Woke up in a daze (George Harrison) #143 - 147

George Harrison Love Comes To Everyone/ Soft Touch (Dark Horse, DRC 8844, 1979)

George Harrison All Those Years Ago/ Writings On The Wall (Dark Horse, DRC 49725, 1981)

George Harrison Teardrops/ Save The World (Dark Horse, DRC 49785, 1981)

George Harrison Got My Mind Set On You (extended version)/ Got My Mind Set On You (single version); Lay His Head (Dark Horse, 0-20802, 1987) 

George Harrison When We Was Fab (extended version); Zig Zag/ That's The Way It Goes; When We Was Fab (reverse ending) (Dark Horse, 0-20860, 1987) 

The final installment of George singles (until I finish vinyl and begin looking at CD singles that is) takes us from the George Harrison to Cloud Nine albums. By then the 12" single was having its day in the sun. Fab and Mind both come in for the extended 12 inch treatment. 

By then George's chums Ray Cooper and Jeff Lynne were on board for production duties. I like the retro sound they got out of the band and George sounds like a man refreshed on the Cloud Nine singles - especially after the dreary lacklustre Somewhere In England and barking mad even more lacklustre Gone Troppo albums. 

The All Those Years Ago and When We Was Fab singles are my favourites, of course. 

Years Ago was his response to John's murder and is a wonderfully warm tribute to the man who was a leader and big brother figure for George. The track is also special as it features Ringo Starr on drums, as well as Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine on backing vocals. An early Threetles entry really.

Both Years and Fab are unusual as George was not much for looking back. Maybe the Jeff Lynne influence and the Travelling Wilburys had something to do with that. Whatever the reason the nicely judged whimsy of When We Was Fab was a real tonic in 1987 and it holds up today.

My favourite part of the gear Fab video is when Ringo's on drums, the walrus/Paul's on bass and a guy walks past carrying the back of Lennon's Imagine cover. 

Hidden gems: Nothing of rarity value on the first three singles but Lay His Head IS RARE! It has never been released on an album or as a CD bonus track. It was removed from the Somewhere In England album at the time due to record company pressure. Amazingly they thought they knew better than George! These days, of course, you can find it on youtube but as a piece of vinyl it only appeared as a B side. Zig Zag is also rare (although it has turned up as a bonus track on the Cloud Nine CD).