) Porky’s Revenge – 2004 remastered expanded version of soundtrack, now somewhat rare, with used copies available here and including the soundtrack version of “I Don’t Want To Do It” along with other songs by various artists.

3) Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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George Harrison and his spiritual mentor, Ravi Shankar, organized the Concert For Bangladesh to relieve the country from a couple of big messes.

First off, on Nov. 12, 1970, a devastating tropical storm, known as the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, struck East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh). Equivalent in strength to a category 3 hurricane, it flooded the Ganges Delta and was responsible for the loss of 500,000 people in the region, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters of modern times.

Secondly, the Bangladesh Liberation War, according to many reports, had resulted in three million deaths and widespread violation of human rights by the Pakistan Army. Many civilians were killed, raped and tortured, and their exact numbers to this day are not known, but the genocide tactics used by West Pakistan against the Bengali and Indians of the region has been considered by many historians as comparable to the atrocities of World War II.

Beginning in the summer of 1970, George and Ravi organized both an afternoon and evening concert with a large array of musical artists, including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Billy Preston and Badfinger. The event, held at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history. The initial monies raised for the show came to $243,400 and some change, and to this day, the ongoing sales of the Concert for Bangladesh albums, CDs, DVDs, etc. continue to go to UNICEF (to benefit children in countries devastated by war).

This video clip features a rehearsal duet between Bob Dylan and George recorded at a soundcheck made on August 1, 1971, before one of the shows. If Not For You is a Dylan composition that was featured on his 1970 New Morning album and had also recently been covered by George on his triple album, All Things Must Pass, also from 1970. Bob had also co-wrote the opener for All Things Must Pass with George (a song called I’d Have You Anytime), and George had played on a few tracks from Bob’s recent Self Portrait sessions. As the two were working so well together, it was only natural to invite Bob to be a part of the event.

Click the image above to play the video.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) Concert for Bangladesh
– 2005 remaster DVD of the Concert for Bangladesh with bonus materials that include the If Not For You rehearsal seen here.

2) Concert for Bangladesh
– 2005 2-CD remaster of original 1971 album by George Harrison & Friends

3) All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION] – 2001 2-CD remaster of original 1970 album by George Harrison featuring his well-known cover version of If Not For You.

4) New Morning
– 2009 CD remaster of original 1970 album by Bob Dylan featuring original version of If Not For You.

5) The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991 – 3-CD set of rare and previously unreleased Bob Dylan tracks including If Not For You with George Harrison on slide guitar.

6) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week.

Throughout the 1960′s, The Beatles came to have a lot of respect for Bob Dylan. George Harrison worked with Bob on numerous occasions after the Beatles broke up, and also covered a few of his songs over the years. If Not For You on George’s triple album All Things Must Pass comes to mind, as well as the Concert for Bangla Desh or Absolutely Sweet Marie on the Bob Dylan tribute, 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration released in 1993. Of course, Bob and George also played together as part of The Traveling Wilburys on two albums in 1988 and 1990. Some time in late 1984, George went into the studio and laid down a couple of Bob Dylan tracks. One was called I Don’t Want To Do It and it went on to be used in the soundtrack to the 1985 comedy film Porky’s Revenge. Another Dylan cover he recorded around the same time called Abandoned Love has never been issued officially. Bob Dylan recorded Abandoned Love in 1975 to use on his Desire album. But he decided later to replace it with the song Joey. Bob wrote Abandoned Love during the time of his breakup with Sara Lownds (the subject of his well-known song Sara), and his version of the song was finally released on the 1985 compilation Biograph. George handles the song quite well, adding some gentle vocal harmonies and slide guitar embellishments to adorn it with his trademark sound.

George Harrison & Bob Dylan

This excellent BROW request was given to me by Mike Ray. Thanks Mike!

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

Click on the links below to read about or purchase these related releases from Amazon:

1) Bob Dylan’s version of Abandoned Love on Biograph (3 CDs in Double Jewel Case).

2) George Harrison’s cover of Bob Dylan’s I Don’t Want To Do It on Porky’s Revenge Soundtrack.

3) George Harrison’s cover of Bob Dylan’s I Don’t Want To Do It on Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison.

4) George’s version of Dylan’s If Not For You plus I’d Have You Anytime (written by Dylan/Harrison and performed by George) is on All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION].

5) George and Bob played together on the Concert for Bangladesh.

6) Bob Dylan honored by host of stars including performances by George Harrison, Neil Young, Tom Petty and many, many others including Bob himself at the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.

7) Bob Dylan’s Desire (Reissue) featuring the tracks Sara and Joey.

8) Traveling Wilburys (2 CD / 1 DVD) featuring great music by Bob, George, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.

…and here’s more Amazon links for your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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1. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – If Not For You (30th Anniversary Concert Celebration) Welcome to this week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week and...
2. George Harrison visits VH1 in 1997 In 1997 George Harrison visited VH1 for a short chat...
3. Beatles Rarity Of The Week – George Harrison Live at the Royal Albert Hall, April 1992 Welcome to the Beatles Rarity Of The Week. George Harrison’s...

It’s hard to believe it’s been nine years since the first re-issue of this great album, but the reissues keep coming, and here is the news:

George Harrison’s first post-Beatles album release, All Things Must Pass, will be 40 years old next month on November 27th. In commemoration of this, a 40th anniversary vinyl reissue containing all of the original mixes from the triple album set, remastered at Abbey Road studios will be coming out on Friday, November 26, 2010. The new edition will not be issued on CD, nor will it contain any of the 5 bonus tracks that appeared on the 2001 CD reissue.

Here are the format choices:

1) Numbered vinyl edition: a limited edition, numbered 180-gram vinyl set in its original 3LP configuration, with faithfully replicated original monochromic album art, poster and lift-top box packaging. This will be available exclusively at Record Store Day-participating independent music retailers across the U.S. Information about where these stores are can be found here.

2) Un-numbered vinyl edition: Same as above, but un-numbered copy, for non-U.S. fans.

3) Download purchase: On the same date, the album will be available for download purchase in audiophile quality digital format (96Khz/24 bit) exclusively at www.georgeharrison.com.

All Things Must Pass, 40th Anniversary Edition, released Nov. 26, 2010

Speaking about the landmark release, Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day said: “George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass‘ was a milestone release in 1970 and it ranks with record store owners as one of the best albums ever released. The organizers of Record Store Day could not be more thrilled to support the restored reissue 40 years later – almost to the exact day – of this majestic album.

For more information visit GeorgeHarrison.com’s announcement here.

Also, there is a new CD set called Collaborations that was just released on October 19th, that contains George Harrison produced tracks by Ravi Shankar. I’ve included a link for more info on this from Amazon.com below.

Some info for related items to read about or buy on Amazon.com:

1) George Harrison’s Amazon Store – note: the 40th Anniversary All Things Must Pass is not listed here for order/pre-order, but other George Harrison releases are.

2) Collaborations (Amazon.com Exclusive) (Limited Edition) (3CD/1DVD) – Ravi Shankar/George Harrison

3) The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red) Remastered – just out this week.

4) The Beatles 1967-1970 (Blue) Remastered – just out this week.

5) And Amazon links for everything else: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

Related posts:

1. George Harrison visits VH1 in 1997 In 1997 George Harrison visited VH1 for a short chat...

This week’s BROW needs no introduction so I will be brief. The Beatles had broken up, and George Harrison had his first serious album to put together on his own. Here, a song immediately recognizable from the first few melodic strums of George’s six-string, is a diamond in it’s earliest recorded demo form. From the summer of 1970 All Things Must Pass sessions and without the prominent backing vocals and slide guitar this anthem is famous for, the track sounds as clean as a whistle. While I like the way the finished product turned out, it’s also great to also here how it started out. It gives me a better sense of how the song evolved and makes me appreciate the continuity of its completion. Thanks for stopping by this week.

George Harrison (looking sort of Jesus-y), circa 1970

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to this week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Perhaps the most memorable concert event of the 1990′s occurred on October 16, 1992 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was one of the biggest collections of artists ever assembled under one roof and included John Mellencamp, Stevie Wonder, Carolyn Hester, Nancy Griffith, Lou Reed, Edgar Winter, George Thorogood, Tracy Chapman, Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Winter, Ronnie Wood, Richie Havens, The Clancy Brothers, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rosanne Cash, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Chrissie Hynde, The O’Jays, The Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Roger McGuinn and one ex-Beatle: George Harrison. I guess most of those reading this have already figured out that I am describing what Neil Young termed onstage as Bobfest, but officially was known as the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. This was the show that celebrated 30 years of music from Bob Dylan. Each artist would come out and do one or two renditions of a Dylan cover in their own style and in the end, Bob himself appeared onstage to do a few songs with some of the others and solo. A double CD of the event was released in the summer of 1993 and later in the year a double VHS set was issued which contained 4 additional performances not included on the CD set. But even with these four exclusive songs, it was still not an account of the entire show. George Harrison’s performance of the Blonde On Blonde classic Absolutely Sweet Marie was included on both the CD and VHS sets but that was his second of two performances and his first performance was left off of both accounts of the show. George also performed If Not For You, which, as you probably know, had been covered by him before on his 1970 masterpiece triple album All Things Must Pass. Why was this track left off? Whose decision was that? I don’t know, but I am very happy to share it with you on now on BROW.

Cover art for CD edition of the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration, 1992

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to BROW. This week we look at George Harrison’s Run Of The Mill. This was one of my favorite, although somewhat obscure, tracks from the All Things Must Pass sessions. Recorded sometime between May and August of 1970, this early take has just had the piano track added to it and sounds much cleaner than the version we hear on the album since we are spared the “wall of sound” production technique administered by producer Phil Spector. The eloquence of the words and the quiet horns in the background make this a real gem. George adds some la-la’s at the end where he’s probably imagining some backing vocals or additional instrumentation.

George Harrison, looking a little Jesus-like, circa 1970

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? Then let me hear from you. Read about more Beatles rarities and suggest one for me to post. You can begin by searching for different versions of specific tracks right here.
Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

No related posts.