Brainwashed (George Harrison album)
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Brainwashed
| type = Album
| artist = George Harrison
| cover = Brainwashed_harrison.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = {{start date|2002|11|19|df=yes}}
| recorded = 1988–2001
| venue =
| studio = FPSHOT, Oxfordshire; Swiss Army Studios, Switzerland; Bungalow Palace, Los Angeles
| genre = *Soft rock
| length = {{duration|m=47|s=41}}
| label = Dark Horse/EMI/Parlophone
| producer = {{flatlist|
}}
| prev_title = Live in Japan
| prev_year = 1992
| next_title = The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992
| next_year = 2004
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Brainwashed
| type = studio
| single1 = Stuck Inside a Cloud
| single1date = 2002 (promo only)
| single2 = Any Road
| single2date = 12 May 2003
}}
}}
Brainwashed is the twelfth and final studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. It was released posthumously on 18 November 2002, almost a year after his death at age 58, and 15 years after his previous studio album, Cloud Nine. Recordings began over a decade before Harrison's death but were repeatedly delayed. The album's overdubs were completed by his son Dhani, session drummer Jim Keltner, and longtime friend and collaborator Jeff Lynne.
Brainwashed reached the top 30 in the UK and the top 20 in the US, and received mostly favourable reviews. The album includes the singles "Stuck Inside a Cloud" and "Any Road". The instrumental "Marwa Blues" went on to receive the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, while "Any Road" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/08grammy-list.html|title=Grammy Award Winners|work=The New York Times|access-date=24 December 2008|date=16 January 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211113211/http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/08grammy-list.html|archive-date=11 February 2009}}
History
Harrison began recording the tracks that eventually were issued on Brainwashed as early as 1988 (with "Any Road" being written during the making of a video for "This Is Love" from the album Cloud Nine) and continued to do so in a sporadic manner over the next decade and a half, but mainly from July 1999 to October 2001. Progress was delayed by business problems with Harrison's former manager, Denis O'Brien, as well as his work with the Traveling Wilburys and Ravi Shankar, and by his work on The Beatles Anthology.{{cite book |last= Sharpio|first= Marc|date= 2003|title= Behind Sad Eyes|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York City|ISBN=978-0312309930|page= 180}} In an interview in 1999, Harrison announced the title of his next album to be Portrait of a Leg End, and played songs entitled "Valentine", "Pisces Fish" and "Brainwashed".Sharpio, p. 190 During the promotion for the 2001 re-release of All Things Must Pass, Harrison joked that the name of the album would be Your Planet Is Doomed – Volume One.Huntley, pp. 309–10. After recuperating from being attacked in his home on 30 December 1999 by a man with paranoid schizophrenia,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/31/world/george-harrison-stabbed-in-chest-by-an-intruder.html|title=George Harrison Stabbed in Chest by an Intruder|date=31 December 1999|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Sarah|last=Lyall|authorlink=Sarah Lyall|access-date=22 February 2010|archive-date=4 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100704054829/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/31/world/george-harrison-stabbed-in-chest-by-an-intruder.html|url-status=live}} Harrison focused on finishing the album, simultaneously sharing his ideas for all its details (from the sound of the finished songs to the album's artwork) with his son Dhani – information that ultimately proved very valuable, as Dhani helped to complete the album after his father's death.
Harrison successfully battled throat cancer in 1997; in 2001 he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/george-harrison-undergoes-surgery-for-cancer-683674.html|title=George Harrison undergoes surgery for cancer|newspaper=The Independent|date=4 May 2001|access-date=22 February 2010|last=Jury|first=Louise|archive-date=9 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709050511/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/george-harrison-undergoes-surgery-for-cancer-683674.html|url-status=dead}} and radiotherapy for lung cancer which had metastasised to his brain.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117128&page=1|last=Carpenter|first=Jeff|title=George Harrison Receives Radiation Treatment|date=9 November 2001|work=ABC News|access-date=22 February 2010|archive-date=4 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604101323/http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117128&page=1|url-status=live}} Once he realised it was an irreversible situation, he worked further on the album's songs – in conjunction with Dhani and his old collaborator Jeff Lynne – for as long as possible. Harrison's final work on the album was carried out at a recording studio in Switzerland shortly before his trip to the United States for cancer treatment. On 29 November 2001, Harrison died before he could finish the project, but with a guide to completing it in the hands of his son and Lynne.
After a few months away from the project, both Lynne and Dhani returned to working on Harrison's final songs and added the appropriate instruments, as per his specifications, to the recordings. The project was so close to completion that the two used the exact timetable and session bookings that Harrison himself had originally planned.
Lynne reflected on Brainwashed in 2020: "His life was in those final songs, the things he got up to each day, like riding down the River Thames. Lots of very personal stuff. Some of them are really good. We gradually just filled them in. It was just about mixing them and making them sound like George would like them. You just had to go with your gut feeling."{{cite web |title='It Was Typical of George to Bring People Together' |url=https://www.scribd.com/article/454866512/It-Was-Typical-Of-George-To-Draw-People-Together|website=Uncut|date=March 19, 2020|via=Scribd }}
"Run So Far" had previously appeared on Eric Clapton's album Journeyman (backed by Harrison), 13 years before finally being available in a version sung by its original writer. The original Clapton recording featured a third verse not included here.
Release
The album was issued on LP and CD. A limited-edition CD box was also released, containing a Brainwashed poster, a Dark Horse sticker, a guitar pick with George's signature on it, and a bonus DVD with a seven-minute featurette about the making of the album. The album sold respectably, reaching number 18 in the US and going gold, and number 29 in the UK, where "Any Road" became a top 40 hit single in spring 2003. A live tribute to Harrison by an assembly of his musical contemporaries, titled Concert for George, took place at London's Royal Albert Hall simultaneously with the release of the album.
=Critical reception=
{{Album reviews
|MC = 77/100{{cite web|title=Reviews for Brainwashed by George Harrison|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/brainwashed|publisher=Metacritic|access-date=1 October 2011|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413041126/http://www.metacritic.com/music/brainwashed|url-status=live}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author1-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=Brainwashed – George Harrison |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/brainwashed-mw0000230837 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512203100/https://www.allmusic.com/album/brainwashed-mw0000230837 |archive-date=12 May 2021}}
| rev2 = Billboard
| rev2score = "Spotlight"{{cite magazine|author=Zupp, Adrian|title=George Harrison Brainwashed" in "Reviews and Previews – Albums|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rg0EAAAAMBAJ&q=Brainwashed |magazine=Billboard |date=30 November 2002|access-date=26 November 2014|page=19}}
| rev3 = entertainment.ie
| rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|author=Lynch, Andrew|title=George Harrison – Brainwashed. Review by Andrew Lynch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330090443/http://entertainment.ie/album-review/George-Harrison-Brainwashed/2430.htm|url=http://entertainment.ie/album-review/George-Harrison-Brainwashed/2430.htm |publisher=entertainment.ie |date=2 December 2002|archive-date=30 March 2014|access-date=25 October 2020}}
| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev4score = B+{{cite magazine|author=Sinclair, Tom|title=Brainwashed Review|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2002/11/22/brainwashed|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=22 November 2002|access-date=18 November 2014|archive-date=29 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030208/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,390698,00.html|url-status=live}}
| rev5 = The Guardian
| rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite news|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|title=George Harrison: Brainwashed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/nov/15/popandrock.artsfeatures1|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 November 2002|access-date=25 October 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028205036/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/nov/15/popandrock.artsfeatures1|url-status=live}}
| rev6 = Los Angeles Times
| rev6score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-18-et-hochman18-story.html|last=Hochman|first=Steve|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Harrison sings his final odes|date=18 November 2002|access-date=1 October 2011|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118224402/http://articles.latimes.com/2002/nov/18/entertainment/et-hochman18|url-status=live}}
| rev7 = Music Story
| rev7score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|author=Decoene, Pricilia |title=Critique de Brainwashed, George Harrison (in French) |url=http://www.music-story.com/george-harrison/brainwashed/critique |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006082916/http://www.music-story.com/george-harrison/brainwashed/critique |publisher=Music Story |archive-date=6 October 2015 |access-date=29 December 2016 |url-status=dead }}
| rev8 = Now
| rev8score = 4/5{{cite news|author=Perlich, Tim|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208070235/https://nowtoronto.com/music/record-guide-reviews/|url=https://nowtoronto.com/music/record-guide-reviews/|title=Record Guide Reviews|newspaper=Now|date=21 November 2002|archive-date=8 December 2015|access-date=25 October 2020}}
| rev9 = Rolling Stone
| rev9score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|author=Fricke, David |title=Brainwashed | Albums Reviews |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/brainwashed-20021212 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=12 December 2002 |access-date=19 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206125426/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/brainwashed-20021212 |archive-date=6 December 2013 }}
| rev10 = San Francisco Chronicle
| rev10score = 4/5{{cite web|author=Selvin, Joel|title=Harrison's final farewell befits the quiet Beatle: George Harrison Brainwashed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201140928/https://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Harrison-s-final-farewell-befits-the-quiet-Beatle-2769746.php|url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Harrison-s-final-farewell-befits-the-quiet-Beatle-2769746.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=17 November 2002|archive-date=1 February 2020|access-date=30 January 2016}}
| rev11 = Uncut
| rev11score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|author=Hasted, Nick|title=From Here to Eternity: George Harrison Brainwashed |magazine=Uncut |date=December 2002|page=134}}
|noprose=yes
}}
Brainwashed was released on 19 November 2002 to mostly favourable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album scores 77, based on 16 reviews, which means "generally favorable".
Writing in Uncut, Nick Hasted described it as "the best solo record by a Beatle since McCartney's Flowers in the Dirt (1989)". Although he found that "a certain monotony creeps in towards the end", Hasted wrote that "Harrison's songs and singing represent a burst of form".
Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club concluded his review by writing: "Harrison never seemed to recognize the difference between philosophical profundities and the sound of a catchy song, and that may have been his greatest gift to the world. Brainwashed offers a fine, final reminder of that gift."{{cite web|author=Phipps, Keith|title=George Harrison: Brainwashed|url=https://www.avclub.com/review/george-harrison-embrainwashedem-12263|work=The A.V. Club|date=22 November 2002|access-date=14 August 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063345/http://www.avclub.com/review/george-harrison-embrainwashedem-12263|url-status=live}}
PopMatters{{'}} Gary Glauber found the album "phenomenal" and "easily ... Harrison's best solo effort since All Things Must Pass". He said it was "spiritual and uplifting in a way that serves to remind how much this undervalued Beatle will be missed" and "in turns funny, serious, philosophical, precious and ultimately enjoyable".{{cite web|last=Glauber|first=Gary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021231112755/http://popmatters.com/music/reviews/h/harrisongeorge-brainwashed.shtml|url=https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/harrisongeorge-brainwashed/ |title=George Harrison: Brainwashed |website=PopMatters|date=13 December 2002|archive-date=31 December 2002|access-date=7 August 2011}}
=Accolades=
In 2004, Brainwashed{{'s}} "Marwa Blues" won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The album was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, as well as Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for the track "Any Road").{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/08grammy-list.html|title=Grammy Award Winners|work=The New York Times|agency=Associated Press|access-date=24 September 2011|archive-date=11 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211072900/http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/08grammy-list.html|url-status=live}} That same year, Harrison's former bandmate Paul McCartney named "Marwa Blues" as one of his all-time favourites.Paul McCartney's Glastonbury Groove In 2009, three of the tracks from Brainwashed were included on Harrison's career-spanning compilation album, Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison: "Any Road", "Marwa Blues" and "Rising Sun".
Track listing
All songs written by George Harrison, except "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler.
{{Track listing
| total_length = 47:41
| all_writing =
| all_lyrics =
| all_music =
| title1 = Any Road
| note1 =
| writer1 =
| lyrics1 =
| music1 =
| extra1 =
| length1 = 3:52
| title2 = P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)
| note2 =
| writer2 =
| lyrics2 =
| music2 =
| extra2 =
| length2 = 2:38
| title3 = Pisces Fish
| note3 =
| writer3 =
| lyrics3 =
| music3 =
| extra3 =
| length3 = 4:50
| title4 = Looking for My Life
| note4 =
| writer4 =
| lyrics4 =
| music4 =
| extra4 =
| length4 = 3:49
| title5 = Rising Sun
| length5 = 5:27
| title6 = Marwa Blues
| note6 =
| writer6 =
| lyrics6 =
| music6 =
| extra6 =
| length6 = 3:40
| title7 = Stuck Inside a Cloud
| note5 =
| writer5 =
| lyrics5 =
| music5 =
| extra5 =
| length7 = 4:04
| title8 = Run So Far
| note8 =
| writer8 =
| lyrics8 =
| music8 =
| extra8 =
| length8 = 4:05
| title9 = Never Get Over You
| note9 =
| writer9 =
| lyrics9 =
| music9 =
| extra9 =
| length9 = 3:26
| title10 = Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
| note10 =
| writer10 =
| lyrics10 =
| music10 =
| extra10 =
| length10 = 2:34
| title11 = Rocking Chair in Hawaii
| note11 =
| writer11 =
| lyrics11 =
| music11 =
| extra11 =
| length11 = 3:08
| title12 = Brainwashed
| length12 = 6:07
}}
Personnel
- George Harrison – lead vocals (all tracks except 6), acoustic guitar (1, 3–5, 7–9, 11, 12), electric guitar (3, 4, 8, 9), bass guitar (3, 12), slide guitar (1, 2, 5–7, 12), Dobro (11), ukulele (2, 3, 10, 11), banjulele (1), keyboards (6, 11), backing vocals (2–5, 7–9, 11, 12)
- Jeff Lynne – bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 7–9, 11), electric guitar (2, 3, 5, 7, 12), acoustic guitar (2, 4, 6, 8, 12), piano (1, 4–5, 7, 9), electric piano (2), keyboards (3, 6, 12), percussion (3), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 12)
- Dhani Harrison – acoustic guitar (2, 4, 6, 8, 12), electric guitar (1, 3–4), Wurlitzer electric piano (5, 7), backing vocals (1, 2, 8, 12)
- Jim Keltner – drums (all tracks except 6 and 10)
Additional personnel
- Mike Moran – keyboards (3)
- Marc Mann – keyboards (3), string arrangement (5–6)
- Jools Holland – piano (10)
- Mark Flanagan – acoustic lead guitar (10)
- Joe Brown – acoustic guitar (10)
- Herbie Flowers – bass guitar (10), tuba (10)
- Ray Cooper – percussion (6), drums (10)
- Bickram Ghosh – tabla (12)
- Jon Lord – piano (12)
- Sam Brown – backing vocals (12)
- Jane Lister – harp (12)
- Isabela Borzymowska – reading from "How to Know God" (The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali) (12)
Charts and certifications
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
{{col-2}}
=Certifications and sales=
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Brainwashed |type=album|artist=George Harrison|region=Canada|award=Gold|relyear=2002}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan (Oricon Chart)|nocert=yes|salesamount=34,000|salesref={{cite web|url=http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html|title=Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) – Albums Chart Daijiten – The Beatles|language=ja|date=30 December 2007|access-date=5 December 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120214060626/http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html|archive-date=14 February 2012}}{{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=Oricon Entertainment|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9}}}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Brainwashed |type=album|artist=George Harrison|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|id=1048-3516-2}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Brainwashed |type=album|artist=George Harrison|region=United States|award=Gold}}
{{Certification Table Summary}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Worldwide|nocert=yes|salesamount=1,000,000|salesref={{cite web|url= http://www.kronemyer.com/EMI/EMI%20Group%20AR%202003.pdf|work= EMI Group Annual Report 2003|pages= 18/96|title= Recorded Music Top 20 Albums 2002–03|access-date= 2011-08-31|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091522/http://www.kronemyer.com/EMI/EMI%20Group%20AR%202003.pdf|archive-date= 4 March 2016|url-status= dead}}}}
{{certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|type=album|124223|name=Brainwashed}}
- [http://www.jpgr.co.uk/p5432462.html JPGR's Beatles site: George Harrison's Brainwashed]
{{George Harrison}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:George Harrison albums
Category:Albums produced by George Harrison
Category:Albums produced by Jeff Lynne
Category:Dark Horse Records albums
Category:Albums recorded at FPSHOT