Brainwashed - A Labour of Love

By Pat Moore

Brainwashed is not typical of most posthumous offerings, and indeed it doesn’t really fall into that category, as the material so lovingly worked upon by 2 of the album’s producers, George’s son Dhani and long time collaborator, former ELO founder Jeff Lynne, was in the most part finished, and came to them complete with extensive notes from George as to his intentions for completion of the tracks.

Although the songs have been crafted over a 20 plus year period, this is not a George ‘Anthology’, here you won’t find out-takes or unscripted giggles, What you will find is a c0herent body of work, with a great deal to say for itself, a deeply spiritual album, with all of the elements of George that we all grew to love over his lifetime. Wonderful guitar, gentle preaching, touches of Indian Music & Pyth0n Humour, with George’s beloved Ukulele weaving in and out, ingraining into your consciousness, which I am quite sure was his intention. This is a good album by anyone’s standards, and in my opinion, one of George’s best.

If you didn’t know better, you wouldn’t notice that this album was completed by anyone other than George, probably the greatest homage that his co-producers could have given him, there is very little interference with the original work, and where Lynne’s influence is felt, it is beautifully restrained, it doesn’t at any stage feel like an unwanted intrusion. it cannot have been easy to ‘underproduce’ but he does it with loving attention to detail and doesn’t distract with too much embellishment.

If you wondered what the Dark Horse was up to all these years, this is your answer, and what a positive answer it is. There is a deep and joyful spiritual feel to the whole album, you cannot mistake where his heart lies. Lyrically, George sometimes gets away with murder, but it always fits, I don’t know anyone else who could get off with using ‘Canadian geese crap along the shore’ as in ‘Pisces Fish’ as a lyric, but the imagery these idiosyncratic lyrics wakens works every time.

All of the distractions that George found so intrusive into his spiritual journey through life are attacked in these songs, in the title track in particular he vents his feelings, but George never could rant without wanting to leave you with something good, a kind on musical Yin/Yang, and Brainwashed is no exception, the bitter is always countermanded by the sweet.

The album kicks off with ‘Any Road’ - this could have sat on a Travelling Wilburys album comfortably, and was originally demo’d on VHI with the ‘Chants of India’ (the Ravi Shankar album which was produced by George) promotion in 1997, this is George in typical preachy mode, but it jaunts along nicely, with a catchy guitar riff, and even though you know you are being preached at, after the second listen you are humming along with it.

Track 2: P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night) is again a catchy tune, with lyrics that swipe a bit at the materialism of the Catholic church, and at those who profess their faith on an ‘A La Carte’ basis, there is a very rock-n-roll feeling to the song, with great guitar riffs again.

Track 3: Pisces Fish refers both to his astrological star sign, and affiliation with the river running through his home town of Henley-On-Thames (never let it be said that George was one-dimensional) this is in part homage to the peace that he found there in a world of madness, (until the attack that nearly killed him in 1999) It is also a reference to the contradictions and quirks of his life, material and spiritual, which he finds quite amusing sometimes. George was well aware that he would never have been able to find the peace and tranquillity of his Henley home without the material wealth that on many levels he despised so much., and for which he often paid a heavy price.

Track 4: Looking For My Life Nothing hidden in the title there, it does exactly what it says on the tin! This song is in recognition that you don’t really find out what it’s all about until you are down on your knees facing the monsters in your life, in George’s case his cancer and his vulnerability to attack both physically and mentally from the outside world, again typical George, he manages to make this song uplifting by not referring directly to his monsters, but we all know what he is talking about.

Track 5: Rising Sun is where the album comes truly alive for me, with the continuation of George’s ‘Sun’ themes, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ ‘Here Comes The Moon’ and now his final ‘Sun-song’ finds George telling us that we all come from the same source, we will all end up there, and we all owe a debt to the place we all come from. Simple, straightforward, not mystical, just a reminder to us all of our moral accountability, at last a spiritual message that an old hippie/atheist like me can relate to! But you can bet that the symbolic ‘ Sun’ meant something more to George, and that’s fine with me, it is a beautiful song, I know I am overusing the word uplifting here, but really it is, I catch myself smiling when I hear the first guitar riff. Beautiful work

Track 6: Marwa Blues is an instrumental piece that needs a few listens before it hits you, but when it does hit you, you are hooked. It begins with George on Hawaiian Slide guitar, clear, crisp and gentle, washing over you like warm Pacific waves on a tropical beach, with a repeated tune that is gradually augmented with lovely string arrangement by Marc Mann, and includes the merest touch of Indian music with George’s finger cymbals, Dhani on acoustic guitar, with lovely percussion by Ray Cooper. This is a fusion piece of all George’s musical favorites, (excluding the otherwise ubiquitous Uke) combining Hawaiian, Indian and European classical music in a beautifully crafted piece, that manages to come to the gentlest crescendo you are ever likely to hear, it is a very evocative and peaceful work.

Track 7: Stuck Inside A Cloud is going to be included in my album of All Time Favorites. According to Dhani, the highest possible accolade he could have afforded this song was to place it at number 7 in the listing, as that was George’s favorite number, funny, mine too! Anyway, this song is fully deserving of that. We find George reflecting on a period during his illness when the title describes exactly how he felt during the treatment, stuck inside a cloud, cut off from everyone else, beyond any outside stimulation, and perhaps for the first time in his life spiritually aware of his aloneness. There is a poignancy to this song that leaves a lump in your throat, with lyrics such as ‘knowing as you leave me, I also lose my heart’ it is particularly bittersweet, you cannot be unmoved when you listen to this song, you know he talks of his impending death, and yet, George being George, he also gives you something back in the lyrics - ‘never been so crazy, never felt so sure’ ‘wish I had the answer to give, don’t even have the cure’ It is a truly moving song, be warned, you will have a tear in your eye the first time you hear it.

Track 8: (Can Only) Run So Far Finally! Longtime fans will be familiar with Husband-in-Law, Eric Clapton’s version of this track on his 1989 Journeyman, nice to hear George’s version at last, and for completists this will tie up a lose end or 2! This also a could have been a Wilbury track, and in my head I hear Dylan doing backing vocals, it is another of George’s gentle rants that fits in well with the overall theme of the album, strangely enough, none of these tracks that were written by George in the 80s or 90s sound at all dated, a testament to his ability to remain relevant.

Track 9: Never Get Over You is a heart on his sleeve love song to Olivia, very much in the mold of ‘Something’ and you can almost hear George smiling when he sings, it is simple, tender, beautiful and direct, and shows George can write and beautifully sing affectionate ballads with the best of them.

Track 10: Devil and The Deep Blue Sea George recorded this cover of an old blues number with Jools Holland and others for Holland’s TV show and album, it is an affectionate tribute to his well documented love for the Ukulele, but it also reminds us of the roots from which George sprang, there is a touch of skiffle about the track, and you just cannot help singing along with it, even if you do think it is corny, lovely piano from Holland, as you would expect, with support from Joe Brown, Herbie Flowers, Mark Flanagan & Ray Cooper. Nice!

Track 11: Rocking Chair Blues is a little tribute to the blues , and yet George manages to make it sound Hawaiian! Lyrically it is a sexy song, (‘if you want me woman, please dont act so shy…..I love those sideways glances, your shoulder and your thigh…’) mmmm, very risqué for George, and he is on immaculate form with slide guitar, giving the song a very smooth sensual feel to it.

The album finishes with a full on rant with title Track 12: Brainwashed and it doesn’t come much more preachy than with a chorus of ‘God, God, God, You are the wisdom that we seek’ George rants against concrete , Nikkei, Dow Jones, Schools and 20th & 21st century life in general, and does so with rhythm, and music and then, just when you think he is going to blow your mind, he brings in a gentle spoken verse from ‘How To Know God’ by Patanjali-You get hooked again! He is clever, and knows that he has to pour in a little sugar into the mix to keep you interested, it works every time. The track finishes with George & Dhani chanting Namah Parvati to make us all feel good after the ranting, and it does, it elevates the whole album, and brings it to harmonious completion in a manner totally appropriate to it’s author.

A couple of things leap out at you listening to this album, firstly, the Ukulele is clearly a great favorite and it’s sound is very central to this album, it fits well though, never feels out of place, which took me a little by surprise. Secondly, you remember what a good singer George really was, he is in great voice on every song, and I don’t think I could ever tire of his voice as you sometimes can with a solo singer (David Gray springs to mind, I like him, but couldn’t listen to a whole album at once!) Thirdly, George was a bit of a musical sponge, and seemed to soak up an extraordinary range of musical genres, here he brings them all together very successfully, and I am not sure that any other musician could carry that off as well as the Quiet One.

I cannot recommend this album enough, it will make you smile, cry and think, and I guarantee that you will play it repeatedly when you buy it. Always a good sign.

Pat Moore

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