George Harrison
Thirty-Three & 1/3
1976
Dark Horse Records/ P-10285D (Warner-Pioneer Corp. Japan)
We're back with another George Harrison LP. This one, George's eighth solo effort, took some time to come up
with a good source. Initially I checked out the domestic US pressings, while the music seemed fine sonically,
the vinyl was coming up short, even on a sealed pressing. This seems to happen with 70's US vinyl from time
to time. In looking at the imports I managed to locate a vintage UK pressing as well as the Japanese pressing
that's presented here. Actually, between the UK & Japan pressings there was no competition. Surprisingly, I
found the UK pressing to sound dull & lifeless next to the Japan release.
Here's the scoop on this release according to Wikipedia:
"Thirty Three & 1/3 is an album by George Harrison released in 1976. As his first release on his Dark Horse Records
label, Thirty Three & 1/3's making was beset with misfortune, yet Harrison was able to prevail by delivering one of
his most celebrated albums.
After satisfying his EMI contract with Extra Texture (Read All About It), Harrison signed immediately with Dark Horse,
which was still under distribution with A&M Records. A part of their agreement was that Harrison was to deliver his new
album by 25 June 1976. Unfortunately, Harrison was stricken with hepatitis and was only able to start recording the
record in late May. Conscious of the fact that he was not going to rush his debut album on his own label, Harrison put
off A&M, telling them the album would be ready when it was ready. But with Dark Horse's other artists no longer doing
so well, and Harrison's star on the wane, A&M decided they wanted to offload the label and promptly sued Harrison for
late delivery of Thirty Three & 1/3 in September. Within weeks, Harrison had moved both Dark Horse and himself over to
Mo Ostin and Warner Bros. Records, who were more than pleased to have him, and Thirty Three & 1/3 and its lead-off
single, "This Song", the upbeat and sardonic send-up of the "He's So Fine" vs. "My Sweet Lord" court case (which
Harrison lost in 1976) were both released that November.
Named for the fact that he was thirty-three and a third years old during its recording (as well as being the speed at
which the vinyl album would be played), Thirty Three & 1/3 gave Harrison his strongest reviews since All Things Must
Pass, including many positive and uplifting songs. It was clear that despite his legal woes, Harrison would not let his
bad luck get him down.
Unfortunately, the damage that previously-perceived mediocre albums had inflicted proved irreversible, and while
Thirty Three & 1/3 actually outsold both Dark Horse and Extra Texture (Read All About It) in the US, it reached a lower
peak, cresting at #11 and going gold and selling about 800,000 copies. In the UK, it merely made it to #35. While US
single Crackerbox Palace made the Top 20 (and "This Song" #25), no UK singles saw any chart action. In actuality,
Harrison couldn't care less about his record sales at this point in time. Already a private person, he began retreating
more from the music industry as the 1970s drew to a close and immersing himself into films and leisure activities.
Harrison's only major promotion for Thirty Three and 1/3 was an appearance with Paul Simon as the musical guest on
Saturday Night Live on 20 November 1976, and in some of the show's comedy sketches. The duo performed "Here Comes the Sun"
and "Homeward Bound" together on the program. (The live Harrison-Simon performance of "Homeward Bound" was later included
on the 1990 various artists' charity album, Nobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal and is also found on "The Essential
Paul Simon" Paul Simon's greatest hits record released in 2007 on the bonus DVD disc.) A video of Crackerbox Palace,
directed by Eric Idle, debuted on the same episode, featuring Harrison, various other celebrities, and a Pantomime
Princess Margaret.
In 2004, Thirty Three & 1/3 was remastered and reissued both separately and as part of the deluxe box set The Dark Horse
Years 1976-1992 on Dark Horse with new distribution by EMI, adding the bonus track Tears Of The World, an outtake from
the 1980 sessions for Somewhere in England."
The tracks included are:
1) Woman Don't You Cry For Me
2) Dear One
3) Beautiful Girl
4) This Song
5) See Yourself
6) It's What You Value
7) True Love
8) Pure Smoky
9) Crackerbox Palace
10) Learning How To Love You
The setup used:
-Technics SL-1900 direct drive turntable running an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge
-JVC AX-R97 integrated amp
-E-MU 1212M sound card
The audio was captured at 192/32-bit (float)
All pops & clicks were removed manually in Audition. No EQ or NR has been added.
Sample rate conversion to 96kHz & 44.1khz was accomplished via SoX
Dithering to 16-bit audio was handled by MBIT+
Artwork is included for those who care for it.
One final note:
The completion of this transfer has also allowed me to go back and upgrade an earlier "Thirty-Three and 1/3"-related
project. A couple years ago I had transferred the promotional interview vinyl called "A Personal Music Dialogue
With George Harrison At Thirty-three and 1/3" At that time I put together an alternate version of the interview LP
by adding music sourced from the offical 2004 remaster. I have now gone back to that project and have put the music
from this Japanese pressing in place of the 2004 remastered CD music. So now the project is all-vinyl sourced. You
can find this upgraded version at this tracker soon, if it's not here already.
Enjoy,
-DLedin