Zach Jones

George Harrison Live!

2010-03-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, February 25th, I was pleasantly surprised when I logged into FaceBook and saw that many of my friends had posted videos of George Harrison in honor of what would have been the ex-Beatle's 67th birthday. Although there were lots of great videos posted, most of them were either music videos, slide shows, Beatles performances or television appearances. The only live videos of George as a solo artist were clips from The Concert For Bangladesh or from other rock and roll all star jams like The Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert from 1986 or The Prince's Trust Concert from 1987.

I've now had the honor of seeing Paul McCartney live in concert twice (Back in The US 2002 and Summer '09) and I hope to see Ringo this summer. John Lennon was killed before I was born but, George Harrison was alive until 2001. So, why is it that there was never even a glimpse of an opportunity for me to see George Harrison live?

Well....it turns out there may have been a glimpse but in 1991, I was more into Ninja Turtles than Beatles and Japan is still very far away.

The Beatles made their last live concert appearance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA on August 29, 1966. The complexity of their newer material, matched with their inability to hear themselves on stage over screaming crowds due to the limitations of what was available for stage monitoring at that time, led the group to leave the road and focus their energy in the studio. They would perform live together one last time. An impromptu performance on the rooftop of the Apple Corps. building in London on January 30, 1969.

In the years that followed, George Harrison would release his highly successful album 'All Things Must Pass' and in 1971, organize The Concert For Bangladesh performance and album. Another huge success for the former Beatle.

In 1974, Harrison launched what became his first and last North American solo tour in support of his 'Dark Horse' album. Harrison had suffered from laryngitis while recording the 'Dark Horse' album. His vocal performances on the record suffered as a result and this carried over to the tour. His scratchy singing was heavily criticized. Critics referred to him as 'Dark Hoarse'. Both critics and fans alike, who had attended concerts to hear Beatle-y pop music, were not at all pleased with the mid-concert sets of traditional Indian music. Unhappy at the entire experience, Harrison would never tour the United States again.

In 1991, Eric Clapton was preparing to tour Japan with his band and asked George to join the tour. Harrison had not been on the road since 1974 but reluctantly, he agreed. He then set out upon what would be his final concert tour.

The shows were extremely well received. George was able to perform his two decades worth of solo hits along with his Beatles classics. It was an extremely positive experience and from all accounts, it seemed like this would be the first of many tours to follow.

So, what happened?

In 1992, George began his extensive involvement in The Beatles Anthology project which kept him busy up to it's release in 1995. Soon after, he began working on songs to be included on a new album which may have led to a tour.

He had been a smoker since the early 60's and in 1997, George was diagnosed with lung cancer. On December 30, 1999, he was attacked and stabbed by a deranged fan who broke into his home. With the memory of John Lennon's assassination still in his mind, George had remained paranoid whenever appearing in public. After surviving his own attack, Harrison spent most of the remainder of his life in seclusion.

It was reported early in 2001 that Harrison had undergone surgery to have cancerous growths removed from his lungs but, it was also being reported that he was undergoing radiotherapy to treat a brain tumor. On November 29, 2001, George Harrison died. His death was attributed to lung cancer.

George's final album, Brainwashed, was completed by producer Jeff Lynne and George's son Dhani Harrison. It was released in 2002 almost a year after his death.

Here are some great moments of George Harrison live on Stage:

Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby - The Beatles live in Paris 1965

Awaiting On You All - The Concert for Bangladesh 1971

In My Life - Dark Horse Tour 1974

Cheer Down - Live in Japan 1991

Cloud 9 - Live in Japan 1991

Sugar

2010-03-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, I acquired a copy of the Stevie Wonder album Signed, Sealed & Delivered. Released in 1970, Signed, Sealed & Delivered was Stevie's twelfth Motown/Tamla release. It included the hit songs Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours), Heaven Help Us All , Never Had A Dream Come True and his cover of The Beatles classic We Can Work It Out. The four hit songs on this album are all included on the compilation album Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 which I've had for quite some time. The deeper cuts however, I had never heard until a couple months ago.

I am a huge Stevie Wonder fan and I am especially fond of this era of his music, maybe it's easy for me to say this album is great. I think most music fans would agree though that this album is truly a lost classic.

Here are a couple of my favorite tracks:

and more when we continue...

2010-02-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

Lots of exciting news and many things still developing. As most of you probably know by now, on March 16th I will be releasing my debut solo album Fading Flowers. Plans for a big CD release show are in the works along with many other release week festivities. Stay tuned for more details.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to visit my newly launched web-site zachjonestunes.com. There you will find news, my blog, pictures, videos and more exciting things to come. You can also hear 3,000 Miles, the first song to be made available from Fading Flowers. Feel free to encourage your friends to visit the site and make sure they sign up for the mailing list while they are there.

To visit my MySpace and Facebook pages, click on these links. Please ad me as a friend on MySpace or become a fan on Facebook if you haven't already. I appreciate all your support.

Also be sure to check out my YouTube channel www.youtube.com/zachjonestunes to see some outtakes from my performance at SoCha Cafe in San Francisco last Thursday as well as a handful of other videos.

Again, I want to thank you all very much. This is a very exciting time for me and I hope it is for you too.

Rock and roll,

Zach

SoCha Cafe 2/4/10

2010-02-08T08:33:00.000-08:00

On Thursday night, I performed at the Socha Cafe in San Francisco with my good friend Annie Bacon. The SoCha is a small coffee shop in San Francisco's mission district which also serves wine and beer. In this intimate setting, Anne and I performed to a small crowd of about 15-20 attentive people.

We started a little after 8:00pm, each playing two sets of a half hour. Anne and her great friend Elizabeth Greenblatt played the first and third sets. Performing as a duo, Annie played guitar and ukelele, singing leads while Elizabeth provided beautiful harmony. Their sets included songs from Annie's band, Annie Bacon and Her Oshen as well as, selections from Annie's recently composed folk opera and the occasional cover song such as Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams'.

Check out Annie's music here: http://www.myspace.com/anniebaconmusic

I played the second and fourth sets. Performing mostly the songs featured on Fading Flowers. I also played a number of my older songs including 'If I Wasn't Me' which was recorded by The Pete Kilpatrick Band. In addition, I also threw in a handful of covers including Elvis Costello's 'Allison' and the song 'Ben' as a tribute to the late great Michael Jackson.

Overall, the show was a great time. It was a pleasure to hear Annie and Elizabeth share their talents and it was nice to get up without any microphones or amplifiers and perform my new music in front of an appreciative audience. I look forward to performing in this fashion again in the future.

The Ball is Rolling

2010-02-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

Exciting stuff is happening. New things are continuing to develop as we draw closer to March 16th, the date on which Fading Flowers, my debut solo album, will be released.

Today I launched my new web-site zachjonestunes.com. This web-site will be a place for news, information and updates on everything I'm doing. It will be regularly updated with multi-media that can't be found anywhere else including free downloads of live and rare tracks. The web-site's store will also include a feature which will not only allow you to order a physical copy of an album but, if you'd prefer, you will be able to download the album directly from the store to your computer. More merchandise will be added in the near future.

Zach Jones Tunes can now be found on FaceBook, Twitter and MySpace. Make sure to become a fan on FaceBook, a follower on Twitter and a friend on MySpace. Sign the mailing list at zachjonestunes.com to have updates and bonus goodies sent directly to your e-mail account.

This is just the start of more things to come. Stay tuned.