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aion-rsa · 3 years

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All Things Must Pass Remaster Brings Out George Harrison’s Voice

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A new remaster of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass highlights why it was such an important record. Not just as an album, but of the time it was made. Besides the lead guitarist for the biggest act in showbiz history, it boasted players and a producer who each made an impact on the course of modern music. It’s been celebrating its 50th anniversary for a while now and it’s earned it. It was the first triple album by a single artist in rock history (the Woodstock concert album, released six months earlier, included a compilation of acts), and set the standard for longer long-playing albums.

Harrison set quite a few standards, including the first rock benefit project, The Concert for Bangladesh. As the Beatles guitarist, he demonstrated melodic and harmonic possibilities which hadn’t been explored in rock and roll, often changing the entire feel of songs with a single riff. As their in-house tonal experimentalist, his sitar-led songs didn’t just use the eastern stringed instrument as an exotic guitar. They captured the structure, atmosphere, tonality and shifting rhythms of Eastern music. The opening of “Love You To” can barely be classified as western commercial music, but had a universal appeal. As the band’s somewhat lesser-known songwriter, Harrison composed musical standards which eclipsed even the mighty songwriting team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

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The consistent hitmakers made for a competitive compositional atmosphere in the band. “I had such a lot of songs mounting up that I really wanted to do, but I only got my quota of one or two tunes per album,” Harrison admitted on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Even after a new arrangement was worked out for the group’s output, Harrison had quite a backlog of songs when the Beatles broke up. At least two of the best known songs from All Things Must Pass were written in 1966.

While still in the Beatles, Harrison released Wonderwall Music, which was a soundtrack to a film, and Electronic Sound, which saw him as one of the early experimenters on the synthesizer. According to the press statement for the remaster, George, along with Ringo Starr and bassist Klaus Voorman recorded fifteen songs at EMI Studios on the first day, May 26, 1970. The demo included “What Is Life,” “Awaiting on You All,” and “My Sweet Lord.” The next day Harrison played 15 more songs for co-producer Phil Spector, who covertly recorded them. The songs “Everybody, Nobody,” “Window, Window,” “Beautiful Girl,” “Tell Me What Has Happened to You,” ��Nowhere To Go,” and “Don’t Want To Do It” never made the album. The whole session did come out on the bootleg Beware of ABKCO set.

The 50th Anniversary re-issue of All Things Must Pass includes versions of “Mother Divine,” and “Cosmic Empire,” which have never been officially released. The official music video reveals “Cosmic Empire” as a melodically catchy piece, with an instantly recognizable acoustic guitar run, and a change into a deep blues false ending.

You can see the video here:

The Wall of Sound

The deluxe 50th Anniversary Edition is executive produced by Harrison’s son Dhani, and his first order of business was to pull back on Spector’s reverb-heavy production. Spector was the man Lennon brought in to produce the song he’d written for breakfast, wanted to record for lunch and have out for supper: The Plastic Ono Band single “Instant Karma!,” which Harrison played on. Spector also produced the final mix of the Beatles’ Let It Be, as well as Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums.

Spector was a legend in the studio. He created the “Wall of Sound” with the top session players of the early 1960s, and Harrison tasked him with doing it again with the current cream of the musical crop. This included two of out of three members of the band Cream. Ginger Baker drums on a jam, and Eric Clapton’s guitar gently weeps all over All Things Must Pass. Crying on the inside over his unrequited love for George’s wife Pattie Boyd Harrison, Eric was getting ready to wail about her on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Harrison co-wrote “Badge” with Clapton for Cream’s Goodbye album, and played on Derek and The Dominos’ debut single, “Tell The Truth” backed with “Roll It Over.” Spector recorded it. It went so well, much of the band stuck around to be bricks in the contemporary Wall of Sound.

“Phil was in full control of this whole bunch of musicians playing,” Voorman remembers in Simon Leng’s book, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. “We played all at the same time – we didn’t record one on top of the other; it was all six people playing acoustic guitars and five keyboard players playing the piano all at once. It was crazy!”

The Players

To fill seats in the rock orchestra, Harrison dipped into the players he’d been on stage with since the waning days of the pre-breakup Beatles. Harrison, credited as “Mysterioso,” toured with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. He was a backing guitarist beside Clapton, in a band which included Dave Mason, Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon, and Leon Russell, who would prove invaluable for The Concert for Bangladesh.

Also called in for sessions were Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, Badfinger’s Pete Ham, Tom Evans and Joey Molland; Spooky Tooth’s Gary Wright, sax player Bobby Keys; and trumpeter Jim Price. Besides Starr and Gordon, drums and percussions were played by Alan White, who was then the drummer for the Plastic Ono Band and would go on to drum for Yes, and Phil Collins. Peter Frampton played guitar on much of the album. Nashville player Pete Drake played pedal steel. Drake pioneered the use of the talkbox, and Frampton caught it first-hand during sessions before using it as the hook for his hit “Show Me the Way.” John Barham, a pianist and arranger who had worked with Harrison’s sitar guru Ravi Shankar, wrote orchestral scores.

Keyboardist and longtime Beatle associate Billy Preston is a major influence on the album. All Things Must Pass is a spiritual celebration. Harrison set up a small altar in the studio, and devotees of the Hare Krishna movement brought the players vegetarian food. Harrison was as much a spiritual student as a musical one of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. The same could be said of Preston.

The Songs

Harrison made a special study of the structure and composition of gospel music for his work with soul singer Doris Troy, who he produced and co-wrote songs with. He delved further to co-produce Preston’s fourth studio album That’s The Way God Planned It, and wrote “What Is Life” for it. George also co-produced Preston’s fifth album Encouraging Words, which came out two months before All Things Must Pass, and included versions of the title track and “My Sweet Lord.”

You can hear several versions of the Beatles running through “All Things Must Pass” on bootlegs. Though not as many passes as the famously unreleased “Not Guilty” got. It might have been too pointed a self-reference for the group to deal with. The title comes from a passage of chapter 23 of the Tao Te Ching: “All things pass, a sunrise does not last all morning. All things pass, a cloudburst does not last all day.” It is more philosophical than spiritual, but is as uplifting as its chordal ascension. “Beware of Darkness” is lyrically devotional and cautionary, but its structure is a mystery of faith. It’s all over the place harmonically, as the key aimlessly wanders into melodic transcendence.

“Awaiting On You All” is one of the most blatant spiritual proclamations of the album. It describes Japa Yoga meditation, the repetitive chanting of a mantra, which is mystical energy itself, inside sound. “Chanting the names of the Lord and you’ll be free,” explains the lyrics. Though Harrison does get in a dig at the Catholic Church. “While the Pope owns fifty one percent of General Motors, and the stock exchange is the only thing he’s qualified to quote us,” the last verse opens. Harrison’s deep understanding of the spiritual music he was producing was most fully realized on the album’s most recognizable song.

“I thought a lot about whether to do ‘My Sweet Lord’ or not, because I would be committing myself publicly and I anticipated that a lot of people might get weird about it,” Harrison wrote in I Me Mine. Towards the end of the Delaney & Bonnie tour in December 1969, Harrison heard and fell in love with Edwin Hawkins’ piano-driven, modern gospel rendition of the 18th century hymn “Oh Happy Day.” Inspired by the joyful energy, Harrison wanted to merge the buoyantly devotional “Hallelujah” invocations with the “Hare Krishna” Maha Mantra of the Hindu faith. The subconscious mix evoked some not-so-instant karma when Harrison was sued for “unconscious plagiarism” by the royalty owners of The Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine,” which could be interpreted as a devotional invocation.

“My Sweet Lord” is also the song which best establishes and exemplifies Harrison’s signature, post-Beatles, slide guitar playing.

The album’s opener, “I’d Have You Anytime,” was co-written with Bob Dylan when Harrison spent the Thanksgiving 1968 weekend at Dylan’s home in Woodstock. They also co-wrote the song “When Everybody Comes to Town.” Harrison played on Dylan’s April 1970 New York City sessions for the album New Morning, performing uncredited on several songs, including “If Not for You,” the second of All things Must Pass’ vagabond troubadour trilogy. Dylan had spent a lot of time off the road after his motorcycle crash of 1966. Harrison encouraged the reclusive artist to make his comeback performance at the Isle of Wight festival in 1969. “Behind That Locked Door,” which comes later on the album, is part of that encouragement.

The Beatles passed on including “Isn’t It a Pity” on Revolver, so George gifts us with two fully realized versions of it for All Things Must Pass. The 50th Anniversary box set includes an even more “downtempo version,” with Nicky Hopkins on piano. “Wah-Wah” was the first song recorded for the album, which is fitting because it was written on the day Harrison walked out of the “Get Back” sessions. It’s a great, angry song, in the tradition of “Taxman,” though not as pointed as Lennon’s “Sexy Sadie,” or “How Do You Sleep,” which Harrison played on. “Let It Down” has some great vocal backing by Clapton and Whitlock.

Hearing Clapton’s opening guitar screams squeezed through his wah-wah on “Art of Dying” makes you wonder how the Beatles rejected it in 1966. Although the lyrics George brought to the band at the time might have sealed its fate: “There’ll come a time when all of us must leave here, then nothing Mr. Epstein can do will keep me here with you,” Harrison admitted singing at his bandmates in I Me Mine. “Art of Dying” is the hardest Harrison rocks on the album and Spector lets the band explode. Coming after the intimately amorous “I Dig Love,” it is suspense reincarnate. Listen for Phil Collins’ bongos on the remix.

Harrison brought “Hear Me Lord” to the Beatles when they were recording at Twickenham Film Studios in January 1969. It is as confessional as anything Lennon cops to on his debut album Plastic Ono Band, but primal in an entirely different way. “Apple Scruffs” is Harrison’s personal gift to the group of fans which used to camp outside the Apple Corps offices for a glimpse of the four when they was fab. Performed live by a solo George with Beatles roadie Mal Evans tapping along, it is acoustic fun with a wild and wayward harmonica.

The Jams

But not as much fun as the band had after Spector went to bed for the night. Harrison initially thought it would take just two months to record the album, but had to take a break in the middle to care for his mother, Louise, who was ill with cancer in Liverpool. Louise bought George his first guitar and encouraged all things musical, including allowing the early Beatles to rehearse at their house. She passed away in July 1970.

Bored with the lag time, Spector was drinking heavily, bracing himself with Cherry Brandy just to sit in the booth, and ultimately breaking his arm in a fall. He left the sessions in July 1970, and Harrison produced overdubs at London’s Trident Studios and Apple Studios. But most of the album’s backing tracks were recorded onto eight-track tape at Abbey Road, with the musicians normally playing live.

When Spector left the studios, Harrison and the other musicians would jam into the early hours. “Thanks For the Pepperoni,” pulls the toppings off Chuck Berry riffs. It was recorded along with “Plug Me In” on July 1, 1970, with Harrison, Clapton and Dave Mason on guitars, Radle on bassr, Whitlock on keyboards, and Jim Gordon on drums. “Out Of the Blue” must get its title from how it comes in. It sounds like the band was in the middle of a fun run, and someone rushed to turn on the tape. But listen for Voorman’s lead guitar part.

“I Remember Jeep” is named for Clapton’s dog, and Preston and Baker bring out the jazz while Harrison’s Moog playing breaks traditions. “It’s Johnny’s Birthday” is a mockup of Cliff Richard’s song “Congratulations,” which the band warbled to Lennon for his 30th birthday. These afterhours jams were the kinds of musical driftwood routinely collected by bootleggers before box sets made them standard extras.

Demos and extra tracks, like “Mother Divine” or “Nowhere to Go,” underscore the greatest flaw of the original album: George’s vocals. Even gruff, weak and not-yet-familiar with the songs, Harrison’s voice is a beautifully emotive instrument. During their solo careers, he and Lennon drenched their voices with effects. Even Spector complained in production notes how Harrison’s voice is buried on too many songs. The new mix brings the voices forward. It doesn’t completely take away the reverb, because some of it is artistically correct, like the slap back echoes which evoke a specific sound. It is very well used on “Going Down to Golder’s Green,” an outtake which finds Harrison channeling his inner Elvis. One of the deluxe editions of the All Things Must Pass reissue includes a 96-page scrapbook evoking the time.

The album cover shows Harrison at home in Friar Park. Photographed by Barry Feinstein, George is surrounded by four garden gnomes, which could be taken as an in-joke on his days with the Beatles. All Things Must Pass was released Nov. 27, 1970, as a triple vinyl album. To accommodate the extra disc, Tom Wilkes of Camouflage Productions designed a box with a hinged lid, similar to the packaging of classical music and operas. It is presciently fitting, as the record is a modern masterwork of a timeless artist.

All Things Must Pass 50th Anniversary Edition will be available on Aug. 6.

The post All Things Must Pass Remaster Brings Out George Harrison’s Voice appeared first on Den of Geek.

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welcometophu · 5 years

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Extra: someone to haul him back

At the end of Missed Fortunes, Pawel sends a message to Carolyn that he’s leaving to look into something. But he’ll be back for Into the Split, and I decided to write a wee short piece about his absence and return, from the perspective of his neighbor, Emily.

someone to haul him back PG, ~4k words, Gen (Pawel, Emily, Conor, Alan, John)

“It’s only been a few days, John. We’re doing fine.” Emily has half an ear on the phone and the other half tuned to the background sounds in her house. Alan and Conor are up in Alan’s room and, despite the no magic rule, the lights have flickered three times since they got home from school. As the power blinks one more time, she sighs. “Excuse me, hang on.” She covers the mouthpiece of the phone, lowering it away from her mouth.

“Alan! Conor! Whatever you are doing that’s affecting the electricity, cut it out! Conor, you promised! Alan, Conor’s a guest and he can go somewhere else if he needs to!” She moves her hand, brings the phone back to her ear. “I’m not actually going to kick him out, John. You know that and I know that, and I’m sure they know that. We’re all just pretending.”

“I understand,” John murmurs. Emily’s positive he called from work; she can hear papers shuffling in the background, and the occasional tapping of a keyboard. “But still, it’s Wednesday, and he left Conor with you on Sunday. Have you heard from Pawel?”

Thuds across the ceiling, then a distinct pause before the next series of thuds down the stairs. Emily watches as the boys leap from three stairs above the landing trying to outdo each other in how far they can go. Conor shimmers in mid-air, and she’s positive his flight is enhanced by unconscious magic.

“No,” she admits, as the boys both skid to a stop in front of her. “Have you?”

“Is that Conor?” John asks, and Emily knows that means he hasn’t. “Put me on speaker.”

“Dziadziu!” Conor yells out as Emily presses the button.

“Conor.” John’s voice is low and deep. Even. Calm.

Pawel’s told Emily that he takes after his mother more than his father, and it’s times like this when Emily can see it clearly. And Conor’s exactly like Pawel. She wonders sometimes how John handles it, his son and grandson so different in personality from himself.

“Hullo, Grandpa Szczek!” Alan yells. He bumps shoulders with Conor. “I’m going to go get us juice and crackers. Come back upstairs when you’re done. We need to finish our homework. Hey mom, can we go over to the park after we’re done? It’s not raining and Addison said she’s going to walk her dog later.”

“Finish your homework first, then we’ll talk.” Emily’s all too used to the way Alan and Conor distract each other. “Show me finished work. And sooner is better; you can’t go if it’s too close to when your dad comes home and dinner’s on the table.”

“Conor, hurry up!” Alan admonishes before rushing off to the kitchen.

Conor watches him go, then reaches for the phone. Emily places it in his hands and hesitates, not sure if she should stick around.

No. John called her, and he’s on speaker. They’ll tell her if they want her to go.

She drops into the recliner and sits back, hands folded.

“How’s school?” John asks.

Conor paces as he talks, his free hand moving fluidly, gesturing between the air and the phone. Emily can almost see a trail of crackles in the air. “History sucks. I hate memorizing things, but Alan’s really good at it so he helps me. We’re doing fractions in math and that’s really easy. Marjorie’s still really stupid—”

“Conor.”

He cuts off at the sound of John’s voice. Conor stands there, one hand fixed in the air, his eyes wide. “Uninformed,” Conor says darkly. “I know I’m not supposed to call people stupid but I don’t know what else to say when she doesn’t listen and she doesn’t learn and everything she says is really mean and uninformed.”

Silence for a long moment. Emily’s met John several times, and she can easily imagine the patient but disappointed look he gives Conor. She’s sure Conor can imagine it too, from the way he squirms.

“Maybe she’s learning from someone else,” John says quietly. “There are a lot of people in this world, Conor, and they don’t all have the same beliefs.”

“But some things are just wrong!” Conor protests, his expression falling when John responds with silence again.

“Some things are wrong,” John agrees finally, “but there are other things which are, in the end, at least partly opinion. Some opinions may be kinder to others, but you can’t call someone stupid for having a different opinion.”

“She said a bad thing about religion,” Conor said. “And about me marrying Alan last fall.”

Emily had honestly thought that would blow over. She thought that they’d have their schoolyard wedding, and everything would go back to their usual friendship, like all third grade crushes. But her son and Conor had been steadfast in calling each other husbands since then. She isn’t sure if it’s their way of presenting a united front in magic and queerness, or if they’ve been close for so long that they honestly can’t see a future without each other.

They’re nine years old. There’s still so much future ahead.

“Teach her gently, Conor,” John says. “I grew up in a place where people said terrible things about me and my family, because my father spoke broken English, and my mother didn’t speak English at all. I got into fights when I was your age, and it took me a long time to realize that the only thing that fighting ever taught anyone was how to fight.”

Conor makes a disgruntled noise.

“Tell me about your science project,” John says. “Pawel mentioned that you’ve got a fair coming up in April.”

It’s a good way to reroute him, and Conor quickly shifts topics, explaining in detail how they’ve been teaching the classroom mouse to run through a maze. John mm-hms once in a while, but overall he lets Conor chatter on until Alan returns and nudges Conor with his foot. Alan’s hands are full with two brimming glasses of juice and a bowl of crackers, and Conor takes one of the glasses and drinks it between words.

“I have to go do homework, Dziadziu,” Conor says. “You can have Emily back now. I love you!” He sets the phone down on the table next to Emily, then kisses the air in the direction of it. There’s the distinct sound of a smacking kiss being sent back.

“Be good for Emily,” John admonishes.

Conor laughs, racing from the room and halfway up the stairs before he yells out, “I’m always good!”

Emily picks up the phone, but doesn’t bother taking it off of speaker. “It’s been a little chaotic,” she admits, once again answering his very first question about how things have been going since Pawel abruptly dropped Conor off on Sunday. “But then, it always is. Those two feed on each other, and I think it isn’t just emotional. Conor’s energy has been higher every day, and today I swear I can see the sparks when he moves. I wish I knew more about their magic, and how it works. I might want to reach out to that commune in Vermont that Pawel mentioned.”

“Mm,” John murmurs. “Or, if Pawel’s going to be gone for a long time, I could come get Conor. He could take a few days off school, have a small vacation with me, and get himself back under control. If it looks like it’s going to be longer, I can arrange for him to join a class here.”

“I hate the idea of uprooting him,” Emily says. She doesn’t need to think about it; she knows that it would be traumatic, and even when Conor says everything’s fine, she knows he’s worried about Pawel. “He and Alan lean on each other. Maybe it’s a little co-dependent, but I know I can rely on them to keep each other moving forward. Conor needs his stability right now. Besides, you aren’t any more comfortable with the magic than I am.” It’s not meant to be a jab, just a simple statement of fact.

After all, Conor is in a strange grey area of Talent, in that he probably inherited it from Pawel, but his father is Emergent, not Lineage. And Alan is purely Emergent. If Pawel’s theory is right, Alan’s Talent Emerged as strongly and as young as it did due to his friendship with Conor.

But Pawel didn’t Emerge until after he’d left John’s home to come to Unity.

“We’re both in the dark sometimes,” Emily says quietly, and John mm-hms his agreement.

There are thumps upstairs, but the lights stay steady, and Emily exhales. The sound of the game system starting up is distinct, and while Alan has it up too loud, she doesn’t mind right now, since she can tell what he’s doing. She knows they’re safe. She just hopes they’ve finished their homework, not decided to ignore it completely.

A door slams outside, and Emily reaches for the phone, heading for the door. “It sounds like Eric’s home early. Good, he can cook, while I walk over to the park with the boys. With the mood they’re in, I’m not sure I want them go—oh.” She stops as soon as she gets the door open, because Pawel is right there, his scraggly beard even thicker after the few days away, his eyes rimmed with dark circles.

“Emily?” John asks.

“Dad.” Pawel takes a step forward, stumbling on the threshold.

Emily drops the phone to reach for him, catching him when he sags into her arms, leaning heavily against her. She can’t move like this, carrying his weight, but she can hold him here, waiting for him to regain his stability.

John’s voice is distant, muffled and indistinct with the phone face down on the floor.

“I’m okay,” Pawel murmurs, but when he stands he wavers on his feet.

“No, you’re not,” Emily mutters back. She gets an arm around him, wedging herself under his shoulder. “John,” she calls out, raising her voice for the phone on the floor. “Let me get Pawel onto the couch, then I’ll grab the phone again.”

It takes a moment to do that, leaving Pawel slumped in the middle of the couch, his head tipped back, before she goes to slam the front door and retrieve the phone. She’s surprised Conor hasn’t made an appearance by the time she joins Pawel on the couch, but then, the music from the game seems to have gotten louder. It’s a contrast to Pawel’s low, ragged breath, offering a dissonant counterpoint with the distant sound of cheerful rolling tunes speckled with scattered beeps.

“Well?” John asks.

Pawel groans. “Dad, there are times when I swear you have some kind of prescience. What are the chances that you’d be on the phone when I got here?”

“Pretty high, since you’ve been gone for three days with no word,” John says dryly. “It’s Wednesday, son. I wanted to check in and see if Emily needed anything, since you left Conor there on Sunday.”

“We’ve been fine,” Emily assures him. There’s a shimmer in the air by the stairs, and the volume of the game system has dropped again slightly, but still no sign of the boys themselves. “The boys claimed they were doing their homework so they could go to the park, but either they’ve finished, or they’ve decided not to worry about the park to see a friend and a dog.” She raises her voice slightly. “Because no dogs or playtime until homework is done.”

The volume cuts abruptly. Pawel snorts.

“Do you remember the house on High Road?” John asks. The sudden shift in subject makes no sense to Emily, but Pawel leans forward, focused on the phone.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “We lived there until I was what… ten? We moved the year before Mom died.”

“You loved that house,” John says quietly. “It had a huge back yard, and there wasn’t a fence, but it had a high hemlock hedge across the back, and pine trees down the sides. They were hollow enough that you could fit under the trees, and between the hemlocks in the hedge. Your mother was a small enough woman that she fit, too. You’d go hunting fairies together in the backyard.”

Pawel reaches down, undoes the laces on his shoes and pushes them off. When he sits back, he sags into the cushions.

Emily mimes drinking, and he shakes his head, gestures at the phone where John is still talking.

“Your mom used to say the house was haunted,” John says. “Sylvia was—she was a creative woman, your mom. Taught you to believe in magic.”

“Turned out she was right,” Pawel points out.

John huffs. “Yes, she was. Been thinking, and I figure maybe she was right about the house being haunted, too. We moved because she couldn’t be in that house any more. She said the girl who slept in your room was so sad, she cried all night and kept her awake. I thought—well, I figured it’d be better for her to move, then. She talked about Leanne like she was real. I remember her saying that Leanne would never hurt you, but that she might hurt someone else, if she was trying to protect you.”

Pawel’s brow furrows. “Dad. Leanne was my imaginary friend when I was a kid.”

“I know, son. I know. And when your mom was diagnosed not long after we moved, well, I just figured that her getting confused was part of it.” John exhales, a low, long sound. “Thinking back on it, though, with everything you’ve told me, I have to wonder if Leanne was just as real as you. And if Sylvia saw more in her than even you did. I wonder sometimes if Sylvia knew more, maybe even instinctively, and if she would’ve been better with all this magic than I am.”

There’s a small pause, and John coughs. “Anyway. I have a point in this. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’ve gotten in too deep, son. Back then I thought that maybe your mom imagined things because she was sick. These days, I’m starting to wonder if she got sick because she saw things, and they ate her up from the inside.”

A thin sliver of cold crawls up Emily’s spine. She reaches out, one hand on Pawel’s arm, and feels the shudder that runs through him as well.

“I’m—” Pawel cuts off when Emily squeezes his arm hard. He glances at the shimmer in the air by the stairs, then back to her. “I’m going be fine, Dad,” he says firmly. “I’m taking care of myself, and I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re lying about that last bit,” John mutters dryly. “You’re still figuring this all out, aren’t you.” The words are flat, not a question at all.

He’s definitely lying. Emily’s known Pawel a long time, and she knows the face he makes when he’s struggling to hold back the truth. She also suspects he hasn’t bathed in days, and his eyes are sunken like he needs gallons of water to rehydrate.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, John,” she says.

“You going to tell us what sent you off on a hunt for information this time, son?” John asks.

The tension slips from Pawel’s body when John doesn’t keep pushing at the subject of his health. “A substantiated rumor,” he says quietly, glancing toward the stairs. “But I couldn’t get much more than that. I suspect that I may need to go to the source, which I think is somewhere in Eastern Europe. I need more detail than that, so I figured I’d come home for more research first.”

John coughs encouragingly, and Emily gestures. Pawel leans forward, elbows on his knees, head bowed.

“I found a reference to a ritual that was supposedly performed decades ago—long before the Emergence—in order to banish Deathstalkers from the world,” Pawel says quietly. “I was able to determine that the Mages that had performed the ritual were from a group living northeast of San Antonio. The families were primarily descended from people who had—” He cuts off when John coughs again. “Yes, Dad?”

“Without the history lecture,” John says carefully. “We’re not students sitting in a lecture hall.”

“There were Mages who’d been plagued by a rash of Deathstalkers something like thirty or forty years ago, and they developed a ritual based on texts from their ancestors. It was supposed to banish Deathstalkers. I think something may have gone differently than they expected,” Pawel says dryly. “But without access to those original texts, which this community no longer has, I can’t figure out exactly what they intended to do. It’s possible that they accomplished exactly what they intended, but current problems we’re having are an unforeseen side-effect. Also, this group was very careful about separating discussions of Deathstalkers, Shadowwalkers, and Soulstealers, which is something I think Carolyn will be interested in for her thesis.”

“What does this mean in the context of what you’ve been overworking yourself for?” John asks. “And when will you be able to take a break? Come visit. Isn’t the school on break soon?”

“Next week, but I can’t leave right now.”

“You need a holiday.”

“I need to fix this, Dad.” Pawel’s voice rises to a shout. The shimmer by the stairs fades, and the door to Alan’s room slams open.

“Dad!” Conor races down the stairs, tackling Pawel on the couch. He climbs into his lap, arms around him, curls in close. Alan follows more slowly, but he echoes Conor’s body language, settling himself in Emily’s lap as if he’s still a toddler, his head resting on her shoulder.

“Conor.” Pawel exhales his name.

“Think about it,” John says darkly. “I can see that I can’t convince you right now, but you need to stop before you run into a wall. You have a child to take care of, and if you can’t make him your priority—”

Pawel makes a strangled noise as Conor wraps his arms around his neck and burrows in close. “I know, Dad,” he manages to say, as he pats Conor on the back. “I haven’t lost sight of my parental duties. Believe me, I am absolutely aware of how many people, Conor included, are counting on me for guidance.”

“Conor.” John raises his voice.

Conor loosens his grip on Pawel, slides off his lap to sit next to him. “Yeah, Dziadziu?”

“If you are at all worried about your father, at any time, you call Emily first, and me next,” John says firmly. “Pawel, if you’re going to act like a child, then I’m going to treat you like one.”

“Jesus, Dad, I’m not acting like—”

“If you can’t take care of yourself, someone has to.” John speaks over him, and Emily sits back, wincing as Alan tightens his hold on her.

Silence, for long enough that Conor swallows audibly before speaking. “Yes, Dziadziu,” he says soberly. “If Dad starts chasing Shadows or stops shaving again, or gets all grey and exhausted, I’ll call you.”

“How many of those things has he already done?”

“All of them.”

“Conor. Stop.” Pawel closes his eyes, sinks back. “It’s not that bad, Dad.”

“We’ll all take care of him,” Emily says. “I know I’m in over my head with this, and I know Pawel feels like he has a responsibility to his students. John, you’d understand if you met them. From what I’ve heard, some of them make it look like Pawel’s the adult who considers each move before leaping.”

Conor snickers.

“When you were a child, your mother and I used to say that someday you’d have a child just like yourself to raise,” John murmurs. “I didn’t mean for you to find a whole campus of them. And Pawel, if you think they’re just children, then so are you. You’re not all that much older than them. Remember, you can’t save them all. And you can’t live their lives for them. If they are so damned determined to leap off a bridge without checking for sharks in the water, they need to learn their lessons.”

Pawel blinks his eyes open, his jaw set. “You’re the one who taught me the importance of every kid like me having a safety net, Dad. Or someone to grab their shirt and haul them back from the edge.”

It resonates with Emily, that every child needs a safety net. She might be older than Pawel, but she’s not all that far out from her rebellious teenage years. “My folks had the attitude that they’d let me leap without looking, but they’d be there to pick up the pieces if everything fell apart,” she says quietly. “Pawel, we’re here to help you pick up the pieces, and you’ll be there if those kids need you. But you really do need to prioritize yourself first. Give yourself some time to recover over break, then meet up with them when they’re all back. You’ll be rested, they’ll have some time to think, and maybe you can come up with a sane plan then.”

“And if he doesn’t, you’ll tell me,” John says.

“Yes, I will,” Conor offers.

“Suppose that’ll have to do.”

“Message received and heard, Dad,” Pawel says. He scrubs a hand through his hair, ending up with it at the base of his head, holding on like he’s trying to keep himself still. “I think you’re right. A little time to rest and relax and process is what we all need.”

“Conor, I’m trusting you to keep him to his word,” John says, and Conor shouts his agreement.

Pawel picks up the phone after that, walking into the kitchen with it while the boys head back upstairs. Emily doesn’t try to overhear the conversation, simply waits until she hears the soft thunk of Pawel setting the phone down. When he returns, he has two bottles of beer, and Emily takes one so Pawel won’t be drinking alone.

They clink the necks of the bottles together, and each take a long gulp.

“A week and a half of rest before you go back to saving the world?” Emily asks. When Pawel gives her a guilty look, she sets her bottle down so she can clasp his hand instead, squeezing tightly for a moment. “I’ve known you a while now, and I don’t see you letting this go. Just… let us help you. Me and Eric, and whoever else you need. If you and Conor need to go up to that place in Vermont, and you want me and Alan to go with you, just let me know. We can make it work. You’re our friend, Pawel, but you’re as good as family.”

Pawel squeezes his eyes shut, grips her hand tightly in return. “Okay,” he says without looking at her. “When the time comes to try to save the world again, I’ll make sure you know what I’m doing.”

“That’s not what I said.” Emily gives him a dark look, but she knows to take what she can get. There’s nothing Emily can do to change Pawel’s mind. All she can do is support him and Conor the best she can, and pick up the pieces when it’s over if it’s needed. “I’ll be there for you,” she says quietly.

He squeezes her fingers. “Thanks,” he says.

Emily gets the feeling it’s a one day at a time kind of situation. She’s just glad that the next bad day is more than a week out. She’s pretty sure Pawel’s going to need all the rest he can get before then.

#phu extra #welcome to phu #welcometophu #pawel szczek #conor szczek

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60s70salbumreviews-blog · 7 years

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The Animals - Animalization (1966) UK

(Rhythm and Blues/Blues Rock)

The Animals was a British rock band, formed between 1962 and 1963 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Eric Burdon, Alan Price, Hilton Valentine, John Steel and Chas Chandler.

They were looking for the roots of blues and folk, having been influenced by Chuck Berry (who toured), Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Little Richard and Bo Diddley.

The Animals' success in their hometown and a connection with Yardbirds manager Giorgio Gomelsky motivated them to move to London in 1964 in the immediate wake of Beatlemania and the beat boom take-over of the popular music scene, just in time to play an important role in the so-called British Invasion of the US music charts.

By May 1965, the group was starting to feel internal pressures. Price left due to personal and musical differences as well as fear of flying on tour.

Animalization is the fourth American album. It has a track listing somewhat similar to the British album Animalisms. The album, which reached #20 on the US Billboard album chart, included three US Top 40 singles.

It was during this period that drummer John Steel left the group and was replaced by Barry Jenkins, previously of The Nashville Teens (of Tobacco Road fame). Both drummers appear on the cover, Jenkins on the front (upper right in brown shirt) and Steel on the back.

Don’t Bring Me Down is a song written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin which is performed by these guys. It starts the album and it’s a good start. Strong use of the organ with a catchy chorus. Cover of Joe Tex’s One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show is next. Not really a favourite of mine but still somewhat enjoyable. Following is a love tune called You’re On My Mind. Eric’s voice is so pleasing to hear. Strong and beautiful. Cheating has an upbeat vibe that’s backed up by someone clapping even though the song is about someone cheating. There’s a guitar solo which is okay. She’ll Return It is a favourite! Very R&B and groovy with a nice psychedelic guitar. “...Does she speak french? She will love you. No one above you. Give you children, if you want any. Set her soul on fire and make love to your one desire. She will love you, if you return it...” Inside Looking Out is next. The only reason I know of this tune is from Grand Funk and I honestly thought it was written by them but nope. I actually prefer Grand Funk’s version of it but this one isn’t terrible! It’s still a rockin’ tune that makes you wanna groove. Eric’s raw and screamin’ vocals make this tune much better. Ma Rainey’s See See Rider is a fantastic cover! I love it so much. The intense organ, vocals, and fuzzy guitar... They Animalize it. (ba-dum-tss??) They do a cover of Bessie Smith’s Gin House Blues which was written by Henry Troy and Fletcher Henderson. In this song, you can truly hear the deepness and intensity of Eric’s voice. This man has talent and I’m glad many people can appreciate it. John Lee Hooker’s Maudie is another favourite of mine! “...This song was written by John Lee Hooker about his wife, her name is Maudie. Every time he has an argument with her, he has to write a new verse to keep her happy. He was over here at London a short while back and he taught me this song...” I absolutely love how they build up to the first minute of the song and BAM! Gets energetic. You can tell at some parts Eric was trying to sound like John. Ugh, I love this song so much. Must listen. What Am I Living For is another enjoyable tune. I love how pretty he does the “...youuuuuu...” near the beginning of the song. Classic cover of Berry’s Sweet Little Sixteen isn’t terrible one bit! It’s rockin’ and I’m fucking groovin! Rowberry kills it on piano. Throughout the entire song, I kept wishing I was there while they were recording this. Ending the album is Jay Hawkins’ I Put A Spell On You. You may have heard this song as CCR and Nina Simone covered it which was pretty popular. Again, they Animalize this cover. I love it.

The thing I love about these guys so much is that each cover they do of a song, they make it sound like it’s their own. When I was first getting into them, I kept thinking whatever song I heard was written by them and obviously when I looked it up, it was a cover. I compared covers and they add their own little twist to it. Oh yeah, and of course Eric’s soaring vocals are pretty alright too. ;-) These dudes should be appreciated way more.

*Bolded are my favourites off the album.*

1. Don’t Bring Me Down 2. One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show 3. You’re on My Mind 4. Cheating 5. She’ll Return It 6. Inside Looking Out 7. See See Rider 8. Gin House Blues 9. Maudie 10. What Am I Living For 11. Sweet Little Sixteen 12. I Put a Spell on You

Eric Burdon – vocals Dave Rowberry – keyboards Hilton Valentine – guitar Chas Chandler – bass John Steel – drums Barry Jenkins - drums on "Don't Bring Me Down", "Cheating", "See See Rider", and "She'll Return It"

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