GEORGE HARRISON - ELECTRONIC SOUND @ 55

 

Released on May 9th, 1969, George Harrison's second solo album, Electronic Sound, is turning 55 years old today. It was the first LP of entirely electronic music released by a rock musician, breaking new creative ground, though perhaps lacking in sophistication or any true understanding of how to use the instrument.

In the late 1960s, the MOOG modular system was a novelty, for the most part. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees had purchased one and it was used on the group's fourth LP, released in 1967, one of the first pop music appearances of the instrument. George Harrison became fascinated by the MOOG soon after and purchased his own the following year. While in California making the purchase, he recorded a demonstration session by Bernie Krause (of Beaver & Krause) which ended up becoming No Time For Space on Harrison's album. This recording was done without Krause's permission or knowledge and its release undermined Krause's plan for his upcoming collaboration with Paul Beaver because he'd utilized a number of themes they were planning on incorporating into their project during his demo for Harrison. Harrison initially had Krause's name on the LP cover, but it was painted over at the insistence of Krause, who was offended by the use of his demo without permission as well as subsequent interactions with Harrison which he found disrespectful and insulting.

The second piece recorded for the album was done by Harrison in England after receiving delivery of the synth. Under the Mersey Wall displays Harrison's lack of understanding of the device, a situation aggravated by the lack of a user manual included with the unit, something about which Harrison complained to Krause, further aggravating their already strained relationship. The recording amounts to little more than childlike noodling with the synthesizer, with little in the way of nuance or clear intention.

The album was released in tandem with John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions, the second album in their trilogy of experimental recording releases. Both were issued on the same day by Zapple Records, a short lived subsidiary of Apple Records that was set up for the purpose of issuing budget priced spoken word and experimental sound recordings. The sub-label, however, was quickly folded after these releases, with a third title being shelved before being released. The cover for Electronic Sound featured a childlike painting created by Harrison himself, which quite nicely suited the amateurish innocence of the music on the record.

At the time of its release, it was mostly dismissed or ridiculed by serious music critics, though some found it oddly amusing or confounding, yet fascinating. However, despite its crudeness and the issues with the questionable provenance of one of its recordings, it has managed to become something of a cult favourite in some quarters. As with the Lennon/Ono releases, and Harrison's previous debut solo release, these flew in the face of expectations for The Beatles, as a collective, and were nonetheless expanding the boundaries of pop music. In the case of Electronic Sound, it cracked open territory that would later be properly explored by the likes of artist like Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream and Cluster. The concept of abstract electronic ambience was just getting started, and Electronic Sound was the first foot in the door of that genre in many respects. As crude as it was, it still managed to carve out a place as a cornerstone album.