George Harrison – Pure Smokey

From the Album Thirty Three and 1/3 “Throughout my lifetimes Id hesitate Id feel some joy But before Id show my thanks it became too late But now all the way I want to find the time Stop and say I thank you lord for giving us each new day And as I think back over so many years Love thats filled my ears I got to thank you lord for giving us pure smokey And anyone who hears – hears that voice so free He really got a hold on me And I thank you all for giving to us smokey – smokey Singing it so sweetly Like no one else could do Always trying something new I thank you all for giving us pure smokey” After satisfying his EMI contract with Extra Texture (Read All About It), Harrison signed immediately with Dark Horse, which was still under distribution with A&M Records. A part of their agreement was that Harrison was to deliver his new album by 25 June 1976. Unfortunately, Harrison was stricken with hepatitis and was only able to start recording the record in late May. Conscious of the fact that he was not going to rush his debut album on his own label, Harrison put off A&M, telling them the album would be ready when it was ready. But with Dark Horse’s other artists no longer doing so well, and Harrison’s star on the wane, A&M decided they wanted to offload the label and promptly sued Harrison for late delivery of Thirty Three & 1/3 in September. Within weeks, Harrison had moved both Dark Horse and himself over to Mo Ostin and Warner Bros. Records, who were more than pleased to …
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Upon discharge, Mancini entered the music industry. In 1946, he became a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by Tex Beneke. After World War II, Mancini broadened his composition, counterpoint, harmony and orchestration skills during studies with two acclaimed “serious” concert hall composers, Ernst Krenek and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In 1952, Mancini joined the Universal Pictures music department. During the next six years, he contributed music to over 100 movies, most notably The Creature from the Black Lagoon, It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, This Island Earth, The Glenn Miller Story (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination), The Benny Goodman Story and Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil. Mancini left Universal-International to work as an independent composer/arranger in 1958. Soon after, he scored the television series Peter Gunn for writer/producer Blake Edwards, the genesis of a relationship which lasted over 35 years and produced nearly 30 films. Together with Alex North, Elmer Bernstein, Leith Stevens and Johnny Mandel, Henry Mancini was one of the pioneers who introduced jazz music into the late romantic orchestral film and TV scores prevalent at the time. Mancini’s scores for Blake Edwards included Breakfast at Tiffany’s (with the standard “Moon River”) and Days of Wine and Roses (with the title song, “Days of Wine and Roses”), as well as Experiment in Terror, The Pink Panther (and all of its sequels), The …