I'M A DARK HORSE
RUNNING ON A
DARK RACE COURSE
I'M A BLUE MOON
SINCE I STEPPED OUT
OF THE WOMB
I'VE BEEN A COOL JERK
JUST LOOKING
FOR THE SOURCE
Dark Horse
is the fifth
studio album
by the English
rock musician
It was released on
Apple Records in
December 1974
as the follow-up to
Living in the Material World.
Although keenly
anticipated on release,
Dark Horse
is associated with
the controversial
North American tour
that Harrison staged
with Indian classical musician
Ravi Shankar
in November and December
that year.
This was the
first US tour
by a member
of the Beatles since 1966,
and the public's nostalgia
for the band,
together with Harrison
contracting laryngitis
during rehearsals
and choosing to
feature Shankar
so heavily
in the show,
resulted in
scathing concert reviews
from some
influential music critics.
Harrison wrote
and recorded
Dark Horse
during an
extended period
of upheaval in his
personal life.
The songs focus on
Harrison's split with
his first wife,
Pattie Boyd,
and his temporary withdrawal
from the
spiritual certainties
of his previous work.
Throughout this time,
he dedicated much of his energy
to setting up
Dark Horse Records
and working with
the label's first signings,
Shankar and the group Splinter,
at the expense of his
own music.
Author Simon Leng
refers to the album as
"a musical soap opera,
cataloguing rock-life antics,
marital strife,
lost friendships,
and self-doubt".
Dark Horse
features an array
of guest musicians
including
Tom Scott,
Billy Preston,
Willie Weeks,
Andy Newmark,
Jim Keltner,
Ringo Starr,
Gary Wright
and
Ron Wood.
It showed Harrison
moving towards
the funk and
soul music genres,
and produced the
hit singles
"Dark Horse"
and
"Ding Dong, Ding Dong".
Further to the criticism
of his demeanor
during the tour,
the album was not
well received
by the majority
of critics at the time.
It peaked at number 4
on Billboard's albums chart
in the US
and placed inside
the top ten
in some
European countries,
but became
Harrison's first
post-Beatles
solo album
not to chart in Britain.
The cover was
designed by
Tom Wilkes
and consists of a
school photograph
from Harrison's time
at the Liverpool Institute
superimposed onto
a Himalayan landscape.
TRACKLIST
Hari's On Tour (Express)
Simple Shady
So Sad
Bye Bye, Love
Maya Love
Ding Dong, Ding Dong
Dark Horse
Far East Man
It Is "He" (Jai Sri Krishna)
I Don't Care Anymore
Dark Horse
(Early Take)
It Don't Come Easy
Window Window
[Acoustic]
Beautiful Girl
[Acoustic]
Mother Divine
[Acoustic]
I Don't Want To Do It
[Acoustic]
Hear Me Lord
[Acoustic]
Beware Of Darkness
[Acoustic]
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