ON THIS DATE (40 YEARS AGO) DECEMBER 23, 1974 – George Harrison: Ding Dong, Ding Dong b/w Haris On Tour (Express) (Apple 1879) 45 single is released in the US. Ding Dong, Ding Dong is a song by George Harrison, written as a New Years Eve singalong and released in December 1974 on his album Dark Horse. It was the albums lead single in Britain and some other European countries, and the second single (after Dark Horse) in North America. The production incorporates aspects of Phil Spectors classic Wall of Sound Christmas recordings of 1963. In addition, some Harrison biographers view Ding Dong as an attempt by him to emulate the success of two glam rock anthems from the 1973–74 holiday season: Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade, and Wizzards I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. Harrisons song became only a minor hit in Britain and the United States, although it was a top-twenty hit elsewhere in the world. Harrison took the lyrics to Ding Dong – most of which were reproduced on the singles picture sleeve – from inscriptions he found at his nineteenth-century home, Friar Park, in Oxfordshire. Some commentators interpret the Ring out the old, ring in the new refrain as Harrison fare-welling his first marriage, to Pattie Boyd, and the song is also viewed as an example of the singer further distancing himself from his past as a member of the Beatles. As on much of the Dark Horse album, Harrisons vocals on the track were hampered by a worsening throat condition, due partly to his having overextended himself on business projects such as his recently launched record label, Dark Horse Records. Other musicians on the recording include Tom Scott, Ringo Starr, Alvin Lee, Ron Wood and Jim Keltner. On release, the song met with an unfavorable response from many music critics, while other reviewers considered its musical and lyrical simplicity to be a positive factor for a contemporary pop hit. For the first time for one of his singles, Harrison made a promotional video for Ding Dong, which features scenes of him miming to the song at Friar Park while dressed in a variety of Beatle-themed costumes. The Beatles George Harrison
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 23:40:00 +0000
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