Living in the Material World
Studio album by George Harrison
Released	30 May 1973
Recorded	October 1972–March 1973; February 1971
Studio	Apple Studio, London; FPSHOT, Oxfordshire; Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Rock folk rock gospel
Length	43:55
Label	Apple
Producer	George Harrison with Phil Spector on “Try Some, Buy Some“
George Harrison chronology
The Concert for Bangladesh (1971) Living in the Material World (1973) Dark Horse (1974)
Singles from Living in the Material World
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)“ Released: 7 May 1973 (US); 25 May 1973 (UK)

Living in the Material World is the fourth studio album by English musician George Harrison, released in 1973 on Apple Records. As the follow-up to 1970’s critically acclaimed All Things Must Pass and his pioneering charity project, the Concert for Bangladesh, it was among the most highly anticipated releases of that year. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America two days after release, on its way to becoming Harrison’s second number 1 album in the United States, and produced the international hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)“. It also topped albums charts in Canada and Australia, and reached number 2 in Britain.

Living in the Material World is notable for the uncompromising lyrical content of its songs, reflecting Harrison’s struggle for spiritual enlightenment against his status as a superstar, as well as for what many commentators consider to be the finest guitar and vocal performances of his career. In contrast with All Things Must Pass, Harrison scaled down the production for Material World, using a core group of musicians comprising Nicky Hopkins, Gary Wright, Klaus Voormann and Jim Keltner. Ringo Starr, John Barham and Indian musician Zakir Hussain were among the album’s other contributors.

Upon release, Rolling Stone described it as a “pop classic”, a work that “stands alone as an article of faith, miraculous in its radiance”.^[1] Most contemporary reviewers consider Living in the Material World to be a worthy successor to All Things Must Pass, even if it inevitably falls short of Harrison’s grand opus. Author Simon Leng refers to the album as a “forgotten blockbuster”, representing “the close of an age, the last offering of the Beatles‘ London era”.^[2] EMI reissued the album in 2006, in remastered form with bonus tracks, and released a deluxe-edition CD/DVD set that included film clips of four songs.

Background[edit]

George Harrison‘s 1971–72 humanitarian aid project for the new nation of Bangladesh had left him an international hero,^[4][5][6] but also exhausted and frustrated in his efforts to ensure that the money raised would find its way to those in need.^[7][8] Rather than record a follow-up to his acclaimed 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass, Harrison put his solo career on hold for over a year following the two Concert for Bangladesh shows,^[9][10] held at Madison Square Garden, New York, in August 1971.^[11] In an interview with Disc and Music Echo magazine in December that year, pianist Nicky Hopkins spoke of having just attended the New York sessions for John Lennon‘s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” single, where Harrison had played them “about two or three hours” worth of new songs, adding: “They were really incredible.”^[12] Hopkins suggested that work on Harrison’s next solo album was to begin in January or February at his new home studio at Friar Park,^[12] but any such plan was undone by Harrison’s commitment to the Bangladesh relief project.^{[13][nb 1]} While he found time during the last few months of 1971 to produce singles for Ringo Starr and Apple Records protégés Lon & Derrek Van Eaton, and to help promote the Ravi Shankar documentary Raga,^[18][19] Harrison’s next project in the role of music producer was not until August 1972, when Cilla Black recorded his composition “When Every Song Is Sung“.^[20]

Throughout this period, Harrison’s devotion to Hindu spirituality – particularly to Krishna consciousness via his friendship with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada^[21] – reached new heights.^[22][23] As Harrison admitted, his adherence to his spiritual path was not necessarily consistent.^[24][25] His wife, Pattie Boyd, and their friend Chris O’Dell would joke that it was hard to tell whether he was dipping into his ever-present Japa Yoga prayer bag or “the coke bag”.^[26] This duality has been noted by Harrison biographers Simon Leng and Alan Clayson: on one hand, Harrison earned himself the nickname “His Lectureship” during his prolonged periods of fervid devotion;^[27] on the other, he participated in bawdy London sessions for the likes of Bobby Keys‘ eponymous solo album and what Leng terms Harry Nilsson‘s “thoroughly nasty” “You’re Breakin’ My Heart“, both recorded in the first half of 1972.^[19][28] Similarly, Harrison’s passion for high-performance cars saw him lose his driver’s licence for the second time in a year after crashing his Mercedes into a roundabout at 90 miles an hour, on 28 February, with Boyd in the passenger seat.^{[29][30][nb 2]}

In August 1972, with the Concert for Bangladesh documentary film having finally been released worldwide, Harrison set off alone for a driving holiday in Europe,^[15] during which he chanted the Hare Krishna mantra nonstop for a whole day, he later claimed.^[32][33]Religious academic Joshua Greene, a Hare Krishna devotee, has described this trip as Harrison’s “preparation” for recording the Living in the Material World album.^{[33][nb 3]}

Songs[edit]

Rather than revisit compositions left over from the All Things Must Pass sessions, Harrison’s material for Living in the Material World was drawn from the 1971–72 period,^[38] with the exception of “Try Some, Buy Some“, which he wrote in 1970 and recorded with former Ronette Ronnie Spector in February 1971.^[39] The songs reflected his spiritual devotion^[40] – in the case of “The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)“, “Living in the Material World“, “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and “Try Some, Buy Some”^[41][42] – as well as his feelings before and after the Bangladesh benefit concerts, with “Miss O’Dell” and “The Day the World Gets ‘Round“.^[43]

Both “The Lord Loves the One” and the album’s title track were directly inspired by Prabhupada’s teachings.^[45][46] Greene writes of Harrison adapting a passage from the Bhagavad Gita into his lyrics for “Living in the Material World” and adds: “Some of the songs distilled spiritual concepts into phrases so elegant they resembled Vedic sutras: short codes that contain volumes of meaning.”^[47] On “Give Me Love”, Harrison blended the Hindu bhajan style (or devotional song) with Western gospel music, repeating the formula of his 1970–71 international hit “My Sweet Lord“.^[48] In his 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine, he describes the song as “a prayer and personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it”.^[49]

Whereas Harrison’s Krishna devotionals on All Things Must Pass had been uplifting celebrations of faith,^[50] his latest compositions betrayed a more austere quality,^[44]partly as a result of the Bangladesh experience.^[51] His musical arranger, John Barham, would later suggest that a spiritual “crisis” might have been the cause;^[44] other observers have pointed to Harrison’s failing marriage to Boyd.^{[14][52][nb 4]}Leng writes of his frame of mind at this time: “while George Harrison was bursting with musical confidence, Living in the Material World found him in roughly the same place that John Lennon was when he wrote ‘Help!‘ – shocked by the rush of overwhelming success and desperately wondering where it left him.”^[54]

Other song themes addressed the Beatles‘ legacy,^[55] either in direct references to the band’s history – in the case of “Living in the Material World” and “Sue Me, Sue You Blues“^[56][57] – or in Harrison’s stated desire to live in the present, free of his former identity, in the case of “The Light That Has Lighted the World“, “Who Can See It” and “Be Here Now“.^[58] The lyrics to “Who Can See It” reflect Harrison’s disenchantment with his previous, junior status to former bandmates Lennon and Paul McCartney,^[59] while “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” was his comment on McCartney’s 1971 High Court action to dissolve the band as a business entity.^[60] In line with Prabhupada’s teachings, all such pursuits of fame, wealth or position meant nothing in Harrison’s 1972 world-view.^[61] Author Gary Tillery writes of Material World‘s lyrical content: “The album expresses his impressions of the mundane and the spiritual worlds and the importance of ignoring the lures of the everyday world and remaining focused on the eternal verities.”^[62] Even in seemingly conventional love songs such as “That Is All” and “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long“,^[63] Harrison appeared to be addressing his deity as much as any human partner.^[64] Musically, the latter composition reflects the influence of Brill Building songwriters of the early 1960s,^[65] while Harrison sings of a love delivered “like it came from above“.^[55]

Harrison donated his copyright for nine of the eleven songs on Living in the Material World, together with the non-album B-side “Miss O’Dell”,^[66] to his Material World Charitable Foundation.^{[67][nb 5]} The latter initiative was set up in reaction to the tax issues that had hindered his relief effort for the Bangladeshi refugees,^[68][70] and ensured a perpetual stream of income, through ongoing publishing royalties, for dispersal to the charities of his choice.^[71]

Production[edit]

After the grand, Wall of Sound production of All Things Must Pass,^[72] Harrison wanted a more understated sound this time around, to “liberate” the songs, as he later put it.^[73][74] He had intended to co-produce with Phil Spector as before,^[75] although the latter’s erratic behaviour and alcohol consumption^[76] ensured that, once sessions were under way in October 1972, Harrison was the project’s sole producer.^[77] Spector received a credit for “Try Some, Buy Some”, however,^[78] since Harrison used the same 1971 recording, featuring musicians such as Leon Russell, Jim Gordon, Pete Ham and Barham,^[79] that they had made for Ronnie Spector’s abandoned solo album.^[80]

A release date was planned for January or February 1973, with the album title rumoured to be The Light That Has Lighted the World.^[75] Within a month, the title was announced as The Magic Is Here Again,^[81][82] with an erroneous report in Rolling Stone magazine claiming that Eric Clapton was co-producing and that the album was set for release on 20 December 1972.^[77]

Recording[edit]

In another contrast with his 1970 triple album, Harrison engaged a small core group of musicians to support him on Living in the Material World.^[84][85] Gary Wright and Klaus Voormann returned, on keyboards and bass, respectively, and John Barham again provided orchestral arrangements.^[77] They were joined by Jim Keltner, who had impressed at the 1971 Bangladesh concerts,^[86]and Nicky Hopkins,^[77] whose musical link to Harrison went back to the 1968 Jackie Lomax single “Sour Milk Sea“.^[85] Ringo Starr also contributed to the album, when his burgeoning film career allowed,^[87] and Jim Horn, another musician from the Concert for Bangladesh band, supplied horns and flutes.^[77] The recording engineer was Phil McDonald, who had worked in the same role on All Things Must Pass.^[88]

All the rhythm and lead guitar parts were performed by Harrison alone^[89] – the ex-Beatle stepping out from the “looming shadow” of Clapton for the first time, Leng has noted.^[90] Most of the basic tracks were recorded with Harrison on acoustic guitar; only “Living in the Material World”, “Who Can See It” and “That Is All” featured electric rhythm parts, those for the latter two songs adopting the same Leslie-toned sound found on much of the Beatles’ Abbey Road (1969).^[59][91] Ham and his Badfinger bandmate Tom Evans augmented the line-up on 4 and 11 October,^[38] although their playing would not find its way onto the released album.^[92]

The sessions took place partly at Apple Studio in London, but mostly at Harrison’s home studio, FPSHOT, according to Voormann.^{[77][93][nb 6]} Apple Studio, together with its Savile Row, London W1 address, would receive a prominent credit on the Living in the Material World record sleeve, as a further sign of Harrison’s championing of the Beatles-owned recording facility.^[93][97] At the weekends during these autumn months, Hopkins recorded his own solo album, The Tin Man Was a Dreamer (1973), at Apple,^[85] with contributions from Harrison, Voormann and Horn.^[98][99] Voormann has described the mood at the Friar Park sessions as “intimate, quiet, friendly” and in stark contrast to the sessions he, Harrison and Hopkins had attended at Lennon’s home in 1971, for the Imagine album.^[95] Keltner recalls Harrison as having been focused and “at his peak physically” throughout the recording of Living in the Material World,^[100] having given up smoking and taken to using Hindu prayer beads.^[101]

The sessions continued until the end of November,^[77] when Hopkins left for Jamaica to work on the Rolling Stones‘ new album.^[102] During this period, Harrison co-produced a new live album for Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan for a January release on Apple Records,^[103] the highly regarded In Concert 1972.^{[104][nb 7]}

Overdubbing and mixing[edit]

After hosting a visit by Bob Dylan and his wife Sara at Friar Park,^[106] Harrison resumed work on the album in January 1973, at Apple.^[107] “Sue Me, Sue You Blues”, which he had originally given to Jesse Ed Davis to record in 1971,^[38] was taped at this point.^[108] The lyrics’ courtroom theme had a new relevance in early 1973,^[109] as he, Lennon and Starr looked to sever all legal ties with manager Allen Klein, who had been the prime cause for McCartney’s earlier litigation.^{[110][nb 8]}

For the rest of January and through February, extensive overdubs were carried out on the album’s basic tracks^[75] – comprising vocals, percussion, Harrison’s slide guitar parts and Horn’s contributions. “Living in the Material World” received significant attention during this last phase of the album production, with sitar, flute and Zakir Hussain‘s tabla being added to fill the song’s two “spiritual sky” sections.^{[77][nb 9]} The resulting contrast between the main, Western rock portion and the Indian-style middle eights emphasised Harrison’s struggle between physical-world temptations and his spiritual goals.^[115][116] The Indian instrumentation overdubbed on this track and “Be Here Now” also marked a rare return to the genre for Harrison,^[117] recalling his work with the Beatles over 1966–68 and his first solo album, Wonderwall Music (1968).^[118]

Barham’s orchestra and choir were the final items to be recorded, on “The Day the World Gets ‘Round”, “Who Can See It” and “That Is All”,^[119] in early March.^[77] With production on the album completed, Harrison flew to Los Angeles for Beatles-related business meetings^[120] and to begin work on Shankar and Starr’s respective albums, Shankar Family & Friends (1974) and Ringo (1973).^[54]

Album artwork[edit]

As he had done with All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangladesh, Harrison entrusted the album’s art design to Tom Wilkes,^[121] and the latter’s new business partner, Craig Baun.^[122][123] The gatefold and lyric insert sleeves for Living in the Material World were much commented-on at the time of release, Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone describing the record as “beautifully-packaged with symbolic hand-print covers and the dedication, ‘All Glories to Sri Krsna'”,^[1] while author Nicholas Schaffner likewise admired the “color representations of the Hindu scriptures“,^[81] in the form of a painting from a Prabhupada-published edition of the Bhagavad Gita.^[73][124] Reproduced on the lyric insert sheet (on the back of which was a red Om symbol with yellow surround, on a black background),^[125] this painting features Krishna with Arjuna, the legendary archer and warrior, in a chariot, being pulled by the enchanted seven-headed horse Uchchaihshravas.^[121] With the album arriving at the height of the glam or glitter rock musical trend,^[126] Clayson writes of this image: “a British teenager might have still dug the gear worn by Krishna in his chariot … Androgynous in beaded kaftan, jewelled fez and peacock feather, and strikingly pretty, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was not unlike some of the new breed of theatrical British chartbusters.”^[127]

For the album’s striking front-cover image, Wilkes used a Kirlian photograph of Harrison’s hand holding a Hindu medallion.^[128] The photo was taken at UCLA‘s parapsychology department, as was the shot used on the back cover, where Harrison instead holds three US coins: a couple of quarters and a silver dollar.^[121]

The gatefold’s inner left panel, opposite the album’s production credits,^[125] showed Harrison and his fellow musicians – Starr, Horn, Voormann, Hopkins, Keltner and Wright – at a long table, laden with food and wine.^[121][129] A deliberate parody of da Vinci‘s The Last Supper,^[130] the picture was taken in California at the mock-Tudor home of entertainment lawyer Abe Somers, by Hollywood glamour photographer Ken Marcus.^{[121][nb 10]} As with the US coinage used on the back cover, various details in the photo represent what Harrison termed the “gross” aspects^[131] of life in the material world.^[121] Clayson has speculated about the symbolism and hidden messages within the photo: whether the nurse with a pram, set back from and to the left of the table, was a reference to Boyd’s inability to conceive a child; and the empty, distant wheelchair in memory of Harrison’s late mother.^[129] Theologian Dale Allison observes the anti-Catholic sentiment within this inner-gatefold photo, following on from Harrison’s lyrics to his 1970 song “Awaiting on You All“.^[130] Harrison is dressed as a priest, all in black, sporting an Old West six-shooter – “a slam at the perceived materialism and violence of the Roman church”, Allison writes.^[130]

On the back cover, underneath the second hand-print design, text provides details of the fictitious Jim Keltner Fan Club,^[132] information on which was available by sending a “stamped undressed elephant” – for: self-addressed envelope – to a Los Angeles postal address.^[125] This detail was an affectionate thank-you to the popular drummer (Starr would repeat the gesture on his album later in the year), as well as a light-hearted dig – in its use of “wing” symbols, like those in Wings‘ logo^[125] – at McCartney, who had recently launched a fan club for his new band.^[121][132]

Release[edit]

Due to the extended recording period, Living in the Material World was issued at the end of a busy Apple release schedule, with April and May 1973 having already been set aside for the Beatles compilations 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 and for Paul McCartney & Wings’ second album, Red Rose Speedway.^[132][133] Schaffner recorded in his book The Beatles Forever: “For a while there … album charts were reminiscent of the golden age of Beatlemania.”^[134] Preceding Harrison’s long-awaited release was the acoustic single “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”,^[135] which became his second number 1 hit in the United States.^[136] This was accompanied by a billboard and print advertising campaign,^[137][138]including a three-panel poster combining the album’s front and back covers, and an Apple publicity photo showing Harrison, now free of the heavy beard familiar from the All Things Must Pass–Concert for Bangladesh era,^[139] with his hand outstretched, mirroring Wilkes’ album cover image.^[134][140]

Living in the Material World was issued on 30 May 1973 in America (with Apple catalogue number SMAS 3410) and on 22 June in Britain (as Apple PAS 10006).^[141] It enjoyed immediate commercial success,^[142] entering the Billboard 200 at number 11 and hitting number 1 in its second week, on 23 June, demoting Wings’ album in the process.^[143] Material World spent five weeks atop the US charts, having been awarded a gold disc by the RIAA within two days of release, for advance orders.^[144][145] In the UK, the album peaked at number 2, held from the top position by the soundtrack to Starr’s movie That’ll Be the Day.^[146] Despite high sales initially, its follow-on success was limited by what Leng terms the “anomalous” decision to cancel the release of a second US single, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long”.^[147]

With Living in the Material World, Harrison achieved the Billboard double for a second time when “Give Me Love” hit the top position during the album’s stay at number 1^[73] – the only one of his former bandmates to have done it even once being McCartney, with the recent “My Love” and Red Rose Speedway.^[145][148] Harrison carried out no supporting promotion for Material World; “pre-recorded tapes” were issued to BBC Radio 1 and played repeatedly on the show Radio One Club, but his only public appearance in Britain was to accompany Prabhupada on a religious procession through central London, on 8 July.^[149] According to author Bill Harry, the album sold over 3 million copies worldwide.^[150]

Critical reception[edit]

Contemporary reviews[edit]

Leng describes Living the Material World as “one of the most keenly anticipated discs of the decade” and its unveiling “a major event”.^[151] Among expectant music critics, Stephen Holden began his highly favourable^[115][152] review in Rolling Stone with the words “At last it’s here”, before hailing the new Harrison album as a “pop classic” and a “profoundly seductive record”.^[1] “Happily, the album is not just a commercial event,” he wrote, “it is the most concise, universally conceived work by a former Beatle since John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.”^[1] Billboard magazine noted the twin themes found throughout the album – “the Beatles and their mish-mash” versus a “spiritual undercoat” – and described Harrison’s vocals as “first-rate”.^[153][154]

Two weeks ahead of the UK release date, Melody Maker published a full-page “exclusive preview” of Material World by its New York correspondent, Michael Watts.^[155] The latter wrote that “the most strikingly immediate impression left by the album” concerned its lyrics, which, although “solemn and pious” at times, were “more interesting” thematically than those on All Things Must Pass, such that Material World was “as personal, in its own way, as anything that Lennon has done”.^[156] While describing the pared-down production as “good artistic judgement in view of the nature of the lyrics”, Watts concluded: “Harrison has always struck me before as simply a writer of very classy pop songs; now he stands as something more than an entertainer. Now he’s being honest.”^[156]

While Holden had opined that, of all the four Beatles, Harrison had inherited “the most precious” legacy – namely, “the spiritual aura that the group accumulated, beginning with the White Album“^[1] – other reviewers objected to the overt religiosity of Living in the Material World.^[157][158] This was particularly so in Britain,^[100][129] where by summer 1973, author Bob Woffinden later wrote, “the Beatle bubble had undoubtedly burst” and for each of the former bandmates, his individual “pedestal” was now “an exposed, rather than a comfortable, place to be”.^[159]

In the NME, Tony Tyler began his review by stating that he had long idolised Harrison as “the finest packaged object since frozen pizza”, but he had changed his opinion dramatically in recent years; after the “dire, ennui-making” All Things Must Pass, Tyler continued, “the unworthiness of my heretical thoughts smote home around the time of the Bangla Desh concerts.”^[161] Tyler dismissed Material World with the description: “[It’s] pleasant, competent, vaguely dull and inoffensive. It’s also breathtakingly unoriginal and – lyrically at least – turgid, repetitive and so damn holy I could scream.”^[161] The reviewer concluded: “I have no doubt whatever it’ll sell like hot tracts and that George’ll donate all the profits to starving Bengalis and make me feel like the cynical heel I undoubtedly am.”^[160][161] In their 1975 book The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, Tyler and co-author Roy Carr bemoaned Harrison’s “didactically imposing [of] said Holy Memoirs upon innocent record-collectors” and declared the album’s spiritual theme “almost as offensive in its own way” as Lennon and Yoko Ono‘s political radicalism on Some Time in New York City (1972).^[162]

According to New Zealand music critic Graham Reid, a contemporary Australian review remarked on the album’s religiosity: “oftentimes the music is a more truthful guide to the sense of the lyrics than the words themselves. Harrison is not a great wordsmith but he is a superb musician. Everything flows, everything interweaves. His melodies are so superb they take care of everything …”^[57] Like Holden, Nicholas Schaffner approved of the singer’s gesture in donating his publishing royalties to the Material World Charitable Foundation and praised the album’s “exquisite musical underpinnings”.^[81] Although the “transcendent dogma” was not always to his taste, Schaffner recognised that in Living in the Material World, Harrison had “devised a luxuriant rock devotional designed to transform his fans’ stereo equipment into a temple”.^[163]

Aside from the album’s lyrical themes, its production and musicianship were widely praised, Schaffner noting: “Surely Phil Spector never had a more attentive pupil.”^[67] Carr and Tyler lauded Harrison’s “superb and accomplished slide-guitar breaks”,^[162] and the solos on “Give Me Love”, “The Lord Loves the One”, “The Light That Has Lighted the World” and “Living in the Material World” have each been identified as exemplary and among the finest of Harrison’s career.^{[89][90][164][165]} In his book The Beatles Apart (1981), Woffinden wrote: “Those who carped at the lyrics, or at Harrison himself, missed a great deal of the music, much of which was exceptionally fine.”^[78] Woffinden described the album as “a very good one”, Harrison’s “only mistake” being that he had waited so long before following up his successes over 1970–71.^[166]

Retrospective assessment[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[89]
Blender	[167]
Robert Christgau	C[168]
Classic Rock	8/10[169]
Mojo	[170]
The Music Box	[171]
MusicHound	3.5/5[172]
Music Story	[173]
PopMatters	[174]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[175]

In the decades following its release, Living in the Material World gained a reputation as “a forgotten blockbuster” – a term used by Simon Leng^[22] and echoed by commentators such as Robert Rodriguez^[176] and AllMusic‘s Bruce Eder.^[89] The latter describes Harrison’s 1973 album as “an underrated minor masterpiece” that “represent[s] his solo playing and songwriting at something of a peak”.^[89] John Metzger of The Music Box refers to Material World as “the most underrated and overlooked album of [Harrison]’s career”, adding that it “coalesces around its songs … and the Zen-like beauty that emanates from Harrison’s hymns to a higher power inevitably becomes subtly affecting.”^[171]

Writing in Rolling Stone in 2002, Greg Kot found the album “drearily monochromatic” compared to its predecessor,^[177] and to PopMatters‘ Zeth Lundy, it suffers from “a more anonymous tract” next to the “cathedral-grade significance” of All Things Must Pass.^[174] Reviewing Harrison’s solo career for Goldmine magazine in 2002, Dave Thompson considered the 1973 album to be the equal of All Things Must Pass, reasoning: “While history insists that Living in the Material World could not help but be eclipsed by its gargantuan forebear, with the two albums in the CD player and the ‘shuffle’ function mixing them up, it’s difficult to play favourites.”^[178]

In his review of the 2006 remastered release, for Q magazine, Tom Doyle praised the album’s ballads, such as “The Light That Has Lighted the World” and “Be Here Now”, and suggested that “the distance of time helps to reveal its varied charms”.^[179] Mojo‘s Mat Snow wrote of “this long overdue reissue” being “worth it alone for four wonderful songs”, including “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long” and “The Day the World Gets ‘Round”, and concluded: “The rest is Hari Georgeson at his most preachy, but it’s never less than musical and often light on its feet.”^[170] In another 2006 review, for the Vintage Rock website, Shawn Perry wrote of Material World being “more restrained and immediate without the wall of sound whitewash of its predecessor, but its flow and elegance are unmistakable”. Perry admired Harrison’s slide guitar playing and rated the album an “underrated, classic record”.^[180] Writing for Uncut in 2008, David Cavanagh described Material World as “a bit full-on, religion-wise” but “the album to play if you want musicianship at its best”.^[181]

2014 appraisal and legacy[edit]

Reviewing the 2014 reissue, Blogcritics‘ Chaz Lipp writes that “this chart-topping classic is, in terms of production, arguably preferable to its predecessor”, adding: “The sinewy ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues,’ galloping title track, and soaring ‘Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long’ rank right alongside Harrison’s best work.”^[182] Alex Franquelli of PopMatters refers to it as “a worthy successor” to All Things Must Pass and an album that “raises the bar of social awareness that had only been touched on lightly in the previous release”. Franquelli concludes: “It is a work that enjoys a more elaborate dynamic development, where layers are kept together by Harrison’s clever work behind the mixing desk.”^[183] In another 2014 review, for Classic Rock, Paul Trynka writes: “All these years on, it’s his most overtly spiritual album that sparkles today … The well-known songs, such as ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues’ (dedicated to the rapacious Allen Klein), stand up well, but it’s the more restrained tracks – ‘Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long’, ‘Who Can See It’ – that entrance: gorgeous pop songs, all the more forceful for their restraint.” Trynka goes on to describe “Be Here Now” as the album’s “towering achievement” and “a masterpiece”.^[184][185]

Among Beatles biographers, Alan Clayson approves of Material World‘s “self-production criterion closer to the style of George Martin“, after the “looser abundance” of All Things Must Pass.^[186] Within the more restrained surroundings, Clayson adds, Harrison laid claim to the title “king of rock ‘n’ roll slide guitar”, in addition to giving perhaps his “most magnificent [vocal] performance on record” on “Who Can See It”.^[164] Rodriguez also approves of a production aesthetic that allows instruments to “sparkle” and “breathing space” for his melodies, and rates Harrison’s guitar playing as “stellar” throughout.^[187] Peter Lavezzoli describes the album as “a soulful collection of songs that feature some of Harrison’s finest singing, particularly the gorgeous Roy Orbison-esque ballad ‘Who Can See It'”.^[158]

Leng has named Living in the Material World as his personal favourite of all of Harrison’s solo albums.^[188] According to Leng, with its combination of a defiant “protest” song in “The Day the World Gets ‘Round”, the anti-stardom “The Lord Loves the One”, and “perfect pop confections” in “Give Me Love” and “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long”, Living in the Material World was the last album to capture the same clear-sighted, utopian spirit that characterised the 1960s.^[189] Eder likewise welcomes Material World‘s bold idealism, saying: “Even in the summer of 1973, after years of war and strife and disillusionment, some of us were still sort of looking – to borrow a phrase from a Lennon–McCartney song – or hoping to get from them something like ‘the word’ that would make us free. And George, God love him, had the temerity to actually oblige …”^[89]

Reissues[edit]

2006[edit]

While solo works by Lennon, McCartney and Starr had all been remastered as part of repackaging campaigns during the 1990s and early 21st century, Harrison’s Living in the Material World was “neglected over the years”, author Bruce Spizer wrote in 2005, an “unfortunate” situation considering the quality of its songs.^[77] On 25 September 2006, EMI reissued the album in the UK, on CD and in a deluxe CD/DVD package,^[190] with Capitol Records‘ US release following the next day.^[191] The remastered Material World featured two additional tracks,^[192] neither of which had previously been available on an album:^[193] “Deep Blue” and “Miss O’Dell”, popular B-sides, respectively, to the 1971 non-album single “Bangla Desh” and “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)”.^[174] The CD/DVD edition contained a 40-page full colour booklet^[190] that included extra photos from the inner-gatefold shoot (taken by Mal Evans and Barry Feinstein), liner notes by Kevin Howlett, and Harrison’s handwritten lyrics and comments on the songs, reproduced from I Me Mine.^[194]

The DVD featured a concert performance of “Give Me Love”, recorded during Harrison’s 1991 Japanese tour with Eric Clapton,^[191] and previously unreleased versions of “Miss O’Dell” and “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” set to a slideshow of archival film.^[190] The final selection consisted of the album’s title track playing over 1973 footage^[190] of the LP being audio-tested and packaged prior to shipment.^[171] While Zeth Lundy found that the deluxe edition “bestows lavish attention upon a record that may not exactly deserve it”, with the DVD “an unnecessary bonus”,^[174] Shawn Perry considered the supplementary disc to be possibly the “pièce de résistance” of the 2006 reissue, and concluded: “this package is a beautiful tribute to the late and great guitarist any Beatles and Harrison fan will cherish.”^[180]

2014[edit]

Living in the Material World was remastered again for inclusion in the Harrison box set The Apple Years 1968–75, issued in September 2014.^[195] Also available as a separate CD, the reissue reproduces Howlett’s 2006 essay and adds “Bangla Desh” as a third bonus track, after “Deep Blue” and “Miss O’Dell”.^[196] In his preview of the 2014 reissues, for Rolling Stone, David Fricke pairs Material World with All Things Must Pass as representing “the heart of the [box] set”.^[197] Disc eight of The Apple Years includes the four items featured on the 2006 deluxe edition DVD.^[196]

Track listing[edit]

All songs written by George Harrison.

Original release[edit]

Side one

1. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” – 3:36
2. “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” – 4:48
3. “The Light That Has Lighted the World” – 3:31
4. “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long” – 2:57
5. “Who Can See It” – 3:52
6. “Living in the Material World” – 5:31

Side two

7. “The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)” – 4:34
8. “Be Here Now” – 4:09
9. “Try Some, Buy Some” – 4:08
10. “The Day the World Gets ‘Round” – 2:53
11. “That Is All” – 3:43

2006 remaster[edit]

Bonus tracks

12. “Deep Blue” – 3:47
13. “Miss O’Dell” – 2:33

Deluxe edition DVD

1. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” (recorded live at Tokyo Dome on 15 December 1991)
2. “Miss O’Dell” (alternative version)
3. “Sue Me, Sue You Blues” (acoustic demo version)
4. “Living in the Material World”

2014 remaster[edit]

Bonus tracks

12. “Deep Blue” – 3:47
13. “Miss O’Dell” – 2:33
14. “Bangla Desh” – 3:57

Personnel[edit]

• George Harrison – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, dobro, sitar, backing vocals
• Nicky Hopkins – piano, electric piano
• Gary Wright – organ, harmonium, electric piano, harpsichord
• Klaus Voormann – bass, standup bass, tenor saxophone
• Jim Keltner – drums, percussion
• Ringo Starr – drums, percussion
• Jim Horn – saxophones, flute, horn arrangement
• Zakir Hussain – tabla
• John Barham – orchestral and choral arrangements
• Leon Russell – piano (on “Try Some, Buy Some”)
• Jim Gordon – drums, tambourine (on “Try Some, Buy Some”)
• Pete Ham – acoustic guitar (on “Try Some, Buy Some”)

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Notes[edit]

The Radha Krsna Temple
Studio album by Radha Krishna Temple (London)
Released	21 May 1971
Recorded	July 1969, January–March 1970 Abbey Road Studios, London; Apple Studio, London; Trident Studios, London
Genre	Indian devotional music
Length	42:44
Label	Apple
Producer	George Harrison
Singles from The Radha Krsna Temple
“Hare Krishna Mantra” Released: 22 August 1969 (US); 29 August 1969 (UK) “Govinda” Released: 6 March 1970 (UK); 24 March 1970 (US)

The Radha Krsna Temple is a 1971 album of Hindu devotional songs recorded by the UK branch of the Hare Krishna movement – more formally, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – who received the artist credit of “Radha Krishna Temple (London)“. The album was produced by George Harrison and released on the Beatles‘ Apple record label. It compiles two hit singles, “Hare Krishna Mantra” and “Govinda”, with other Sanskrit-worded mantras and prayers that the Temple devotees recorded with Harrison from July 1969 onwards.

The recordings reflected Harrison’s commitment to the Gaudiya Vaishnava teachings of the movement’s leader, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who had sent devotees from San Francisco to London in 1968. The success of the Temple’s first single, “Hare Krishna Mantra”, helped popularise the Hare Krishna movement in the West, and inspired Harrison’s more overtly religious songs on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. Among the Temple members, former jazz musician and future ISKCON leader Mukunda Goswami provided the musical arrangements on the recordings.

After its initial release, the album was reissued on the Spiritual Sky label and by Prabhupada’s Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, often with the new title Goddess of Fortune. Apple officially reissued The Radha Krsna Temple on CD in 1993, and again in 2010, with the addition of two bonus tracks.

Background[edit]

In 1968, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder and acharya (leader) of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), sent six of his devotees to London to establish a new centre there, the Radha Krishna Temple, and so expand on the success of ISKCON’s temples in New York and San Francisco.^[1] The group was led by Mukunda Das, formerly a pianist with jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, and Shyamsundar Das.^[2] With the acharya’s blessing, they decided to seek out George Harrison of the Beatles, whose interest in Hindu philosophy, meditation and Indian music had done much to promote these causes among Western youth.^[3] In December 1968, Shyamsundar met Harrison at the Beatles’ Apple Corps headquarters in central London,^[4] after which Harrison began visiting the devotees at their warehouse accommodation in Covent Garden.^[5]

Harrison had first experienced kirtan, or communal chanting, while in the Indian city of Vrindavan with Ravi Shankar, in 1966.^[6] Harrison was inspired by the devotees’ music-making, whereby mantras were sung accompanied by instrumentation such as harmonium and percussion.^[7] He and John Lennon had similarly enjoyed Prabhupada’s album of chants, Krishna Consciousness.^[8][9] In addition, Harrison had come to appreciate the positive properties of the Maha or Hare Krishna mantra,^[10] after he had chanted it when his plane lost control during a flight back from San Francisco in August 1967.^[11]

From his first visit to the devotees’ warehouse, Harrison regularly played harmonium during kirtan with Shyamsundar and others. On occasions, the ensemble included synthesizer accompaniment from Billy Preston,^[12] whom Harrison was producing for the Beatles’ Apple record label.^[13] According to author Joshua Greene, the decision to release recordings by the Radha Krishna Temple came about after one such session of kirtan, held at Harrison’s Surrey home, Kinfauns.^[14] Harrison telephoned the devotees the following morning, saying, “You’re going to make a record”, and told them to come to Abbey Road Studios that same evening.^[15]

“Hare Krishna Mantra” single[edit]

Via his disciples, Prabhupada had recommended that the Beatles record the Hare Krishna mantra, in order to spread the message of Krishna Consciousness to the group’s wide fan base.^[16] Instead, Harrison chose to produce a version by the London-based ISKCON devotees and issue it as a single on Apple Records.^[17] As a song, “Hare Krishna Mantra” consists of the sixteen-word Sanskrit Maha Mantra sung over both verse and chorus:^[18]

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama
Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Recording[edit]

The recording for “Hare Krishna Mantra” took place at EMI‘s Abbey Road Studios in July 1969,^[19] shortly before a session for the Beatles’ Abbey Road album. Harrison worked through a musical arrangement for the piece on guitar, with Mukunda playing piano. For the recording, Harrison decided on joint lead vocalists over the verses, Yamuna and Shyamsundar,^[20] with the other devotees joining in on the choruses.^[21] The engineer on the recording was Ken Scott.^[22]

Harrison played harmonium during the initial taping, which required three takes to perfect.^[23] He then added Leslie-effected electric guitar at the start of the track,^[24] and also overdubbed a bass guitar part.^[23] Harrison later recalled that he “had someone beat time with a pair of kartals and Indian drums”,^{[nb 1]} and that the other devotees were brought in afterwards to overdub the chorus singing and other contributions.^[27]

In addition to various Temple members on mridangam and kartal, a recent American recruit played trumpet.^[23] Malati (Shyamsundar’s wife) sounded the closing gong,^[28] after the track had built to what author Simon Leng describes as a “dervishlike climax”.^[24]Apple employees Mal Evans and Chris O’Dell attended this session also.^[15] The latter, along with her mother, joined the backing chorus, at Shyamsundar’s invitation.^[29] In her 2009 autobiography, O’Dell writes of the experience of feeling “physically and spiritually changed” after singing the mantra, adding: “Chanting the words over and over again was almost hypnotic … there was a point of freedom where there was no effort at all, no criticism or judgment, just the sound generated from deep inside, like a flame that warmed us from the inside out.”^[30]

For the B-side, Harrison recorded the devotees singing “Prayer to the Spiritual Masters”.^[31] According to Prabhupada biographer Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, the lyrics offer praise to “Śrīla Prabhupāda, Lord Caitanya and His associates, and the six Gosvāmīs“^[21] – Lord Caitanya being Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the sixteenth-century avatar of the Hare Krishna movement.^[16] The song again features group vocals, accompanied by harmonium, percussion and an Indian bowed string instrument known as the esraj,^[32] which Shyamsundar regularly played during kirtan.^[7] As for “Hare Krishna Mantra”, the arrangement on “Prayer to the Spiritual Masters” was credited to Mukunda Das (as Mukunda Das Adhikary).^[33]

Release[edit]

Apple Records issued the single, which was credited to “Radha Krishna Temple (London)”, on 22 August 1969 in the United States (as Apple 1810) and on 29 August in the United Kingdom (as Apple 15).^[34] On 28 August, Harrison joined the devotees at Apple’s press launch, held in the gardens of a large property in Sydenham, south London.^[35][36] Straight after the launch, Harrison drove down to the Isle of Wight to rejoin Bob Dylan,^[36] who was due to make his highly publicised return to live performance at the island’s music festival. On 31 August, just before Dylan took to the stage, “Hare Krishna Mantra” was played over the venue’s PA.^[37] Mukunda later identified this exposure, together with the song’s airing during halftime at a Manchester United football game, as being indicative of how the ancient Maha Mantra “penetrated British society” via the Harrison-produced recording.^[38]

In the UK, the single’s picture sleeve featured a photograph of the devotees taken by Ethan Russell.^[39] Harrison biographer Alan Clayson writes of the public’s amusement at the appearance of the Temple devotees, dressed in orange robes and with shaved heads;^[40] speaking in 2011, Mukunda recalled hearing “Hare Krishna Mantra” played on a London radio station, followed by the announcer’s description: “That was a song by a group of bald-headed Americans!”^[41] Clayson continues: “but thanks to George the irrepressible ‘Hare Krishna Mantra’ had encroached on public consciousness to a degree that Prabhupada could never have imagined in 1966.”^[42]

The single was an expected commercial success,^[32] peaking at number 12 in the UK^[43] and number 15 in West Germany.^[44] According to Apple’s website, it did particularly well in Czechoslovakia also.^[45][46] The single failed to chart in America, however.^[32] Shyamsundar has suggested that “some politics were involved” regarding religious groups there, and the song received little airplay as a result.^[47]

The Radha Krishna Temple appeared on BBC-TV‘s Top of the Pops to promote the song^[48] and filmed a video clip.^[49] The also made many concert and festival appearances in response to the song’s popularity.^[42]Clayson writes of other benefits to ISKCON’s cause: “there were many new converts and an even bigger increase of sympathisers who no longer regarded a line of Hare Krishna chanters down [London’s] Oxford Street with sidelong scepticism …”^[50] Author Peter Lavezzoli has described the success of “Hare Krishna Mantra” as “an astonishing feat”.^[51] In the Gaudiya Vaishnava faith, the international acceptance of the mantra fulfilled a prediction by Lord Chaitanya,^[16] who had written: “One day, the chanting of the holy names of God will be heard in every town and village of the world.”^[52]

Album recording[edit]

Harrison provided the Radha Krishna Temple with financial assistance^[51] and acted as a co-signee of their more permanent accommodation^[53] – at Bury Place, close to the British Museum in Bloomsbury.^[54] He then met Prabhupada in September 1969, at Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park estate, as the new premises was being renovated.^[55][56] While also producing Apple acts such as Preston and Doris Troy,^[57][58] Harrison was keen to record further with the Temple devotees and release a full album of their songs. In December, he suggested they come up with further material.^[59] Scott was again credited as the engineer at these later Radha Krishna Temple sessions.^[22] He has spoken of the challenges of recording the participants, many of whom would not remain stationary during a take, and described the project as “absolutely fascinating”.^[60]

The musicians on these recordings included Harrison on guitars and bass; Temple members such as Yamuna on lead vocals; and other devotees on backing vocals, mridanga, harmonium, tambura and kartal.^[61] Harrison was much impressed with Yamuna’s voice and suggested she could become “a famous rock star”.^[62] In a 1982 discussion with Mukunda, Harrison said: “I liked the way [Yamuna] sang with conviction, and she sang [‘Hare Krishna Mantra’] like she’d been singing it a lot before. It didn’t sound like the first [professionally recorded] tune she’d ever sung.”^[63] Discussing Harrison’s role in the studio, Gurudas, Yamuna’s husband, has compared him with the Hare Krishna movement’s leader, saying: “George was like Prabhupada, he could be a ringmaster – he could just pull everything together.”^[64]

The tracks “Sri Guruvastakam” and “Sri Isopanisad” also featured dobro, an instrument that Harrison came to use increasingly during the early 1970s.^[65] Arrangements for all the songs on The Radha Krsna Temple were again credited to Mukunda.^[66] A student in Paris at the time, and a keyboard player in his university band, Joshua Greene joined the Radha Krishna Temple over the 1969–70 holiday season,^[67] taking the devotee name Yogesvara.^[68]He recalls participating in sessions held at Abbey Road^[61] and Apple Studio, during which he played harmonium on “Govinda Jai Jai“.^[69] Whereas Harrison had limited the length of the earlier recordings to no more than four minutes, to attract maximum radio play,^[70] album tracks such as “Bhaja Bhakata/Arati” and “Bhaja Hunre Mana” extended to over eight minutes.^{[71][nb 2]}

“Govinda” single[edit]

Recording[edit]

Among the new pieces was “Govinda”, a musical adaptation of what is considered to be the world’s first poem,^[75] consisting of Govindam prayers.^[76] Gurudas described it to a reporter as a song that “comes from the Satya Yuga or Golden Era of the universe and was passed down through the ages by a chain of self-realized gurus“.^[77] Author Bruce Spizer writes that Harrison “went all out” with his production of the track, creating an “exciting and hypnotic arrangement”.^[32]

The recording session took place in January 1970,^[78] at Trident Studios in central London.^[27] Harrison had already created the backing track, which featured rock instrumentation such as acoustic guitar, organ, bass and drums, before the devotees’ arrival. Yamuna was the sole lead vocalist. Also among those attending the session were Preston and singers Donovan and Mary Hopkin, some of whom joined the devotees on the song’s choruses, according to Greene.^[62] Over the introduction, Harrison overdubbed esraj, played by Shyamsundar, and lute-like oud, which was performed by Harivilas, a devotee who had recently arrived in London from Iran.^[62]

Following this session, Harrison added a lead guitar part^[75] and hired members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra to overdub string orchestration, harp and tubular bells onto the track.^[62] The orchestral arrangement for “Govinda” was supplied by John Barham,^[26] a regular Harrison collaborator,^[79] and similarly dedicated to furthering Western appreciation of Indian classical music.^[80]

Release[edit]

Backed with “Govinda Jai Jai”, “Govinda” was issued by Apple on 6 March 1970 in Britain (as Apple 25) and 24 March in the United States (as Apple 1821).^[81][82] The single made the UK top 30, peaking at number 23.^[43] Apple’s press officer, Derek Taylor, later recalled that his department placed print advertisements stating that “Govinda” was “the best record ever made”.^[27] Prabhupada first heard the recording in Los Angeles; moved to tears, he asked for it to be played every morning while ISKCON devotees offered prayers in honour of the deities.^[83] In their book documenting the first 40 years of the Hare Krishna movement, Graham Dwyer and Richard Cole write that with “Hare Krishna Mantra” and “Govinda” “[becoming] hits across Europe, in Japan, in Australia, and even in Africa … the chanting of Hare Krishna had become world famous”.^[49] In his essay on ISKCON temple procedure, Kenneth Valpey writes of the significance of the lead singer being female – an “unthinkable” event in more traditional systems of Krishna worship, but consistent with Prabhupada’s openness to having women in the role of temple priests.^[84]

Coinciding with the release of “Govinda”, Harrison accompanied Shyamsundar and other devotees to Paris,^[85] to help establish the local ISKCON branch there.^[86] Showing further support for the Hare Krishna movement,^[49][87] Harrison financed the publication of Prabhupada’s Krsna Book in March 1970.^[88] Soon afterwards, he accommodated families from the expanding London Radha Krishna Temple at his newly purchased estate in Oxfordshire, Friar Park,^[89][90] before going on to record his triple album All Things Must Pass.^[91] The latter also reflected his embracing of the Temple’s Gaudiya Vaishnava doctrine and Krishna Consciousness,^[92] in songs such as “My Sweet Lord“,^[93] “Awaiting on You All“^[94] and “Beware of Darkness“.^[95]

Album release[edit]

Yamuna told Prabhupda that Harrison was hoping to issue the devotees’ album “in time for Christmas [1970]”, with the title Bhaja Hunre Mana, Mana Hu Re.^[96] In fact, Apple Records released The Radha Krsna Temple on 21 May 1971 in America (as Apple SKAO 3376) and 28 May in Britain (as Apple SAPCOR 18). In addition to four new songs, the album included tracks previously issued on the Radha Krishna Temple (London) singles – “Hare Krishna Mantra”, “Govinda” and “Govinda Jai Jai”.^[66] The version of “Govinda” extended to 4:39 in duration, whereas the 1970 A-side had a running time of 3:18.^[97]

Featuring a photo taken by John Kosh,^[22] the album cover depicted the deities Radha and Krishna in the temple at Bury Place.^[73] The LP‘s inner sleeve included a reproduction of a painting of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, while a photo of Prabhupada appeared on the back cover.^[22] Print advertisements accompanying the US release carried text reading: “Vibrations of these mantras reveal to the receptive hearer and chanter the realm of KRSNA consciousness, joyfully experienced as a peace of self and awareness of GOD and KRSNA. These eternal sounds of love release the hearer from all contemporary barriers of time and space.”^[98][99]

Billboard magazine included The Radha Krsna Temple among its “4 Star” albums list on 29 May.^[100] The previous week, the magazine had reported on “heavy” promotional activities being undertaken by the Dutch branch of the movement.^[101] The album followed the worldwide success of Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” single, which had further popularised the Maha Mantra,^[102][103] and by association the Hare Krishna movement,^[92][104] through that song’s incorporation of the mantra and other Sanskrit verses.^[105][106] Despite this, The Radha Krsna Temple failed to chart in Britain or America, issued at a time when Apple’s promotion of its artists had deteriorated^[107] following Allen Klein‘s cutbacks within the company throughout 1970.^[108][109]

Reissue[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[110]
Q	[111]

After an initial release on CD in 1993, with liner notes provided by Derek Taylor, The Radha Krsna Temple was remastered and reissued in October 2010, as part of the Apple Box Set.^[112] Taylor’s essay carried the slogan “20th Anniversary of Bhaktivedanta Manor 1973–1993 – Here To Stay!”,^[27] referring to the Hertfordshire property that Harrison had donated to the UK branch of the Hare Krishna movement in February 1973.^{[113][nb 3]}

Before the Apple reissues, the album was re-released as Goddess of Fortune on the Spiritual Sky label in 1973,^[118] and in other editions, including through Prabhupada’s Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in 1991.^[119] The cover of Goddess of Fortune replaced Kosh’s 1971 artwork with a photo by Clive Arrowsmith and a design credited to Peter Hawkins.^[120] Another title during the early 1990s was Chant and Be Happy,^[121] a release that combined the original album with recordings of Harrison and Lennon discussing Krishna Consciousness.^[122]

The 1993 Apple CD added the non-album B-side “Prayer to the Spiritual Masters” as a bonus track,^[123] while the 2010 reissue also included the previously unreleased “Namaste Saraswati Devi”,^[112] a song written in praise of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and the arts.^[124] That year, the album version of “Govinda” appeared on Apple’s first-ever multi-artist compilation, Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records.^[125] This second Apple reissue was remastered by Paul Hicks and Alex Wharton, led by Abbey Road project coordinator Allan Rouse.^[73]

Reviewing the 2010 remastered album, Joe Marchese of The Second Disc writes that The Radha Krsna Temple has “a spellbinding quality, and remains a fascinating artifact of a special place and time for Harrison and Apple Records”.^[112] In a review for AllMusic, music critic Ken Hunt writes of the Temple devotees’ eponymous album: “this reissue reinstates their ecstatic music to disc. Its slightly Westernized but appealing arrangements betray Harrison’s handiwork … For a season it turned into the popular face of Hinduism.”^[110]

Legacy[edit]

Alan Clayson notes the influence of the Radha Krishna Temple’s recordings, along with the East–West musical fusion of Harrison’s 1968 solo album Wonderwall Music, on Britpop bands such as Kula Shaker, whom he describes as “the most exotic of all the new Top-40 arrivals of the mid 1990s”. In addition to incorporating the Sanskrit term Achintya-bheda-abheda in their 1996 hit “Tattva“, Kula Shakar released a single in November that year, “Govinda“, named after the Temple’s second hit song (but in fact a cover of “Govinda Jai Jai”).^[126] AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine opines that Radha Krishna Temple (London)’s 1970 hit “pretty much provided the blueprint for Kula Shaker’s career”,^[125] while David Cavanagh of Uncut wrote in 2010 that The Radha Krsna Temple “should appeal to fans of Tinariwen, not to mention lead singers of Kula Shaker”.^[127]

In a review of the Come and Get It compilation, Douglas Wolk of Pitchfork Media includes the Temple as an example of the Beatles’ “willingness to go to bat for totally uncommercial ideas” on their short-lived record label;^[128] music historian Colin Larkin similarly highlights the devotees’ album among an “eccentric catalog” that included the composer John Tavener and the Modern Jazz Quartet.^[129] This adventurousness, Wolk continues, provides the “really fun” aspect of the 2010 compilation, just as it “made the Beatles’ own Apple releases particularly entertaining”.^[128] According to David Fricke of Rolling Stone, Harrison viewed the Radha Krishna Temple’s presence on Top of the Pops as “one of the greatest thrills of his life”. In the same 1980s interview, Harrison added: “That was more fun really than trying to make a pop hit record. It was the feeling of utilizing your skills to do some spiritual service for Krishna.”^[48] The track “Govinda” continues to be played every morning at ISKCON temples around the world, to greet the deities.^[130]

Although Harrison’s former bandmate Paul McCartney had little time for the devotees originally, according to Taylor,^[131] he mentioned the Radha Krsna Temple album in a 1973 interview with Rolling Stone, describing it as “great stuff” and an example of the worthwhile projects undertaken by Apple.^[132] During Mukunda’s 1982 interview with Harrison, Mukunda commented that McCartney had grown more sympathetic to the movement in recent years.^[133] Mukunda and Harrison also discussed Dylan’s adoption of chanting and his attendance at ISKCON centres across the United States.^[134]

Along with Ken Scott, Mukunda provided reminisces of the Radha Krishna Temple recordings in Martin Scorsese‘s 2011 documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World.^[135] In an article about that film, for The Huffington Post, Religion News Service reporter Steve Rabey refers to the devotees’ album as an example of Harrison’s status as a “cafeteria Hindu”, while commenting that “[although] he failed to convert everyone to his beliefs, he nudged his bandmates – and his listener fans – a bit further to the East, encouraging audiences to open themselves to new (or very old) spiritual influences.”^[136]

Track listing[edit]

All songs are traditional and arranged by Mukunda Das Adhikary. Track titles and times per Castleman and Podrazik for original release,^[66] and CD booklet for 2010 reissue.^[73]

Original release[edit]

Side one

1. “Govinda” – 4:39
2. “Sri Guruvastakam” – 3:07
3. “Bhaja Bhakata/Arati” – 8:28
4. “Hare Krsna Mantra” – 3:35

Side two

5. “Sri Isopanisad” – 4:00
6. “Bhaja Hunre Mana” – 8:43
7. “Govinda Jaya Jaya” – 5:58

1993 reissue[edit]

Tracks 1–7 per original release.

Bonus track

8. “Prayer to the Spiritual Masters” – 3:59

2010 remaster[edit]

Tracks 1–7 per original release, but with spelling in some titles altered.

1. “Govinda” – 4:43
2. “Sri Guruvastak” – 3:11
3. “Bhaja Bhakata/Arotrika” – 8:25
4. “Hare Krsna Mantra” – 3:34
5. “Sri Isopanisad” – 4:04
6. “Bhaja Hure Mana” – 8:52
7. “Govinda Jai Jai” – 5:57

Bonus tracks

8. “Prayer to the Spiritual Masters” – 3:58
9. “Namaste Saraswati Devi” – 4:57

See also[edit]

• Chants of India
• Hare Krishna in popular culture

Notes[edit]