Dark Horse (George Harrison album)
Dark Horse is the fifth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. 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 programme, resulted in scathing concert reviews from some influential music critics.
Dark Horse (George Harrison album)
Harrison's dedication to his Dark Horse Records act Splinter (pictured performing in 1977) was one of the factors that compromised his focus on Dark Horse; photo: Jean Helfer.
Benares in India. Harrison's visit in early 1974 inspired the idea behind his and Ravi Shankar's joint North American tour at the end of the year.
A&M Studios main gate (pictured in 1988). Harrison completed the album there while rehearsing for the 1974 tour.
George Harrison was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work. Although the majority of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions. His songs for the group include "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry.
Harrison at the White House in 1974
Harrison's place of birth and first home – 12 Arnold Grove
Harrison at a Beatles press conference in Amsterdam in 1964
Harrison (left) and Ringo Starr (right) performing at the King's Hall in Belfast, 1964