| “What Is Life” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by George Harrison from the album All Things Must Pass |
|||||
| A-side | "My Sweet Lord" & "What Is Life" (UK) | ||||
| B-side | "Apple Scruffs" (US) | ||||
| Released | February 15, 1971 | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 4:18 | ||||
| Label | Apple Records 1828 | ||||
| Writer(s) | George Harrison | ||||
| Producer | George Harrison, Phil Spector | ||||
| George Harrison singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
| All Things Must Pass track listing | |||||
|
|||||
"What Is Life" is a riff-driven song by George Harrison and is the first track on side two of his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass. George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001 was an English rock Guitarist Singer - Songwriter, Author All Things Must Pass is a Triple album by George Harrison recorded and released after the break-up of The Beatles. A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch Vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s " My Sweet Lord " is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch Vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s The Apple scruffs were a loosely-knit group of hardcore Beatles fans who were known for congregating outside the Apple Corps building and at the gates of Abbey Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. A gramophone A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing Harvey Philip Spector (born December 26 1940) is an American Record producer and Songwriter. George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001 was an English rock Guitarist Singer - Songwriter, Author " My Sweet Lord " is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album All Things Must Pass All Things Must Pass is a Triple album by George Harrison recorded and released after the break-up of The Beatles. The term Riff-Driven is used to describe a vocal song that throughout the piece relies on a repeated instrumental Riff as a basis for its forefront George Harrison, MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001 was an English rock Guitarist Singer - Songwriter, Author An album or record album is a collection of related audio or Music tracks distributed to the public All Things Must Pass is a Triple album by George Harrison recorded and released after the break-up of The Beatles. It was released as the second single from that album in the United States on February 15, 1971 with another album track "Apple Scruffs" as the B-side. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. The Apple scruffs were a loosely-knit group of hardcore Beatles fans who were known for congregating outside the Apple Corps building and at the gates of Abbey A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of 7 inch Vinyl records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s On March 27, "What Is Life" peaked at #10 in the Billboard Hot 100. Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry [1]
The song was written for Billy Preston in 1969, but Harrison decided not to ask Preston to record the song during his "funky" phase, seeing the song as too much of a "catchy pop tune". William Everett Preston ( September 2 1946 – June 6 2006) was an American Soul musician from Houston Texas, [2]
An instrumental outtake version of the song appears on the 2001 re-release of All Things Must Pass. Featuring a piccolo trumpet and oboe, it was discarded because Harrison "didn't like the feel". The smallest of the Trumpet family is the piccolo trumpet. The most common of these instruments are built to play in both B-flat and A with separate leadpipes for each key "Hautbois" redirects here for the strawberry variety see Hautbois strawberry.
Contents |
Cover versions
German studio trio The Discoteques made a cover of the song, making the Swedish charts in the winter of 1972. Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John recorded a cover of "What Is Life" and reached the UK top 20 and the US Adult Contemporary singles chart in 1972. Olivia Newton-John, AO, OBE (born September 26 1948) is a Grammy Award -winning and Golden Globe -nominated English-born Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, refers to styles of popular music that ranges from "lush Sixties pop often vocal -based and rooted in
Harrison's original version is featured in the movie Goodfellas, during the "May 11th, 1980" sequence. Goodfellas (also spelled GoodFellas) is an Academy Award winning 1990 Crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese It is also featured in the movies Patch Adams and Big Daddy, the latter being a cover by Shawn Mullins during the end credits. Dr Hunter Campbell "Patch" Adams MD (born May 28, 1945 in Washington D Shawn Mullins (born March 8, 1968 in Atlanta Georgia) is a singer- Songwriter who specializes in Folk rock, Instrumental rock
Credits
- George Harrison - guitar and vocals
- Eric Clapton - guitar
- Bobby Whitlock - piano
- Pete Ham - acoustic guitar
- Tom Evans - acoustic guitar
- Joey Molland - acoustic guitar
- Peter Frampton - acoustic guitar (possibly[2])
- Carl Radle - bass guitar
- Bobby Keys - saxophone
- Jim Price - trumpet
- Jim Gordon - drums
- Mike Gibbins - tambourine
- Strings arranged by John Barham[2]
References
- ^ Spizer, Bruce (March 2005). Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945 is an English Blues-rock Guitarist, singer Songwriter and Composer Bobby Whitlock (born 18 March 1948 in Memphis Tennessee) is a session musician best known for being a member of Derek and the Dominos. Peter William Ham ( April 27, 1947 – April 24, 1975) was a Welsh Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist Joseph ("Joey" Charles Molland (born June 21 1947, Liverpool, England) is a Composer and rock Guitarist Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950 in Beckenham, Kent) is an English Musician, best known today for his solo Carl Dean Radle ( June 18 1942 &ndash May 30 1980) was a Bass guitarist who toured and recorded Bobby Keys (b December 18, 1943 in Slaton, Texas) (sometimes credited as Bobby Keyes) is an American Saxophone Fort Worth Texas born Jim Price was together with Bobby Keys and Jim Horn, one of the most in demand horn session players of the 1970s Jim Gordon (born James Beck Gordon 1945 Los Angeles, California) is an American recording artist musician and songwriter The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. 498 Productions, L. L. C. , 231. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9.
- ^ a b c Spizer, Bruce (March 2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. 498 Productions, L. L. C. , 222. ISBN 0-9662649-5-9.
External links
- George Harrison - What Is Life at Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic