George Harrison Testpressing White promo sample Beatles

	£		295
	$		391

Absolutely rare Collectors item

George Harrison - Somewhere in England

Dark Horse DH 56 870 WEA Germany 1980

Original German testpressing (from 1980) of an album that never was released that way

In contrast to the common version released in 1981 it contains:

A different tracklist - 4 songs were changed/withdrawn

This record comes with these 4 songs who are NOT on the later pressing from 1981

Flying hour/Lay his head/Sat singing/Tears of the world

Tracklist:

Side 1:

                                                             Hong Kong Blues   2:53

                                                            Writings On The Wall   3:58

                                                          Flying Hour   4:04

                                                           Lay His Head   3:43

                                                          Unconsciousness Rules   3:36

                                                              Side 2:

                                                                Sat Singing   4:28

                                                              Life Itself   4:24

                                                            Tears Of The World   4:00

                                                             Baltimore Oriole   3:57

                                                             Save The World   4:56

For the tracklist of the album who was issued in 1981, please take a look at the pictures.

This ultrarare record is in NEAR MINT, maybe MINT condition, only a few plays, NO scratches

The testpressing comes without a cover, as normal, but you will get a German 1st press of the Somewehre in England record in MINT for free, too.

A COMPARISON OF TWO LPS CALLED

SOMEWHERE IN ENGLAND

The original album was produced solely by Harrison.  The 1981 version lists Ray Cooper as co-producer.  Obviously, only the four "new" tracks of the 1981 album - "All Those Years Ago," Teardrops," "That Which I Have Lost" and "Blood From A Clone"- were actually produced by Ray Cooper.

Of the ten songs, four did not appear on the revised LP.  They are: "Flying Hour," "Lay His Head," "Sat Singing" and "Tears Of The World."  "Flying Hour" is an uptempo number driven by a combination of acoustic and electric guitars.  Undoubtedly the best song of the original line-up, it is unbelievable that this track would have been chosen as one of the songs to be dropped.   "Lay His Head" and "Sat Singing" are both very slow paced tunes, the first being a love song to Harrison's wife and the second dealing primarily with Krishna.  "Tears Of The World" is almost a straight musical re-working of "This Guitar" from "Extra Texture".

Following Warner Bros.'s rejection, George began recording new material for a revised version of the LP.  It was during these sessions that John Lennon was murdered.   George took the opportunity to record a pair of tracks relating to Lennon's death ("All Those Years Ago" and "Teardrops").  These were added along with two other new tracks, "That Which I Have Lost" and "Blood From A Clone" (featuring a scathing set of lyrics which clearly portrays George's hurt and anger at having his original album nixed by Warners), to replace the four songs dropped from the line-up.

The entire contents appear in different order on both sides, with the exception of "Save The World" which appears at the end of side two on both versions.  Of interest also is that the "gong" at the beginning of "Hong Kong Blues" was to have signaled the start of the album, as this was originally the lead-off track.

It's interesting to note that the advance sheet for the revised album in Warner's spring 1981 new release booklet did not list "Save The World" as being included on the album.  Presumably the revised version would have only featured nine songs, but fortunately, this tenth track was reinstated prior to release.

Was Warner Bros. justified in rejecting the LP as originally submitted by George and, if so, was George's revised version an improvement?  It's up to the listener to decide.

Denis O'Smell 1996