"Dear One" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1976 on his album Thirty Three & 1/3. The song was inspired by, and dedicated to, Paramahansa Yogananda, whose 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi was a great influence on Harrison. Aside from keyboard player Richard Tee, Harrison plays all the instruments on the recording.
| "Dear One" | |
|---|---|
| Song by George Harrison | |
| from the album Thirty Three & 1/3 | |
| Released | 19 November 1976 |
| Genre | Rock, pop |
| Length | 5:08 |
| Label | Dark Horse |
| Songwriter(s) | George Harrison |
| Producer(s) | George Harrison with Tom Scott |
History
editHarrison wrote the lyrics to "Dear One" in 1976 during a vacation to the Virgin Islands, shortly before starting work on Thirty Three & 1/3.[1] In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says that he believes the song is the only one he ever wrote in open A tuning.[1] The lyrics are directed to Premavatar Paramahansa Yogananda,[2] author of Autobiography of a Yogi, who Harrison called "a great influence on my life".[1] While in India in 1966,[3] Harrison was given a copy of Yogananda's book by Ravi Shankar's brother, after which, author Peter Doggett writes, Harrison "read every Indian spiritual text he could find".[4]
Apart from American musician Richard Tee on organ, Harrison played all the instruments on the recording: acoustic guitars, synthesizers and percussion (hi-hats).[5] As with the song "See Yourself", Harrison dedicated "Dear One" to Yogananda on the credits to the Thirty Three & 1/3 album.[6]
In his Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Colin Larkin describes the track as a song that "could have come straight off of The Beatles' Abbey Road". He adds: "'Dear One' weaves a haunting, Indian-influenced melody with a big pop chorus to create an intensely moving song of devotion."[7]
Personnel
edit- George Harrison – vocals, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, hi-hat, shaker, backing vocals
- Richard Tee – organ
References
edit- ^ a b c Thirty Three & 1/3 (CD booklet). George Harrison. Dark Horse Records. 2004. p. 2.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Thirty Three & 1/3 (CD booklet). George Harrison. Dark Horse Records. 2004. p. 9.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Gary Tillery, Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison, Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; ISBN 978-0-8356-0900-5), p. 56.
- ^ Peter Doggett, You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup, It Books (New York, NY, 2011; ISBN 978-0-06-177418-8), p. 22.
- ^ Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ISBN 0-615-11724-4), p. 454.
- ^ Ian Inglis, The Words and Music of George Harrison, Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ISBN 978-0-313-37532-3), pp. 60, 62.
- ^ "Harrison, George – Thirty-Three & 1/3: Encyclopedia of Popular Music", oxfordindex.oup.com (retrieved 8 March 2015).
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