We have a long standing tradition that people of The Beatles extraction – John, George, Ringo and Paul – get a free pass when it comes to examining their Americana credentials. And so we bring you an alternate take of one of George’s best songs from the album ‘Living In The Material World.’ An album that predated Madonna by some 21 years, but the much rumoured but little heard outtake where George declared himself to be a ‘Material Girl‘ is still to surface. No matter – it’s 50 years since the album came out, it was no ‘All Things Must Pass‘ (but then what is, when you get down to it?) but it is still richly deserving of the big deluxe reissues treatment and that you will no doubt be pleased to hear is exactly – not almost, but exactly – what it is getting. In fact not only is there a deluxe release but holy moly there is a Super Deluxe release. What does that consist of pray tell you may be asking well we have that information for ya’ll too:
“Limited to 5,000 units globally, the Super Deluxe Edition box set features the album on 2LP (180g) and 2CD, which includes the newly remixed original album and a bonus disc containing 12 previously unreleased early renditions of every song on the main album. Additionally, the set includes a Blu-Ray of all album tracks and previously unreleased tracks in Dolby Atmos, and an exclusive 7” single of the never-before-heard recording of ‘Sunshine Life For Me (Sail Away Raymond),’ featuring Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Rick Danko from The Band, alongside Ringo Starr. Housed in a rigid slipcase, the box set contains a beautiful 60-page hardcover book curated by Olivia Harrison and Rachel Cooper, with unseen imagery and memorabilia from the era, handwritten lyrics, studio notes, and tape box images. Also included is a 12-page Recording Notes booklet, drawing from original Living in the Material World production notes, photographs, and reel-to-reel session tapes housed in the George Harrison Archive. For the first time, the Harrison archive team offers an in-depth, chronological account of the album’s creation, revealing insights that have never been shared with the public before.”
And so, you see, there is within that limited package a release of a song which has four members of The Band on it. Could you get more Americana?
