Extra Texture (Read All About It) is the sixth studio album by the English musician George Harrison, released on 22 September 1975. It was Harrison's final album under his contract with Apple Records and EMI, and the last studio album issued by Apple. The release came nine months after his troubled 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar and the poorly received Dark Horse album.

Among Harrison's post-Beatles solo releases, Extra Texture is the only album on which his lyrics are devoid of any obvious spiritual message. It was recorded mostly in the United States rather than England, while Harrison was working in Los Angeles in his role as head of Dark Horse Records.

Gary Wright, David Foster, Jim Keltner, Jesse Ed Davis, Leon Russell, Tom Scott, Billy Preston and Jim Horn were among the many contributing musicians. The keyboard-heavy arrangements incorporate elements of soul music and the influence of Smokey Robinson, signalling a further departure from the rock and folk-rock sound of Harrison's popular early-1970s work. Contrasting with the musical content, the album's art design conveys an upbeat mood and includes an unusual die-cut cover with a textured surface.

Although critical reception to the album was largely unfavourable, Extra Texture was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America within two months of release. It produced a hit single in the Motown-inspired "You", originally recorded in London in 1971 with co-producer Phil Spector. The album also includes "This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)", which was both a sequel to Harrison's 1968 composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and a rebuttal to his detractors. The album was remastered and reissued in September 2014, as part of the Harrison box set The Apple Years 1968–75.

Background

In its 13 February 1975 issue, Rolling Stone magazine derided George Harrison's North American tour with Ravi Shankar over November–December 1974, and the accompanying Dark Horse album, as "disastrous".Leng, p. 174.Jim Miller, "George Harrison: Dark Horse (LP Review)" , Rolling Stone, 13 February 1975, pp. 75–76 (retrieved 6 May 2015). Previously viewed as "the surprise winner of the ex-Beatle sweepstakes", in the words of author Nicholas SchaffnerSchaffner, p. 160. – the dark horseHuntley, pp. 105–06. – Harrison had disappointed many fans of his former group by failing to acknowledge the Beatles' legacy,Greene, pp. 214–15, 219.Tillery, pp. 114–15. both in the content of his 1974 shows and in his dealings with the media.Woffinden, pp. 83–84. In addition, his commitment to launching his Dark Horse record label had left Harrison rushing to finish the album while rehearsing for the concerts;Lavezzoli, p. 195.Snow, p. 72. as a result, he contracted laryngitisLeng, p. 166. and sang hoarse on many of the recordings and throughout the tour.The Editors of Rolling Stone, pp. 44, 188. While Dark Horse sold well initially in America, it failed to place at all on Britain's top 50 albums chart.Huntley, pp. 112, 113.

Despite Harrison's claims during the tour that the negative press only made him more determined,Huntley, p. 117. the criticism hit him hard,Leng, p. 178.Greene, pp. 216, 217–19. following the end of his marriage to Pattie Boyd.Rodriguez, pp. 58, 199. In a radio interview with Dave Herman of WNEW-FM in April 1975, recorded in Los Angeles,Badman, p. 158. Harrison said that he accepted the validity of professional criticism, but objected when it came continually from "one basic source"; then, he added, it became "a personal thing".Herman; event occurs between 22:59 and 23:42.Kahn, pp. 208–09. Author Simon Leng writes that the "bitterness and dismay" Harrison felt manifested itself on his follow-up to Dark Horse, titled Extra Texture (Read All About It),Leng, pp. 178, 179. which would be the final studio album issued on the Beatles' Apple record label.Rodriguez, p. 249.

The album came about while Harrison was in Los Angeles overseeing projects by some of his Dark Horse signings,Rodriguez, pp. 247–48. one of which, Splinter, became unavailable to attend sessions booked for them at A&M Studios.Spizer, p. 274. Although Harrison was unimpressed with the recording facility, he chose to use the vacated studio time himself. Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter suggest that this decision was influenced by his business relationship with A&M Records, who were Dark Horse's worldwide distributor and the company with which Harrison was widely expected to sign as a solo artist, following the expiration of his EMI/Capitol-affiliated Apple contract in January 1976.Clayson, pp. 345, 348.Woffinden, p. 85. Having barely written a song in the six months since completing Dark Horse, in late October 1974, he swiftly completed some half-finished compositions and wrote "a couple of new ones".Madinger & Easter, pp. 443, 451. Leng cites these circumstances, together with Harrison's eagerness "to cut a new album as soon as possible, to extricate himself from the Capitol/EMI contract", as part of an expedient quality that defines Extra Texture.Leng, pp. 178–79.

Songs Writing for Rolling Stone in 2002, Mikal Gilmore commented that "the crises [Harrison] faced in the mid-1970s changed him", and that depression was a key factor.The Editors of Rolling Stone, p. 46. Depression permeated many of the songs that Harrison wrote during this period,Harrison, pp. 300, 312.Clayson, pp. 349–50. an issue that was not helped by his continued heavy drinking and cocaine use.Rodriguez, p. 424. While viewing this mindset as an extension of the artist's "unholy coping mechanisms" over 1973–74, author Robert Rodriguez writes: "What's interesting is how he chose to address what he'd been grappling with, musically. In the end, Extra Texture is unique within the Harrison catalog as essentially an LP-length excursion into soul [music]."Rodriguez, pp. 58, 384–85.

Lyrically, "The Answer's at the End", "This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)", "World of Stone" and "Grey Cloudy Lies" all steer clear of his usual subject matter – Hindu spirituality – and instead appear to ask the listener for compassion.Clayson, p. 350.Leng, pp. 181–82, 183, 185, 186. According to author and theologian Dale Allison, Extra Texture is "the sole Harrison album that fails to make any positive theological statements". Allison adds that its "confused melancholy" provides a sharp contrast with the "confident religious advocacy" of the artist's previous successes All Things Must Pass (1970) and Living in the Material World (1973).Allison, pp. 7–8. Harrison's wavering from his Krishna-conscious path was most evident in "World of Stone", writes author Gary Tillery: "'Such a long way from home,' he says, but in his autobiography he renders it, 'Such a long way from OM' – confessing inner turmoil at having strayed from his faith."Tillery, pp. 116–17. The same despair was evident in "Grey Cloudy Lies",Leng, p. 185.Tillery, p. 116. a track that Harrison described to Paul Gambaccini in September 1975 as "one of those depressing, 4 o'clock in the morning sort of songs".George Harrison interview, Rockweek, "George Harrison explains 'Grey Cloudy Lies'" (retrieved 1 July 2012).

Harrison had begun writing "World of Stone", "Grey Cloudy Lies" and the soul-pop love songLeng, pp. 184, 186. "Can't Stop Thinking About You" in 1973. He started "This Guitar (Can't Keep from Crying)" in Hawaii over Christmas 1974, while holidaying with his new girlfriend (later his wife), Olivia Arias,Badman, p. 144.Dave Thompson, "The Music of George Harrison: An album-by-album guide", Goldmine, 25 January 2002, p. 17. a secretary at Dark Horse's LA office.Tillery, pp. 115–16, 120. The song is a sequel to Harrison's popular Beatles track "While My Guitar Gently Weeps",Huntley, p. 124. and the lyrics serve as a rebuttal to his critics, particularly Rolling Stone,Inglis, p. 51.Leng, pp. 181–82, 186. whose savaging of the tour he would never forgive.Rodriguez, p. 59.

Harrison wrote "Tired of Midnight Blue" in Los Angeles, where he continued to be based for much of 1975 on business relating to Dark Horse Records. In his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, he says that the song's lyrics focused on his "depressed" state following a night in an LA club with "a lot of grey-haired naughty people".Harrison, p. 308. In Tillery's estimation, with its chorus line "Made me chill right to the bone", "Tired of Midnight Blue" was Harrison reaching "rock bottom".Tillery, p. 117. As the most obvious example of his embracing of soul music on the album, he wrote "Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)" as the first of two tributes to Smokey Robinson, a singer whose work with the Miracles he had admired since the early 1960s.Leng, p. 182.Clayson, p. 358.

In addition to these compositions, Harrison revisited two unused recordings: the Motown-styledLeng, p. 180. "You", and "His Name Is Legs (Ladies and Gentlemen)", which open and close the album, respectively.Madinger & Easter, pp. 452, 453.Spizer, pp. 274, 275. Co-produced with Phil Spector in London,Spizer, p. 342. "You" was among the basic tracks taped in February 1971 for a planned Apple solo album by Spector's wife, Ronnie,Badman, p. 25. formerly Veronica Bennett of the Ronettes.Clayson, pp. 100, 281. A reprise of the completed song,Madinger & Easter, p. 452. in the form of a brief instrumental titled "A Bit More of You", also appears on Extra Texture, opening side two in the LP format.Inglis, p. 53. "His Name Is Legs" was recorded at Harrison's Friar Park studio, FPSHOT, shortly before the 1974 tour,Spizer, p. 275. with Billy Preston, Tom Scott, Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark.Madinger & Easter, p. 453. In a private joke that few listeners were able to appreciate,Rodriguez, pp. 184–85. the song features a hard-to-decipher monologue performed by "Legs" Larry Smith,Huntley, pp. 127–28. formerly a member of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. The inclusion of these two older tracks provided some upbeat material on an album predominantly filled with ballads.Clayson, pp. 348–50.

Production

Recording

Alone among the studio albums that Harrison released between the break-up of the Beatles and his death in 2001, most of the recording for Extra Texture was carried out in the United States.Kevin Howlett's liner notes, Extra Texture (Read All About It) CD booklet (Apple Records, 2014; produced by George Harrison), p. 4. The sessions took place on part of A&M's block along La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, where both the studio and the record company were based.Leng, pp. 166, 178.Olivia Harrison, "The History of Dark Horse Records", The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992 DVD booklet (EMI, 2004), pp. 2, 5. Throughout the spring and summer of 1975, Harrison regularly attended Dark Horse's office, located in a bungalow shared with A&M-distributed Ode Records, and otherwise became fully involved in the Los Angeles music scene. Shortly before starting work on the album, he was among the guests at Wings' party on the Queen Mary ocean liner, at Long Beach, where a "drawn"-looking HarrisonSounes, p. 320. was seen socialising with Paul McCartney for the first time since the Beatles' break-up five years before.Badman, p. 156. Often accompanied by Arias,Rodriguez, pp. 247, 424. Harrison caught shows by Bob Marley & the Wailers,Clayson, p. 325. Smokey RobinsonKevin Howlett's liner notes, Extra Texture (Read All About It) CD booklet (Apple Records, 2014; produced by George Harrison), p. 6. and Santana, socialised with Ringo Starr,Hunt, p. 101. and met up with Preston and Ronnie Wood backstage after one of the Rolling Stones' concerts at the LA Forum.Badman, pp. 163, 164. New friends such as Eric Idle entered Harrison's social circle that summer,Harrison, p. 65. although the Python's influence only extended to Extra Textures quirky artwork and packaging rather than its musical content.Richard S. Ginell, [ "George Harrison Extra Texture"], AllMusic (retrieved 15 April 2012).